Fernwood Sword Club
This weekend saw a packed weekend of fencing for the boys, who were the ever presents for the men'[s foil team forming part of the East Midlands Senior Winton squad. The Senior Winton is an adult competition for both genders and all three weapons fenced annually over a weekend between regions/Wales/the armed forces - this year at Nottingham Trent University. This year there were 11 teams. The format for each match is a team of 3, with each fencer fencing each other opposing fencer to 5 hits - so the winner is the best of 9 fights.
Ed was men's foil captain and with him and James fencing all available fights, the 3rd fencer role was shared over the 2 days between Kieran Patrick of Leicester University, Luke Rees of Lancaster University (but from Bingham) and Conor Sharman of Loughborough University. The East Midlands men's foil team was the youngest in aggregate of all 11 teams.
The first match was the toughest against South East, the eventual winners, Containing 2 GB senior fencers and a GB junior, East Midlands didn't manage a win, but Ed did well to take 3 points in each of his fights.
The second match resulted in a stunning 8-1 victory over North East, with Ed dropping only 3 hits overall and James 6.
The third match saw some very classy fencing against a strong South West team, with a 7-2 win. Highlights included the sole win against Warren Shillingford in the match, with Ed coming out a 5-4 winner.
A 6-3 win over some good fencers from Combined Forces was pleasing. The highlight was a 5-1 by James over Londoner Hussain Sadiq.
The team were especially pleased to finish the day with a 7-2 win over Yorkshire, containing as it did some friends and sparring partners. Probably the best moment was a 5-1 win by Ed over Sam Brougham of Louth - the first time over a few matches to 5 that Ed has prevailed.
Sunday started with a cheeky 5-4 win over North West (who might well have been out on the town the night before). Both Ed and James prevailed over highly ranked Tom Corlett (which marked a first for wins against him by both boys). A couple of other 4-5 losses meant that the win margin could have been greater.
The team then suffered a 4-5 loss to Eastern, with a strong team. James fenced strongly in this match, with 2 wins and an agonising 4-5 loss.
A consecutive defeat followed against a very strong West Midlands team. Ed picked up the only wins, with a 5-2 victory over Josh Burn and a delightful 5-2 win over Irish senior fencer (and recent strong performer in the U23 European Championships) James Brosnan.
The boys got back to winning ways with a 5-4 victory over Wales. James contributed 2 of these and Ed 1 (being unfortunate to lose one fight 4-5 in priority).
The team finished in style with an 8-1 win over Southern. The one loss really was down to poor refereeing in that particular fight (and which raised its head on a number of occasions during the weekend - and may have made the difference in the match against Eastern).
So, a fantastic 7 wins out of 10 for this young team, with some great fencing and an opportunity to face a number of very good fencers in a (relatively) stress free competition. East Midlands across all weapons came 7th out of the 11 teams.
There's a break in competitions for a while. Ed and James go out to Szombathely in Hungary for a training camp, as part of their AASE course at the end of the month - and there's a competition at the end of the camp. Otherwise, the next competition is the Leon Paul Junior Ranking Competition on 26th August.
