Fernwood Sword Club
Both Ed Howlett and James Rutherford were amongst the medals today in the Northern Team Foil, held at the University of Leeds, with Ed winning gold and James silver. The boys were fencing for different Sheffield Buccaneers teams in a field of 8. Ed was fencing with Italian Aureliano Finch and Russian Petr Krasnov and James's other team members were ex GB juniors Matt Fitton and Nathan Doherty.
There were two poules of 4 teams each, with each match comprising 9 fights up to 45 points in total. Ed's team had a very tough draw of Salle Boston from London, whose team comprised Irishman Chris Lennon, Englishman Jack Houlston and their secret weapon, ultra fast left hander, Frenchman Thibault Charra. Ed's team were just ahead at the start of the last match but Charra's whirlwind performance meant that the team was pipped 45-42. The other two poule matches were less stressful, with a 45-8 win over Bradford Fencing Club and a stylish 45-17 win over a decent Leeds University Alumni team. Meanwhile, James's team was dominating their poule with very strong wins over the Leeds University mens foil first team and the Huddersfield University fencing team. Their closest fight was a still comfortable victory over Louth Fencing Club, whose team contained the winner of last weekend's U16 men's foil at the British Youth Championships.
James's team were first seeds after the poules, with Salle Boston 2nd, Ed's team 3rd and Louth 4th. James's team beat Bradford Fencing Club 45-5 in L8, while Ed's team beat the Leeds University team 45-25, with Ed winning each of his fights 5-3. In the semi-finals, James's team faced Louth again. Another win, this time the margin being a confident 45-20. Ed's team fenced Salle Boston once more. This time they had a plan - to contain likely larger losses against Charra early on and build up a substantial margin to take victory. It worked. Petr Krasnov was able to match Charra in the last fight and Ed's team were through to the final with a 45-39 win.
So the two Buccaneers teams fenced each other in the final. Ed won all his fights, including a very neat 5-1 win against Nathan Doherty. Despite a strong rearguard action by James against Aure Finch, Ed's team took the gold medal with a 45-25 win. Meanwhile, Salle Boston took the bronze medal with a 45-40 win over Louth.
AS Levels now loom, so fencing takes more of a back seat, with reduced training and the next competition not being until the Luton Open on 27th May.