We are delighted that 2 of our clubs won the National 2019 Interschool Fencing Championship for Transition Year Students.
St Vincents Castleknock College both hosted and won the boys category while St Peters Community Passage West won the girls event and came second in the boys competition.
“For our fencers to travel so far and represent their schools using skills that have only recently been acquired represents a real spirit of adventure and is a credit to all the competitors” remarked coach Patrick Dight.
Round one pitched Castleknock boys against St Peters Community School boys. This match was decisive in awarding Castleknock overall winners on the day and it started well with Kyle beating Colm 5-2.
Next up, in the longest bout of the day, Lorcan and Erik fought to a stand still with Castleknock narrowly keeping the lead. A determined effort by St Peter’s Captain Lazslo Messaros resulted in his team taking the lead 12-15 in the 3rd bout against Alex while Lorcan then regained the lead 20-15 in a decisive victory over St Peter’s Colm.
Kyle stepped in to contain Lazslo and advance the lead to 25-19 before St Peter’s narrowly regained the lead in the 6th bout by 29-30. Lorcan then had the measure of the left handed Lazslo beating him without conceding any hits and creating a 5 point lead. A gutsy effort from Alex held on to the lead 40-38 leaving the final match to Kyle who held his nerve to win out 45-44 in the closest match of the day. The tense match hung on a knife edge throughout with the lead team changing 4 times and the winners separated by a single hit. Determination and nerve from all the whole Castleknock team gave them the victory. Emmet O’Rourke is also worthy of a special mention as the substitute for Castleknock made up a missing player in another team, a very sporting gesture where he assisted in a 45-30 victory.
The Cork team had an early morning start to travel to the event in Dublin and demonstrated exceptional esprit de corps throughout the day, in how they supported each other and represented their school.
In round one the girls’ team drew the locals Mount Sackville Secondary School girls. A strong start by Favour 5-0 and Agnes 5-1 against their early opponents helped put the girls in a commanding position, leading 25-9 after 5 bouts. Mount Sackville captain Eimear Barrett made a stand in the 6th bout and brought the sides to 28-22 in the longest individual girls match of the day. Favour refused to hand momentum over to the opposition and stepped up to maintain the lead 35-29 before her team mates finished strong again to win 45-37.
The boys team had a mammoth round one match against St Vincent’s Castleknock College boys which had to go to the very last hit to be decided 44-45. The match changed lead 4 times as the teams were so evenly pitched. In the 3rd bout Laszlo put the team in the lead for the first time with a 8-4 victory and Noél’s 11-4 victory in the 6th bout to regained the lead 30-29. Colm’s 8-5 victory in the penultimate bout left his side just one point behind and Noél brought the sides even on 44 hits each before Castleknock won the final hit.
The girls team then played Castleknock boys in round 2. With 17 hits Favour scored the most points for St Peter’s but ultimately the boys won 36-45. This result secured the trophy for the best girls team on the day.
The boys team round 2 opponent were Mount Sackville Secondary School. The boys took an early lead against the girls winning their first 2 bouts 10-6. Their opponents fought back to 11-15 and then 14-20 in their next 2 matches until Noél returned St Peter’s to the lead by 25-24. Mount Sackville recovered quickly and then added to their lead so going into the final bout St Peters trailed 38-40. A man of the match performance from Noél took the victory 45-41 and ensured the trophy for second boys team would be travelling back to Cork with them.
Congratulations to all the teams who entered and thanks to the presidents Tony, Duncan and Joshua. If you would like your school to compete at this event next year contact Patrick Dight.
