Fencing Men’s Second Team finish a triumphant year
The team close out the year as the most successful club at Imperial.
In terms of BUCS points scored, fencing remains the most successful club at Imperial, and it has been an especially incredible season for the Men’s Second team. Remaining undefeated throughout our fourteen matches has led to promotion to a tier one league; a level never before reached by the team.
The year started with a strong home victory against Portsmouth, 135-50, spurring on support. Our now eight match clean sheet was threatened whilst fencing Portsmouth again, this time away, and a nail biting result of 135-124 taught us not to get complacent. Both Niklas and Cosmin were crucial team members during first term, especially for these close league matches.
The team also claimed the South Eastern Conference Cup. We quickly progressed to the quarterfinals, where we beat our closest league competitors, Brunel, 129-111.
The home semi-final match against LSE gathered a huge crowd, both fencers and non-fencers alike, who enjoyed supporting with some appropriately-coloured blue pompoms. Using some strategic planning, we won the highly anticipated match with hits to spare.
Eight of us, armed with two supporters, travelled to Kent for the final. The support continued at home, with nearly 3000 views on the Facebook live stream. With the score set at 71-70, it all came down to the final weapon, epée. The score switched in favour of both teams three times, and the match concluded, 116-102, with three decisive wins from each of the epeeist, Rob, Jake and finally, performing under immense pressure, Noah. From Rob’s consistent flicks and David’s signature spin, to Javier’s incredible ability to fence all three weapons, and Péter’s scare tactics, each member brought a different style to our matches.
A number of memories deserve a special mention: Hugo’s liberating party performance; the christening of David’s kitchen; the multiple occasions where we were unable to stop for a service break;celebrating with magnums; and, of course, most of us enjoying ACC events (some more than others).
Many thanks must go to team members Noah and Javier as our designated drives, and David Guo, our in-team photographer, as well as Sports Imperial, particularly Yasmin, for all of the support and organisation. Both Javier and Cosmin have fenced their final season at Imperial. We wish them good luck, and hope they return to support for years to come.
The team will be in great hands next year with the newly elected captain, Hugo. We hope to continue our successes in our new league, and have more to celebrate next year.
