David Byrne | Fencing Correspondent
For the seventh consecutive year the Frank Russell Cup has returned to Trinity College, making it the 37th time in the sixty year history of the intervarsity championships. DUFC’s fencers and supporters showed that a combination of hard work, determination, and heart could overcome the sternest of challenges.
Three weapons were fenced on each day of the competition. On Saturday, DUFC competed in men’s épée (ME), men’s sabre (MS), and women’s foil (WF); the competition was fierce. The fencers arrived at UCD as a team, focused solely on the task of defending the title. Club Captain Max Milner delivered an impassioned team talk, with roars of support for Trinity echoing throughout the hall.
ME was an extremely tightly contested weapon, with the competition including an UCD’s Olympian, Arthur Lanigan-O’Keefe. Trinity’s ME team nonetheless did extremely well, and there were some excellent individual performances. Among them was Niall O’Brien, who ranked third overall in his weapon and carried the team with consistent results throughout. Two defeats, to Queen’s Belfast and UCD, meant that the ME team finished in third. Their five hard earned victories would prove crucial to the overall result of the championships.
The men’s sabreurs started spectacularly, comfortably winning their first match against IT Carlow, 5-0. This fine form continued, winning their next three matches. UCC proved too strong in the fifth round, however, taking the match to 5-3 to hand our MS fencers their only loss of the day. They bounced back immediately, winning their remaining matches to finish in second place. The highlight was a highly creditable comeback victory against UCD to dramatically swing results in DUFC’s favour at the end of the day.
The WF team was the team to watch on Saturday. They could do no wrong. Livi Flynn captained from the front by not losing a single bout throughout the day. Conceding no more than two bouts in any of their matches, the WF team was unstoppable and won their weapon at a canter. They deserved no less.
The fencers arrived early on Sunday morning, full of determination and fight from the day before. Another team-talk echoed the sentiments of Saturday, leaving the fencers focused and ready for the challenge that lay ahead.
Women’s épée opened with a bang against UCD in DUFC’s opening match. Hearts were pounding throughout this crucial match, which, so early on in the day, would have a huge outcome on the trophy’s home for the following season. Any fears were somewhat misplaced, however, as Trinity pulled off a sensational 5-4 win. With arguably the most difficult match of the day behind them, the WE team’s confidence was sky high as they went on to win their remaining five matches, conceding only one bout. Clodagh McCarthy Luddy was undefeated, and ranked second overall. Novice Camille Hindsgaul ranked third, dropping only two bouts, and captain Emily Greenan ranked fourth overall.
TCD’s fencers seemed to have drawn the short straw in terms of fixtures on Sunday. WE’s first match was against UCD, their toughest opponents. Likewise, the women’s sabre team were handed a tough opening match against UCC. The challenge proved too much, with UCC defeating DUFC 5-2 on their way to winning their second sabre title of the weekend. Trinity’s WS team were undeterred in spite of this and proceeded to win all their remaining matches en route to finishing second in the weapon. The highlights were a thrilling 5-4 victory over Dundalk IT and a resounding 5-0 thrashing of UCD.
MF hit the ground running, winning their opening match against University of Ulster 5-0. They emulated this fantastic form against Queen’s Belfast in their second match, and went into their third match, against UCD, full of confidence. A symphony of support roared with every point won, culminating in a 5-0 demolition of a thoroughly disheartened opposition. There was to be no stopping the MF team as they dropped jut one bout all day. Their match results – 5-0, 5-0, 5-0, 5-1, 5-0, 5-0 – are not far off perfect, rounding off a thoroughly successful championships for the club. The overall individual rankings are a testament to the sensational performance of our Men’s Foilists, with Max Milner first, Killian Hanlon second, and Ian Kenny third.
With thirty-three victories overall, DUFC won the 60th Inter-Varsity championships by a five match margin, making it lucky number seven, and a seventh title in a row; thirty-seven successes in total. Next year looks promising, and hopefully DUFC will be able to report on yet another success in twelve months’ time.
