After earning promotion to Division Northern 1A last year, the women’s 1sts rugby side have had a more challenging campaign, and currently sit in the relegation places as we move into the second half of the season.
However it’s not really the second half of the season for York, who only played three league matches before Christmas, suffering thumping defeats by extremely strong outfits in the shape of Manchester 1sts and Sheffield Hallam 1sts. However victory before Christmas against Liverpool John Moores who sit bottom of the table on minus six points, was a massive boost to their side, and they’ll be looking to build on that this term.
Their match tomorrow has been cancelled, but on Saturday they make the daunting trip to second placed Northumbria 1sts. On the fixture Captain Lucy Davies commented: “We know the top of the league teams are very tough. We will go into the match aggressively. The aim is to keep the defence tight. In attack, we have some very good ball carriers, we need to be confident and back ourselves. I think the best way to tackle them is by playing the game in their half, territory will be very important!”
The squad possesses a perfect blend of freshers and more experienced heads, and back row Izzy Welby has particularly impressed with her aggression and leadership skills. Captain Davies told Vision: “The team are becoming more gelled and the confidence is growing”, highlighting this as a reason for the improved performances.
Davies added: “We had a big challenge this year after gaining promotion in to the Northern 1A league, so we set out to retain our position in the league along with playing better quality rugby while keeping the enjoyment and team spirit up!”
With two or three games in hand on everyone else, the aim of avoiding relegation is more than achievable for the side which has progressed substantially in recent years. The battle for survival will continue and with the talent at their disposal, they have every chance of succeeding,
wooooo lucy looooo!