Lancaster won maximum points in both the men’s and women’s pool matches on Friday evening.
York’s women team lost 5-1 but they were up against some top opposition in Lancaster, who showed their professionalism in front of their expectant home supporters.
Meanwhile, the York men’s team were beaten in a closer match 5-3 and were likewise facing players who had won tournaments at national level.
Although returning to Yorkshire empty-handed, York will learn from the experience against one of the country’s top sides, and can look back on some excellent frame victories.
York were up against it from the very start. York’s Hannah Palmer was beaten 2-1 in an entertaining opening match. Alex Benjamin was also beaten on the other table, which gave Lancaster an early 2-0 lead.
York got a foothold in the match through Kat Atkins, who scored the deciding black at the second attempt to make the score 2-1 to Lancaster.
Felicity Taylor was then beaten by the Lancaster player who displayed astonishing cue-ball control to set up pot after pot, extending the Red Rose lead to 3-1.
It was a formality from then on as Cody Ding of Lancaster overcame Jess Astbury before Agatha Lack was beaten comprehensively in the sixth frame, with the final score standing at 5-1.
The men provided stronger competition to Lancaster but gave themselves a lot of work to do after falling behind early on.
George Hogg lost to Lancaster’s Stone 2-1 in the opening game, followed by a defeat by the same margin for Sam Wass. Wass lost the first frame by 5 balls, recovered to 1-1 but succumbed in the final frame 2-1.
In the third game, the overall score was recovered to 2-1 when Luke Wildgoose shut out Lancaster’s “The Tower”, before York levelled proceedings at 2-2 when Ben Kyriakos easily beat his opponent 2-0.
But after this point, Lancaster took control of the match. “The Babyface” defied his nickname by playing like an experienced pro when he beat Matt Brown 2-0.
Then Kane Needham succumbed to “The Hyena” in yet another 2-0 defeat for York, but then York’s Mike Walsh gave the White Rose a lifeline at 4-3.
In the first frame, Walsh finished an excellent potting sequence with an exquisite double on the black before reeling off six balls in a row during the deciding frame.
It was left to Sean Kelly to continue the comeback but unfortunately Lancaster’s Mike Logan “The Pineapple” was too good. Despite losing the first frame, Kelly pounced on a Logan error in the second to make it 1-1.
However, a missed yellow into the middle pocket handed the initiative to his opponent, who cleared up with no mistake to win the match for Lancaster 5-3.