42 NAVY NEWS, FEBRUARY 2011


Peelers skinned Satans smitten


THE RN Ice Hockey Association started 2011 with a journey to Slough to face the Metropolitan Police at the now- traditional late-night time slot.


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● Mne Adrian Thorn makes the most of the surf on his waveski Picture: SAC David Johnson


Kayakers edged out


SUNNY skies greeted the RN Kayak Association when it arrived at Saunton Sands to face the Army and RAF for the Inter-Services competition. The surf was small but adequate for the competition making it quite


diffi cult to get a good long run to impress the judges – picking the right wave was of utmost importance. For the fi rst time in several years (and assisted by one particularly long journey by several methods of transport from somewhere in Northern Scotland) the RN/RM were able to fi eld a full team. There were several notable individual performances. POET(ME) ‘JC’ Cowell was fourth in the high performance class,


Mne Adrian Thorn was placed second and CPO Andy Vine fourth in the waveski class.


The ladies team had a fantastic competition with Lt Helen Coxon placed fi rst followed by Lt Cdr Charlie Atkinson in third and Lt Hazel Pyke fourth. However, the fi nal results are only half of the story and some sterling


Nor is this the end of the success story for the championships. Thanks to the coaching organised by the surf secretary. WO2 ‘Batch’ Batchelor RM, and provided by Andy McCulloch (English Surf Kayak Team) nine competitors gained their BCU 3* Surf Kayak Award. Thoughts have already turned to this year and improving on the 2010 result.


The RN/RM Surf Kayak and Waveski team are on the look-out for new members. Contact surf@rnka.co.uk or visit www.rnka.co.uk.


When we arrived, there were some slight concerns that the police were practising their pursuit driving skills as we were met with the sight of four go-karts tearing around on the ice, writes Lt Adam Lappin. It turned out to be an endurance race and delayed the face-off time until midnight (!).


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When the team fi nally stepped on to the ice it was time to renew ‘friendly’ rivalry between the Senior Service and the Met Police Peelers (in the previous meeting more than a year ago the coppers lost three players to injury for a few weeks). The game started well as the


performances by the rest of the team (some in their fi rst Inter-Services competition), racked up points for the Navy. The overall result was very close: the RAF won with 109 points, three points ahead of the RN.


Navy had a reasonably full bench for an away game: 13 players and two goalkeepers. An incisive breakaway from Mne B Hubbs (40 Cdo) led to the opening goal. Before ten minutes were up the RN had a 4-0 lead courtesy of manager Kev Cave, Lt Cdr Al Bernard (UKHO) and another strike from Hubbs. The police were a little slow to respond to this assault on their goalkeeper and this allowed LS D Smalley (MCM2) to skate through the constables’ line and fi re the Navy’s fi fth goal of the period in to the net. The second period opened with the police seemingly still on a coffee break as Kev Cave scored his second early on, fi nishing off a fi ne move practised many times in training sessions.


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● A slap shot from the Navy’s S Baker during the drubbing of the Met Police Peelers Picture: Chris Dickens, mjdphoto.biz


was a good move by hitting the post from one yard out, before allowing the defence to get back to help their goalkeeper. Kev did,


Mne Hubbs latched on to a lazy clearance by the opposition goalie to squeeze the puck between the post and the keeper’s shoulder from the narrowest of angles for his hat trick. PO Tugg Wilson (Chatham) added his fi rst of the night and the eighth for the RN before the police eventually scored their fi rst goal of the game. Kev Cave continued his run of memorable howlers after receiving a long pass up the ice for a breakaway on the police goal. He managed to successfully


‘deke’ the goalie to send him the wrong way and only had fresh air to beat...


himself not two minutes later when he scored his hat trick goal to round off yet another well-worked team play to move the puck around the police zone using all fi ve Navy players on the ice before putting the puck into the police net. The period fi nished with the RN leading 10-1 as the ice was resurfaced for the third and last session. The Peelers came out fi ghting in the fi nal period and scored two quick-fi re goals to make it 10-3 but in what had become a personal battle, Cave and Hubbs each added another goal to their tallies to give them four apiece. Making a rare start as a forward – he played the previous three games in goal – AET D Jones (702 NAS) showed a good turn of pace and some quick hands to fi nish a good solo effort to put the puck past the now-subdued Peelers’


however, redeem ...and managed to fi nish what


goalkeeper. The Navy slapped the cuffs on


the Peelers towards the end of the game to add two more goals to the scoresheet, but not before a few lapses in concentration from the RN defensive players. The fi rst was a clearance from behind the RN goal. Under no pressure it went straight to a Met Police forward to score and the second was a moment of madness from the RN goalie, who decided to make snow angels just as the police forward came towards him…


skated around the fl oundering keeper to put the puck in the net to make the fi nal score 15-5 to the RN.


Needless to say that the forward


crime rather sharpish (at 3am!!) to avoid any retribution in the form of parking tickets and ‘on the spot fi nes’ and left the game referee to call CSI Slough to help the Met Police Peelers analyse what had just happened.


The second clash of the month was another away game at Slough


The RNHIA left the scene of the


Ice Arena, this time against the local side, the Satans.


game, probably due to a lack of available players on the part of the Satans, ending 22-5 in the Navy’s favour. For the record, the RN scorers included: Mne Hubbs (two goals, two assists); AET Jones (four and three); Sgt J Throop (RMR) (two and three); Kev Cave (four and four); Lt Cdr Bernard (one and three).


Satans in Gosport on February 5 which should prove to be a more even contest with a better fl ow to the game.


There’s a return fi xture with


The team are always on the look-out for new players and will be holding a grass roots event in 2011 with MWS Collingwood at Planet Ice in Gosport on March 15.


rniha.org.uk, This resulted in a not-so-close


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org.uk and treasurer@rniha. org.uk or pop along to a training session in Gosport every Tuesday evening at 10.30pm.


Clyde’s hard (g)raft


HERE’S a rare sight. Yes, that’s right, blue sky in the


HMS Clyde entered the New Year’s Day raft race in Stanley. It’s the fourth year running a team from the islands’ permanent patrol ship has thrust its oars into the natural harbour – and Clyde hasn’t exactly covered herself in glory so far: one last place, two ‘did not finish’.


So for the 2011 contest, the ship determined it was time to reverse this trend. A dedicated team from the


marine engineering department, led by WO Mike French, set about designing a race-winning raft. Construction progressed apace, with raft-building squeezed in around the ship’s busy maintenance program. A comprehensive testing regime ensured the validity of the design (it was heaved over the side in Mare Harbour and six sailors clambered aboard to establish if it was going to fl oat!). After fi nal


sailors from


Falklands. Taking advantage of reasonable Falklands weather,


modifi cations it was ready for the big day.


Stanley was treated to near- perfect conditions for the race – bright sunshine and a stiff breeze blowing down the length of the course.


entering the competition, Clyde’s team took to the water. After a gruelling race over nearly a mile of the harbour the valiant efforts of the raft’s crew saw Clyde fi nishing in a respectable third place.


water having learned a good few lessons (not least that a sail would have been a valuable addition to the design). The race isn’t the only sport the


With around one dozen rafts The rafters emerged from the Sun and snow for squash players


The RN squash season opened with a training camp in Gibraltar, which


proved to be extremely successful. Eleven players made the trip,


were


accommodated in Service accommodation and given full use of the facilities at the Gibraltar Squash Club for training and routines every day, writes Lt Cdr David Cooke. The club also provided opposition for two


evening matches and a third evening match was arranged against a Gibraltar Combined Services team. Events at home started with a match against


patrol ship’s crew enjoyed over the festive period. Boxing Day races are a tra- ditional fixture in Stanley and a sizeable number of locals and per- sonnel from the Mount Pleasant military complex/Mare Harbour (Clyde’s home when she’s not prowling around the archipelago) attended the 2010 meet.


a touring Australian Defence Force side which proved to be too strong for the RN, but who had a very close match against a CS team at Temeraire. The fi xture was part of an annual quadrangular competition and although the Australians won overall, the Royal Navy came a creditable second against opposition from the Jesters and Escorts squash clubs. Lt Matt Ellicott (HMS Liverpool) led a team to the Channel Islands to take part in the Jersey festival, a highly-competitive event which attracts sides from all over Great Britain. The Navy were placed in League One and found the opposition very strong; although they gave a good account of themselves, they did not feature in the presentation ceremonies at the end.


The 2010 Combined Services individual championships were held at Temeraire,


attracting the top players from all three Forces. In the seniors’ competition Ellicott won his


way through to the semi fi nals only to come up against his old adversary Damien May, who until March 2010 was an RM Captain but is now an RAF Flt Lt. May was too sharp for Ellicott on the day and the RN man had to resort to a third/fourth- place play-off, while May received a sound beating by the Army number one (27-1) in the fi nal.


In the U25 competition, last year’s champion, Mne Nick Jezeph (RM Poole), breezed his way to the fi nal without breaking into a sweat. Against a very polished Army player, he sustained an injury in the second game, played on for a short time, aggravated the injury but fi nally, against his wishes, conceded at the beginning of the fourth game. AET Stephen Wallace (Culdrose) reached the semi-fi nal, but after taking the fi rst game against the eventual champion, lost the next three – a creditable performance nevertheless. A low-key Inter-Command tournament was held in November, with Scotland withdrawing beforehand and poor turn-outs from Naval Air and Portsmouth. The Royal Marines, as usual, came in strength and convincingly won the competition with Plymouth Command runners-up. The RN Championships scheduled for December had to be postponed because of inclement weather conditions (snow). They were due to take place as Navy News


went to press, ahead of the Inter-Service contest at Temeraire from February 8-10. Meanwhile the RN knockout cup had been


running since September and the semi-fi nals and fi nals were held at Temeraire just before Christmas. Teams from BRNC, Sultan, Heron and Drake had won their way through, all of whom produced some exciting and enthusiastic squash. Sultan, with an ex-RN U25 player and a current RN Veteran in their ranks, looked the strongest team on paper and indeed that proved to be the case as they eased their way to take the trophy.


BRNC came a most creditable second with Drake hot on their heels in third place. England Squash, the governing body of the


sport, has now incorporated the sport of racket ball within their auspices and are extremely keen to promote this fastest growing sport in the UK.


More details from manager@ rn-admin@rniha.


The organisation’s offi cial website – www. englandsqaushandracketball.com – provides a lot of information on rules, news, clubs, coaching and much more and should be visited. It’s proving to be a very popular game and the RNSRA are equally interested in getting as many sailors as possible playing this racket sport.


Ships, establishments and units should contact the RN/RM Sports Lottery Manager, Lt Cdr Robin Young, on 02392 723806 or lotman@ fl eetfost.mod.uk for further information.


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