NAVY NEWS, MAY 2010

47

Royals go south for squash

SOUTH Africa was the stunning (and distant) destination for the Royal Marines’ 2010 squash tour.

The tone was set as soon as we landed in South Africa, writes Lt

Mark Felton (HMS Nelson).

Flying in to Johannesburg, the team had a generous three hours to recover from the flight, check into a hotel, acclimatise and be ready to play a match at 1100. Upon arrival at the courts

Red prevails over green

h Continued from page 48

The wind and the soft pitch conditions were taking their toll of both sides and gaps started to appear. Only some last-gasp tackles from the Paras stopped the Royals going into the lead. In the final minutes it was the

airborne soldiers who closed out the game with two tries, making the final score 14-25. After the match Leeds

at J-Berg Country Club the Royals conducted a quick reccé to discover that the courts were not to regulation size (1.5m too wide), the 5,751ft altitude caused the ball to travel through the air in a strange way and there was stifling humidity at 28˚C – all factors that led to an ‘interesting’ first match.

Rhinos’ chief executive Gary Hetherington expressed his thanks to both Services for putting on such a great spectacle despite the disappointment of not being able to play at Headingley. In light of the late change of

venue, he generously announced that all the ticket money would be donated to the three nominated charities, £862 in total.

Nonetheless the team rose to the challenge and decided that the wider court was best overcome by playing doubles. The opposition, J-Berg Jesters,

were a doubles specialist team and certainly competed well to take a hard-fought victory over the RM.

provided another ten new players; what they lacked in youth they more than made up for in knowhow and guile around the court.

flavour of the day and by now the RMs were showing some ‘court awareness’ of their own having picked up the tactics of doubles. The next fixture was in Durban, so the team travelled via the Zulu battlefields – an enlightening experience. On arrival in very humid Durban, the team immediately set off to play Durban Jesters at Kloof Country Club. The singles started off the

evening which saw a top-ranked SA player testing our RM bandsman No.1. Doubles were on the agenda

again but this time a much closer match was fought.

Once again doubles were the The following day the Jesters

l L/Cpl Carl Edwards (SFSG F Coy) closes the door against the Army in the RN’s 6-2 triumph

Picture: www.robertswannphotography.com

Celebrations on ice

FOUR hundred enthusiastic fans at the John Nike Leisure Centre in Bracknell witnessed the fiercest rivalry in Forces sport – Army-Navy – clash for ice hockey bragging rights.

achieved the pedigree of rugby, this fast-paced and quickly-growing sport has many things in common with more popular counterpart, writes

Lt Cdr Al Bernard, RNIHA.

Not the type of team to shy from travel and adventure the marines team braved White Rhino and Buffalo to make it to the next challenge all the way down by the Garden Route at St Francis Bay. The local Jesters were keen

to play doubles and the Royals enjoyed the cooler, less-humid courts and took the benefit of a morning match by playing well to win the majority of the matches. Cape Town beckoned for the final three matches of the tour, after the Royals tried their hand at the well-known sport of ostrich racing.

experiencing a heat wave, the courts were back up to a fierce temperature. Fortunately the marines could revert to playing regular singles games. The first match at Western

As Cape Town had been But one of the biggest differences between

rugby and ice hockey for the RN is that the Senior Service have not lost to the Army in their six meetings since 2006. Occasionally referred to as ‘rugby on ice’, the hard-hitting Army-Navy game did not disappoint the fans with some big checks being dished out right from the initial face-off. Like most sports, the Army have numbers on their side and on paper were the better team. However, the Navy’s ice hockey history has been impressive since the Senior Service returned to the sport in 2006: back-to-back Inter-Services titles in 2007 and 2008 and a tri-Service Command title in 2009. Navy Command teams have not finished any

lower than third since 2006 in the tri-Services Command Championships and the RN squad was the best finishing British team at the 2009 European Services Championships, finishing a very respectable 14th and ahead of both the Army and RAF squads. RN captain Cpl John ‘Moose’ Underwood

Province Squash Club proved that surviving long rallies and games were crucial to gaining wins and the RM narrowly missed out on victory. Changing location to Camps

Bay, the next match against Cape Town Jesters raised the standard again. The RM No.2, Mne Marti Sadler, delivered some exhibition squash against the ladies’ SA No.3.

was keen to highlight the team’s successes in the dressing room before the game: “The Navy have not lost a game to the Army in competition since 2006. They are going to want this win, but we will show that we want it more. Let’s go prove it to them!” With that mindset, the Royal Navy and Royal

Marines players took to the ice determined to upset the Army and their followers who made up the vast majority of the crowd.

The last match of the tour was probably on the hottest courts against Camps Bay Club, the final result was a draw. Over the two weeks the RM squash team played a high standard of squash against high-quality opposition scattered widely across South Africa. The tour involved significant travel which enabled the RM to appreciate the diverse culture and topography of SA. Thanks must be given to all the clubs who generously hosted the RM during the tour. Financial assistance from non-public funds such as the RN/RM Sports Lottery and Corps funds proved invaluable. Thanks also to tour manager WO2 Stan Bloomer RM whose efforts ensured such a representative tour happened.

The Army came out hard in the first period, Although service ice hockey has not yet

throwing some big hits to try to intimidate the Senior Service. But while the Army concentrated on crowd- pleasing hits, the Navy concentrated on moving the puck forward and were first to score. Mne Karl Sullivan (UKLF CSG Air Defence Troop) pounced on the puck to score his first of the night.

The RN would score two more goals before the end of the period courtesy of Mne Adam Hankins (FPGRM FSRT) and a second from Mne Sullivan. Army attempts to get on the scoreboard were met by a brick wall in the form of Navy goalie L/Cpl Carl Edwards (SFSG F Coy). Edwards would be the main reason the teams retired to the dressing room after 20 minutes of play with the Navy 3-0 up. The Army commanded the ice for the entire second period and if it hadn’t been for Edwards’ exceptional performance in goal, the score would have been very different from the 3-1 tally in favour of the Navy after 40 minutes of play.

The RN managed to regroup in the third and final period and returned to the form which brought them success in the first period. Unluckily, it would be the Army who would score first to reduce their deficit to one goal with 10 minutes left to play. The Army attempts to get the tying goal in

the latter stages of the game opened up the ice for the Navy forwards and saw some excellent end-to-end action. The Navy kept up the pressure and took

advantage of the Army pushing forward to score three more times in the final ten minutes, including two more goals for Hankins to earn his hat-trick and put the match out of reach, sealing a 6-2 win. Hankins was named the RN’s man of the match for his three-goal performance. The evening ended in true Service sport tradition, with the entire squad of both teams enjoying a social drink in the bar, discussing the

overall winner of the night – Forces ice hockey. In addition to the great hockey, the event raised just short of £1,000 for charity. One week later, it was the turn of the Navy’s

developmental players to take to the ice in back- to-back games against the Gosport Spartans. The Spartans are the local development team and the games provided a great opportunity for both teams to get their less-experienced players on the ice. The first game saw the Spartans play their better players and the result was an evenly- matched competition between the two sides. The Navy got on the score board first with a couple of quick goals but the Spartans fought back and after two periods the Navy were down 7-4.

After regrouping during the intermission, the RN dominated the third period, scoring five unanswered goals to secure a 9-7 win. Strong positional play and effective pressure at the offensive end of the ice was the key to the turn-around. Man of the match was awarded to LET Michael Fyans. In the second game, the Spartans dressed a slightly-weaker side against a reduced RN team. The competition was once again very close and after 60 minutes of hockey the Navy edged the locals 4-1. Player of the match was awarded to Lt Nadia Robertson (HMS Sultan), a first-year player with the RN. These developmental games allow novice

players to practise the skills they have been working on in training and, since many of the development players have only recently taken up the sport, it is essential that they get these opportunities to play against similarly skilled competition. The RNIHA is committed to a sustained developmental team fixture schedule to ensure the sport is promoted from the bottom up in the RN.

at www.rniha.org.uk. The next major Service event will be the annual combined Inter-Services and tri-Service Command Championships at Ice Sheffield June 8-11.

It’s goodnight from me... and from him

IT’S farewell from two stalwarts of RN sport behind the scenes this year.

For a quarter of a century, Lt (SCC) Tommy Wallace has been heavily involved in the alpine ski championships. He started off by racing with the HMS Cochrane team and RN(S).

Wallace has been an instructor at what has grown to be the biggest event in the Navy sport calendar.

The instruction grew arms and legs and quickly became a massive part of the event, especially when snowboarding was introduced about 12 years

For the past 17 or so years, Lt

ago by CPO Pete Bone. Now the RN takes out 15 ski, ten snowboard and one Telemark instructor, plus a race trainer.

after half a century with the Senior Service.

2010 was Lt Wallace’s final year as chief instructor. “What a great way to finish at the fantastic resort of Tignes,” he says. “I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every minute of being involved and have had some superb men and women instructors working with me over the years. Cheers! I may be back!”

surroundings... Lt Cdr Alan Walker will shortly be stepping down as the RN’s ‘Mr Hockey’

Meanwhile in warmer

For some 35 of those 50 years, he’s been a mainstay of the sport. He’s widely-respected as a coach to thousands of sportsmen and women who, under his guidance and care, fulfilled their true potential and in numerous cases went on to represent their country. That dedication earned him the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the Combined

Board, presented at the annual CS Sports Awards. Lt Cdr Walker wasn’t the only Senior Serviceman to receive a gong from the Duke of Kent.

Services Sport

While the Sportsman/Woman of the Year titles both went to the Army, the Team of the Year award was collected by the RN Swimming Team, rewarded for 15 years’ dominance of Inter- Service sport. “We’ve done really well in the civilian suite as well as in all the masters competitions from national to European to the World Masters Games and World Masters Championships,” said team captain WO2 Nick Vaughan. “We got the fastest time in the Combined Services cross- Channel swim last year – not just out of the Services, but the civilians as well.”

More details about the sport can be found

Beach, barbie, and rugby

WHAT’S not to like? A Forces beach rugby

tournament is being staged on Lusty Glaze Beach in Newquay on Sunday July 18 for the Children’s Hospice South West. The charity is the chosen good cause of HMS Turbulent, whose deeps are hoping to take part (although there’s a possibility the boat will be BOSTing). Six-man (or woman) teams from the Services are invited to take part, although each squad must raise £500 to attend. A barbecue will bring the

curtain down on the day’s sport. Money will help the charity

build its new hospice near St Austell.

Lloyd on 01872 261 166 or

emma.lloyd@chsw.org.uk.

The trip of the kite fantastic

A TEAM of five riders from the RN/RM Kitesurfing Association will compete in the first Forces cross-Channel race next month. The three Forces team aim to race in relays across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, leaving Guernsey and making for land 70 miles away in Poole Harbour. Depending on weather conditions, the race will be staged between June 1-4,10-18, or 24-30.

there’s a more important issue at stake: money.

support of Help For Heroes – hence the event’s name, Kite 4 Heroes – with the hope of raising in excess of £20K.

The race is being staged in

More details about the event and making a donation can be found at www.kite4heroes.co.uk

Cornish greens for engineers

The 17th RN Engineers Open Golf Championships will be staged at Trethorne Golf Club, Launceston, on Monday September 6. All serving members of the

WE, ME, AE and MT branches, plus RFA engineers, former RN engineers and previous champions are invited. The format for the day is medal in the morning (full handicap, white tees), followed by a stableford in the afternoon (¾ handicap, yellow tees). The cost of the day’s golf is £50 for non-Trethorne members, £35 for members, including 36 holes of golf, coffee and bacon butties on arrival, cooked lunch and a three-course evening meal plus coffee and prizes. The maximum handicap for

the event is 24 (players with higher handicaps can enter, but must play off a maximum of 24). The closing date for entries is July 23. Details in RNTM 055/10, www.engineersopen. co.uk or WO1 Taff Reha on 02392 726113.

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