48 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2007
Next month
Rejoice,
rejoice!
Final part
of our
Falklands 25
feature
Rick Jolly on
the struggle
to save the
knights of
Sir Galahad
● Goal rush... The RN ladies dash to defend a short corner during the 3-0 defeat to the Army. Pictured (l-r) are LAEA Lou Wrightson (Yeovilton), PO(AEA) Kate Newcombe,
netminder and former Army and England player Lt Becky Frater (815 NAS), LMEA Rachael Rake (Nelson), and PO(AEA) Georgina Patterson
Pictures: Lt Col Charles Jackman and LA(Phot) Gregg Macready, FRPU Whale Island
Edinburgh
Fantastic four,
pays her
respects at
San Carlos
fantastic duo
NAVAL dominance of Forces hockey
But perhaps the most encouraging results over the
stretched into its fourth year with the
tournament came from the ladies squads.
Inter-Services trophy again lifted aloft
For the past decade, the ladies have been left
trailling the RAF and Army, whose fitness levels
by the senior male side. (aided by the fact that their ranks are swelled by
But in two days of first-rate hockey at Burnaby international players) have not matched their Forces
Around
Road, the RN veterans were also victorious – their counterparts.
first triumph in nine years – the U23s scored an This year, the team arrived in Pompey with coach
historic victory over the RAF and the ladies side CPO Shawn Hall, who had devised a fitness regime
the ice by
showed vast improvements over performances in to bring his players up to the standard of their RAF
previous years. and Army opponents.
kayak with
More than 72 RN hockey players plus a Such efforts didn’t, sadly, bring victory.
dozen coaching staff and managers gathered in But they did bring respectability rather than
Endurance
Portsmouth. drubbings.
Two full Inter-Service clashes in two days placed The ladies lost 3-0 to the Army, who had already
huge demands on players in otherwise favourable been beaten by the RAF 2-0, so the RN-Air Force
conditions on the south coast.
Back issues can be obtained by calling 02392 734448
clash did not augur well.
The senior men dispatched the Army 4-0, followed The half-time score of 3-0 in the fliers’ favour
Plus
by a narrower victory over the RAF 2-1 to clinch their suggested a thrashing was on the cards.
fourth title in as many years. Enter two stalwarts of RN sport to save the day.
Their success was compounded by the men’s Lt Cdr Charlie Atkinson and Lt Lucy Abel are
veterans’ success – 4-0 against the regulars in these pages (though not necessarily in
Full report
RAF, 3-1 over the Army. hockey reports).
The U23s squeezed But they were at the heart of a second-half
from the
past the Air Force fightback which saw Atkinson bag two goals and Abel
4-3, but could one to peg the RN level with 15 minutes to go.
not repeat that
Army-Navy
In the end it was the RAF clinging on for a draw
success against (and taking the Inter-Services title).
the Army later An unofficial women’s veterans title was the last
clash at
that day and strand of the competition (the Senior Service lost
went down both matches, with the RAF the overall victors).
Twickenham
7-1. More details at www.navy-hockey.co.uk
● Lt Scotty Mitchell (848 NAS) lunges in against his RAF opponent
during a 4-0 victory for the RN veterans
Published by Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth, and printed by St Ives (Andover) plc.
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