The GBVETS were welcomed to Dublin for the annual
fixture against Fitzwilliam club. Timed to coincide with
the England Ireland Rugby International, hopes were high
for an England double. Our support for the England rugby
team we were sure would be reciprocated by the huge
number of England supporters in Dublin!
Friday night’s match got off to an early start to
accommodate the later festivities and it seemed as if
our lower order were in a hurry to start the festivities
early. Bedford Lloyd, Tammy Bennet and Kim Ricks went
down to some strong opposition, albeit not without a
fight, recording a game each. It was left to Ian
Bradburn, Steve Johnson and Steve Jackson to salvage
something from the ashes. Fortunately the trio were
suffering no jet lag and the two Steve’s managed
convincing 3/0 victories while Bradders got off to a
slow start with a tight game in prospect after each
managed narrow wins in the first two, but he then picked
up the pace and ran out an easy 3/1 winner.
So honours even, but a moral victory to GBVETS in that
the games score was 12/10 in our favour!
However, Fitzwilliam have been here before and after a
pleasant few drinks at the club we were inveigled by our
hosts to continue festivities in a bar followed by a
night club followed by…….. Suffice it say that all
arrived home well after bedtime and as we were due on
court 10.30am next morning, some of us might not have
been in top condition!
Clearly our training had not been of the right type and
we must take lessons from the hardy northerners messrs
Bradburn and Johnson, who though perhaps a little jaded,
still managed impressive 3/1 and 3/0 victories at 1 and
2. We shall draw a discreet veil over numbers 3, 4 and 5
while Tammy did appear to be upright and managed to put
up some kind of performance in going down 3/1.
Our hosts provided a Saturday lunchtime party prior to
the rugby and with some lucky enough to have tickets for
the match, the rest reciprocated the support we had
received, adding our enthusiastic voices in a largely
partisan crowd in a bar. Of course we were duly rewarded
with a crushing England victory, unlike ours which ended
with a whimper and a 7/5 overall defeat. When will we
learn that it is a match of two halves!
However, in consolation we were
rewarded by our superb hosts who ensured we were treated
royally, culminating in a superb dinner on Saturday
evening where they presented themselves with the trophy!
The trophy itself bears mentioning. Presented by Trevor
McVeigh , it was his father’s trophy who was a noted
Irish tennis player, who also played at Wimbledon. He
won the Irish open 3 times in succession in the 1930’s
and thus retained the trophy. Trevor thought the solid
silver cup was a fitting prize for the important GBVETS
annual fixture and it has been the coveted prize since
1976.
Next time boys and girls……..
Steve Jackson
(Picture of both teams)
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