Page 65 - The Light Dragoon 2024

As always, we sent a contingent to the Regimental Association Golf’s event at Ryton & Silkstone Golf Club. These are always a very enjoyable day spending time with our Association members. This year Sgt Paylor took the honours of winning the event at Ryton with a very questionable handicap.
Next year will see the FOE filling up fast with OTX’s and another rotation of Op INTERFLEX on the agenda but this
does not mean we will not be out on the fairways kidding ourselves that we could play on the PGA tour.
With the NE AGA Competition and RAC Championships commencing and the yearly association days at the beginning of next year there will be plenty of oppor- tunity for the team to either win or retain some Silverware. I for one look forward to competing again.
AH
The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Rugby
It being a World Cup year, for the Light Dragoons, there was certainly a lot more rugby spectating and beer drinking than playing in 2023. But despite our ludicrously busy schedule, which has no doubt been mentioned in every single article in this journal, we still managed to play more rugby than Australia did in the World Cup. This included one rugby union match at home in Catterick, a brief Sevens Tournament in Estonia during Ex SPRING STORM, sending a team to the Bournemouth Sevens (where playing rugby was most likely the secondary objective,) and providing numerous
players to both Army Rugby League and the Royal Armoured Corps’ Rugby Union Teams.
On a mild 1 February in Catterick we were able to host 3 SCOTS for an Inter-Unit Rugby Championship North’s match. The alarm bells began to ring when 3 SCOTS were willing to travel the 5 hours by car from Inverness to Catterick, with only 14 players, just to get a game in. They politely refused the author’s suggestion that they forfeit immediately and take one of our players to make up a full team. Meanwhile we managed to scrape together a team and
conduct a few training sessions with the Warren Gatland of Light Dragoons Rugby, C Sqn SSM Mr Greenwood. Although we lost the game, suffered about five broken limbs (including the author’s ankle and a compound thumb dislocation,) like the All Blacks in the World Cup final, we won one of the great moral victories of the Inter-Unit Rugby Championship North. Regardless, Rugby Union was the real victor on the day. We briefly hosted 3 SCOTS for pizza and beers in the Corporal’s Mess for “Post Match Teas”, before reconvening in the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton the next day. We just hope 3 SCOTS were alright.
A special mention to Cpl Vakacegu who played for the Army Women’s Rugby League Team. We also managed to send SSgt Tynan, Cpl Moore, LCpl Ward and Tprs Burgess Mackey, Ora and Aveyard down to Bovington to play for the Royal Armoured Corps Men’s Rugby League Teams. All brilliant efforts. We hope to build more momentum
next year and achieve regular training and turnout, which will in turn lead
to more matches and (hopefully) less injuries.
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