Page 78 - KRH Regimental Journal 2022

76 The Regimental Journal of The King’s Royal Hussars
Football
2022 started with the KRH FC, returning from a healthy Christmas leave, trying to finish off fixtures in both the league and the league cup, as well as competing in the Regimental 5-a-Side Thursday night competition. We got back on the train- ing pitch to work on our fitness, to the disbelief of the players – what a surprise. Interval training was a bit of shock action to the body before even thinking about kicking the balls around. With 1RRF around the corner we knew we would have to be at the top of our game to keep up with the infantry whose attitude towards physical fitness is at a slightly higher intensity (or should be) as running around in woodblocks and open ground is what they love the most. We turned up to the game knowing it would be a tough one with a bit of argy-bargy involved, but the lads put on a performance that saw us come away with all three points and a 2-0 win under our belts. Unfortunately, this would be the last game of a season that saw the KRH only play three league games. This was reflected across the league table, a sign of the business of the Army, and therefore meant we finished in a respectable fifth position, out of a league of 9.
The draw was sent out for the League Cup; we were to play 3 Armd Bn REME who were two leagues above us. A tough game ahead but the players were given instruction to just go out and enjoy themselves as this was likely to be our final game of the sea- son. Castlemartin Ranges loomed in the distance and exercises in Poland that would see a large ask on many of the team. A remark- ably close game with a late appearance from Cpl McCormick com- ing on to score two goals, saw us go into full time at 4-4. A gruel- ling 30 minutes of extra time was followed by a penalty shootout. Ordered to hold their nerve and sail the ball into the back of the net, that is exactly what they did. The team came out with a 5-4 win in the shootout with a great save from our new goalkeeper Tpr McLaggan, who had kept us in the game all match and earnt himself Man of the Match.
The second round of the draw took us back to 9 Regt RLC. By this point many had already deployed on DEFENDER and so we had to pull back some of the retired players. SSgt Lees and SSgt Stevens (REME) dusted their boots off and manager AKA ‘Bobby Charlton’ very quickly entered the starting 11 and took to the field for 90 minutes which pulled in Sgt Judge to manage the
Beach Soccer Champions
lines – with very little to do as we had no subs to bring on! After 90 minutes and having to play with only 9 men due to injuries, we took the 3-0 defeat and made our way back to Tidworth in high spirits knowing that was our last game of the 2021/2022 campaign for 11-a- Side football and we would look forward to our next year of competing in 2023/2024.
A summer 5-a-Side competition was won by the ever so competi- tive Moroccan Magicians who consisted of a mixture of JNCOs from A and B Sqn supporting their green and white Moroccan strip finishing top of the table – 5 points clear with only one defeat. This is likely to become a regular event to pull soldiers away from their PlayStations to have a kickabout and some com- petitive fun – I think it’s fair to say it was enjoyed by all.
In July an opportunity arose for the team, and Cpl Fletcher was directed to step into the unknown and enter the annual Royal Navy beach football competition. The team headed down to Weymouth beach and with no hint of surprise managed to draw last years’ winners in the first game. For the first 5 minutes the lads were all over the place but after getting their footing the game was turned around and they ended up beating the royal marines 5-2. As the competition progressed, they continued to dominate the tournament and went on to win for the first time ever with 6 wins 2 draws and only 1 loss. The KRH are now the first Army team to have their name on the trophy in the history of the tournament. With some quite serious surprise this time,
Brackenbury Trophy Estonia