Page 66 - The Chapka 2016

64 REGIMENTAL JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL LANCERS (QUEEN ELIZABETHS’ OWN) Football
The Royal Lancers football team has had a mixed year. Hav- ing announced our presence on the RAC footballing scene with a thrilling comeback victory in Exercise Hodson’s Horse 2015, the team followed that up with a very successful and en- joyable tour to California. Over 10 days in March the team saw the sights in Los Angeles, Fort Irwin and Las Vegas including a day trip to Universal Studios, watching one of Kobe Bryant’s last matches, and a memorable Grand Canyon airplane tour that made most of the team vow to never leave the ground again. In between we also managed to play some football, eventually com- ing third in the High Desert Cup, an invitational tournament involving ourselves and various US Army and Air Force teams, after five wins, one draw and one loss. As well as coming away with some silverware, the team played some of the best football they have ever played and introduced ‘Midlands intensity’ to our American oppositions’ understanding of ‘soccer’. The team were also hosted exceptionally well by Fort Irwin FC, something Trooper Edge can attest to.
A Regimental deployment to BATUS in April 16 meant that many of our footballers were unavailable for several months. This certainly affected our last couple of games in the league and we were unable to come away with any silverware in our domestic season. The team also took part in the North Yorkshire Army six-a-side tournament in May and were unfortunate not to qualify for the National competition.
The start of the 2016-17 season saw The Royal Lancers win a hard-fought match of the season against 5 RA; 6-5 thanks to a few strong performances from our attached arms colleagues in
the LAD. Our next match saw a much-weakened team travel to Northern Ireland to play 2 Rifles in the Major Units Cup. De- spite the large crowds supporting the opposition and the lack of depth on the subs bench, The Royal Lancers managed to hold out for a 1-1 draw after extra time, a feat achieved by the help of our own ‘Lincoln Jose Mourinho’, Mr Mason, currently posted to 38 Brigade Headquarters in Lisburn. What came next was a dazzling display of nerves of steel from our goalkeeper, Lance Corporal Monk to pull off two brilliant saves and win the match 5-3 on penalties. The momentum of that victory was somewhat stalled by the deployment to Exercise WESSEX STORM and the fully packed forecast of events meant that we were unable to put out a team for the next round of the cup against 3 Rifles in Edinburgh and had to forfeit the game.
This year, despite a strong team, we were unable to repeat our Exercise HODSON’S HORSE heroics. After a frustrating 0-0 draw with the RTR and a comfortable 2-0 victory against the HCR, we were inexplicably defeated by the RDG, thus ending our hopes of becoming champions. Some highly questionable refereeing and spectacular free kicks meant another loss to the QRH in the third place play off.
In the next few months, we can look forward to a re-show in the Catterick Derby, as we take on the RDG in the Cavalry Cup. We will also be concentrating on the league and the league cup, with a Midlands Tour planned for July 17. Royal Lancers football is alive and well!
JAI
Look happy! Defence Engagement in Texas The High Desert Cup
The Special Relationship