Page 48 - Bugle Autumn 2014

2 RIFLES cricket club
The 2 RIFLES Cricket Club has been very active this season despite the tempo at which the battalion has been working. The first match of the season saw 2 RIFLES supplying the majority of the 38X Cricket team in a T20 match against the Irish Defence Forces in Belfast. Strong batting performances from Rfn Thomas, Rfn Butt and WO2 Rennie saw the Brigade team score 170 off 20 overs. The Irish Defence Forces then took the crease and were bowled out for 116 with Rfn Butt being the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4 wickets for 19 runs.
With the majority of the Battalion deployed on mission specific training exercises the rear ops group (ROG) took the reins, supporting the RIFLES Cricket Club.
The major event was the RIFLES T20
2 RIFLES boxing
Having lost the entire coaching team to other posts around the army and some proven boxing talent to the PJNCO cadre, 2 RIFLES had its work cut out for the up and coming season.
2 RIFLES diving
The last year has been highly successful
for the divers in 2 RIFLES. A good number of Riflemen have been introduced to the world beneath the waves and there have been two expeditions to Cyprus. This has largely been due to the instruction of Sjt Paul Waldron and Cpl Dave Hall and the leadership of CSjt Jaime Moncho, who together have generated interest throughout the battalion and conducted large amounts of teaching in the pool in Lisburn in their own time.
The two highlights of the year have
been two expeditions to Cyprus run by Lt Nick Dawnay, the first of which found him wangling his way into Army HQ in Andover to grab a last minute slot. The team decided it was feasible to organise an expedition
in two weeks and Exercise ZENOBIAN BUGLE was born. Ten Riflemen deployed
to Dhekelia in eastern Cyprus, four of whom
had never dived in the sea. We qualified four novices to BSAC Ocean Diver standard and two Sports Divers, as well as working towards the Dive Leader qualification for Cpl Hall and CSjt Moncho. The highlight
of the trip was diving the wreck of the MV Zenobia, a 130 metre long ferry lying on its side in 40 metres of water. It is still largely intact and there is plenty to see for all grades of diver. It is possible to penetrate the wreck at multiple points and there is a huge amount that can be explored safely. The exercise also managed to enjoy some of Cyprus’ culture, with Rfn Davison, Doyle and Freeman in particular exploring far and wide and enjoying the hospitality of the locals.
Adventure Training Group asked the battalion if they could fill a slot that had been cancelled at short notice, and we jumped at the chance. A different group
Riflising Davey Jones’ locker
deployed in the less warm month of January, with eight new faces including
Cpl Neil Kelly from 7 RIFLES. Although the weather and conditions were not as good, spirits remained high throughout. The diving tended to be “swift and cold” with Rfn Tim Copas’ air consumption rate and Lt Nick Dawnay’s Red Sea water temperature tolerance. The diving was just as good (between spells of dodging lightning!) and the Zenobia in particular was enjoyed by all. Lt N Dawnay, Underwater basket-weaver
Competition on the 3rd July. Having been runners up for the last 4 years maybe
this year it was going to be our year. The competition started with a mad dash from Heathrow to Caerwent
grim, but up stepped Cpl Baptiste to hit a magnificent 48 and Rfn Briton to knock a great 19 we finally finished on 92 runs. So we had achieved our target and just
to pick up players
from the Op TORAL
final exercise who
had been on exercise
for 2 weeks. After
successfully joining
the ROG and MRX
elements together the 2 RIFLES team was looking strong despite its youthful appearance.
We knew that the final would be tight and we needed a score above 90 to give us a fighting chance but as our first wicket fell on the 2nd ball things were looking
needed tight bowling.
A great fielding and bowling display was not enough and the Exiles (a composite team of riflemen on postings out of Battalions) won with 2 balls to go.
Overall despite coming runners up again the standard of cricket displayed by the team was extremely high and the team played well. A great all round performance and a strong foundation for next season.
WO2 A J Rennie OC Cricket
Some of 2 RIFLES proven talent was sadly, but quite rightly on the PJNCO cadre
...as our first wicket fell on the 2nd ball things were looking grim
The boxing season started after the exercise in Canada for the battalion with the warning order being dispatched to the Company’s for an inter company boxing tournament in
November. With this the Company’s started
to train and select their teams ready for the
competition. Some preliminary work was
conducted to enhance the level 1 and level 2
coach qualifications within the battalion.
The competition had three days of pre bouts
and the final being on the 4th evening. As
expected we had great inter-company rivalry and a fantastic evening with some promising new talent emerging for the future battalion team. A Company took the inter-company boxing title closely followed by I Company.
Sjt K Copeland assisted by LCpl R Sowden took up the baton to train the battalion team. The team consisted of some accomplished battalion boxers from previous seasons and some great new talent from the inter company’s competition. Some of 2 RIFLES proven talent was sadly, but quite rightly on the PJNCO cadre, which
was running concurrently. After an intense, interesting, varied and very well run training schedule the team was in fighting order. Sadly the Battalion was very narrowly beaten in a hard fought competition by 2 Mercian in the preliminary round, but the ground work was in place for a promising 2015-16 season.
The future plan is to establish the boxing training gym in the battalions new home of Thiepval barracks, Lisburn
and start to build the interest and links into the local community to have a great inter-company in 2015 and then the Army’s 2016. Capt S Burgess, OC Boxing
46 SECOND BATTALION
THE RIFLES