The UK Under 21 Team won 1 test and lost 1 test match resulting in a draw,
full report to come!

here are some photo's of the weekend

Under 21 Test Match Report by Paul Rowden, U21 Squad Manager

Irish Test and  Reserve Match May 2010

We arrived in Dublin Airport to be greeted by the rain and Irish Chairman Tom
O’ Malley. Once our luggage was loaded into the mini- bus, it was off to Carrickmines Equestrian Centre, home of Carrickmines Polocrosse Club.

No sooner had we arrived and it was time to try the first pool of horses in the sand arena. The horses had been split into two pools. Rather than tossing a coin Simon Shearing elected to go for pool A for the first test. Observed by a keen crowd of Irish players and supporters the players tried the horses and Simon quickly assigned each player a horse.

That sorted, time for food. Plentiful plates of sandwiches, crisps, canned drinks, tea and coffee. “What are those?” asked one of the players “scones,” freshly baked for players and supporters.  It was nice to see plenty of familiar faces, with support from several of the player’s families.

Next - lots of activity. Players plaiting up, getting horses ready to be transported to the pitch. Unfortunately although the pitch was not that far away, there was a motorway between the yard and pitch, so the horses had to be boxed there.

The Reserve Match was first. We had two players in this, John Whitehead and Hazel Wilson. They were joined by Nick the Irish reserve player and played against a team of Irish girls. Our players took instant control of the game getting possession of the ball and passing it to Nick the Irish boy who scored goal after goal, dismissing any thoughts that he might have any doubts about scoring against his home team. In fact it turned out the Irish girls had wanted to play together, so he probably had a point to prove. Not that we minded. At the end of the game we had won by a very good margin.

Next came the Test Match. The National Anthems were played, flags waving. The girls started with Annemieke Mitchell at the front, Rhiannydd Lee Jones midfield and Bryony Cross at the back.

The Irish girls quickly scored but our girls fought back hard.  Time for the boys. With a determined Lewis Parr in the front, Tom Bowden Eyre in midfield, his first outing with the U21s having come straight from Junior Squad and Will Halcrow at the back as relaxed as ever.

The boys had a great chukka putting the UK into the lead!

Over the course of the next few chukkas we witnessed some exciting and skilful polocrosse, which I don’t think would have looked out of place at the World Cup. Simon Amor came out in midfield and at the front to add yet more goals to the tally that Lewis had racked up Then Sammy Rowden came out in midfield for two chukkas to give Rhi a rest. Next chukka the game was so exciting that the Irish Chairman who was commentating got completely tong tied and continually called the Irish number one by the wrong name This was much to the hilarity of the crowd as the player whose name he used, not only wasn’t there but was far too old for U21’s.

Throughout the game, from the boys first chukka, our lead had hovered at around four goals but in their final chukka they managed to extend the UK lead to seven goals with a score of 25-18.
So time to pack up and get the horses home, yet more plates of sandwiches to consume. “Wow this is more like Polo!”

Sadly the best horse in our pool for Sunday injured itself in the box on the way back to the yard.

With dinner booked for all of us at one of the player parent’s bar/restaurant, there was barely time to get back to shower. A great evening, food and drink in plentiful supply and some mingling between the teams, which was nice to see.

Arriving at the club early Sunday morning, the mood of our hosts seemed a little more serious as we trotted up horses and then the complex negotiations started regarding a suitable replacement of the best horse in today’s pool. Finally, a compromise was reached. Time to try the second pool; yet again standing in the rain with our Irish spectators.

Once again our reserve players took to the field, rain still pouring down. The Irish girl reserves really came out fighting and took control. Simon swapped Nick, the Irish boy, with John Whitehead - John now out front and Hazel Wilson stayed midfield, which seemed to make a difference.

Although we lost the Sunday game, thanks to the huge lead the UK had on Saturday, our reserves won overall on goal difference. What a great start to the day, just got to do it again!

It was time for the second Test and our players took to the field; the Irish rain still pouring down.  They had the added pressure of having won the previous day and had to do it all over again. Our boys and girls came out in the same starting line up.  A bigger crowd of Irish spectators this time. The Irish team really came out fighting not wanting us to once again to take control. Our players fought hard right through the match, and once again we watched an exciting game.

Our coach made some tactical moves, Simon at the front with Lewis midfield, Will remained the Stalwart 3.  Then Rhi playing at the back, Annie the 1. After a tough, hard fought game we saw our 7-goal advantage from Saturday slowly slip away to lose overall by goal difference.

It had been a fantastic weekend, with superb hospitality from our Irish hosts. All that remained now was to hurriedly gather our tack and stuff (oh yes and more sandwiches) and attend prize giving before leaving for the airport.

At prize giving, having given out our prizes and thank you gifts, the Irish awarded Simon Amor Best Boy and Annemieke Mitchell, Best Girl.

There was barely time to say our final good byes before getting back to the airport, and thankfully we got home before the ash cloud descended on Ireland.

So many people to thank, whose help made this trip possible! Firstly Wayne Henning who made contact with the Irish last year and helped organise the Test at the end of last season. His sense of fair play had impressed the Irish.
Annemieke’s mum and Llwellyn Harrison’s dad, who took saddles and various players junk home from the Doncaster Squad training. Julie Parr who collected saddles etc from Mr Harrison and then took them to Ireland. Annemieke’s dad and aunty who took saddles and yet more junk to Ireland and allowed the kids to turn their car into what looked more like a tack room. Tony Shearing and Jo, partner of Jess Shearing, who arrived at John Whitehead’s house at 4 am to take us to the airport. Also to John Whitehead’s parents, for putting up the whole squad over night.  Finally the parents of Rhi, Annie, Lewis and Will not only for coming all that way to support but their assistance with transporting people to the pitch , hotel and airport.

A Big Thank You, To You All!