Poor weather, bad traffic and the start of the Christmas ‘do’ season saw a particularly poor turnout for the last Tuesday in November and, so it was decided to postpone the monthly club competition until the following week. So, the first week in December, having recovered from the Club Christmas meal the previous week, saw a healthy attendance of 14 fencers. We saw the return of a number of fencers including Abs (injury), Andrew and Jack (too much work!) and managed to settle for two poules of seven – nice and manageable.
Poule one got off to a blistering start with Abs versus Steve and, Steve showing no mercy for Abs long time absence, winning 5v0. Peter and Mark were up next with a much more closely fought game, with Peter taking the victory 5v4. The scoreline for each competitor should have given them an inkling of the night to come. Peter was the star of the poule, winning five out of six matches, whereas Mark, although not winning a match, was the highest scoring loser, managing 4 hits in four games and 3 hits in his other two games; with scoring like that, it’s a sure sign that it just isn’t your night! Sandy, Rohan and Steve each managed four wins out of six, with Abs and Jack managing two victories each, showing just how closely matched the competitors were. With all the equipment working a treat, the matches were flying along and even Sandy declared “with a one hit DE, we’ll get this done tonight”…and that’s when the Scotsman learned all about ‘Murphy’s law’!
Poule two had barely got started when one match went to priority and then a few matches later the equipment needed the help of an IT specialist – turn it off, turn it back on again! Add in a broken sword and this poule’s matches went right up the wire of the building lights being turned off! Paul and Will were joint kings of this poule winning five out of six matches each, with Will taking the top seed title by way of the indicator. Hot on their heels were Dave and Sofia with four wins each, with Claudia following behind with two match victories. Richard, ground down by temperamental equipment, let his frustrations get the better of him and managed a single victory, whereas Andrew’s long-term absence showed across the poule.
Sometimes though, with a one hit direct elimination, where anything can happen, it almost seems pointless working out the seedings, but only the following week would tell.
After a slow start to the evening, possibly due to the infernal bad and rainy weather we’d been experiencing, we eventually had enough of the original 14 fencers to complete the November competition. Jaina stepped in for the missing Rohan and, after a few weeks absence the Foreman brothers arrived, without any time to catch their breaths, to stand in for Andrew and Jack. Will and Paul were graced with a bye each for the first round, with Claudia overcoming Sofia, Sandy beating Richard, Peter defeating Sean, Dave overwhelming Abs and Stuart outdoing Steve, the final eight were decided.
Will caught Claudia when she was on the attack seeing him set up a semi-final against Sandy, who saw off Mark. Peter found the reach he needed against a much taller Dave, but Stuart couldn’t find the burst of adrenaline that saw him through the first round DE, and lost to the ever-composed Paul.
In light of the audience that had been building during the quarter-finals, it was decided to play the semi-finals one match at a time. First up was Will versus Sandy. Silence descended upon the hall, but after some to-ing and fro-ing, it was the Scotsman who came up trumps. Sandy’s delight soon turned to dread when he realised the next match would produce his opponent. Out of the ‘two little Dickie birds’ (Peter vs Paul) Sandy’s support went to the elder of the two men because “if I play Paul, I know what he’s going to do; there’s a possibility I could beat him in the final”! We didn’t think it was possible for the hall to fall any more silent, but somehow, it did. With the two men trading blows, incurring ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from those watching, finally one landed with enough force to produce a winner…sending Paul through the final against Sandy.
The longer break, however, did Sandy no favours, as Paul landed the winning shot, making him the November 2023 Monthly competition winner.
Well done all. There were some really close matches this month and some really great shots from across all the competitors. With not much time left this December, I think that may be time for the 2023 monthly club competitions, but make sure you’re available for the last Tuesday of the month in 2024, as there may be some competition changes afoot. However, the things that won’t change will be the fun, the friendship and the trophy!
Well done to everybody this year. Have a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2024. Until next year…
