We were asked by clubs to borrow our pullers for teams to enter the 4x4 competitions at this years Nationals. We gladly helped out these teams. Holland borrowed Tracey and also had Siobhaun pulling with them & Triple F borrowed Di, Rachel, Jess & Marion. Both weights had 6 teams in them. Despite being 40 kilos light in the 660 kilos,Triple F claimed Bronze & Holland won Gold. In the 600 kilos it came down to the last pull to decide the Gold medal between Holland & Triple F. After an exciting 2 ends with the crowd at its best, it was Holland who won Gold with Triple F taking the Silver. A good day out for our girls.
TWO DALES. DERBYSHIRE.
We continued our good form from last week at Two dales, winning both 600 4x4 & 660 4x4 & coming 4th in 600 open weight. We turned out with 5 pullers. First was the 660 kilos 4x4. We had 4 good borrows from Two Dales, to join our 4 excellent pullers. We had a group of 3 with York & Holland (Tracey pulled in this weight for Holland) to pull. We started well, despite the ground starting endy, we didnt need to rely on the toss of the coin, we maintained our angles with the ground a bit greasy on top, staying in control of both pulls. It was commented on, that we had a good tight, powerful rope, despite missing the power in the middle of rope but thanks again Tracey for your comments!!
We had a dabble into the 600 kilos competition. We had Two Dales Lutterworth & York to pull. We had our 5 girls & Bill, Ellie and Gav from Holland. We used these pulls to practice a few things & felt this was a good weight. Our last pull was a bit of a battle against Lutterworth, we showed good determination throughout this weight which was a hard weight to enter but we came out with our heads held high.
Our last weight was the 600 kilos 4x4, again we had 4 good borrows from Two Dales who have supported us well throughout this season. We pulled the same 2 teams in this weight, we made a change Tracey in for Marion. Marion pulled for York who came runners up. Again we controlled the pulls not getting onto a mixing match, trying to pull our way. We came through the group unscathed & took our 2nd Winners medal of the day. Another good days pulling, all our girls pulled with good style, and this competition gave us chance to practice what we have been doing at training.
UNITED KINGDOM CHAMPIONSHIPS. NORTHERN IRELAND.
We had to travel to these Championships with 7 pullers, as Ryan Air left our Championship hopes in tatters, as they declined to let Rachel board the plane with Isla. After a long discussion with the airline, they said they could not board. It was a difficult decision to leave Rachel & Isla behind. But when we landed in Belfast, we recieved a message that they would allow them both on a later flight, that day & would arrive early evening. As no other teams from England were attending the Championships, we had to borrow from another country, with only one puller available from Wales, we weighed in a lot lighter than we had planned for.
REPRESENTING ENGLAND 540 KILOS.
We started the 540 kilos, with Jess, Rachel Siobhaun all pulling for England for the first time & Marion pulling for us at this level. We had Wales, Scotland A & B to pull. We had a difficult start with Wales, they were the heavier side, on top of the ground, they worked well & took us in 2 straight pulls. We then had Scotland B, We picked ourselves up, with the first end going Scotland B's way, we took control & took them back for a hard fought first end, this gave us the edge on the 2nd end & worked well to take this end. Last up in group was Scotland A, we defended against them, as they worked from the drop but we had difficulty in holding them as they started to take us we made it hard for them wearing them down to take us. On the 2nd end we had a good drop not letting them get in to their stride, as we kept our positions well, we finished off the pull in good style. It was all up to the toss off a coin to see who we meet in the Semi Final, we drew Wales.
We had a poor drop giving Wales the first end, we had a better 2nd end but could not stop Wales, they pulled well & went on to meet Scotland A in the Final & we pulled Scotland B in the Bronze pull off. Scotland B had got much stronger as the competition went on, so we had to make sure we stayed focused from the drop. We had a plan to, which went to plan on the first end, defending against them, holding their lifts as they started to fade we got the call to lift, as we lifted together we stayed up pushing hard, despite a few lifts against us we took the first end. The 2nd was an excellent team performance taking the drop, good pressure throught the legs keeping under the cosh, after all good work we took them over the line for a well deserved Bronze medal, not what we came for but under the circumstances, the team worked hard, pulled excellently, and for Jess, Rachel & Siobhaun their first taste of an International Competition, with the experince from Di, Tracey, Marion & Lucinda we made this a good medal to win. Thanks to Heledd from Wales without you we would have not compteted. Congratulations to Scotland A on winning this weight.
After a quick sauna, whilst Rachel was collected from the Airport. We weighed in the team we wanted for the closed competition. There were 5 teams in this weight Llangadog (Wales), Aryshire (Scotland), Ballinagh ( Ireland), Cornhill (Scotland). We pulled Llangadog first, having beaten us 4 times in the closed, we had to be prepared for a hard pull, we handled their strong lifts & big draws well, making every inch they took hard, as we started to build, we got back rope they took, stayed in control & took both ends. Next was Cornhill, again they were strong lifting at us but the weeks training we had made us more prepared for this style of pulling, as we pushed them out in straight pulls. Ayrshire were next, a big test but with the points as they were we kept an angle stepping forward making it hard for Ayrshire, they took the first end, we took the second end after having a good drop. Last up were Ballinagh, a strong lifting team but we coped very well on both ends to finish 2nd in group. In the Semi Final we drew Llangadog.
We had to make sure we did nothing different to the group pulls, with the team growing in confidence it would be hard for any team to stop us. As we attacked Llangadog from the drop, we stayed in control feeding off their every move to take a hard fought first end. On the second end we had a good drop travelled well & pushing them over the line to take our place in the Final against Ayrshire.
With Ayrshire in the final, it was going to be a good pull, both teams attacked the drop we took a slight advantage, but Ayrshire got into their pushing rhythm, so we slowed them down then both sides sat & played a waiting game.Ayrshire went low & we stayed low with Siobhaun staying down with their number one & everyone pulling off her, Ayrshire were going to come up or go down, they came up, giving us the chance to push against them to take the advantage & work hard to take the first end. On the second end, we got it tactically right again, pushing when we had to, staying strong on our legs as Ayrshire are a good side & will always make you work til its over, once we got the nod, we powered on not letting them get a lift in to take the second end & the Gold Medal.
We'll never know what might have been, pulling the same teams in the closed competition. But on this performance we would have been hard to beat. Well done to our team Jess, Tracey, Rachel, Siobhaun, Di, Lucinda, Rachel & Marion. Thanks to the Irish Association on a great 2 days competition for Ladies also to all the side that have competed & made this a good advert for Ladies Tug Of War.
BEDFORD.
There was a group of 7 teams, Oxney, Holland,1066, Wooton, Bedford & Totham Bull. Despite a few rule changes in the lead up to this 4x4, we borrowed 4 pullers, Dave & Dex from Hanging Bridge, Woody from Bosley & Andy hall from Sheen. Our first pull was against Holland, with Siobhaun in their team. After 2 good hard battled ends, we came away with a 2-0 victory. We then pulled Totham Bull, who had Marion, Jess & Dawn in their team, then 1066, we claimed to more 2 straight victories against them.
Next we had Oxney who pulled a very strong front rope, they got low & clean which made it hard to pull them over, despite our efforts they defeated us 2-0. Our last 2 pulls were against Wooton & Bedford, We pulled a steady rope against Wooton to give us a 2-0 victory ensuring we took a well deserved 3rd place. Well to Marion Jess & Dawn & Totham Bull who took 4th place.
After a short break, we started the 540 Kilos competition, with only Bedford & 1066 to compete against ( so we thought). This gave 7 of the team pulling at the UK Championships, this weekend, a chance to pull together in a live competition. We competed well, showing good team building within our side,taking something out of each end to build upon.
This weekend we fly to Northern Ireland to represent England 540 kilos at the United Kingdom Championships in Enniskillen. This will be Rachel, Jess & Siobhaun`s first experience pulling for England & for Marion her first representing pulling for us. Fingers crossed we will have a good Championships & something to build on for next season.
EAST CHESHIRE HOSPICE.
This week we had a good competition with 4 Ladies/ Youth weights, so much better than the 2 weights we usually have. We again had pullers missing, we had 6 including new arrival Marion. We borrowed Sam from LNR for all the weights also Robyn in 520 Kilos, Daniella in 540 Kilos & Tom from Bosley as a late replacement for an injured puller in 560 kilos. We entered the 500 Kilos with 7 pullers to enable us to enter under the 500 Kilos weight.The day started with the 520 Kilos. The other teams we pulled were LNR `A` & `B` & Bedford. We had some good pulling in this weight despite the very endy ground, taking the points off Bedford in our first Pull. We then had LNR `A` then the `B` side, we had more good pulling taking points of both sides giving us victory in this weight.
Next up was the 540 Kilos, the same 4 teams entered. We had a good start getting some good training but the 3 enders had taken its toll on Daniella who damaged her knee, on the 3rd end v Bedford & came off the rope during the pull.So we pulled the last pull with 7 pullers but still managed to take points, as we came 3rd.
The 500 Kilos was next, this was a group of 3 teams. We had 7 pullers in this weight, with Bedford & LNR had 8 of their own pullers. We were to pull Bedford first but had a slight delay, so Bedford pulled LNR first. We went on against LNR, lost 2 straight pulls to the Lads side, who won this weight. We then pulled out of this weight.
Last weight was the 560 kilos, with the forced change to bring in Tom, we had to put our anchor on the rope. We pulled well picking up points aginst Bedford and LNR `A,` we had to beat LNR `B` to ensure 2nd place. We pulled to our strengths to beat LNR `B` who had an injured puller so we dropped down to 7, but we stayed in control to take both ends.
ASHBOURNE HIGHLAND GATHERING.
660 Kilos 4x4
We took part in the 660 4x4 & 600 4x4 with Hanging Bridge & Two Dales. The first weight was the 660 4x4. This was a group of 6 teams, after having a few weeks off & 4 weeks since our last competition, this was an excellant way to get some good live pulling.
We had some good ends to practice, what we had done in training, with every team pulling a different style, we went unbeaten through the group, leaving the last pull in the weight against Holland which was to be the Final as both sides had gone through this weight unbeaten. We had a great crowd pleasing first end with both teams taking rope off each other but Holland's side was too big for us to pull them over & they went on to take both ends in a thrilling Final.
600 Kilos 4x4.
We only had 4 girls for this competition so they got some good pulling in both weights.This weight was split into 2 groups of 3, Then the top 2 go into a cross over then the winners into the Final. We pulled Diesel power & York in our group coming through to pull Leek in the Semi Final.
After beating Leek 2 straight, we were again in the Final against Holland. This time we maintained the pressure on our angle, pushing, taking inches, drawing back then taking rope. We took both ends in another good Final. We had Rachel pulling in her first competition in a year since having her baby. We also have Dawn back from her 12 week tour off Australia (dont worry those kilos will soon come off!). Well done to Tracey and Di, taking on new positions & working well & finally Rachel for pulling on the rope (instead of the anchor) in the first weight after not pulling on the rope for a year also! Also thank you to all the willing babysitters for looking after Isla (Lynsey, Katie & Dawn) and Lynsey for her photography skills!
UPDATE.
We have been invited to represent England at this years United Kingdom Championships being hels in Northern Ireland at 540 Kilos. We have 6 weeks training to get a line up sorted & weight to lose, but thats the fun of it all.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. WARSLOW. STAFFORDSHIRE.
This year 3 teams attended the National Championships, Leek Leek & Bedford. We had put a squad together for this years Championships, in both 540 kilos & 500 kilos weights, neither side had trained or pulled together until today. We won the silver medal in the 540 kilos & 500 kilos competitions. Squad with their winning medals.
The first weight was the 540 kilos, We had Jess, Emily and Rachel, pulling in their first Nationals. We were drawn against Leek first, we won this pull in 2 straight pulls, we had a shaky start, with Leeks strong lift, they got us out of position but we soon got back on an angle & returned their lifts to take both ends in a close contest.
After a 6 minute rest we were back on again against Bedford. They had a very experienced team, so this would be a good test for us. We took an early advantage, we were travelling well, Bedford put in some lifts to stop us & took rope, we found a good lift & travelled back over the line. The second end was a tight one, we took the advantage from the drop travelling well, then we fell to the floor despite trying to retrieve what we had lost, both sides had trouble staying up, with the sun behind Bedford the judge could only look our way & was harsh with his judging against us. However this did not detract the result in this weight, as Bedford took the second end. Again as last year another crowd pleasing 3rd end! We started well, travelling at a good height but half way back we got took to the floor, got out of position and Bedford took full advantage, despite all our endevors to regain our position they took the 3rd end. Again another excellent pull between us & Bedford. Bedford then pulled Leek in 2 straight ends to win the 540 kilos. We came runners up to win the Silver Medal.
There was the same 3 teams in the 500 kilos competition. We had Siobhaun and Lizzie pulling in their first Nationals in this weight. Again we were to pull first,this time against Bedford. Again this side had never pulled or trained together, so it was important to get a good drop to ensure we were able to compete with Bedford. We made a good start but were unable to build together to put any constant pressure against Bedford, who kept us under the cosh & we found it hard to get a lift together to brake them down, we made Bedford work hard to take us over the line.
Another 6 minute break, then we were up against Leek. Another great crowd pleaser of a pull! We had a good drop taking rope, but Leek kept low making it hard for us to travel. Then they turned us taking us forward, then for us to stop them & start working them back. This was getting in to a right battle, taking its toll on our legs, we came a drift from the holes making our way into the mens holes! with the judge then deciding to give the 1st end to Leek. The 2nd end was our best end, we dropped in pushing Leek from the drop when they managed to stop us we drew it back & to the 2nd end. On the 3rd end, the judge must have thought we were good as he didnt take his eyes of us throughout the pull, we had a good drop not letting Leek lift us, we hit the ground giving Leek the chance to attack they started to take us, we steadied ourselves then when the call came, we got a good lift together to take Leek back from over half way to secure our 2nd Silver medal. With Bedford defeating Leek in the last pull they won this weight. Our congratulations go to them & to Leek for making this a good advert for Ladies Tug of War, for only a small number of team, the huge crowd seem to enjoy both competitions.
We have had yet another transitional season, losing 6 pullers, leaving us with only 5 pullers, Weve showed some real committement to carry on this season as other teams have just faded away but with the help from Hope Valley, Holland Sports & Ashbounre yfc, we were able to compete at these National Championships & we would like to thank all those clubs for their kind support. We would like to say a very big thank you to Mrs Alcock & Mrs Charles for their valued time spent serving refreshments all day.
MIDLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS.
This week we competed in the 520 kilos & 560 kilos. The first weight was the 520 kilos, we pulled with 7 & we borrowed Tom from Bosley. We had a group of 3, L&NR A & B both having 8 pullers. We first pulled L&NR`B, a mixed team of youth & Junior lads & girls, we took this pull 2 straight. Then we pulled L&NR`A`with mainly Youth lads in this side we lost the first end, then we took the 2nd end & the 3rd end was a close pull, we took control then a sway or 2 came from L&NR taking us out the holes onto fresh ground & letting L&NR `A` take the honours in this weight & we came runners up.
In the 560 kilos, we borrowed 2 L&NR girls. With the same 3 teams, we pulled the `B` side first. This weight was moved onto fresh ground! we took the first 2 ends against the `B` side then lost to a strong L&NR `A` lads youth side. Who won this weight & we took runners up. Despite the lack of encouragement shown by others not only at this competition, but by most, as when a small number of teams in 2 weights, to go round once in a group of 3 once for some, seems enough, there seems no encouragement in teams travelling a long distance for no more than few pulls. We`ve had to lose ends, just to get more pulling but atleast we've ticked the 4th required box.
LINCOLN, HARBY. LEICESTERSHIRE.
We had 6 girls for this competition so we borrowed Tom from Bosley to make us 7. We only had Bedford to pull in both the 520 kilos & 560 kilos weights, this was to be the best of 5 pulls per weight. We pulled well on the greasy ground with nothing to push behind we beat Bedford 3-0 to win the 520 kilos. Both teams had the same teams in the 560 kilos we again won 3-0. Not a vast amount of pulling, with no Youth teams turning up, but with 2 competitions in 2 days weve ticked the boxes. Thanks again to Tom.
SHEEN LADIES.STAFFORDSHIRE.
We entered 2 mens weights with 8 eight girls, using the pulls for training. After the 2 weights we pulled against Ashbourne yfc lads team for some extra training with 3 close pulls the lads won 2-1, this extra training provided us with some valued training which would help us at Lincoln`s competition on the Sunday.
We would like to thank everyone who help us to run our competition from getting the chairs & tables people making cakes, ashbourne lads for making the human barrier for the car park, all the teams & officials for making this a excellent competition & to the Manifold Inn for the use of their ground. Thank you all.
HOLLAND SPORTS. BARTON UNDER NEEDWOOD.
This was the final week of the Midland Training League. We joined up with Two Dales, for the 4x4 660 Kilos. With the ground endy at the beginning of the day, we pulled well making the most of the good end, trying to wear down the other sides, but the luck was with the other teams, winning the toss for the 3rd end! Again another useful weight for training. We took 3rd place over all in this weight. Thanks to the Lads from Two Dales & Louise from Holland.
The 600 kilos 4x4 was next, with the ground now more even, We had an excellent last pull with 3 ways. We defended well going forward making every inch hard for them, then with 6 inches to go, we started to push against them, showing some good determination, taking them all the way back. We had enough in the tank to take the 2nd end & took 3rd place overall in this weight as well. Thanks to Holland Lads & Charlotte for helping us in this weight. The 3 weeks of the Training League for us was a huge thumbs up, giving us some excellent competition in a good friendly atmosphere thoughtout the Tug of War Federation. At the end we attended a Presentation to collect our two Trophies.
EAST OF ENGLAND. BEDFORDSHIRE.
The first weight was the 560 kilos Ladies & Youth League. This was a group of 7 L&N 'A' 'B' & 'C', Bedford & Gloucester'A' & 'B'. We had a good weight with Jo & Katie pulling for the first time this season & we borrowed Jag from Sandhurst Youth. After a bit of tweaking with the side. we pulled a good style as each pull was different, we had dropped just 2 ends & had an excellent pull with Glouscester 'A' Lads team beating them & ensuring we took Runners up spot.
Next was the 520 Kilos, we borrowed Ben & Lee from Sandhurst Youth for this weight. This was another group of 7 teams. We started of well in this group beating sides with angles & pressure. Unfortunatley Lee had hurt his back from the previous weight & had to pull out, we continued with 7 pullers, dispite being much lighter, we took 3rd in this weight.
TWO DALES, DERBYSHIRE.
The first weight was 660 Kilos 4x4, we were very light in this weight,but its the training we went for. We pulled against Holland, 3 Ways & Leek. The ground was very endy but we pulled well against the other sides, beating heavier sides in a good style.
The next weight was 600 Kilos 4x4. After a good rest for us & the weight before a tiring experience for the Holland Lads, we pulled in a group of 4 again. The ground had not improved much but we pulled well, keeping shape, winning some good ends, which was hard on such ground but an excellent opportunity for some extra live pulling. Thanks to Holland Sports for their support again.
KILBY, LEICESTERSHIRE.
The first weight was the 660 kilos 4x4, we were joined by 4 Holland pullers. It was a group of 5, our first pull was against a very strong Holland side & they were the only team to beat us in this weight. 3 ways were another strong team with experienced pullers they pulled a good tight rope, but we were able to win both ends in a controlled manner. The other 2 teams were Wooton & Lutterworth both excellent pulls, giving us valuable pulling after only a weeks training.
The next weight was the 600 kilos 4x4 again we were joined by 4 Holland pullers. It was the same 5 teams, again excellent pulling by all teams in this weight. We started off well beating Wooton, Lutterworth & Holland. The last pull was the deciding pull of the group. We went to a crowd pleasing 3 ends, after 2 hard fought ends, the 3rd was one to many & 3 ways took the deciding end. This was an excellent final pull in the group, giving us a good battle. But for our first competition after a weeks training getting 2 runners up was an excellant days pulling. We would like to thank Holland sports for their kind support for this competition.
This was Jess`s first competition (thanks to you Dawn!) & she pulled very well, for only a nights training, she has already proved to be another good asset to our squad.
This weekend is the start of the new outdoor season, again with a new season ahead means rebuilding our squad. We are looking forward to building a side & the challenges ahead. We will be attending the 3 Ways competition run by the Tug of War Federation.
UNITED KINGDOM CHAMPIONSHIPS, BANFF.SCOTLAND.
We pulled in the 520 Kilos weight for the first time at this years UK Championships, with 3 new pullers Gemma, Jo & Lisa & Lucinda( firstwith us) & Dawn, all pulling in their 1st UK Championships. We have a very good young team, with a new line up & 3 weeks outdoor training, we were good to go.
We first pulled Scotland A, with a couple of familiar faces in their team. With the ground again proving to be very endy, with one end flat, the other with 2 raised areas & graesey, this would be a hard end to pull on.
We had a good drop to stop the Scottish A team from taking us from the drop, after we stopped them we came up & started to push against them but with the graesey ground it was hard to stop there powerful lift.
On the second end against Scotland A, we were able to drop & push against them as they had no answer to our powerful pushing & we took the second end, making one end each.
Next we had Wales A, we took the first end, keeping an angle, pushing through our legs & defending their lifts. The second was a different story, we had a good drop keeping down low to stop their big lift, having to defend on the bad end was harder than ever we returned their lifts back to an angle so they couldnt get a lift in & slowly we inched & slipped our way to take the second end.
The last pull in the group was against Scotland B, an unknown team to us, we took advantage of the good end droppping hard, staying tight a foot from the line, letting them work while we stayed in control & then push them over the line. The second end we dominated from the drop pushing tight against them giving them no chance to lift against us then waiting for the right time to finish them off. We came joint top with Scoland A in the group but placed second due to picking up only one caution, umm. With Wales a & Scotland B tossing a coin to see who pulls who in the Semi Final.
We pulled Wales A in the Semi Final, they had a good lift against us from the drop taking advantage of the good end but we stayed strong, keeping our angle going forward making every inch they took hard as we began to ware them down we started to attack them with a big draw through we started to travell well & powered our way back to take the first end.
As we lined up ready for the second end, knowing this end would put us in the Final, we had a massive drop pushing keeping down on the rope Wales A could find no answer to our power & took the second end for a place in the Final against Scotland A.
In the Final, we won the toss & took the good end first. We started with a good drop & stayed on our angle, defending the Scottish sides strong lifts, we were made to work hard as Scotland A stayed low & heavy but with them on the greasey end we power took us over the line to take a hard fought first end.
On the second end,we stayed a bit higher on the drop not to go to low & slide on the greasey surface with no holes to get behind, we returned everything back to keep an angle we started to take the advantage on Scotland but we were fighting with the raised ground Scotland put in some big lifts to stop us & as they made us of the good end took the end to a third end. It was all on the toss of a coin, as per the past 2 years, we had gone to a crowd pleasing 3 ends again & for the third year running we lost the toss & Scotland A, took the good end.
We threw everything at Scotland from the drop & started to take them everytime they stopped us we put in a big draw moved them again but as we needed a couple more lifts as we had the back 5 pullers on the fresh & raised ground, Scotland still had enough good ground to be able to make a last lift to turn us & we had given everything in this Final, but the end beat us & Scotland A took the Gold Medal. It was a close & an excellent Final between the top 2 sides from their countries. Its never a good feeling losing in a Final but every puller in the team had put everything into this Final & should be proud to have pulled in a Final after a short outdoor season for us. Congratulations to Scotland A also to Wales A & Scotland B for making the 520 kilos competition a very good advert for Ladies Tug of War.
In the evening we attended the Presentation meal & celebrated long into the early hours, we all had a great evening & looking forward to our 9 hour drive home. Unfortunatley we were unable to pull in the open competition due to the long drive home.
BETWS, WALES.
We had a warm welcome from the host club & they were so pleased, that we travelled down to Wales for their competition.There were 3 weights 520 560 580 kilos which is better for us as we could use our squad & everyone got more pulling. The first weight of the day was the 520 kilos. There were 4 teams in each weight Ifon, Mercred, & Bedford. We first pulled against Mercred. We had to have a good drop to start as we have not pulled them before so we had to make sure we took control, we pushed well on the fresh ground, when we had them rolling we pushed harder not letting them attack us, as we saw later in this weight, they also pull a good pressured rope. On the second end, the ground was soft on top then very wet underneath, again we took rope on the drop, staying on our angle, slowing down making sure we didn't slip then pushed away to take the second end. We went through the rest of this weight unbeaten beating both Ifon & Bedford with controlled pressure.
The next weight was the 560 kilos, we were 524 kilos, we made 1 change Gemma on for Lynsey, we pulled Gemma on the rope where she has never pulled before for us, which is good training to pull bigger sides. We first pulled Mercred, they pull a very tight rope. so we knew we had to get a good drop, we had a good drop pushing them steadily back with a little nudge we took the first end, the second end we dropped in to high giving them the chance to work, we stopped them but they had a good lift & took us over the line. The third end we got the drop right & pushed away they had a good go at attacking us but we keep our shape well & pushed them over the line.
Next was Bedford we took the first end on pressure , waiting for the right time to move & eased over to take the first end, the second end we again dropped in to high & give them in incentive to try to take us we tried to return there lifts but were to high to be able to draw enough, so we kept a higher angle making it hard to pull us, knowing that we had the still after the second end lasted 4 minutes 24 seconds. The third end we made mistake with the drop we pushed well not giving them a chance to get in to us, as once you do let them back in they have the experience & will take it, but we keep our shape waited for the right time to build & took the third end. Ifon Valley was next a big team, so we had to be focused from the start, we attacked the drop not giving them a chance to put in their big lift & took both ends to win this weight.
The last weight was 580, we made 1 change Lynsey on for Lorna, making us 513 kilos, but we had some great pulling in this weight, again we had a good pull with Bedford the first end we drove hard at them & they had no answer but the second end they went low to stop us working, so we were happy & in control to sit & wait, their anchor went down low but we waited for her to adjust the height after a short time, once she came up we pushed hard taking it half way, before they stopped us, then we had to be tight keep a good angle then we put in a massive draw which surprised them & we went on to power them over the line. We had to good pulls against Ifon Valley & Mercred both pulls were pulled with controlled pressure not losing any ends & finshed of a good day with another win.
We had a really good day everyone pulled exceptionally well, with only 3 weeks training its starting to show, that all the hard work is paying off. After a short presentation of 3 brand new trophies, some kind words from the organinzers, we set back of on the road home. Next week we are representing England at 520 kilos at the United Kingdom Championships at Banff, Scotland, this is the first time the club has represented at 520 kilos at the UK Championships.
BEDFORD.
We would like to thank the people who took the time to congratulated us on our achievement on winning the Bronze Medal at The World Games,as this would have been the first opportunity for the Association & teams.
It was a disappointing turn out,we had hoped that more teams representing England would have made the effort to attend this competition. There was only ourselves & Bedford, we only had 6 pullers due to work commitments Bedford had 9 pullers, so we borrowed 1 from Bedford & pulled 7 aside for the 2 weights. It was suggested we pulled either twice for each weight, for some extra time on the rope we entered the 600 kilos aswell. We competed well in the 520 kilos weighing 470 kilos against Bedford more experienced 7 pullers, we wanted time on the rope to get use to pulling outdoors again after a long time pulling indoor. We contained Bedfords early attack, with keeping our angles we were taking rope on pressure, with our style of pulling, Lynsey, our borrowed puller, didn't take to long to adapt after a few helpful words from our coach. We had to take something from every pull, to get back to read a rope, move the feet, which with live competition is the only way to achieve this. We would like to thank Lynsey for pulling with us.
The 600 kilos was a seeded weight, we were weighed in heavier than 600 kilos by Ray Fray Smith dispite it being 600 kilo weight. We had Lincoln, Totham Bull & Oxney in our group. We entered this weight to have time on the rope, in our build up to the UK championships, unlike previous weeks, when were given the chance to have a pull, this week only Totham Bull allowed us time, which we thank them for also to Bo & Ian from Bosley who pulled for us.
The last weight of the day was 560 kilos, weighing 477 kilos against a much heavier Bedford. We contained Bedford, keeping tight on our angle & pushing to take inches, we were able to take rope but weight against us & tiredness creeping in with the 2 girls who had pulled with no training for 11 months & 5 months both pulled very well. We were happy with our days pulling, getting rope fit & live pulling was our aim, as its what we win at UK`s, is the important competition to win. Thanks to Charlotte for pulling with us.
BARTON.
After a weeks light training, it was back to outdoor competitions, as we begin our build up to the United Kingdom Championships at Banff, Scotland but nearer Norway! As we need live outdoor competition & no Ladies competitions on, we went to Barton, We pulled Holland Sports Girls. We were the first weight on, with the sunshining unlike the day before, the ground was possibly the same as at the UK Championships, it was a good test, against Holland`s new side, We had Jo & Lisa pulling in their first competitive competition for us, outside the Nationals & both very good pullers fitted in to our team so well & are a bonus to our club,this was a good start for us to get back into the different style we are having to pull.
We pulled well trying to stay on our legs & clean, (on thisground its best to finish on your legs!!!)but the ground took a few ends to adjust to, but once we found our legs, we had some good ends & handled the Holland girls lifts well & were able to put in to practise, what we had been training, into a live pull. The Holland team our a young team but with plenty more competitions together in the future they will be a excellent team in the future.
We also competed in the 640 kilos competition, borrowing to Holland pullers. We used this weight to tighten up on our drops, for leg work, to defend & hold teams. This was a group of 7, we competed well despite being light, we had a couple of teams under the cosh but with the ground getting boggy & the extra kilos light made it difficult to move teams, but we took loads of training from these pulls & would like to thank all the teams for their support & consideration with us pulling in this weight.
RECENT NEWS.
Sheen Ladies have been invited by the Tug of war Association to represent England 520 at The 2009 United Kingdom Championships which are being held in Banff in Scotland which have accepted but have decided not to go to the European Championships in Assen, Holland. Our main aim was the World Games this season & for the outdoor was to qualify to go to the UK`s as we have been restricted to do any outdoor before the World Games, we now have a short break then back training for the Uk`s in August.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS. BLANDFORD.
There was only 3 teams both the 560 & 520 kilo weights at this years Championships. With the Friday night weigh in done, usually teams go out to put as much weight back on as possible, but this was not the case for us, as we are still focusing on our dieting down for the World Games. We had Jo & Lisa pulling for us for the first time & proved to be both the finds of the season & we had Gemma who joined us in May & has proved to be an excellent anchor, for only having a couple of short sessions, to get to pull our style, she was amazing. The first weight was the 560 kilos, being 42 kilos light, we knew this would be a hard weight, to compete in.We pulled the Army first,with the Army having a 2 week training sessions before the Nationals they should have been much rope fitter than us.This was a excellent pull both teams attacking but with the Army feeding us rope to put a lift in, as we were so tight, pressing on our angles, they dropped us to the ground to many times for the judges liking & gave us 2 quick caution for sitting,unfortunately oblivious to what they doing, we finally broke the Army`s lifts down & started to power them back, with only a foot to the line, the Judge dubiously blew us out for sitting, despite one person slipping this was classed as sitting a strange decision, but,when that happens you now its going to be a hard day to win.
Our next pull was against Bedford, We attacked them from the drop started to take rope then more rope came, Bedford scattered out of the holes,sat wondering what was happening, we held them for a moment, we settled, then drove them over the line. This was a fantastic end to win against Bedford who had been training since March & we had only trained as a squad for 2 hours 30 mins outdoor all season.
The next weight was the 520 kilos, strangely we pulled the Army first again. We weighed in at 500 kilos & we knew that in this weight we were nearer the same weight as the other sides but still lighter. With a few pullers getting a few twinges from pulling outdoor, we had to pull to our plan. We were in total control against the Army, they tried to pull the same tactics, feed us rope to put us on the ground,same as in the 560 but we we able to catch the rope they fed us to stay on our legs which was great to see the new pullers cope with these tactics & then carry on to gain a sweet victory.
We won a Silver medal in the 520 kilos, which at this stage of our build up to the World Games was a excellent result. We showed we are still the team to beat & its a shame that not all teams wanted to win at the Nationals. Which was a shame but still a good competition this year. Hopefully next year there maybe more teams that attend the Nationals.
The squad, Back row: Gemma, Lorna, Lisa, Jo, Julie, Lucinda, Dawn. Front Row: Tracey, Di, Duncan, Rachel Lynsey. Well done to all the squad for their enthusiasm & commitment to pull outdoor at the Nationals with very limited training together.
Well done to Jo & Lisa who pulled on the sunday for their young Farmers team, Waterhouses at Malvern & carried on the good work by qualifying for the Royal Show, We all at Sheen Ladies, wish you all the best in the Finals.
5 WEEKS TO NATIONALS.
With the World Games just weeks away, it just goes to show the insignificance of the National Championships this year for us. When we are going to pull the other top 5 countries in the world at the World games & to pull at a National Championships, its like pulling in the Champions League then going to pull non league.When some will never Qualify to compete, let alone go to watch a World Games, they can not understand what we have had to go through, so to compete at outdoor competition this year has been a distraction for us & given no credit by the other ladies teams for attending competition but we feel we want to support the Association, as they have helped funding with our trip to the World Games. We will finally be able to let our hair down this season, for those that can, with no pressure to clean up again this season after winning both weights with comfort last year, with only the competition for our training against teams that have trained since March, we feel that are priority is to qualify for the UK Championships, then we would have had a good day, then party for 1 night only as it will be back to training on the Monday night.
DAVENTRY (6)
The first weight of the day was the 520 kilos. With only Bedford in this weight, we had hoped for some good training but no,it was just the 2 ends, with any chance of holes to use were soon destroyed by the Girls & boys weights pulling on the same ground before us. We started slow but had the power to stop Bedford from working & to hold them, making them panic in to lifting. We were surprised to be able to return some lifts & take rope. We made good use from our training, on the rope, keeping our shape, to defend there lifts. Well done to Jo, who pulled for us for the first time, its never easy pulling for a new team and one thats not done any outdoor training, Jo kept a good angle & showed that on better ground, she will have a lot to offer our team in the future.
The next weight was 560 kilos with 2 other teams Bedford & Team Army. We first pulled Bedford then Team Army who had a menagerie of pullers, 3 from Bedford and 1 from the Cadets, a few more than the rules normally allow! But we had a good pull, stopping Team Army, keeping our angles whilst we could on terrible ground & went on to beat Team Army 2-0.
We were pleased with our days pulling, as we were beating & containing both teams, who have been training since March. Well done to Gemma who pulled for the first time for us & did very well on anchor & will be a great addition to our team & to Lorna who`s loving the rope pulling! With our 6 competitions done, we can now concentrate on our main aim this season, the World Games.
LINCOLN.(5)
With the Nationals only 7 weeks away, the stress is starting to show on the teams pulling us. We entered the 520 kilos, we borrowed Tom & Tony from Bosley to make us 510 kilos. We first pulled the Cadets Girls, always a lively pull but we stopped them from working leaving them bent only for them to go to ground & we took both ends. Then we had to pull Bedford, they were aggrieved that we borrowed Tony, which the rules state, we were entitled to, as you can borrow 2 men, they complained about this borrow. But we are not ones to make a fuss, so we sportingly asked Tony to sit this pull out, leaving us to pull with 6 & weighing now only 415 kilos, we lined up to pull Bedford who had unsportingly still pulled with their 7, so we had no option but to walk the two ends forward, as we could not risk any injuries to any of our squad for the World games. Our last pull was against Cadets, we used this pull as training for our new puller for positioning, for holding teams & for getting tight against lifting sides. We held on to their strong lifts but pulling 8 boys, they had to do so much lifting to move us on the first end to win.We used the same tactics for the 2nd end, drawing the rope back to hold the postion & not to take any rope, despite our efforts to use this for training, the cadet team were too strong and the cadets won both ends. We compete in these weights, purely for outdoor training, as our focus at present is purely indoor training for the World games. Our squad is already training indoor 3 times a week on alternate weeks, and so as not to burn out our World Games squad, we are looking very much at the bigger picture, trying to fit in our 6 outdoor competitions before the Nationals. Thanks again to Tom & Tony for pulling for us.
ASHBOURNE YOUNG FARMERS.(4)
The competition was well supported by teams from the Association & from Young farmers. We would like to thank all the teams for their support in this competition & to Everyone at the Manifold Inn, who`s help made this such a great day.
After a hard days training on saturday for the squad going to the World Games, we entered just the 560 kilos. This was a group of 5 teams, Waterhouses, Ashbourne, Bedford & Bakewell, with Heather always improving after doing some individual training & without us doing any outdoor training, we competed very well & came runners up in this weight.
WOODTREATMENT BOSLEY.(3)
After a hard days indoor training on Saturday, we took this opportunity to have a some outdoor training. We entered the 600 kilos, weighing only 520 kilos, we used this weight to practice a few new ideas throughout & to avoid any 3 enders. With a full squad next week, we are hoping for some more good training.
AREA 2 TRAINING DAY AT DROITWICH.(2)
We started with the 560ish kilos weight.We were light in this but had a good pull with the cadets B, which, as we are using these competitions as our training, more pulls like this is good for us. Heather was pulling in her first competition for us & with only a nights indoor training proved what a good asset she will be to our club & will find it easier against tighter teams than in the 560 kilos.Thanks to Rebecca & Charlie for pulling for us in this weight.
The second weight was 520 with 6 girls & Mark from Sheen, to bump us up a lot nearer 520 kilos! We pulled Holland first they pulled a really good tight rope, we pushed and waited pushed again giving us time on the rope & a chance for some good training. We then pulled Cadets keeping them under pressure we made them sink to the floor & pulled them over the line with no chance to get up.Thanks to Mark for his help. Thanks to Area 2 for Holding two very good Competitions, which were both well supported. Well done to Rachel, who competed in her first Tri-athlon today!
AREA 2 TRAINING DAY AT BARTON. (1)
We started our outdoor season with a short trip to Barton. We entered the 620 with the help from John from Sheen, we were only 40 kilos light. With having no outdoor training, we were looking for a chance to practise a couple of new ideas. We had a group of 3 other sides to pull. We first had Barton, we were a bit cautious on the drop but we dropped in well, with no need to be lifting against heavier sides to avoid the risk of injuries, we made this a good pull, which gave us the confidence to try to push in our next pull against Holland Sports. Again we had a good drop, eased into some good positions, pulling bigger sides is good for us to train against a tight rope.
Our last pull was with Hanging Bridge, who sportingly offered to pull with 7 (leaving off their heaviest puller!!) this pull gave us a good chance to work hard. On the 2nd end Hanging bridge gave us a good tight rope to pull on allowing us to build pressure & work against them allowing us sportingly to take the 2nd end. For our first pull on grass it was a good start to the season, we all enjoyed the weight even Lorna, who pulled on the rope for the first time. Next week the competition is at Droitwich.
Well its that time of year again to get out the boot cleaner, find the tack & get the sun tan lotion ready, its outdoor again! But this year with a difference for us. With the World Games our number one priority this year we will do what we need to do, to stay injury free before the world games in July. With no pressure on us, we will go out to enjoy the competitions this season. This weekend will be our first competition an Area 2 training day, so we are all looking forward to that!.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS. SWEDEN
This was our first ever World Championships at 520.We had weighed in at 510 kilos on the Thursday night, the girls had done an excellent job of dieting down to get this team in. We had good rest with us not entering the open competition and we had high hopes for a good day when we pulled on the Sunday. We were told that the ground is every endy, That was correct, the ground could not have been anymore endy, at one end you had grass and the other end was tighty squeeze in between 2 sets of old holes which had all the dirt and grass from those holes on it which made that impossible to pull on a it was greasy and could not make an impression on it, our coach ask to clear the defected area but was told this is an infringment of the rules. With the ground as it was, this made a mockery of this weight.
We lined up against South Africa first with this pull going 1 end each, surprisingly! we drop in to move both ends the first end was a dream start the second was to be the story of the day with nothing but loose earth and grass we could not get in to stop their attack. we then beat wales 2-0 both ends were harder than they should have been.1-1 against Germany in total control of both ends good drops they were low to stop us on the second end they was little in it but they took the second end, lost 2-0 to Holland we had a good drop then easied forward to save energy for the next pull,
we went 1-1 against Switzerland (picture pulling Switzerland) the first end was as perfect as we pulled all year in control took a bit waited to every inch and gave nothing away but the second end they attack, we with stood this started to move back but they had holes to get behind stopped us and took us over the line , Beat Belguim 2-0 they were a tough team but were knew we had to take these points to get close to the cross over, 1-1 against Lithuania we had a good drop took them half way before they could do anything to stop us the second end we had to with stand their early pressure to try to where them down we was doing this but picked up caution stopping us to stay down to hold them they took this end, beat Japan 2-0 another tough pull in these conditions a lifting side but we managed to stay in control to win,
We lost to Sweden 2-0 we needed a point to get to the cross over against a very strong swedish side, we got them off there hips down to ground but they are a very strong side and took us both ends ending any chance to get to the cross over, which gave us 13 points and finished joint 5th with South Africa. Which was not a true reflection of the way we pulled every end was a hard battle everyone gave 110%, it was the same for everyone else in this weight and this gave the other countries of having a chance to stop us but thats tug of war. Well done to Sweden they were far the best team on winning the Gold medal, Holland got Silver and Switzerland won Bronze. We would like to Thank Di for pulling for us & Amy for being our reserve at late notice.
We had a Fantastic season winning all the major competitions,the National Championships at 520 & 560 the UK Championships at 560 and winning 520 & 560 Ladies League. To all squad you should all be proud of your achivements this year. And enjoy the 4 week rest before we start again for the Indoor season which is so important this year as we pull in the World Games in July so we are looking forward to the indoor season which will hopefully provided us with some excellent training from the mens teams.
NATIONAL LEAGUE FINALS.
Having already won both the 520 and 560 before the final day, it was a poor turn out for this competition. With only Bedford to pull, we pulled first to win 5 ends for the 520. We only had 7 Ladies out so we pulled both weights with the same team. We had a good days pulling winning all 5 ends in the 520. In the 560 Bedford made a change but we managed to win this weight 4-1. So this was our last competition before we head off to Sweden for the World Championships. We would like to wish Bedford all the best in Sweden representing England at 560.
UK CHAMPIONSHIPS OPEN.
The first weight was the 520, 6 teams entered, 2 from Scotland, Bankfoot and Cornhill and 4 from England Belvior Vale, Bedford and Army Ladies. Our first pull was against Bedford, being TWIF rules we knew one end was enough to make it through to the cross over. We attacked the drop on the first end taking rope with Bedford putting up a battle to stop us, but we powered on to take this end. The second end was tactical so we dropped in hard and then sat and waited for Beford to start pulling, we kept angle making it hard work for Bedford to take the second end. Then we had Bankfoot this was the first time we had pulled them so we had to be switched on from the drop, they had no answer to our pressure and we took both ends. Army Ladies next, with them winning this weight the day before we had to make no mistakes with them. We had a perfect drop and it came with some ease and we stayed up on our legs to win both ends comfortably. Cornhill were next we dropped in and pushed them out both ends. Last up was Belvior Vale the drop was important. They dropped in low to stop us they stayed low for a while, so we came up to contain them, and when they went to ground we were ready to start pushing them over the line. The second end was to be much the same tactics, stay up high, wait for them to go to ground then push! Its a hard way to pull but effective.
We won the group and pulled Army Ladies in the semi-final. We had a very good drop with no real answer from them with a couple of lifts against us we kept our shape and powered our way to win both ends and reach the final. In the final we pulled Bedford, with their growing support from the crowd they seemed lifted. We were in control of the pull, sat on an angle defending every lift, then for some reason we hit the floor giving Bedford the encouragement to lift and pull us over the line. We knew what had to be done on the second end so we had a big drop started to push and take them half way then one lift from them, and they got us bent, and we were unable to find that one draw to get us straight and moving with the crowd behind them they pulled us forward to take the second end.
The 560 was next with 3 teams in this Bankfoot and Bedford. We made one change bringing in Debbie for Lynsey. Bedford was first again they went with a bigger side than ours in this weight so we had to be in control with the disappointment from the 520. We attacked the drop taking and keeping every inch tight we pressured our way back with some strong lifts from Bedford we never let them bend us over we were in control of both ends and won 2-0. Bankfoot were next knowing that a win would put us in the final, we took the first end on pressure staying on our legs and pushing hard and we won the second end with a big drop and pushed them over the line. In the final we pulled Bedford again, both sides had a good drop sitting and waiting we kept the pressure on them making them go lower to contain us, we withstood their lifts and drew long, and stayed on our legs to take the first end.
The second end was to be like the first with the crowd cheering them on they put in some strong lifts but we stayed in control on our legs, pushing, not giving them a chance to reply, and took the second end to win the 560.
UK CHAMPIONSHIPS CLOSED.
We represented England at 560, we weighed in 535 kilos,10 kilos lighter than when we won the 560 last year, so we knew we had to be fitter & stay focused all day. After winning both weights at the National Championships we had to choose between representing at the 520 or 560. We chose the 560 for the better pulling & pulling heavier teams for a better build up to the World Championships.
With 4 teams entered this weight England B Wales A & Wales B. We had a good draw pulling Wales A first. The ground was good, some good holes to get behind, so getting a good drop was essential. With some nerves around we made no mistake with getting the drop. We started to push from the drop leaving Wales A fighting hard to stop us, but to no avail as we won the end. The second end had to be much the same, with the second end there was a slight advantage with the ground slopping at the back, so we pushed from the drop with Wales making every inch hard to take but we stay composed and won the 2nd end.
Next was England B a very strong side. We knew we had pulled this tactically, as the top teams miss each other in the cross over, it was to be a steady pull from us holding our angle & easing forward to lose 2-0.
Wales B was our last pull in the group. Knowing 1 end was enough to put us in second place, we had a good drop making Wales B go lower to stop us as they went to ground we pushed on to take the first end. We made no mistake with the second end romping home to take second in the group and weight for semi- final draw.
In the semi-finals we were drawn against Wales B. We attacked the drop,not giving them a chance to stop our power and we cruised our way in to the final by winning the second end with ease as Wales B had an eye on pulling for the bronze Medal.
In the Final we pulled England B, this was not going to be an easy pull with England B a strong tight team to pull against.Both sides dropped in trying to take the first advantage, both teams settled and sat waiting for the first attack. We started to put pressure on them but they seemed to be able to contain us on the better end. As we started to try to move, England B answered and took us forward as hard as we fought to take rope back we made them work hard for every bit of rope they took, with the crowd behind them they took the first end, but we knew there was a long way to go.
The second end started as the first we went lower to stop there attack on the drop,pushing hard keeping the momentum going as soon as they stop us we dropped down to use the power in our legs to carry us over the line to win the second end. All down to the toss of a coin, as per last year we lost the toss and the England B chose the good end.At this point England B made a substitution bring on their reserve.
The third end. With the crowd behind England B,we had a good powerful drop taking the pull to them they started to put lifts in against us but we returned them to stay on an angle with the determination of the whole team not to lose we dug deep to find that extra power to win the third end and take the Gold medal. This was an excellent Final to pull, a crowd pleaser and a good advert for Ladies tug of war.
GOLD: ENGLAND A
SILVER: ENGLAND B BRONZE: WALES A
Presentation Dinner.
BEDFORD.
There was a good turn out this week,which made this a good days training ahead of next weeks UK Championships. 6 teams entered Belvior Vale, Army Ladies A & B, Bedford & Bicester YFC in the 520kg. We attended this competition with just 8 girls weighing at 520.Our first pull was against a very Strong Bedford team, we both had a good tight drop with both sides sitting and waiting,we started to put pressure on them and took some inches which Bedford strongly lifted back, we stayed on our angle as Bedford started to work against us we stopped them from working and pushed hard to get them moving and we kept up that pushing to take the first end. The second end was a good battle with bedford taking the early command of the pull but defended well and started to wear them down and started to drive backwards keeping the pressure on them not allowing them a chance to get back into the pull and then went on to push them over the line.
Next up was Army B this was a mixed team but we controlled both ends to win 2-0. We then pulled Belvior Vale another hard pull with Belvoir Vale going low to stop us but we had to be patient keeping them under pressure and slowly we pulled them over the line.We then pulled Army A, after taking control without being in too much bother we took some slack rope went to the floor and they lifted us and with their momentum they took us over the line. The second end was much the same but with their big lift they took us forward to win. Last up was Bicester YFC, knowing we had to win to stay in with a chance of finishing in the top 2, we attacked them both ends from the drop to win 2 straight. With Bedford beating the Army A this meant a 3 way pull off.
We pulled Army A first, we wanted revenge for them beating us in the group so we dropped in hard pushing them taking inches not allowing them to lift , we went on to win 2 straight ends. With Bedford last to pull this was to be the final as they ad already defeated Army A. We took control of the first end winning on pressure the second end they won so it was to be a crowd pleasing 3rd end. Our coach won the toss and for a change took the good end, with both teams dropping in hard to defend we took the first move pushing on an angle driving hard to win the 3rd end and the 520.
In the 560 we had the same team. Being 40 kilos light and a new injury to contend with we carried on in this weight mainly for training purposes. We took something positive out of each pull finishing 3rd in the group. Well done to Army Ladies who won this weight.
Next Week we have the UK Championships at Daventry, we are representing England at 560kg, which should be a good competition as we are defending UK Champions at this weight.
CONGLETON.
The day was a hot one an ideal chance for topping up your tan!. The first weight of the day was the 560, with 3 teams in this we went round twice. With the Leicester & Northants was our first pull, they had beaton Bedford in their first pull so they must have felt confident about pulling us, From the start of the pull we put them under pressure they looked to go low or to the ground to have any chance of containing our emense power they made it an untidy pull but we maintain our power through our legs to take the first end, The second end they went straight to the floor to stop us but we keep the pressure on them and waited for them to come up of the floor with a big lift they rowed us forward two holes then went to the floor again giving us a slack rope we took the rope waited for the next row then when they came up again we took full advantage of their slack rope and powered them over the line despite their efforts to stop us.Next up were Bedford much better pulling for us we had a good the first end not allowing them to break our rthym from the drop the second end was much the same a good drop and power keeping our angle and pushing power through our legs, we went to to complete this pull winning 2-0. Second time around was to be a costly one for us as we picked up two injuries, first up again was the Cadets, we were strong on our legs staying up when they tried to attack half way back one off their pullers felt our power and came of the rope injured, thankfully she recovered but could not pull the next ends so we sporting pulled them with 7, they took the 2nd end , so it went to the deciding pull, this is where our fitness keeps us strong with this in our favour we trounced them to win the 3rd end. But they feed you rope then lift to the floor, you try to keep tight but its not a easy way to defend but its all good training but it does do damage. Last pull in this weight was with Bedford with one of our Team injured from the last pull Bedford sportingly pulled with 7. We had a big drop pushed hard not allowing them to stop us we went on to win the first end the second end was going well for us but we gave them a a chance to get back into the pull but we managed to get it back to win and to win this weight.
The next weight was 520, we went round twice, we had to make a much lighter change for the injured pullers made 20 kilos lighter, we had an excellent drop both teams sat waiting for one to move Bedford started to put us under pressure but we took back everything they took off us taking an inch at a time we controlled this end to win. The second end started well for us until one of our team had a recurrance of an injury she picked up in the first weight and could not pull so we stepped forward to lose the 2nd end so she could get of the rope before anymore damaged was done after finding out what the injury was she was unable to carry on dispite her every effort to carry on, we had to think of the bigger picture. So with the last end we pulled with 7 and now being 90 kilos light we put up a good fight in the 3rd end but the weight difference was to much and Bedford won 2-1, we then had the Cadets with being 90 light we had to be switch on from the drop we started to push them they went down to the ground for a change but we carried on pushing not giving them a chance to get up and dragged them over the line the second end was the same tactics from them but we battled on to beat them again, with the cadets pulling out of the competition our last pull with Bedford made this the deciding pull. But being light we had no answer to a Bedford side that went on to win and we came Runners-up in this weight. This was a excellent run competition by the hosts that made every effort to make the Ladies competition feel part of the day.
AREA 7
Our first competition back after the nationals, we had 4 girls missing but still managed to dominate both 560 & 520 weights. First weight was the 520 with 4 teams Bedford, Leicester & Northants Ladies Cadets & Leicester & Northants Cadets. with only 4 teams we took a vote to go round twice. We pulled the ladies cadet team first beating them 2-0 but they went on later in this weight to win a some ends which was good to see their progress. Next up were the cadets they only had 7 boys so we dropped down to 7. Never an easy pull, as their style of pulling is different to the style we usually pull against, this had to be a controlled pull, as the cadets always feed you a bit of rope then lift which is hard to get that back, with their strength. We have trained to just draw back to an angle, then wait and push pressure to control a tight rope. The Cadets always put in a strong lift to stop us so we returned every lift, and then they started to get weaker eventually going to ground allowing us to push to the line. The 2nd end was a good pull we controlled every inch we took giving them nothing, every feed they gave us we took and kept it strong on the arms once they couldnt get it back we pushed them over the line with ease. Next up was Bedford always a hard pull but a good tight rope to pull against. We had a good drop pushing them and keeping it tight working hard to keep what rope we had gained, and keeping the pressure on them, we pulled them over the line. The 2nd end was much the same, keeping the rope we had taken and we went on to win the 2nd end and the first weight. On the 2nd time around we beat the cadet ladies team 2-0. On the next pull with the cadets we won the first end. Pulling against the boys is challenging for us, as they are strong and it was draining having lost the second end. On the third and final end our coach chose to make the team pull on the end both teams had lost on.Our fighting spirit not to lose carried us through a hard final end which was a real tussle rowing us back to keep us bent. So we stayed bent to kill there fading lifts and we were getting stonger as we could see them struggling with our pressure against them and slowly we started taking the inches and keeping the pressure on them, we won the 3rd end. This was a good win for us, with a few minutes rest we took on Bedford another good pull with them always testing us but we went on to win both ends.
The next weight was the 560 with 3 teams in this weight,we pulled the cadets mixed team first, but we were far to strong for them they tried to lift through us but they fell to the floor and we eased our way to 2 - 0 win. Last up was Bedford we had another good pull with them, we manged to remain unbeaten with a 2-0 win with one of our girls getting injured in the prevous pull we were unable to go round again. We all had a good competative days pulling, and with the UK Championships only weeks away, this was the best way to prepare for the Championships.
Back to training on Thursday for us, just a gentle session! We had a visit from Ros Chimes from BBC Radio Stoke, to do a interview about our Double win at Nationals and about our future events UK Championships, World Championships & The World games in 2009.This should be going on the air next week. We would like to wish Lorna,Helen & Rachael the best of luck for their big competition this weekend at the royal show on sunday.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.
The first weight of the day was the 560,with 5 teams Leek, Bedford, Belvoir Vale, & Army Ladies. We had Tracey competing in her first Nationals in this weight. With the weather on the wet side of dry, the ground was hard and very greasy, so we knew it was going to be important to be strong on the legs. With our extra sharp boots we started against Army Ladies never an easy pull, we got an excellent drop pushed them, and put them under pressure we resisted their lifts against us and powered them over the line. The next end they droped in tight we sat there on our angles putting pressure on them and bending them over making them put a lift in we defended their lift, dropped our shoulders and powered them out to win 2-0.
Next was Belvoir always strong on the drop so we knew we had to be sure we matched their drop, we sat with them at the start of the pull putting pressure on them they went low to stop us but with the ground slippy we stayed on our legs and took the first end. The second end was the same, a good drop match them then pushed our way to win 2 straight. We then pulled Leek a strong lifting side but we had too much pressure for them dropping in and pushing them out to a 2-0 win.
Our last pull was with Bedford, we were both unbeaten so far. This was an exciting pull we dropped in hard taking the sting out of their drop, we sat and waited with them keeping the pressure on them. With every step we built up more pressure they started to come, they put in lifts, we drew it back to our angle each time to stay out long and they could not get their lift in and pushed them hard not giving them a chance to get back in the pull, we took the first end. The second end we had to be strong on the drop, we started strong defending every inch we were taking with the momentum with us we stayed long returning everything back and powered our way to win the Gold medal and be 560 Champions.
The second weight was 520 with the weather now down to a fine drizzle and the ground still hard and slippery. In this weight we made 3 changes, Rachael,Lorna and Julie making this a big side for this weight. First pull was against Belvior vale, we had to be quick on our feet not go to ground from the drop, we powered from the drop stayed on our legs to win. The second end we needed the same drop as they are strong but once we started to put pressure on them they went to floor giving us the advantage and pulled them over to win 2-0. Next up was Bedford, both sides knowing that who ever won this pull were favourites to win this weight. We had a good strong drop both sides sitting and waiting for the little bits to take. We stayed in control putting pressure on them, they started to pull up a little bit just enough so we took a few more inches from them. We stayed strong on our legs and put a good lift in which stopped us but we pulled it back to our angle, stayed there, stopped them getting any bit of rope from us and powered them over the line. On the second end we had a massive drop, and drove them half way, they lifted but we nudged it on every time to maintain our momentum not allowing them anything and went on to crooss the line to victory and on course to win gold. We then pulled Leek pulled both ends on good steady pressure to cruise to a 2-0 win.
Leaving us with just the Army Ladies to pull and glory just 2 ends away. We dropped in keeping the pressure on them they took us forward two steps before we took total control of the pull, pulled it back to the angles stopped them lifting and pushed our way to win the first end. Only 1 end away from winning we had a big drop, staying long not letting them lift us and we drove them over the line to victory and the Gold medal.
Celebrations, after beating Army Ladies to secure our first ever Gold medal at 520. The celebrations for the squad went on into the night!
We will now go on to represent England at both the UK Championships in august and the World Outdoor Championships in Sweden in september
50th ANNIVERSARY TUG OF WAR ASSOCIATION
The first weight of the day was 560, which 7 teams took part in, Army Ladies, Bedford, Belvior vale, Leicester and Northants Cadets ,Ifthon Valley from Wales.We had Julie back for only her 2nd competition since having her baby and Tracey pulling only her 3rd competition. We pulled theLeicester and Northants Cadet girls first, taking victory in under 10 seconds both ends. Next we had Belvior Vale, they had a good strong drop which we defended well then started to build up pressure and forcing them down to defend at a low height to stop us, but we had the momentum to win the pull. On the second end the pull was much the same defending their strong drop and push hard to win the 2nd end. Army Ladies is always a tough team to pull with their "never give up" attitude but we had the push on them dispite a couple of their big lifts coming through we maintained our composure to win both ends. Bedford were next, this was a hard battle against a very strong Bedford side, we managed to maintain the pressure and, to push our way to win both ends. Our last pull was Ilfthon Valley. They have a very good lift so we had to keep our shape push hard and force them to lower the height of their rope. We managed to win both ends and finish top of the group. In the Semi-final we pulled Ithon Valley. We dropped in well pushing them to the ground and winning both ends with ease. We made it through to the final where we met Bedford. Dispite other pulls going on when we pulled our final we had yet another hard pull with Bedford, with us missing the drop this gave the emphasis to Bedford and they took their advantage well, we had no response and lost the 1st end. The 2nd end was much the same missing the drop, dispite every effort from our team to get back into the pull, Bedford managed to hold on to win gold. This was a good final it was a shame that we weren't given the same respect as the men's finals, and allowed to be the only pull in the arena. Our congratulations go to Bedford.
The next weight was 520. We made 2 changes binging in Lynsey & Diana. This weight was brought forward to be pulled with the 680, leaving us little to prepare. We had 5 other teams in this group, we started with Belvior Vale who borrowed 1 of our new pullers Tracey for this weight. The drop was always going to be important against Belvior Vale, we just got the drop on them and pushed our way to winning both ends. Army Ladies were up next, due to one of their team having to go, they competed with 7. We sportingly dropped down to 7 also. We defended their lifts and pushed our way to a 2 end victory. Next was Ithon Valley, a strong side they gave us a good pull but our power was to much for them and cruised to a victory. Our last pull was against Bedford with both teams through to the semi finals, this was to be a tactical pull from both sides, so in the end we both took an end each. In the semi final again we pulled Ithon Valley, they had an injuried puller so decided to pull with 7, and so we powered passed them in to the final to meet Bedford. This was yet another exciting pull both teams attacking the drop but in this final we didnt miss the drop and gained an early advantage. We stayed on an angle and pushed on to win the first end. The 2nd end we had a good drop defended well, and went on to win Gold. This again was pulled with the start of the other men's competition and was overshadowed to most of the crowd. Well done to Tracey who went on to help Belvior Vale win the Bronze medal.
Our club secretary Rachel Craft at BBC WM 95.6 on Tuesday 27th May. Rachel with Presenter Les Ross and Roger Beardsmore.
AREA 2 BIRMINGHAM UP NORTH
The weather was not the best this week raining from start to finish, which made the conditions slightly slippery. With no other Ladies teams travelling all the way to Birmingham. We went prepared, with 2 teams in the 520 & 560 pulling 5 a side. With both teams fighting the conditions, we put in some good pulling, getting the tactics and technique right was the important part of today but in the end it was Sheen A Winning both weights with Sheen B runners up. Holland sports borrowed 2 of our pullers Rachel and Tracey for their catchweight team, they both performed well despite both being light pullers.
We also entered a team in the 580 with help from Dave and Paul from Norton.We had a very difficult group, pulling Norton, Sandhurst and Bosley. We entered this weight to pull tight teams to put in to practice, what we had learned at training this week. We put up a good performance in this group and took a lot of encouragement out of entering this weight. We would like to thank the teams in our group for their conduct when pulling against us, and also to Dave and Paul for their support and encouragement whilst pulling with us.
YOUNG FARMERS.
This week we had 5 of our pullers, competing in the Derbyshire Young Farmers rally at Chatsworth. Lorna, Helen & Rachael pulled for Hope Valley with Dawn & Tracey pulling for Ashbourne. The weight was 580kg, with Ashbourne weighing in 73 kilos light it would be a hard comp for them even on a slight incline.Ashbourne did pull very well despite the big weight difference, and did cause problems for most of the other sides beating, Buxton 2-1, Pleasly & Bakewell and finishing 4th overall. Hope valley dominated the competition from the start. Hope Valley pulled strongly and without dropping an end all day, won the rally and go on to next area finals. Hope Valley look to be on course to reach the finals again and hopefully go one step further than last year and win the gold medal.
The remainder of the squad went on a team building excercise at Uttoxeter races, Bond night for Di`s Hen party. A good time was had by all and i'm sure they will all have recovered, ready for training on tuesday.
DAVENTRY.
The First weight was the 560.With 5 ladies teams Belvior Vale ,Team Army, AFC Leicester & Northants, Bedford and 2 Youth teams from AFC Leicester and Northants & Tara Arms from Ireland. With a couple of new faces again Rachel & Tracey, both fitting in well, we dominated the ladies weight. With the ground being endy from the start its was crucial to attack the drop. Each pull was going to be hard with the ground being endy pressure pulling was going to be crucial and we took every end saving energy in the heat.We went on to victory beating all the ladies teams but with 2 youth teams also competing in our competition we had 2 pull tactically against them as other teams did. We did take an end out of Tara Arms, we were the only ladies team to do this and overall we took the bronze medal.
5 ladies teams competed in the 520 weight & again the 2 youth teams joined our competition. We made one change for this weight. Despite all the effort our team put in to get to 520, we felt the scales were weighing heavy. Im sure they will be accurate on nationals day! We started this weight slowly with a long rest between weights and the draining heat, we first had Bedford beating them 2 -1 winning the deciding pull on the bad end. This pull was a reminder that we still have a lot of hard work to do before the nationals. We then pulled Belvoir Vale, we gained confidence and pushed our way to victory. Our last pull was with the Army always a lively pull, so we had to be tight and resist there early pressure to win both ends.We then went on to pull the rest of this ladies weight unbeaten.
Our squad for Daventry with their winning medals.
LINCOLN.
This weekend`s competition was hosted by Lincoln.First was the 560 3 teams were entered, ourselves and 2 cadet sides. We only pulled with 7 in both weights this week. We borrrowed woody for 560 & Bob for 520, both from Bosley. Its a welcome return for Julie, having had a baby 8 weeks ago it was good to have her back. We also had 2 new girls pulling for the first time Emily & Jo. We pulled Cadets A first in the 560kg, we knew this was going 2 be tough pulling 8 lads, with our new girls pulling & being 38 kilos light. We made them struggle to beat us, but we lost both ends, they were pleased with their win. The second pull against Cadets B was rather easier than the first, which gave a bit of confidence to our new girls, despite the cadets not pulling each other, we came runners up.
The second weight was the 520kg was a lot closer still the cadets A struggled to beat us convincinly both ends and we beat the B side with little trouble taking our second runners up of the day.
Our next Competition is on May 11th at Daventry.
TRAINING DAY.
We had Hope Valley & Ashbourne Young Farmers join us on sunday for a training session. Despite the threat of rain, it stayed clear for the 3 hours. The competition was as good as any we would have attended without travelling the 8 hour round trip! We hope to be having another training day like this in the near future with a couple more teams in attendance. These days are excellent preparation for competition pulling, allowing us to do our fitness training before, try out different line ups and different tactics, and also help the newer pullers to get used to live pulling. We would like to thank both teams for coming to the training session and hope it helps in their preparation for the prelimnary rounds of the young farmers competition at the rally on the 17th May.
EAST OF ENGLAND.
The second weight was the same team for us with other teams making changes but this was only to be another controlled weight we won.We had Belvior Vale first and again they gave us a good pull, hopefully their new girls enjoyed their first competition. Then we had the Cadets which we dominated from the drop to ease them over the line on both ends. Our final pull against Bedford, who only had 7 girls, so we sportingly dropped a puller to pull them 7 a side. We dropped and pushed our way to winning the first end, and the second end was much the same. We sat with them for a while before pushing them out to secure winning the second weight unbeaten. We would like to thank Stephen Gale, who pulled for us in both weights.
This weeks competition was at Bedford. There was a good turn out with 7 teams; 3 Army Cadet teams, Army Ladies, Belvoir Vale Ladies & Bedford Ladies in the 520kg. With 4 teams; Belvoir Vale Ladies Bedford Ladies & Army Cadets in the 560kg. The first weight was the 520kg. We went through this weight unbeaten, pulling a very good style always in control of each pull, pulling pressure. We had army cadets girls first then Belvior Vale, with some new faces, they gave us a good pull. Army cadets boys followed by Army ladies. Next was Bedford, it was are first meeting with them this season, however, with a few experienced ladies missing we still expected a hard pull so getting the drop was essential. We got the drop and started to put them under pressure, taking the first end. The second end we had to be sure to get the drop again with them on the better end we dropped in and put them under pressure, working hard to maintain the pressure on them and taking a hard earned second end. Last in the group was the Cadet youth team, despite changing their team and eventually dropping a person, we knew even against 7, this was going to be a hard pull. We pressured them out despite them sitting trying to take us to ground we pushed them out with little effort, the second end went the same way there tatics were no match for our team and we easily took the second end. Winning the group with maximum points.
AREA 2 TRAINING COMPETITION.
We have had our first competition of the season which was on March 23rd in Droitwich. there were 4 teams in the 560kg. We came runners up in the 560kg to Leicester & Northants Cadets, it was a good performance in this weight, pulling well in wet and slippery conditions. We won the first 2 pulls by being in control of both ends, in our final pull against the Cadets, we held them for a while,pushing them over but pulling against 8 lads they had that little bit extra over us, but we put that right by beating them in the 520 winning this weight in a controlled manner, pushing when we needed to.
We continued our good form from last week at Two dales, winning both 600 4x4 & 660 4x4 & coming 4th in 600 open weight. We turned out with 5 pullers. First was the 660 kilos 4x4. We had 4 good borrows from Two Dales, to join our 4 excellent pullers. We had a group of 3 with York & Holland (Tracey pulled in this weight for Holland) to pull. We started well, despite the ground starting endy, we didnt need to rely on the toss of the coin, we maintained our angles with the ground a bit greasy on top, staying in control of both pulls. It was commented on, that we had a good tight, powerful rope, despite missing the power in the middle of rope but thanks again Tracey for your comments!!
We had a dabble into the 600 kilos competition. We had Two Dales Lutterworth & York to pull. We had our 5 girls & Bill, Ellie and Gav from Holland. We used these pulls to practice a few things & felt this was a good weight. Our last pull was a bit of a battle against Lutterworth, we showed good determination throughout this weight which was a hard weight to enter but we came out with our heads held high. 
Our last weight was the 600 kilos 4x4, again we had 4 good borrows from Two Dales who have supported us well throughout this season. We pulled the same 2 teams in this weight, we made a change Tracey in for Marion. Marion pulled for York who came runners up. Again we controlled the pulls not getting onto a mixing match, trying to pull our way. We came through the group unscathed & took our 2nd Winners medal of the day. Another good days pulling, all our girls pulled with good style, and this competition gave us chance to practice what we have been doing at training. 
We started the 540 kilos, with Jess, Rachel Siobhaun all pulling for England for the first time & Marion pulling for us at this level. We had Wales, Scotland A & B to pull. We had a difficult start with Wales, they were the heavier side, on top of the ground, they worked well & took us in 2 straight pulls. We then had Scotland B, We picked ourselves up, with the first end going Scotland B's way, we took control & took them back for a hard fought first end, this gave us the edge on the 2nd end & worked well to take this end. Last up in group was Scotland A, we defended against them, as they worked from the drop but we had difficulty in holding them as they started to take us we made it hard for them wearing them down to take us. On the 2nd end we had a good drop not letting them get in to their stride, as we kept our positions well, we finished off the pull in good style. It was all up to the toss off a coin to see who we meet in the Semi Final, we drew Wales.
We had a poor drop giving Wales the first end, we had a better 2nd end but could not stop Wales, they pulled well & went on to meet Scotland A in the Final & we pulled Scotland B in the Bronze pull off. Scotland B had got much stronger as the competition went on, so we had to make sure we stayed focused from the drop. We had a plan to, which went to plan on the first end, defending against them, holding their lifts as they started to fade we got the call to lift, as we lifted together we stayed up pushing hard, despite a few lifts against us we took the first end. The 2nd was an excellent team performance taking the drop, good pressure throught the legs keeping under the cosh, after all good work we took them over the line for a well deserved Bronze medal, not what we came for but under the circumstances, the team worked hard, pulled excellently, and for Jess, Rachel & Siobhaun their first taste of an International Competition, with the experince from Di, Tracey, Marion & Lucinda we made this a good medal to win. Thanks to Heledd from Wales without you we would have not compteted. Congratulations to Scotland A on winning this weight.
Bronze medal winners. Jess, Tracey, Duncan, Lucinda, Siobhaun, Heledd, Rachel, Marion, Di. 
After a quick sauna, whilst Rachel was collected from the Airport. We weighed in the team we wanted for the closed competition. There were 5 teams in this weight Llangadog (Wales), Aryshire (Scotland), Ballinagh ( Ireland), Cornhill (Scotland). We pulled Llangadog first, having beaten us 4 times in the closed, we had to be prepared for a hard pull, we handled their strong lifts & big draws well, making every inch they took hard, as we started to build, we got back rope they took, stayed in control & took both ends. Next was Cornhill, again they were strong lifting at us but the weeks training we had made us more prepared for this style of pulling, as we pushed them out in straight pulls. Ayrshire were next, a big test but with the points as they were we kept an angle stepping forward making it hard for Ayrshire, they took the first end, we took the second end after having a good drop. Last up were Ballinagh, a strong lifting team but we coped very well on both ends to finish 2nd in group. In the Semi Final we drew Llangadog.
We had to make sure we did nothing different to the group pulls, with the team growing in confidence it would be hard for any team to stop us. As we attacked Llangadog from the drop, we stayed in control feeding off their every move to take a hard fought first end. On the second end we had a good drop travelled well & pushing them over the line to take our place in the Final against Ayrshire. 
With Ayrshire in the final, it was going to be a good pull, both teams attacked the drop we took a slight advantage, but Ayrshire got into their pushing rhythm, so we slowed them down then both sides sat & played a waiting game.Ayrshire went low & we stayed low with Siobhaun staying down with their number one & everyone pulling off her, Ayrshire were going to come up or go down, they came up, giving us the chance to push against them to take the advantage & work hard to take the first end. On the second end, we got it tactically right again, pushing when we had to, staying strong on our legs as Ayrshire are a good side & will always make you work til its over, once we got the nod, we powered on not letting them get a lift in to take the second end & the Gold Medal.
We'll never know what might have been, pulling the same teams in the closed competition. But on this performance we would have been hard to beat. Well done to our team Jess, Tracey, Rachel, Siobhaun, Di, Lucinda, Rachel & Marion. Thanks to the Irish Association on a great 2 days competition for Ladies also to all the side that have competed & made this a good advert for Ladies Tug Of War. 
There was a group of 7 teams, Oxney, Holland,1066, Wooton, Bedford & Totham Bull. Despite a few rule changes in the lead up to this 4x4, we borrowed 4 pullers, Dave & Dex from Hanging Bridge, Woody from Bosley & Andy hall from Sheen. Our first pull was against Holland, with Siobhaun in their team. After 2 good hard battled ends, we came away with a 2-0 victory. We then pulled Totham Bull, who had Marion, Jess & Dawn in their team, then 1066, we claimed to more 2 straight victories against them. 
Next we had Oxney who pulled a very strong front rope, they got low & clean which made it hard to pull them over, despite our efforts they defeated us 2-0. Our last 2 pulls were against Wooton & Bedford, We pulled a steady rope against Wooton to give us a 2-0 victory ensuring we took a well deserved 3rd place. Well to Marion Jess & Dawn & Totham Bull who took 4th place.
After a short break, we started the 540 Kilos competition, with only Bedford & 1066 to compete against ( so we thought). This gave 7 of the team pulling at the UK Championships, this weekend, a chance to pull together in a live competition. We competed well, showing good team building within our side,taking something out of each end to build upon. 
This week we had a good competition with 4 Ladies/ Youth weights, so much better than the 2 weights we usually have. We again had pullers missing, we had 6 including new arrival Marion. We borrowed Sam from LNR for all the weights also Robyn in 520 Kilos, Daniella in 540 Kilos & Tom from Bosley as a late replacement for an injured puller in 560 kilos. We entered the 500 Kilos with 7 pullers to enable us to enter under the 500 Kilos weight.The day started with the 520 Kilos. The other teams we pulled were LNR `A` & `B` & Bedford. We had some good pulling in this weight despite the very endy ground, taking the points off Bedford in our first Pull. We then had LNR `A` then the `B` side, we had more good pulling taking points of both sides giving us victory in this weight.
Next up was the 540 Kilos, the same 4 teams entered. We had a good start getting some good training but the 3 enders had taken its toll on Daniella who damaged her knee, on the 3rd end v Bedford & came off the rope during the pull.So we pulled the last pull with 7 pullers but still managed to take points, as we came 3rd.
The 500 Kilos was next, this was a group of 3 teams. We had 7 pullers in this weight, with Bedford & LNR had 8 of their own pullers. We were to pull Bedford first but had a slight delay, so Bedford pulled LNR first. We went on against LNR, lost 2 straight pulls to the Lads side, who won this weight. We then pulled out of this weight.
Last weight was the 560 kilos, with the forced change to bring in Tom, we had to put our anchor on the rope. We pulled well picking up points aginst Bedford and LNR `A,` we had to beat LNR `B` to ensure 2nd place. We pulled to our strengths to beat LNR `B` who had an injured puller so we dropped down to 7, but we stayed in control to take both ends.
We took part in the 660 4x4 & 600 4x4 with Hanging Bridge & Two Dales. The first weight was the 660 4x4. This was a group of 6 teams, after having a few weeks off & 4 weeks since our last competition, this was an excellant way to get some good live pulling.
We had some good ends to practice, what we had done in training, with every team pulling a different style, we went unbeaten through the group, leaving the last pull in the weight against Holland which was to be the Final as both sides had gone through this weight unbeaten. We had a great crowd pleasing first end with both teams taking rope off each other but Holland's side was too big for us to pull them over & they went on to take both ends in a thrilling Final. 
We only had 4 girls for this competition so they got some good pulling in both weights.This weight was split into 2 groups of 3, Then the top 2 go into a cross over then the winners into the Final. We pulled Diesel power & York in our group coming through to pull Leek in the Semi Final. 
After beating Leek 2 straight, we were again in the Final against Holland. This time we maintained the pressure on our angle, pushing, taking inches, drawing back then taking rope. We took both ends in another good Final. We had Rachel pulling in her first competition in a year since having her baby. We also have Dawn back from her 12 week tour off Australia (dont worry those kilos will soon come off!). Well done to Tracey and Di, taking on new positions & working well & finally Rachel for pulling on the rope (instead of the anchor) in the first weight after not pulling on the rope for a year also! Also thank you to all the willing babysitters for looking after Isla (Lynsey, Katie & Dawn) and Lynsey for her photography skills! 
This year 3 teams attended the National Championships, Leek Leek & Bedford. We had put a squad together for this years Championships, in both 540 kilos & 500 kilos weights, neither side had trained or pulled together until today. We won the silver medal in the 540 kilos & 500 kilos competitions. Squad with their winning medals.
The first weight was the 540 kilos, We had Jess, Emily and Rachel, pulling in their first Nationals. We were drawn against Leek first, we won this pull in 2 straight pulls, we had a shaky start, with Leeks strong lift, they got us out of position but we soon got back on an angle & returned their lifts to take both ends in a close contest.
After a 6 minute rest we were back on again against Bedford. They had a very experienced team, so this would be a good test for us. We took an early advantage, we were travelling well, Bedford put in some lifts to stop us & took rope, we found a good lift & travelled back over the line. The second end was a tight one, we took the advantage from the drop travelling well, then we fell to the floor despite trying to retrieve what we had lost, both sides had trouble staying up, with the sun behind Bedford the judge could only look our way & was harsh with his judging against us. However this did not detract the result in this weight, as Bedford took the second end. Again as last year another crowd pleasing 3rd end! We started well, travelling at a good height but half way back we got took to the floor, got out of position and Bedford took full advantage, despite all our endevors to regain our position they took the 3rd end. Again another excellent pull between us & Bedford. Bedford then pulled Leek in 2 straight ends to win the 540 kilos. We came runners up to win the Silver Medal.
There was the same 3 teams in the 500 kilos competition. We had Siobhaun and Lizzie pulling in their first Nationals in this weight. Again we were to pull first,this time against Bedford. Again this side had never pulled or trained together, so it was important to get a good drop to ensure we were able to compete with Bedford. We made a good start but were unable to build together to put any constant pressure against Bedford, who kept us under the cosh & we found it hard to get a lift together to brake them down, we made Bedford work hard to take us over the line.
Another 6 minute break, then we were up against Leek. Another great crowd pleaser of a pull! We had a good drop taking rope, but Leek kept low making it hard for us to travel. Then they turned us taking us forward, then for us to stop them & start working them back. This was getting in to a right battle, taking its toll on our legs, we came a drift from the holes making our way into the mens holes! with the judge then deciding to give the 1st end to Leek. The 2nd end was our best end, we dropped in pushing Leek from the drop when they managed to stop us we drew it back & to the 2nd end. On the 3rd end, the judge must have thought we were good as he didnt take his eyes of us throughout the pull, we had a good drop not letting Leek lift us, we hit the ground giving Leek the chance to attack they started to take us, we steadied ourselves then when the call came, we got a good lift together to take Leek back from over half way to secure our 2nd Silver medal. With Bedford defeating Leek in the last pull they won this weight. Our congratulations go to them & to Leek for making this a good advert for Ladies Tug of War, for only a small number of team, the huge crowd seem to enjoy both competitions.
This week we competed in the 520 kilos & 560 kilos. The first weight was the 520 kilos, we pulled with 7 & we borrowed Tom from Bosley. We had a group of 3, L&NR A & B both having 8 pullers. We first pulled L&NR`B, a mixed team of youth & Junior lads & girls, we took this pull 2 straight. Then we pulled L&NR`A`with mainly Youth lads in this side we lost the first end, then we took the 2nd end & the 3rd end was a close pull, we took control then a sway or 2 came from L&NR taking us out the holes onto fresh ground & letting L&NR `A` take the honours in this weight & we came runners up. 
In the 560 kilos, we borrowed 2 L&NR girls. With the same 3 teams, we pulled the `B` side first. This weight was moved onto fresh ground! we took the first 2 ends against the `B` side then lost to a strong L&NR `A` lads youth side. Who won this weight & we took runners up. Despite the lack of encouragement shown by others not only at this competition, but by most, as when a small number of teams in 2 weights, to go round once in a group of 3 once for some, seems enough, there seems no encouragement in teams travelling a long distance for no more than few pulls. We`ve had to lose ends, just to get more pulling but atleast we've ticked the 4th required box.
We had 6 girls for this competition so we borrowed Tom from Bosley to make us 7. We only had Bedford to pull in both the 520 kilos & 560 kilos weights, this was to be the best of 5 pulls per weight. We pulled well on the greasy ground with nothing to push behind we beat Bedford 3-0 to win the 520 kilos. Both teams had the same teams in the 560 kilos we again won 3-0. Not a vast amount of pulling, with no Youth teams turning up, but with 2 competitions in 2 days weve ticked the boxes. Thanks again to Tom.
We entered 2 mens weights with 8 eight girls, using the pulls for training. After the 2 weights we pulled against Ashbourne yfc lads team for some extra training with 3 close pulls the lads won 2-1, this extra training provided us with some valued training which would help us at Lincoln`s competition on the Sunday. 
We would like to thank everyone who help us to run our competition from getting the chairs & tables people making cakes, ashbourne lads for making the human barrier for the car park, all the teams & officials for making this a excellent competition & to the Manifold Inn for the use of their ground. Thank you all. 
This was the final week of the Midland Training League. We joined up with Two Dales, for the 4x4 660 Kilos. With the ground endy at the beginning of the day, we pulled well making the most of the good end, trying to wear down the other sides, but the luck was with the other teams, winning the toss for the 3rd end! Again another useful weight for training. We took 3rd place over all in this weight. Thanks to the Lads from Two Dales & Louise from Holland.
The 600 kilos 4x4 was next, with the ground now more even, We had an excellent last pull with 3 ways. We defended well going forward making every inch hard for them, then with 6 inches to go, we started to push against them, showing some good determination, taking them all the way back. We had enough in the tank to take the 2nd end & took 3rd place overall in this weight as well. Thanks to Holland Lads & Charlotte for helping us in this weight. The 3 weeks of the Training League for us was a huge thumbs up, giving us some excellent competition in a good friendly atmosphere thoughtout the Tug of War Federation. At the end we attended a Presentation to collect our two Trophies. 
The first weight was the 560 kilos Ladies & Youth League. This was a group of 7 L&N 'A' 'B' & 'C', Bedford & Gloucester'A' & 'B'. We had a good weight with Jo & Katie pulling for the first time this season & we borrowed Jag from Sandhurst Youth. After a bit of tweaking with the side. we pulled a good style as each pull was different, we had dropped just 2 ends & had an excellent pull with Glouscester 'A' Lads team beating them & ensuring we took Runners up spot. 
Next was the 520 Kilos, we borrowed Ben & Lee from Sandhurst Youth for this weight. This was another group of 7 teams. We started of well in this group beating sides with angles & pressure. Unfortunatley Lee had hurt his back from the previous weight & had to pull out, we continued with 7 pullers, dispite being much lighter, we took 3rd in this weight. 
The first weight was 660 Kilos 4x4, we were very light in this weight,but its the training we went for. We pulled against Holland, 3 Ways & Leek. The ground was very endy but we pulled well against the other sides, beating heavier sides in a good style. 
The next weight was 600 Kilos 4x4. After a good rest for us & the weight before a tiring experience for the Holland Lads, we pulled in a group of 4 again. The ground had not improved much but we pulled well, keeping shape, winning some good ends, which was hard on such ground but an excellent opportunity for some extra live pulling. Thanks to Holland Sports for their support again. 
The first weight was the 660 kilos 4x4, we were joined by 4 Holland pullers. It was a group of 5, our first pull was against a very strong Holland side & they were the only team to beat us in this weight. 3 ways were another strong team with experienced pullers they pulled a good tight rope, but we were able to win both ends in a controlled manner. The other 2 teams were Wooton & Lutterworth both excellent pulls, giving us valuable pulling after only a weeks training. 
The next weight was the 600 kilos 4x4 again we were joined by 4 Holland pullers. It was the same 5 teams, again excellent pulling by all teams in this weight. We started off well beating Wooton, Lutterworth & Holland. The last pull was the deciding pull of the group. We went to a crowd pleasing 3 ends, after 2 hard fought ends, the 3rd was one to many & 3 ways took the deciding end. This was an excellent final pull in the group, giving us a good battle. But for our first competition after a weeks training getting 2 runners up was an excellant days pulling. We would like to thank Holland sports for their kind support for this competition. 
This was Jess`s first competition (thanks to you Dawn!) & she pulled very well, for only a nights training, she has already proved to be another good asset to our squad.
We pulled in the 520 Kilos weight for the first time at this years UK Championships, with 3 new pullers Gemma, Jo & Lisa & Lucinda( first with us) & Dawn, all pulling in their 1st UK Championships. We have a very good young team, with a new line up & 3 weeks outdoor training, we were good to go.
We first pulled Scotland A, with a couple of familiar faces in their team. With the ground again proving to be very endy, with one end flat, the other with 2 raised areas & graesey, this would be a hard end to pull on.
We had a good drop to stop the Scottish A team from taking us from the drop, after we stopped them we came up & started to push against them but with the graesey ground it was hard to stop there powerful lift.
On the second end against Scotland A, we were able to drop & push against them as they had no answer to our powerful pushing & we took the second end, making one end each.
Next we had Wales A, we took the first end, keeping an angle, pushing through our legs & defending their lifts. The second was a different story, we had a good drop keeping down low to stop their big lift, having to defend on the bad end was harder than ever we returned their lifts back to an angle so they couldnt get a lift in & slowly we inched & slipped our way to take the second end.
The last pull in the group was against Scotland B, an unknown team to us, we took advantage of the good end droppping hard, staying tight a foot from the line, letting them work while we stayed in control & then push them over the line. The second end we dominated from the drop pushing tight against them giving them no chance to lift against us then waiting for the right time to finish them off. We came joint top with Scoland A in the group but placed second due to picking up only one caution, umm. With Wales a & Scotland B tossing a coin to see who pulls who in the Semi Final.
We pulled Wales A in the Semi Final, they had a good lift against us from the drop taking advantage of the good end but we stayed strong, keeping our angle going forward making every inch they took hard as we began to ware them down we started to attack them with a big draw through we started to travell well & powered our way back to take the first end.
As we lined up ready for the second end, knowing this end would put us in the Final, we had a massive drop pushing keeping down on the rope Wales A could find no answer to our power & took the second end for a place in the Final against Scotland A.
In the Final, we won the toss & took the good end first. We started with a good drop & stayed on our angle, defending the Scottish sides strong lifts, we were made to work hard as Scotland A stayed low & heavy but with them on the greasey end we power took us over the line to take a hard fought first end.
On the second end,we stayed a bit higher on the drop not to go to low & slide on the greasey surface with no holes to get behind, we returned everything back to keep an angle we started to take the advantage on Scotland but we were fighting with the raised ground Scotland put in some big lifts to stop us & as they made us of the good end took the end to a third end. It was all on the toss of a coin, as per the past 2 years, we had gone to a crowd pleasing 3 ends again & for the third year running we lost the toss & Scotland A, took the good end. 
We threw everything at Scotland from the drop & started to take them everytime they stopped us we put in a big draw moved them again but as we needed a couple more lifts as we had the back 5 pullers on the fresh & raised ground, Scotland still had enough good ground to be able to make a last lift to turn us & we had given everything in this Final, but the end beat us & Scotland A took the Gold Medal. It was a close & an excellent Final between the top 2 sides from their countries. Its never a good feeling losing in a Final but every puller in the team had put everything into this Final & should be proud to have pulled in a Final after a short outdoor season for us. Congratulations to Scotland A also to Wales A & Scotland B for making the 520 kilos competition a very good advert for Ladies Tug of War. 
In the evening we attended the Presentation meal & celebrated long into the early hours, we all had a great evening & looking forward to our 9 hour drive home. Unfortunatley we were unable to pull in the open competition due to the long drive home.
We had a warm welcome from the host club & they were so pleased, that we travelled down to Wales for their competition.There were 3 weights 520 560 580 kilos which is better for us as we could use our squad & everyone got more pulling. The first weight of the day was the 520 kilos. There were 4 teams in each weight Ifon, Mercred, & Bedford. We first pulled against Mercred. We had to have a good drop to start as we have not pulled them before so we had to make sure we took control, we pushed well on the fresh ground, when we had them rolling we pushed harder not letting them attack us, as we saw later in this weight, they also pull a good pressured rope. On the second end, the ground was soft on top then very wet underneath, again we took rope on the drop, staying on our angle, slowing down making sure we didn't slip then pushed away to take the second end. We went through the rest of this weight unbeaten beating both Ifon & Bedford with controlled pressure. 
The next weight was the 560 kilos, we were 524 kilos, we made 1 change Gemma on for Lynsey, we pulled Gemma on the rope where she has never pulled before for us, which is good training to pull bigger sides. We first pulled Mercred, they pull a very tight rope. so we knew we had to get a good drop, we had a good drop pushing them steadily back with a little nudge we took the first end, the second end we dropped in to high giving them the chance to work, we stopped them but they had a good lift & took us over the line. The third end we got the drop right & pushed away they had a good go at attacking us but we keep our shape well & pushed them over the line. 
Next was Bedford we took the first end on pressure , waiting for the right time to move & eased over to take the first end, the second end we again dropped in to high & give them in incentive to try to take us we tried to return there lifts but were to high to be able to draw enough, so we kept a higher angle making it hard to pull us, knowing that we had the still after the second end lasted 4 minutes 24 seconds. The third end we made mistake with the drop we pushed well not giving them a chance to get in to us, as once you do let them back in they have the experience & will take it, but we keep our shape waited for the right time to build & took the third end. Ifon Valley was next a big team, so we had to be focused from the start, we attacked the drop not giving them a chance to put in their big lift & took both ends to win this weight. 
The last weight was 580, we made 1 change Lynsey on for Lorna, making us 513 kilos, but we had some great pulling in this weight, again we had a good pull with Bedford the first end we drove hard at them & they had no answer but the second end they went low to stop us working, so we were happy & in control to sit & wait, their anchor went down low but we waited for her to adjust the height after a short time, once she came up we pushed hard taking it half way, before they stopped us, then we had to be tight keep a good angle then we put in a massive draw which surprised them & we went on to power them over the line. We had to good pulls against Ifon Valley & Mercred both pulls were pulled with controlled pressure not losing any ends & finshed of a good day with another win. 
We had a really good day everyone pulled exceptionally well, with only 3 weeks training its starting to show, that all the hard work is paying off. After a short presentation of 3 brand new trophies, some kind words from the organinzers, we set back of on the road home. Next week we are representing England at 520 kilos at the United Kingdom Championships at Banff, Scotland, this is the first time the club has represented at 520 kilos at the UK Championships.
It was a disappointing turn out,we had hoped that more teams representing England would have made the effort to attend this competition. There was only ourselves & Bedford, we only had 6 pullers due to work commitments Bedford had 9 pullers, so we borrowed 1 from Bedford & pulled 7 aside for the 2 weights. It was suggested we pulled either twice for each weight, for some extra time on the rope we entered the 600 kilos aswell. We competed well in the 520 kilos weighing 470 kilos against Bedford more experienced 7 pullers, we wanted time on the rope to get use to pulling outdoors again after a long time pulling indoor. We contained Bedfords early attack, with keeping our angles we were taking rope on pressure, with our style of pulling, Lynsey, our borrowed puller, didn't take to long to adapt after a few helpful words from our coach. We had to take something from every pull, to get back to read a rope, move the feet, which with live competition is the only way to achieve this. We would like to thank Lynsey for pulling with us.
The 600 kilos was a seeded weight, we were weighed in heavier than 600 kilos by Ray Fray Smith dispite it being 600 kilo weight. We had Lincoln, Totham Bull & Oxney in our group. We entered this weight to have time on the rope, in our build up to the UK championships, unlike previous weeks, when were given the chance to have a pull, this week only Totham Bull allowed us time, which we thank them for also to Bo & Ian from Bosley who pulled for us.
The last weight of the day was 560 kilos, weighing 477 kilos against a much heavier Bedford. We contained Bedford, keeping tight on our angle & pushing to take inches, we were able to take rope but weight against us & tiredness creeping in with the 2 girls who had pulled with no training for 11 months & 5 months both pulled very well. We were happy with our days pulling, getting rope fit & live pulling was our aim, as its what we win at UK`s, is the important competition to win. Thanks to Charlotte for pulling with us. 
After a weeks light training, it was back to outdoor competitions, as we begin our build up to the United Kingdom Championships at Banff, Scotland but nearer Norway! As we need live outdoor competition & no Ladies competitions on, we went to Barton, We pulled Holland Sports Girls. We were the first weight on, with the sunshining unlike the day before, the ground was possibly the same as at the UK Championships, it was a good test, against Holland`s new side, We had Jo & Lisa pulling in their first competitive competition for us, outside the Nationals & both very good pullers fitted in to our team so well & are a bonus to our club,this was a good start for us to get back into the different style we are having to pull. 
We pulled well trying to stay on our legs & clean, (on this ground its best to finish on your legs!!!)but the ground took a few ends to adjust to, but once we found our legs, we had some good ends & handled the Holland girls lifts well & were able to put in to practise, what we had been training, into a live pull. The Holland team our a young team but with plenty more competitions together in the future they will be a excellent team in the future.
We also competed in the 640 kilos competition, borrowing to Holland pullers. We used this weight to tighten up on our drops, for leg work, to defend & hold teams. This was a group of 7, we competed well despite being light, we had a couple of teams under the cosh but with the ground getting boggy & the extra kilos light made it difficult to move teams, but we took loads of training from these pulls & would like to thank all the teams for their support & consideration with us pulling in this weight.
There was only 3 teams both the 560 & 520 kilo weights at this years Championships. With the Friday night weigh in done, usually teams go out to put as much weight back on as possible, but this was not the case for us, as we are still focusing on our dieting down for the World Games. We had Jo & Lisa pulling for us for the first time & proved to be both the finds of the season & we had Gemma who joined us in May & has proved to be an excellent anchor, for only having a couple of short sessions, to get to pull our style, she was amazing. The first weight was the 560 kilos, being 42 kilos light, we knew this would be a hard weight, to compete in.We pulled the Army first,with the Army having a 2 week training sessions before the Nationals they should have been much rope fitter than us.This was a excellent pull both teams attacking but with the Army feeding us rope to put a lift in, as we were so tight, pressing on our angles, they dropped us to the ground to many times for the judges liking & gave us 2 quick caution for sitting,unfortunately oblivious to what they doing, we finally broke the Army`s lifts down & started to power them back, with only a foot to the line, the Judge dubiously blew us out for sitting, despite one person slipping this was classed as sitting a strange decision, but,when that happens you now its going to be a hard day to win.
Our next pull was against Bedford, We attacked them from the drop started to take rope then more rope came, Bedford scattered out of the holes,sat wondering what was happening, we held them for a moment, we settled, then drove them over the line. This was a fantastic end to win against Bedford who had been training since March & we had only trained as a squad for 2 hours 30 mins outdoor all season.
The next weight was the 520 kilos, strangely we pulled the Army first again. We weighed in at 500 kilos & we knew that in this weight we were nearer the same weight as the other sides but still lighter. With a few pullers getting a few twinges from pulling outdoor, we had to pull to our plan. We were in total control against the Army, they tried to pull the same tactics, feed us rope to put us on the ground,same as in the 560 but we we able to catch the rope they fed us to stay on our legs which was great to see the new pullers cope with these tactics & then carry on to gain a sweet victory. 
We won a Silver medal in the 520 kilos, which at this stage of our build up to the World Games was a excellent result. We showed we are still the team to beat & its a shame that not all teams wanted to win at the Nationals. Which was a shame but still a good competition this year. Hopefully next year there maybe more teams that attend the Nationals. 
The squad, Back row: Gemma, Lorna, Lisa, Jo, Julie, Lucinda, Dawn. Front Row: Tracey, Di, Duncan, Rachel Lynsey. Well done to all the squad for their enthusiasm & commitment to pull outdoor at the Nationals with very limited training together. 
The first weight of the day was the 520 kilos. With only Bedford in this weight, we had hoped for some good training but no,it was just the 2 ends, with any chance of holes to use were soon destroyed by the Girls & boys weights pulling on the same ground before us. We started slow but had the power to stop Bedford from working & to hold them, making them panic in to lifting. We were surprised to be able to return some lifts & take rope. We made good use from our training, on the rope, keeping our shape, to defend there lifts. Well done to Jo, who pulled for us for the first time, its never easy pulling for a new team and one thats not done any outdoor training, Jo kept a good angle & showed that on better ground, she will have a lot to offer our team in the future.
The next weight was 560 kilos with 2 other teams Bedford & Team Army. We first pulled Bedford then Team Army who had a menagerie of pullers, 3 from Bedford and 1 from the Cadets, a few more than the rules normally allow! But we had a good pull, stopping Team Army, keeping our angles whilst we could on terrible ground & went on to beat Team Army 2-0. 
We were pleased with our days pulling, as we were beating & containing both teams, who have been training since March. Well done to Gemma who pulled for the first time for us & did very well on anchor & will be a great addition to our team & to Lorna who`s loving the rope pulling! With our 6 competitions done, we can now concentrate on our main aim this season, the World Games.
The competition was well supported by teams from the Association & from Young farmers. We would like to thank all the teams for their support in this competition & to Everyone at the Manifold Inn, who`s help made this such a great day.
After a hard days training on saturday for the squad going to the World Games, we entered just the 560 kilos. This was a group of 5 teams, Waterhouses, Ashbourne, Bedford & Bakewell, with Heather always improving after doing some individual training & without us doing any outdoor training, we competed very well & came runners up in this weight. 
After a hard days indoor training on Saturday, we took this opportunity to have a some outdoor training. We entered the 600 kilos, weighing only 520 kilos, we used this weight to practice a few new ideas throughout & to avoid any 3 enders. With a full squad next week, we are hoping for some more good training.
We started with the 560ish kilos weight.We were light in this but had a good pull with the cadets B, which, as we are using these competitions as our training, more pulls like this is good for us. Heather was pulling in her first competition for us & with only a nights indoor training proved what a good asset she will be to our club & will find it easier against tighter teams than in the 560 kilos.Thanks to Rebecca & Charlie for pulling for us in this weight.
The second weight was 520 with 6 girls & Mark from Sheen, to bump us up a lot nearer 520 kilos! We pulled Holland first they pulled a really good tight rope, we pushed and waited pushed again giving us time on the rope & a chance for some good training. We then pulled Cadets keeping them under pressure we made them sink to the floor & pulled them over the line with no chance to get up.Thanks to Mark for his help. Thanks to Area 2 for Holding two very good Competitions, which were both well supported. Well done to Rachel, who competed in her first Tri-athlon today!
We started our outdoor season with a short trip to Barton. We entered the 620 with the help from John from Sheen, we were only 40 kilos light. With having no outdoor training, we were looking for a chance to practise a couple of new ideas. We had a group of 3 other sides to pull. We first had Barton, we were a bit cautious on the drop but we dropped in well, with no need to be lifting against heavier sides to avoid the risk of injuries, we made this a good pull, which gave us the confidence to try to push in our next pull against Holland Sports. Again we had a good drop, eased into some good positions, pulling bigger sides is good for us to train against a tight rope. 
Our last pull was with Hanging Bridge, who sportingly offered to pull with 7 (leaving off their heaviest puller!!) this pull gave us a good chance to work hard. On the 2nd end Hanging bridge gave us a good tight rope to pull on allowing us to build pressure & work against them allowing us sportingly to take the 2nd end. For our first pull on grass it was a good start to the season, we all enjoyed the weight even Lorna, who pulled on the rope for the first time. Next week the competition is at Droitwich.
This was our first ever World Championships at 520.We had weighed in at 510 kilos on the Thursday night, the girls had done an excellent job of dieting down to get this team in. We had good rest with us not entering the open competition and we had high hopes for a good day when we pulled on the Sunday. We were told that the ground is every endy, That was correct, the ground could not have been anymore endy, at one end you had grass and the other end was tighty squeeze in between 2 sets of old holes which had all the dirt and grass from those holes on it which made that impossible to pull on a it was greasy and could not make an impression on it, our coach ask to clear the defected area but was told this is an infringment of the rules. With the ground as it was, this made a mockery of this weight.
we went 1-1 against Switzerland (picture pulling Switzerland) the first end was as perfect as we pulled all year in control took a bit waited to every inch and gave nothing away but the second end they attack, we with stood this started to move back but they had holes to get behind stopped us and took us over the line , Beat Belguim 2-0 they were a tough team but were knew we had to take these points to get close to the cross over, 1-1 against Lithuania we had a good drop took them half way before they could do anything to stop us the second end we had to with stand their early pressure to try to where them down we was doing this but picked up caution stopping us to stay down to hold them they took this end, beat Japan 2-0 another tough pull in these conditions a lifting side but we managed to stay in control to win, 
We lost to Sweden 2-0 we needed a point to get to the cross over against a very strong swedish side, we got them off there hips down to ground but they are a very strong side and took us both ends ending any chance to get to the cross over, which gave us 13 points and finished joint 5th with South Africa. Which was not a true reflection of the way we pulled every end was a hard battle everyone gave 110%, it was the same for everyone else in this weight and this gave the other countries of having a chance to stop us but thats tug of war. Well done to Sweden they were far the best team on winning the Gold medal, Holland got Silver and Switzerland won Bronze. We would like to Thank Di for pulling for us & Amy for being our reserve at late notice.
Having already won both the 520 and 560 before the final day, it was a poor turn out for this competition. With only Bedford to pull, we pulled first to win 5 ends for the 520. We only had 7 Ladies out so we pulled both weights with the same team. We had a good days pulling winning all 5 ends in the 520. In the 560 Bedford made a change but we managed to win this weight 4-1. So this was our last competition before we head off to Sweden for the World Championships. We would like to wish Bedford all the best in Sweden representing England at 560.
The first weight was the 520, 6 teams entered, 2 from Scotland, Bankfoot and Cornhill and 4 from England Belvior Vale, Bedford and Army Ladies. Our first pull was against Bedford, being TWIF rules we knew one end was enough to make it through to the cross over. We attacked the drop on the first end taking rope with Bedford putting up a battle to stop us, but we powered on to take this end. The second end was tactical so we dropped in hard and then sat and waited for Beford to start pulling, we kept angle making it hard work for Bedford to take the second end. Then we had Bankfoot this was the first time we had pulled them so we had to be switched on from the drop, they had no answer to our pressure and we took both ends. Army Ladies next, with them winning this weight the day before we had to make no mistakes with them. We had a perfect drop and it came with some ease and we stayed up on our legs to win both ends comfortably. Cornhill were next we dropped in and pushed them out both ends. Last up was Belvior Vale the drop was important. They dropped in low to stop us they stayed low for a while, so we came up to contain them, and when they went to ground we were ready to start pushing them over the line. The second end was to be much the same tactics, stay up high, wait for them to go to ground then push! Its a hard way to pull but effective. 
We won the group and pulled Army Ladies in the semi-final. We had a very good drop with no real answer from them with a couple of lifts against us we kept our shape and powered our way to win both ends and reach the final. In the final we pulled Bedford, with their growing support from the crowd they seemed lifted. We were in control of the pull, sat on an angle defending every lift, then for some reason we hit the floor giving Bedford the encouragement to lift and pull us over the line. We knew what had to be done on the second end so we had a big drop started to push and take them half way then one lift from them, and they got us bent, and we were unable to find that one draw to get us straight and moving with the crowd behind them they pulled us forward to take the second end.
The 560 was next with 3 teams in this Bankfoot and Bedford. We made one change bringing in Debbie for Lynsey. Bedford was first again they went with a bigger side than ours in this weight so we had to be in control with the disappointment from the 520. We attacked the drop taking and keeping every inch tight we pressured our way back with some strong lifts from Bedford we never let them bend us over we were in control of both ends and won 2-0. Bankfoot were next knowing that a win would put us in the final, we took the first end on pressure staying on our legs and pushing hard and we won the second end with a big drop and pushed them over the line. In the final we pulled Bedford again, both sides had a good drop sitting and waiting we kept the pressure on them making them go lower to contain us, we withstood their lifts and drew long, and stayed on our legs to take the first end. 
The second end was to be like the first with the crowd cheering them on they put in some strong lifts but we stayed in control on our legs, pushing, not giving them a chance to reply, and took the second end to win the 560.
560 England A: Helen, Rachael, Tracey, Rachel, Debbie, Steph, Di, Lorna. Res: Lynsey
With 4 teams entered this weight England B Wales A & Wales B. We had a good draw pulling Wales A first. The ground was good, some good holes to get behind, so getting a good drop was essential. With some nerves around we made no mistake with getting the drop. We started to push from the drop leaving Wales A fighting hard to stop us, but to no avail as we won the end. The second end had to be much the same, with the second end there was a slight advantage with the ground slopping at the back, so we pushed from the drop with Wales making every inch hard to take but we stay composed and won the 2nd end. 
Next was England B a very strong side. We knew we had pulled this tactically, as the top teams miss each other in the cross over, it was to be a steady pull from us holding our angle & easing forward to lose 2-0.
Wales B was our last pull in the group. Knowing 1 end was enough to put us in second place, we had a good drop making Wales B go lower to stop us as they went to ground we pushed on to take the first end. We made no mistake with the second end romping home to take second in the group and weight for semi- final draw.
In the semi-finals we were drawn against Wales B. We attacked the drop,not giving them a chance to stop our power and we cruised our way in to the final by winning the second end with ease as Wales B had an eye on pulling for the bronze Medal.
In the Final we pulled England B, this was not going to be an easy pull with England B a strong tight team to pull against.Both sides dropped in trying to take the first advantage, both teams settled and sat waiting for the first attack. We started to put pressure on them but they seemed to be able to contain us on the better end. As we started to try to move, England B answered and took us forward as hard as we fought to take rope back we made them work hard for every bit of rope they took, with the crowd behind them they took the first end, but we knew there was a long way to go. 
The second end started as the first we went lower to stop there attack on the drop,pushing hard keeping the momentum going as soon as they stop us we dropped down to use the power in our legs to carry us over the line to win the second end. All down to the toss of a coin, as per last year we lost the toss and the England B chose the good end.At this point England B made a substitution bring on their reserve. 
The third end. With the crowd behind England B,we had a good powerful drop taking the pull to them they started to put lifts in against us but we returned them to stay on an angle with the determination of the whole team not to lose we dug deep to find that extra power to win the third end and take the Gold medal. This was an excellent Final to pull, a crowd pleaser and a good advert for Ladies tug of war.
Presentation Dinner.
There was a good turn out this week,which made this a good days training ahead of next weeks UK Championships. 6 teams entered Belvior Vale, Army Ladies A & B, Bedford & Bicester YFC in the 520kg. We attended this competition with just 8 girls weighing at 520.Our first pull was against a very Strong Bedford team, we both had a good tight drop with both sides sitting and waiting,we started to put pressure on them and took some inches which Bedford strongly lifted back, we stayed on our angle as Bedford started to work against us we stopped them from working and pushed hard to get them moving and we kept up that pushing to take the first end. The second end was a good battle with bedford taking the early command of the pull but defended well and started to wear them down and started to drive backwards keeping the pressure on them not allowing them a chance to get back into the pull and then went on to push them over the line.
Next up was Army B this was a mixed team but we controlled both ends to win 2-0. We then pulled Belvior Vale another hard pull with Belvoir Vale going low to stop us but we had to be patient keeping them under pressure and slowly we pulled them over the line.We then pulled Army A, after taking control without being in too much bother we took some slack rope went to the floor and they lifted us and with their momentum they took us over the line. The second end was much the same but with their big lift they took us forward to win. Last up was Bicester YFC, knowing we had to win to stay in with a chance of finishing in the top 2, we attacked them both ends from the drop to win 2 straight. With Bedford beating the Army A this meant a 3 way pull off. 
We pulled Army A first, we wanted revenge for them beating us in the group so we dropped in hard pushing them taking inches not allowing them to lift , we went on to win 2 straight ends. With Bedford last to pull this was to be the final as they ad already defeated Army A. We took control of the first end winning on pressure the second end they won so it was to be a crowd pleasing 3rd end. Our coach won the toss and for a change took the good end, with both teams dropping in hard to defend we took the first move pushing on an angle driving hard to win the 3rd end and the 520.
In the 560 we had the same team. Being 40 kilos light and a new injury to contend with we carried on in this weight mainly for training purposes. We took something positive out of each pull finishing 3rd in the group. Well done to Army Ladies who won this weight.
The day was a hot one an ideal chance for topping up your tan!. The first weight of the day was the 560, with 3 teams in this we went round twice. With the Leicester & Northants was our first pull, they had beaton Bedford in their first pull so they must have felt confident about pulling us, From the start of the pull we put them under pressure they looked to go low or to the ground to have any chance of containing our emense power they made it an untidy pull but we maintain our power through our legs to take the first end, The second end they went straight to the floor to stop us but we keep the pressure on them and waited for them to come up of the floor with a big lift they rowed us forward two holes then went to the floor again giving us a slack rope we took the rope waited for the next row then when they came up again we took full advantage of their slack rope and powered them over the line despite their efforts to stop us.Next up were Bedford much better pulling for us we had a good the first end not allowing them to break our rthym from the drop the second end was much the same a good drop and power keeping our angle and pushing power through our legs, we went to to complete this pull winning 2-0. Second time around was to be a costly one for us as we picked up two injuries, first up again was the Cadets, we were strong on our legs staying up when they tried to attack half way back one off their pullers felt our power and came of the rope injured, thankfully she recovered but could not pull the next ends so we sporting pulled them with 7, they took the 2nd end , so it went to the deciding pull, this is where our fitness keeps us strong with this in our favour we trounced them to win the 3rd end. But they feed you rope then lift to the floor, you try to keep tight but its not a easy way to defend but its all good training but it does do damage. Last pull in this weight was with Bedford with one of our Team injured from the last pull Bedford sportingly pulled with 7. We had a big drop pushed hard not allowing them to stop us we went on to win the first end the second end was going well for us but we gave them a a chance to get back into the pull but we managed to get it back to win and to win this weight.
The next weight was 520, we went round twice, we had to make a much lighter change for the injured pullers made 20 kilos lighter, we had an excellent drop both teams sat waiting for one to move Bedford started to put us under pressure but we took back everything they took off us taking an inch at a time we controlled this end to win. The second end started well for us until one of our team had a recurrance of an injury she picked up in the first weight and could not pull so we stepped forward to lose the 2nd end so she could get of the rope before anymore damaged was done after finding out what the injury was she was unable to carry on dispite her every effort to carry on, we had to think of the bigger picture. So with the last end we pulled with 7 and now being 90 kilos light we put up a good fight in the 3rd end but the weight difference was to much and Bedford won 2-1, we then had the Cadets with being 90 light we had to be switch on from the drop we started to push them they went down to the ground for a change but we carried on pushing not giving them a chance to get up and dragged them over the line the second end was the same tactics from them but we battled on to beat them again, with the cadets pulling out of the competition our last pull with Bedford made this the deciding pull. But being light we had no answer to a Bedford side that went on to win and we came Runners-up in this weight. This was a excellent run competition by the hosts that made every effort to make the Ladies competition feel part of the day.
Our first competition back after the nationals, we had 4 girls missing but still managed to dominate both 560 & 520 weights. First weight was the 520 with 4 teams Bedford, Leicester & Northants Ladies Cadets & Leicester & Northants Cadets. with only 4 teams we took a vote to go round twice. We pulled the ladies cadet team first beating them 2-0 but they went on later in this weight to win a some ends which was good to see their progress. Next up were the cadets they only had 7 boys so we dropped down to 7. Never an easy pull, as their style of pulling is different to the style we usually pull against, this had to be a controlled pull, as the cadets always feed you a bit of rope then lift which is hard to get that back, with their strength. We have trained to just draw back to an angle, then wait and push pressure to control a tight rope. The Cadets always put in a strong lift to stop us so we returned every lift, and then they started to get weaker eventually going to ground allowing us to push to the line. The 2nd end was a good pull we controlled every inch we took giving them nothing, every feed they gave us we took and kept it strong on the arms once they couldnt get it back we pushed them over the line with ease. Next up was Bedford always a hard pull but a good tight rope to pull against. We had a good drop pushing them and keeping it tight working hard to keep what rope we had gained, and keeping the pressure on them, we pulled them over the line. The 2nd end was much the same, keeping the rope we had taken and we went on to win the 2nd end and the first weight. On the 2nd time around we beat the cadet ladies team 2-0. On the next pull with the cadets we won the first end. Pulling against the boys is challenging for us, as they are strong and it was draining having lost the second end. On the third and final end our coach chose to make the team pull on the end both teams had lost on.Our fighting spirit not to lose carried us through a hard final end which was a real tussle rowing us back to keep us bent. So we stayed bent to kill there fading lifts and we were getting stonger as we could see them struggling with our pressure against them and slowly we started taking the inches and keeping the pressure on them, we won the 3rd end. This was a good win for us, with a few minutes rest we took on Bedford another good pull with them always testing us but we went on to win both ends.
The first weight of the day was the 560,with 5 teams Leek, Bedford, Belvoir Vale, & Army Ladies. We had Tracey competing in her first Nationals in this weight. With the weather on the wet side of dry, the ground was hard and very greasy, so we knew it was going to be important to be strong on the legs. With our extra sharp boots we started against Army Ladies never an easy pull, we got an excellent drop pushed them, and put them under pressure we resisted their lifts against us and powered them over the line. The next end they droped in tight we sat there on our angles putting pressure on them and bending them over making them put a lift in we defended their lift, dropped our shoulders and powered them out to win 2-0. 
Next was Belvoir always strong on the drop so we knew we had to be sure we matched their drop, we sat with them at the start of the pull putting pressure on them they went low to stop us but with the ground slippy we stayed on our legs and took the first end. The second end was the same, a good drop match them then pushed our way to win 2 straight. We then pulled Leek a strong lifting side but we had too much pressure for them dropping in and pushing them out to a 2-0 win. 
Our last pull was with Bedford, we were both unbeaten so far. This was an exciting pull we dropped in hard taking the sting out of their drop, we sat and waited with them keeping the pressure on them. With every step we built up more pressure they started to come, they put in lifts, we drew it back to our angle each time to stay out long and they could not get their lift in and pushed them hard not giving them a chance to get back in the pull, we took the first end. The second end we had to be strong on the drop, we started strong defending every inch we were taking with the momentum with us we stayed long returning everything back and powered our way to win the Gold medal and be 560 Champions. 
The second weight was 520 with the weather now down to a fine drizzle and the ground still hard and slippery. In this weight we made 3 changes, Rachael,Lorna and Julie making this a big side for this weight. First pull was against Belvior vale, we had to be quick on our feet not go to ground from the drop, we powered from the drop stayed on our legs to win. The second end we needed the same drop as they are strong but once we started to put pressure on them they went to floor giving us the advantage and pulled them over to win 2-0. Next up was Bedford, both sides knowing that who ever won this pull were favourites to win this weight. We had a good strong drop both sides sitting and waiting for the little bits to take. We stayed in control putting pressure on them, they started to pull up a little bit just enough so we took a few more inches from them. We stayed strong on our legs and put a good lift in which stopped us but we pulled it back to our angle, stayed there, stopped them getting any bit of rope from us and powered them over the line. On the second end we had a massive drop, and drove them half way, they lifted but we nudged it on every time to maintain our momentum not allowing them anything and went on to crooss the line to victory and on course to win gold. We then pulled Leek pulled both ends on good steady pressure to cruise to a 2-0 win.
Leaving us with just the Army Ladies to pull and glory just 2 ends away. We dropped in keeping the pressure on them they took us forward two steps before we took total control of the pull, pulled it back to the angles stopped them lifting and pushed our way to win the first end. Only 1 end away from winning we had a big drop, staying long not letting them lift us and we drove them over the line to victory and the Gold medal.
Celebrations, after beating Army Ladies to secure our first ever Gold medal at 520. The celebrations for the squad went on into the night!
The first weight of the day was 560, which 7 teams took part in, Army Ladies, Bedford, Belvior vale, Leicester and Northants Cadets ,Ifthon Valley from Wales.We had Julie back for only her 2nd competition since having her baby and Tracey pulling only her 3rd competition. We pulled theLeicester and Northants Cadet girls first, taking victory in under 10 seconds both ends. Next we had Belvior Vale, they had a good strong drop which we defended well then started to build up pressure and forcing them down to defend at a low height to stop us, but we had the momentum to win the pull. On the second end the pull was much the same defending their strong drop and push hard to win the 2nd end. Army Ladies is always a tough team to pull with their "never give up" attitude but we had the push on them dispite a couple of their big lifts coming through we maintained our composure to win both ends. Bedford were next, this was a hard battle against a very strong Bedford side, we managed to maintain the pressure and, to push our way to win both ends. Our last pull was Ilfthon Valley. They have a very good lift so we had to keep our shape push hard and force them to lower the height of their rope. We managed to win both ends and finish top of the group. In the Semi-final we pulled Ithon Valley. We dropped in well pushing them to the ground and winning both ends with ease. We made it through to the final where we met Bedford. Dispite other pulls going on when we pulled our final we had yet another hard pull with Bedford, with us missing the drop this gave the emphasis to Bedford and they took their advantage well, we had no response and lost the 1st end. The 2nd end was much the same missing the drop, dispite every effort from our team to get back into the pull, Bedford managed to hold on to win gold. This was a good final it was a shame that we weren't given the same respect as the men's finals, and allowed to be the only pull in the arena. Our congratulations go to Bedford.
The next weight was 520. We made 2 changes binging in Lynsey & Diana. This weight was brought forward to be pulled with the 680, leaving us little to prepare. We had 5 other teams in this group, we started with Belvior Vale who borrowed 1 of our new pullers Tracey for this weight. The drop was always going to be important against Belvior Vale, we just got the drop on them and pushed our way to winning both ends. Army Ladies were up next, due to one of their team having to go, they competed with 7. We sportingly dropped down to 7 also. We defended their lifts and pushed our way to a 2 end victory. Next was Ithon Valley, a strong side they gave us a good pull but our power was to much for them and cruised to a victory. Our last pull was against Bedford with both teams through to the semi finals, this was to be a tactical pull from both sides, so in the end we both took an end each. In the semi final again we pulled Ithon Valley, they had an injuried puller so decided to pull with 7, and so we powered passed them in to the final to meet Bedford. This was yet another exciting pull both teams attacking the drop but in this final we didnt miss the drop and gained an early advantage. We stayed on an angle and pushed on to win the first end. The 2nd end we had a good drop defended well, and went on to win Gold. This again was pulled with the start of the other men's competition and was overshadowed to most of the crowd. Well done to Tracey who went on to help Belvior Vale win the Bronze medal. 
Our Winning Squad; 560 Silver & 520 Gold medallists.
Our club secretary Rachel Craft at BBC WM 95.6 on Tuesday 27th May. Rachel with Presenter Les Ross and Roger Beardsmore.
The weather was not the best this week raining from start to finish, which made the conditions slightly slippery. With no other Ladies teams travelling all the way to Birmingham. We went prepared, with 2 teams in the 520 & 560 pulling 5 a side. With both teams fighting the conditions, we put in some good pulling, getting the tactics and technique right was the important part of today but in the end it was Sheen A Winning both weights with Sheen B runners up. Holland sports borrowed 2 of our pullers Rachel and Tracey for their catchweight team, they both performed well despite both being light pullers.
We also entered a team in the 580 with help from Dave and Paul from Norton.We had a very difficult group, pulling Norton, Sandhurst and Bosley. We entered this weight to pull tight teams to put in to practice, what we had learned at training this week. We put up a good performance in this group and took a lot of encouragement out of entering this weight. We would like to thank the teams in our group for their conduct when pulling against us, and also to Dave and Paul for their support and encouragement whilst pulling with us. 
The First weight was the 560.With 5 ladies teams Belvior Vale ,Team Army, AFC Leicester & Northants, Bedford and 2 Youth teams from AFC Leicester and Northants & Tara Arms from Ireland. With a couple of new faces again Rachel & Tracey, both fitting in well, we dominated the ladies weight. With the ground being endy from the start its was crucial to attack the drop. Each pull was going to be hard with the ground being endy pressure pulling was going to be crucial and we took every end saving energy in the heat.We went on to victory beating all the ladies teams but with 2 youth teams also competing in our competition we had 2 pull tactically against them as other teams did. We did take an end out of Tara Arms, we were the only ladies team to do this and overall we took the bronze medal.
5 ladies teams competed in the 520 weight & again the 2 youth teams joined our competition. We made one change for this weight. Despite all the effort our team put in to get to 520, we felt the scales were weighing heavy. Im sure they will be accurate on nationals day! We started this weight slowly with a long rest between weights and the draining heat, we first had Bedford beating them 2 -1 winning the deciding pull on the bad end. This pull was a reminder that we still have a lot of hard work to do before the nationals. We then pulled Belvoir Vale, we gained confidence and pushed our way to victory. Our last pull was with the Army always a lively pull, so we had to be tight and resist there early pressure to win both ends.We then went on to pull the rest of this ladies weight unbeaten.
Our squad for Daventry with their winning medals.
This weekend`s competition was hosted by Lincoln.First was the 560 3 teams were entered, ourselves and 2 cadet sides. We only pulled with 7 in both weights this week. We borrrowed woody for 560 & Bob for 520, both from Bosley. Its a welcome return for Julie, having had a baby 8 weeks ago it was good to have her back. We also had 2 new girls pulling for the first time Emily & Jo. We pulled Cadets A first in the 560kg, we knew this was going 2 be tough pulling 8 lads, with our new girls pulling & being 38 kilos light. We made them struggle to beat us, but we lost both ends, they were pleased with their win. The second pull against Cadets B was rather easier than the first, which gave a bit of confidence to our new girls, despite the cadets not pulling each other, we came runners up.
The second weight was the 520kg was a lot closer still the cadets A struggled to beat us convincinly both ends and we beat the B side with little trouble taking our second runners up of the day.
The second weight was the same team for us with other teams making changes but this was only to be another controlled weight we won.We had Belvior Vale first and again they gave us a good pull, hopefully their new girls enjoyed their first competition. Then we had the Cadets which we dominated from the drop to ease them over the line on both ends. Our final pull against Bedford, who only had 7 girls, so we sportingly dropped a puller to pull them 7 a side. We dropped and pushed our way to winning the first end, and the second end was much the same. We sat with them for a while before pushing them out to secure winning the second weight unbeaten. We would like to thank Stephen Gale, who pulled for us in both weights. 
This weeks competition was at Bedford. There was a good turn out with 7 teams; 3 Army Cadet teams, Army Ladies, Belvoir Vale Ladies & Bedford Ladies in the 520kg. With 4 teams; Belvoir Vale Ladies Bedford Ladies & Army Cadets in the 560kg. The first weight was the 520kg. We went through this weight unbeaten, pulling a very good style always in control of each pull, pulling pressure. We had army cadets girls first then Belvior Vale, with some new faces, they gave us a good pull. Army cadets boys followed by Army ladies. Next was Bedford, it was are first meeting with them this season, however, with a few experienced ladies missing we still expected a hard pull so getting the drop was essential. We got the drop and started to put them under pressure, taking the first end. The second end we had to be sure to get the drop again with them on the better end we dropped in and put them under pressure, working hard to maintain the pressure on them and taking a hard earned second end. Last in the group was the Cadet youth team, despite changing their team and eventually dropping a person, we knew even against 7, this was going to be a hard pull. We pressured them out despite them sitting trying to take us to ground we pushed them out with little effort, the second end went the same way there tatics were no match for our team and we easily took the second end. Winning the group with maximum points.