You could sense that the opposition had been caught off guard and that it wasn’t going to be as easy as they had expected which was confirmed by the fact that we were starting to get on top of the game only for disaster to strike when during a rare venture into our penalty area the Referee inexplicably gave the home team a penalty, which was duly converted.1-0! Not to be deterred we composed ourselves and with a steely determination and some outstanding skill from in particular Jordan, Deakin, Kay and Scott the players refused to take second place, however the forwards were finding it difficult going in enemy territory, a change of plan was needed. It must be noted that with their tails up the opposition were determined to press home the advantage and after being foiled time and time again the tackling started to get rather overheated. This seemed to wake the home teams Regimental Mascot from his slumber and he proceeded to entertain us with his complete inability to grasp the fundamentals of the national sport and the spirit in which the game should be played. Even he was getting frustrated in his teams inability to progress, I could tell this by the fact that he continually raised his knuckles off the ground and waved his arms around animatedly. I believe he is employed as the Provost Sergeant!! At half time Tpr Walker replaced Tpr Abbott and the team were encouraged to keep the ball on the ground and beat their defences. The advice was heeded and with the substitute determined to prove himself the chances started to come and after some very attractive approach play
our endeavours were rewarded when Tpr Smith grabbed the equaliser! Guy was not impressed!! During the rest of the second half the Cavalry outfought and outplayed 1 Para whilst searching for the winner but to no avail with the home team, having been run ragged, desperately hanging on and the game went into extra time. With another thirty minutes to play the airborne warriors thought they could see us off but they had not reckoned with the dogged determination of The Household Cavalry. After two more substitutions, Tpr Jacobi replaced L/CoH Lochrane who took a knock and L/Cpl Moore going on for Tpr Walsh who had absolutely ran himself into the ground for the cause, and continuing where we had left off we pressed forward searching for the winner. Having forced a corner the big men from defence foraged forward and from a set piece L/CoH McMullen flicked on a near post corner for Tpr Walker to head home! We were ecstatic, meanwhile on the sidelines the home supporters were stunned into silence……. except for the Regimental Mascot who was going……. . MENTAL! With time ticking away, victory in sight the Cavalry suppressed the advances until three minutes from full time when the Paras were, to everyone’s amazement, Guy being the exception, awarded a free kick on the edge of our penalty. Having organised ourselves against the danger the resulting shot that was going wide
took a wicked deflection off the back of a 1 Para player and cruelly looped into the goal to equalise. After 120 minutes of football played with skill courage and total commitment by both sides the tie was to be decided on penalties! The five players who were going to take our penalties had practised the day before so we were quietly confident. The home team won the toss to see who would go first and elected to start the proceedings…. 1 Para scored, 1-0 L/Cpl Jordan measured side foot into corner of goal, 1-1 1 Para saved by Tpr Benfield, 1-1 Tpr (Chris Waddle) Kay, 1-1 1 Para scored, 2-1 Tpr Smith unstoppable shot, 2-2 1 Para scored, 3-2 Tpr (Stuart Pearce) Scott, 3-2 1 Para scored. It was all over 1 Para won 42 on penalties!! Having played their hearts out to be beaten on penalties was devastating however our opponents recognised that they had been in a true epic battle and that they were somewhat fortunate to proceed to the next round so good luck to them, as for the cavalry we can look forward to the rest of the season and especially to the first round of the Cavalry Cup in February when we play 1RTR away at Honiton. I must offer my congratulations to the players on their display of pride, commitment to the team determination to overcome the odds and the skill and flair that they produced. Things did get better much better. If only……
HCMR Football he football season for 1998/1999 looked very promising, mixing the talent of youth and age within the squad of players at Knightsbridge. There were several successes and defeats in the league and the football team finished mid table.
The LONDIST Cup Competition was a success with a convincing win over the Coldstream Guards in the semi-finals at Windsor by 2 goals to 1. Things were certainly looking good for the final in April and the Cavalry Cup against 9/12 Lancers at Swanton Moreley.
The LONDIST Six a Side competition was held at Woolwich Garrison. The Regiment sent two teams to the competition under the guidance of CoH Twyman, LCoH Auld and LCpl McNamara. Team B was knocked out at the quarterfinal stages of the competition but Team A were the eventually winners of the competition after beating 36 Regiment the Final by 5 goals to 2.
The football squad then ventured on a long trip up to Swanton Moreley for the Cavalry Cup against 9/12 Lancers with 3 key players missing from the Squad. With strong winds and a postage stamp football pitch,9/12 Lancers scored in the last five minutes of the game from a corner kick and the help of the wind. To the credit of the squad this had been 9/12 Lancers hardest match of the season.9/12 Lancers eventually went on to win the
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Cavalry Cup overall in May. This has encouraged the Squad and they have now realised they have the ability to succeed next year, the “Millennium Year”. With good results in the league and latterly the defeat in the Cavalry Cup it was soon the LONDIST Cup Final at Burton’s Court. The opposition was the 1st Duke of Wellington Regiment from Hounslow. The match was certainly entertaining for the supporters that came and watched. 1DWR scored in the first 5 minutes of the game and that was the score at half time. The second half was totally different. LCpl Featherstone pulled one back to make 1-1 and excellent perfor-
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