Equestrian News

two but skied a penalty way over the bar to make it five.

However, a freak deflection, a needless concession of a penalty and some unorganised defending brought it back to 4-3 with seconds remaining, but Brize couldn’t find the shock equaliser.

Northolt pulled out of the semi-final meaning Odiham got the chance to play at England’s training facility, St George’s Park in Derbyshire. Sadly, a fit Brize Norton outfit full of representative talent proved too much. Tait would equalise in the first half, but after falling behind again before half-time the game opened up in the second period as Odiham searched for extra-time and they ultimately conceded a further two.

Nevertheless, Evans was more than pleased with the display.

“The 4-1 result flattered Brize, as at 2-1 down with twenty minutes to go we began to chase the game, resulting in conceding two late goals. The Brize manager congratulated our squad at the end of the match stating that it was their toughest match of the season. They had an extremely experienced team with numerous SRT players. The average age of our squad was about 22 despite 37-year-old Sgt Dixon bringing that age up quite considerably. We missed chances at crucial stages of the match which, in my opinion, would have impacted the result on the day. As part of the coaching staff I couldn’t fault the work rate, desire and application shown by the RAF Odiham players.”

A lower half league finish can probably be attributed to lack of stability and personnel disruption before Christmas, evidenced by the improved results in the new year with a far more settled and cohesive side.

Odiham can take plenty of encouragement from their League Cup exploits and their obvious upward trajectory. 08/09/21 Odiham 0-3 Brize Norton

22/09/21 Odiham 5-2 Brize Norton B L McElroy A Riley J Jones (2) L Wandless

29/09/21 Northolt 2-4 Odiham L Wandless (x3) C Read

06/10/21 Odiham 2-1 High Wycombe M Lawes J Jones

13/10/21 Brize Norton 6-0 Odiham

27/10/21 Brize Norton B 3-0 Odiham

03/11/21 Odiham 1-4 Northolt M Lawes

17/11/21 Benson 4-0 Odiham

24/11/21 Odiham 0-3 Northolt (RAF Cup)

02/02/22: Odiham 4-0 Halton JP Nash C Read (2) B Wignall

09/02/22: Odiham 2-2 Benson JP Nash C Nicholas

16/02/22: Halton 1-2 Odiham M Brans L Wandless

06/04/22: Odiham 4-3 Brize Norton B (RAF London League Cup quarterfinal) R McMenamin A Tait L Wandless (2)

05/05/22: Odiham 1-4 Brize Norton (RAF London League Cup final) A Tait

SAC Liam O’Hara talks us through the Equestrian club’s fortunes.

Inter Services Dressage After 2 selection weekends, Sgt Mel Day and Sgt Kerry Norgate were selected to represent the RAF Dressage team in the Inter Services competition at Bury Farm, an international arena with lots going on, but the whole team danced their socks off.

Both Sgt Norgate and Sgt Day’s scores were used in the final marks. Sgt Norgate came 1st in the Novice 39.

Sgt Day came second in the Elementary 43, being pipped by an Army officer by just 0.3%. Sgt Day also achieved a huge 71% in the music class, placing her 3rd overall.

Theory Day

On 23rd February the club hosted a Theory Day with respected rider Tanya Guy. This was beneficial to club members to utilise Tanya’s vast knowledge and ask any questions they had.

Training Days

The club hosted training in conjunction with RAF Benson at our yard, Inadown, on March 23rd and 24th. This concentrated on all aspects of riding and all levels of ability in Show jumping, Dressage and even some Arena Eventing. This was open to anyone who wanted to take part and the club have plenty of other training days coming up for people to join and was repeated on April 30th. The next open training day is on Monday 20th June.

Liam’s own exploits

Out of the club, Liam has been selected to ride in a charity race at Newbury Racecourse in aid of multiple charities close to the British Horse Society. It is a 1-mile flat race, he was chosen from a very large number of applicants and will compete against a further 11 jockeys. He is doing a load of fundraising events as well as riding out weekly at Jamie Snowden Racing, a 10k race in Cardiff and two half marathons in Cardiff all to aid his fundraising efforts to the tune of £2,500.

Below is a link to his JustGiving page. https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/liamohara1

Sgt Day

Sgt Norgate