The Editorial Committee is pleased to announce the recruitment of a new reporter to the journal’s staff. Mister Ioannou, after winning through a fiercely competitive selection process, now joins the newsroom as our roving correspondent.
Here is his first dispatch (the first, no doubt, of many such pieces, all of which will, we have every confidence, prove an enjoyable and diverting read for our subscribers):
Summer is nearly upon us, and the Hamilton Russell is over for another season, which means it must be time for the Sheldon Marshall trophy to be up for grabs! Once again it was wonderfully organised by Rob Matthews of the RAC.
The tournament was played only a few days after the 70th anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay summitting Everest. Sheldon Marshall died on an expedition to Mt Everest and hopefully would appreciate this niche reference!
The intrepid Libs sent a mix of new and seasoned players to the RAC. Without stalwarts Doctor Kirby and Captain Giffin KC MA (Oxon) it was left to Mister Dias to lead the troops. As ever with Mr Dias, the first order of business was to get a glass of red to help him think!
He led from the front (well board 2!) and off we went! It was one of those frustrating evenings where the Libbers regularly went up a piece early on, or gained a positional advantage only to throw it away with a blunder as the time pressure told.
The NLC could (and should) have gained a draw against the eventual winners – the MCC – and Miss Widger had a notable win here.
Miss Birrane made her debut in the competition and walked into the Lions (or should that be dragon’s?) den with a frenetic game against Mr Farleigh. Alas it wasn’t to be, and on the next table Miss Widger again put in a valiant effort against Natasha Regan.
In the end, The NLC were also rans although they avoided the wooden spoon. It is a sign of how far the Libbers have progressed in the last couple of years, however, that they were disappointed not to finish higher up in mid table obscurity.
The team did briefly hold the trophy, although it was only for the team photo, before Mister Ioannou reluctantly put it back. It will take a little more practice before they can walk away with it as rightful winners!
Well done all!
Tough assignment but you managed to a) score some points and b) not finish last.