A tough weekend for the Irish team in Crawley but great experience gained ahead of the Glorney Gilbert in Scotland this coming July. Results below.

Patrick Moore Cup: Ireland vs Sussex: Section A

Patrick Moore Cup: Ireland vs Sussex: Section B

Having said that, well done to Ireland for making it a clean sweep in the blitz with 1st 2nd and 3rd!

We look forward to seeing Sussex in Ireland next year.

We came, we saw... and we had fun..

Our team started arriving on Friday, with the majority landing on Saturday morning. Some of us had less luck catching the hotel shuttle bus, whereas others managed not only to get on one, but go on a "shopping trip" to replenish hotel's supplies as well.

The hotel proved to be nice and modern, with a large lounge where we were to spend most of our days waiting for the boys in green to finish off their games (as well as watch the Ireland - France rugby match). The hotel was situated not far from Gatwick airport and very close to a shopping centre where we could pop in for some lunch or on a quick shopping spree.

The Sussex team organised the event very well - the tournament was held in a cosy suite; every player had their own plaque with their name on it and a choice of sparkling or plain water. There was tea and coffee aplenty for both the players and their parents. The organisers put up a board where everybody could sign on for a friendly blitz game in the evening while having a pizza in a local restaurant - something that everybody dutifully completed.

The tournament started at 12 o'clock sharp. After about 90 minutes the first Irish players started coming out of the suite, many with good results. Overall we managed to score 6.5 points (Sussex: 9.5). It was a great success for the team as for many players it was their first international tournament against a very strong team. The spirits were high, motivation was up and we all had hopes for a good outcome.

We were not mistaken - the second round turned out to be even better: 7 points for Ireland (9 for Sussex). The B group did particularly well scoring as many as 5 points! As a team we were on the rise; we actually sowed some fear into our opponents; they were afraid of us! (so we believed).

Unfortunately, things turned for the worse the following day. The third round proved to be very difficult, with only one player scoring 1 point and six getting half points. Was it tiredness?? Was it time zones? Or maybe the tea was different? Whatever it was it was not to go away... It was very hard observing the points table - zero after zero started to appear on the table. In the end we could only count 3.5 points against...a lot..for the opposing team...

The tournament proved to be hard, if not too hard, for our players; this, however, did not stop them from having loads of friendly matches between themselves as well as the Sussex team. Some fooling around was also observed; while smiles and laughs were carefully noted down.

The blitz-and-pizza event was an excellent chance for the teams to have some more fun and games.

Overall, we all had a nice time in London; there was a good sense of camaraderie among the players and a few pleasant chats among the parents. We pledge to come back next year (maybe with a coach) and take the trophy with us.

Iwona