Fireworks in Warminster as Worcester woos the Twos

Warminster, famous for being the Headquarters of the British Army Infantry, training ground for many of Britain's finest ever Soldiers and Officers and a former stomping ground for Andy D, was today, the battleground for our away game against West Wilts. (All military references and innuendo hereafter, are highly intentional !!).

So the 2’s were without the 2 Marks and 2 Charlies - all posted AWOL until further notice , although the rumour is that that have been taken away to another unit for “special” training ! Our Commander Land Forces, aka General Ed Watson, forwarded his meticulous plan to the front line troops and again decided to fight this particular battle from a safe distance of Marlborough, some 30 miles away!! Not to worry, we were augmented by two fine replacements: the experienced veteran, Paul Denton and the highly talented new recruit, not yet out of training, Worcester Bawden. Both would earn leave their respective marks on the battlefield and receive a Commendation and Mentions in Despatches respectively!

We all finally assembled (don’t ask Nick Jephson to be Chief Navigator!) in Warminster. Second-in-Command, Andy D opened with a few words about .....“ Offensive Spirit [High Press and F___g get stuck in!]....... Friendly Forces Formation [4-3-3]......the Mission [WIN]. After the battle cries were done, there was a huge outburst of morale and laughter in the trenches as Dan began offering some “very supportive” comments to our newest recruit, about having the “poshest” name in the team! The laughter, joviality and morale was soon knocked out of us as Dan took us on a “boot camp” style warm up, leaving many trailing in the car park just as the game was starting !

So to the battle game itself. The whistle was blown and over the top we went. It became very clear early on, that the enemy was fixed on pursuing a tactic of artillery aerial bombardments throughout the whole game, and as anyone knows you can’t win a war on Artillery firepower alone – it requires the Infantry to dominate the ground, close with and kill the enemy!
The old saying goes, “No plan survives contact with the enemy” and ours didn’t! After 4 mins of bombardment, out of no mans land, with our sentries asleep, the enemy sneaked through and struck a blow: 1-0 down. Importantly, our morale was high, heads did not drop and we stuck to the plan (Offensive spirit and flanking manoeuvres!). The artillery bombardments were becoming very predictable and it wasn’t long before we dominated in all areas of battlefield.

With West Wilts centre belly softened up (not to mention the big lump of a backside that stopped a goal and should have been a certain penalty flick) - Ollie Davies executed a perfect surging left flanking manoeuvre, fired a salvo into the D, where Paul Denton calmly and expertly fired home (1-1). Shortly afterwards, we again took them by surprise and this time executed a perfect right flanking manoeuvre. Dan Crossman scampered down the right (for the record – he chewed up and spat out, both their left-back and left-half, all game), sneaked along the by-line, cut back to “Worcester Bawden” who fired home. (2-1 up).
HALF TIME (2-1 up). The message “jolly good show old chaps!” - more of the same, keep it fast, keep it wide, give it to Dan, keep smiling !!

The 2nd half carried on as the end of the first half ended, Infantry [Marlborough] tactics and execution in the ascendency. Our 3rd goal was fired in by the right back, scored by the left back! After many swift passes and possession, and their forces pulled all over the place, the time and space was created for Rob Hues to fire in one his exocet missiles into the D looking for deflections. The ball deflected up at the back post where Ollie Davies executed a perfect hook shot to score. (3-1 up).

4-1 Up. The fourth goal came from a short corner after yet more sustained pressure. Andy D had spotted that they had changed their defending runners on the previous short corner and horribly exposed their right flank. Change of Call - “Left slip to Worcester”. Dan injected, Nick stopped, Keith waited, drew the front runner, slipped left, Worcester, with all the time and space in the world, drag flicked into the net – BOOM !.

5-1 up. Worcester hat trick and the new recruit became a battle hardened veteran! The final goal actually started with our own 16 hit out. By this stage everyone wanted the ball and almost everyone did touch the ball before Alex Davies made a surging run into the D, slipped the ball back to Worcester who completed a fine hat trick. The domination continued, so much so that Keith & Rob was seen more often in the opposition 25, Mark Salvidge could only avoid hypothermia from his inactivity by shouting for the others to get back and Rich Newton only had one moment to show his prowess in the half by rushing out to spoil a certain goal 1-on-1.

Two of key principles of Defence in War are “Offensive Spirit and Mutual Support” – we showed this in abundance today with everyone playing a key role and we did not give away a single short corner. In summary, a very satisfying win and it was inevitable that Infantry tactics would always outwit the Artillery, especially at the home and Headquarters of the Infantry!

Man of the Match – Private (Now Acting Corporal – promoted in the field) - Worcester Bawden !