Sizzling play lands touch titles

By Michael Brooke
Volume 48, No. 12, July 13, 2006

LOOKING TO PASS: Navy looks to the inside for the offload, while right, an Air Force player makes a break-away in the women’s 7-4 win over Navy, and far right, Air Force men battle hard in the 5-all draw with Army.

The high-flying Air Force men’s and women’s teams ran their opponents ragged to win the NSW inter-Service touch football championships at RAAF Base Richmond on July 21.

The women’s open team beat Navy 7-4 while the men’s open team recovered from a 5-5 draw with Army to thrash Navy 9-1.

FLTLT Greg Bruhn, the NSW Defence Force Touch Association President, said the Air Force team largely comprised players from Richmond, giving them an important psychological home-ground advantage.

“The rain from the night before, which threatened to cancel the event, helped create good playing conditions by settling the dust and keeping the temperature down,” he said.

The Air Force men’s team played Army in the first match and the soldiers, primarily from Holsworthy, threatened to run away with the game by securing a half-time lead of 4-1.

But the Air Force players showed great courage and determination to turn the tables and produced some sizzling plays to secure a 5-5 draw at full-time.

“The match was literally a game of two halves, with Army dominating the first and Air Force the second,” said FLTLT Bruhn.

The men’s Air Force team then tackled Navy, which was largely comprised of players from HMA Ships Kuttabul and Waterhen. Despite having spent a great deal of energy in the fightback against Army, Air Force ran riot against the hapless sailors who were like fish out of water.

However, the full-time score of Air Force 9-Navy 1 did not reflect the sailors’ never- say-die attitude in attack and defence.

The Navy team then backed up against Army but the soldiers were fitter and had more substitutes, paving the way for their 8-5 victory and second place in the NSW touch championships.

The Air Force women’s team had an easier march to victory, with the Army women’s team a no-show due to a lack of players.

The Navy women’s team showed great determination but could not match the flair or fitness of Air Force, who won the match 7-4 and the inter-Service title.

FLTLT Bruhn said the high op tempo robbed the teams of valuable substitutes but the competition was deemed a huge success and a good time was had by all.

The most limiting factor for the tournament was referees, due to injuries and work commitments. The stalwart of the event was SGT Rob “Blue” Warren from Holsworthy, who refereed approximately half the games.The remainder were overseen by Richmond-based refs including personnel from the ADF, APS and Defence contractors.

The tournament concluded at the clubhouse where the preliminary squads for the combined Service team, to compete in the Defence Touch Nationals, were announced.

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