The tourists arrived on Friday 6th May to gloriously warm sunshine and enjoyed a preliminary warm up on the terrace of our fantoosh Holllins Hall Hotel watching the talent at a local wedding & toasting the happy couple. We continued in the same vein in the evening repairing to a facility next door to the Menston cricket club. Known as The Fox we were there able to practise dexterity with fork and knives while ensuring hydration levels were maintained until late. Saturday morning allowed us time after stoking up at the breakfast table on carbo hydrates etc., especially the etcetera., to enjoy with our partners the culture on display at Skipton market. Our afternoon game at Adel Carnegie H.C. was against a Yorkshire Select who had reached double figures against us on our last visit but we were ready for them this time lending them Guy for goal while we retained Dick between the posts. We had 10 & so had they but we’d not played together & players had to be put in positions they were unused to (on the field). Still we kept an excellent side at bay but the final score of 4 – 0 reflected their superiority and our generosity! I’d like to say Cheesy missed a barrow load of chances up front but he didn’t. He didn’t miss any! After restoring liquidity and conviviality at the clubhouse we changed & rejoined the girls who’d spent the afternoon at Saltaire, a local World heritage site. Then we all went to the gastro pub, Ilkley Moor Vaults, a place we’d visited last time. We met there, with their partners, some of our opposition past & future whom we’d hoped to “influence” for the worse but only probably succeeded in doing this to ourselves. Following this our Sunday game against Nomadics at Ben Rhydding H.C. at 11am seemed set for an unearthly time but it was our hockey that proved mundane. Still it was consistent and in spite of more aggressive play we went down again by 4 – 0 & had to enlist 3 Yorkshiremen to take us up to 11 with Andy unfortunately pulling out with a niggling calf injury & Murdoch succumbing to a nasty virus he’d battled manfully with the previous day. Cheesy, who was also choked up, did put himself about & he & others might have got a goal or two with a bit of luck. For Guy though, it was another shut-out! We all convened in the clubhouse for refreshments before heading on to David & Linda’s where we enjoyed an excellent buffet in the company of many of our opponents and their partners all of us enjoying the wonderful weather outdoors complemented by beautiful scenery over Ilkley & its environs.
It was a superb tour throughout the only pity being there were not a few more there to enjoy it. We played pretty well throughout but were forced to put players out of their favoured positions and hadn’t played together before in the same team. Added to this a few had bugs or other ailments that reduced their efficacy a little while all Yorkshire guys playing against us had actually got hair & of tones other than grey. So I think I can justify saying it was a draw all things considered!!!
To mark our second tour we presented the opposition with a fantastic cup recycled from a cupboard someplace which will henceforth be known as “The Scottish – Yorkshire LX Challenge Cup”. To be played for wherever & whenever 2 representative teams get together comprised of players regardless of age, nationality & definitely ability. We hope David or Paul Monkman who we were delighted to see making a comeback for us might take a Yorkshire team north some time. But from those of us who’ve enjoyed Yorkshire tours before “We’ll be back!”
David & Linda Margerison, Paul Monkman, Andy Ferrol, Murdoch & Jenny Shirreffs, Rab & Margo Keddie, Ian Dunbar, Donald Dunbar, Cheesy & Linda Dunlop, Guy & Margaret Leighton, Dick & Eileen Pearce, Sandy & Jean Weir