There are two great desires in every UK polocrosse player every season, two aims that most players would give their rein hand for (editor’s note: no player would give away their stick hand after all). Firstly, they want to win at the Nationals but for most players the desire to play and party at Arden is almost as strong! And so on the 29th and 30th of June, 200 of the UK’s finest descended on the sleepy town on Henley in Arden to play and to enjoy themselves, mainly via the Saturday night party which Arden have always been masters of.

However, though in the club house all might enjoy themselves equally, on the field some enjoyed themselves more than others. Cotswold had a particularly enjoyable weekend as they claimed the A grade by beating Kent in the final game of the weekend. Kent actually had the best of the early exchanges, their ladies matched the higher ranked Cotswold ladies in the first chukka and their men gave them a four goals lead in the second. However, then the Cotswold ladies starting firing on all cylinders and gave their men a three goal lead going into the last chukka and Kent’s men just couldn’t find an answer in the last chukka, with the Cotswold men actually adding a couple more goals to secure the victory.

In the B grade though Kent Target did get the win and in the end a reasonably comfortable as Vale Impi could not match them. It was close for a couple of chukkas but then Kent started to pull away and Vale Impi had no response. Kent continued their excellent weekend as they also managed a one- two in the C grade as both their teams made the final and put on an exciting contest for the crowd. Quentin Wedmore also picked up best number 1 while Tom Mitchell’s mount for the weekend, Rooster, (owned by Vibeke Svendsen) won best horse.

In the Upper D grade it was another good weekend for Pennine as they claimed the win with Rugby in second spot, while in the Lower D it was again Rugby who had to settle for second spot as Celyn defeated them to get the win. The E grade went to Vale Impi, so often dominant in the lower grades, with a combined Ledbury and Cotswold team in second place.

In the Juniors it was another win for Kent Target as they overcame Northern Lions who ended in second spot but the Lions will be pleased to see Jack Crisp and Sam Crisp claimed best number 1 and best number 3 respectively. Meanwhile in Primary Juniors it was a Ledbury one – two and also a clean sweep of best numbers and best horse, mainly thanks to the Smith brothers.

Full Results

Grade
A Grade
B Grade
C Grade
Upper D Grade
 Lower D Grade
E Grade
 Juniors
Primary Juniors
1st Cotswold Kent Target Kent Target Pennine Celyn Vale Impi Celyn Ledbury
2nd Kent Target Vale Impi Kent Target Rugby Rugby Ledbury/ Cotswold Northern Lions Ledbury
                 
Best Horse Zarella – Sammy Rowden (Kent Target) Po – Alex Riley (Kent Target) Rooster – Tom Mitchell (Kent Target) Lola – Nadine Bristow (Rugby) Dotty – Jemma Alderson (Pennine) Mollie Edwards (Celyn) Josh Smith (Ledbury)
                 
Best Number 1 Luke Lossberg (Rugby) Chris Milburn (Arden) Quentin Wedmore (Kent Target) Charlie Hewitt (Vale Impi) Dom White (Ledbury) Jack Crisp (Northern Lions) Jack Smith (Ledbury)
Best Number 2 Joel Sics (Kent Target)  Suki Jo Whitehouse (Cotswold) Freddie Leith (Welsh Dragons) Kelly Farr (Rugby) James Cook (Vale Impi) Bella Kish (Kent Target) Rosie George (Ledbury)
Best Number 3 Will Halcrow (Kent Target)  Sarah Peaker (Cotswold) Ali Kelly (Coltshire) Aisling O’Sullivan Darcy (Vale Impi) Sam Shea (Vale Impi) Sam Crisp (Northern Lions) Josh Smith (Ledbury)