The STC and Inter Command Fencing Championships were held with kind permission of the Station Commander, RAF Cosford, in the main gymnasium on 15-16 Mar 03. With the situation in Iraq and the looming threat of more Op Fresco duties, the fencing field was somewhat shrunk from previous years. However, this did not detract from the excellent fencing by all that took part. The ladies and men’s competitions were combined to ensure a good level of competition for all, with the ladies results being taken from the overall placings.

Sabre
The sabre drew an entry of 7 fencers who competed in two seeding rounds followed by direct elimination. After the seeding rounds Gumley and Long emerged as the top two fencers, followed closely by James Griffiths. With the usual contenders in the form of Ann Gibson and Sharon Booth defected to the dark side, and Ashley Newing and Steff Shaw both sick, the only girl representing STC this year was Kat Jolly from High Wycombe. Although she managed a more than credible performance against the top men, she was eventually seeded seventh. The men’s semi-final saw sabre veteran Mark Gumley against Chris Garton, a keenly contested fight with predictably Mark taking the match 15-6. The second semi-final was a much closer fight as Dave Long battled against James Griffiths. Both men were eager to snatch victory, but James just had the edge, narrowly beating Dave 15-13. The final saw a battle of wits against Gumley and Griffiths, both eager to win their first weapon to secure a favourable position for the Master at Arms. Griffiths started well but couldn’t manage to keep Gumley at bay. Gumley then took the opportunity and snatched victory 15-11.

Foil
Six fencers entered the foil competition, which followed the same format as the sabre. The two rounds produced a good standard of fencing with excellent results from James Griffiths and non-foilist Mark Gumley, being ranked second after the seeding rounds. Once again Kat Jolly put up a good fight, picking off a couple of fencers in the early rounds and taking valuable points from the more established competitors. The first semi-final matched Dave Long against Mark Gumley, fresh from his sabre victory. The match was a close fight, with Dave displaying his superior foil skills to win 15-11. The second semi-final paired James Griffiths with Nigel Whittaker. James’ cool head and steady hand ensured a convincing win, beating Nigel 15-4. The final proved to be an exciting match as Dave Long came up against his foil sparring partner James. Both men fenced beautifully, however the score didn’t reflect the skill and precision displayed by Dave. James took the foil title beating Dave 15-6.

Epee
The second day of fencing drew a poule of six fencers with the format following that of the previous day. The seeding rounds produced some strong competition and a good level of fencing. Chris Garton won the first semi-final, narrowly beating Mark Gumley 15-13. The second semi-final matched an on-form Dave Long against Nigel Whittaker. Nigel put up an impressive fight but was eventually beaten by Dave 15-10. Kat Jolly found the epee poule tougher than the previous weapons but still gave a credible performance against some of the best fencers STC has to offer.

Master-At-Arms
The men’s Master-at-Arms trophy went right to the last point of the last weapon. Dave Long, triumphant after his epee victory ensured that his first, second and third place were sufficient for him to take the title beating Mark Gumley with a first and two thirds. Third place went to James Griffiths who had a first and second place but didn’t compete in the epee. The Ladies title went unsurprisingly to Kat Jolly.

Inter Command Competition
The competition was run as STC against PTC. With the low number of entries it was decided to run the competition with two fencers per weapon instead of the usual three. The sabre team consisting of Mark Gumley and Dave Long, fenced extremely well taking two out of the four victories. The foil team and the epee team (Glenn Finnigan, Kat Jolly, Chris Garton and Nigel Whittaker) both managed only one victory each, ensuring the Inter Command title once again went to PTC with a total number of victories PTC 8 – STC 4.

Conclusion
The Command Championships proved yet again to be a popular and successful competition. Although the numbers were much fewer than previous years, it did not detract from the extremely high level of fencing displayed by all those involved. The success, however, would not have been possible without the excellent work and help of my counter part Andy Cooke, PTC Sec, and Phil McNulty who acted as both armourer, and president on many occasions. I would like to add a personal thanks to all, for their patience and support throughout my long and painful rehabilitation process