The STC, PTC and Inter Command Fencing Championships were held with kind permission of the Commandant, DCAE Cosford, in the main gymnasium on 12-13 Feb 05. Another year of high operational commitments again affected turnout, although it was higher than expected thanks to the commitment of the RAF fencers.

The Command reports are set out separately below:

STC

Sabre
The sabre competition began the weekend's fencing, with 16 competitors entering (conveniently for DoC Sgt Phil McNulty). A first round of seedings was followed by a best of 16 DE. Foil/epee specialist Flt Lt Ruari Henderson-Begg (aka H-B) cocked a snook at the sabreurs by claiming the coveted 1st seed position, followed by all-rounders Cpl Dave Long and Phil McNulty, with a junior name seen in the 4th seed position, that of Lossiemouth's SAC Dean Whitehead.

The first round of DE produced 2 upsets: Flt Lt Zak Zarecky (7th seed) was put out in a nail-bitingly close 15-14 bout by SAC Jamie Birchall from Boulmer, while in a bigger upset, 4th seed Dean Whitehead was despatched 15-12 by the 12th seed SAC Allen. Eighth seed SAC James Downes survived an extremely close fight from 9th seed Cpl Debbie MacDonald in another 15-14 thriller. The quarter-finals ended with no upsets, although 10th seed Jamie Birchall made Dave Long work hard for his 15-12 victory, while 13th seed Allen was trading points evenly early on against 5th seed Flt Lt Andy Cooke until disappointment with a disputed call galvanised Cooke to change gear and race from a tight 9-8 lead to a clear 15-9 victory.

The semi-finals produced two of the tightest matches of the competition, with H-B's clinical investigation of the resurgent Andy Cooke's rusty technique resulting in a nail-biting 15-14 victory for the top seed. A display of mirror fighting by long standing compatriots Phil McNulty and Dave Long ended with a comeback from 14-13 down in a 15-14 win for Phil. The final ended with a clear 15-7 win by H-B, giving him the first STC gold medal of the weekend. Fg Off Sharon Booth won gold as the highest placed lady fencer in STC.

Foil
The foil competition had a slightly larger field of 18, with Coltishall's Flt Lt Jon Davy (aka JD) and Leuchar's SAC Gaz Morris entering the competition. Top seed position was secured by JD with H-B snapping at his heels. Sharon Booth took 3rd, with Phil McNulty holding the 4th seed position. An incomplete 32 was produced, with Allen and Green defeating SAC Reeves and Birchall to secure entry into the last 16. The second round went with seeding, with only the Downes-Zarecky bout (7th v 10th seed) resulting in the loser breaking into double figures (15-11).

The quarter-finals exhibited H-B on imperious form, despatching the valiant attempts of Downes 15-0, while Sharon Booth won a tight battle with Dave Long 11-6 as the clock ran out. In the other half of the draw, JD and Phil McNulty moved into the semis with both fencers scoring 15-8 wins over their opposition. In the semi-finals, H-B just outlasted Sharon with a 15-13 victory, and JD survived a strong challenge from Phil 15-12. In the final, H-B prved to be more on form than JD as he won his second gold medal of the day with a 15-8 result. Sharon Booth's 3rd place overall secured her a second gold medal as highest ranked lady foilist in STC.

Epee
In the epee competition, 18 competitors entered the seeding round, with JD securing top seed ahead of Wg Cdr George Liston, with Leeming's Cpl Simon Taylor as highest placed junior in 3rd and H-B taking 4th. An incomplete tableau of 32 was produced, with Flt Lt Sarah Chambers defeating SAC Reeves and Dean Whitehead beating Jamie Birchall to secure positions in the last 16. The only bout to go against seeding was the Long/Rowe fight, with Dave Long belying his seeding with a comfortable 15-4 victory.

The quarter-finals went again with seeding, as JD brought Dave Long up short with his 15-9 win, H-B halted junior fencer Sgt Graham Nicholson's charge 15-6 and George Liston swept Phil McNulty aside with a 15-2 win, revenge for an "accidental" win by Phil in the pools! The Taylor-Morris quarter-final produced another mirror fight as Simon Taylor narrowly edged out a 15-14 win. In the semi-finals, George Liston ended Simon's impressive run with a 15-10 win, while JD beat H-B 15-10 in the other half of the draw. The final proved to be another nail-biting fight, with George edging (or should that be "pointing"?) home 15-14 to claim the epee gold medal. Sharon Booth again claimed the ladies gold as highest placed female epeeist

Master-At-Arms
The Master-at-Arms placings could then be calculated, with Flt Lt Ruari Henderson-Begg winning the title for the 2nd consecutive year with 22 points from his two golds and one bronze, with Sgt Phil McNulty in second place. The Ladies Master-at-Arms could not be awarded due to the size of the field.

Inter Unit 3-Man Team
Three teams entered the Inter Unit 3 Man team competition, with entries from High Wycombe, Lossiemouth and Odiham. A close competition ended with High Wycombe claiming the title, with Odiham second and Lossiemouth third.

PTC

Foil
The weekend kicked off with the foil competition, with a total of 7 entrants. After a single seeding round, the quarter-finals were underway, with Off Cdt Graham Orme, SO Nick Olliver, Sqn Ldr Andy Alcock and Sgt Mark Gumley winning places in the semi-finals.

Foil specialist Nick Olliver powered away from his Cranwell teammate, the sabre specialist Mark Gumley, with a 15-5 win, while in the other half of the draw, epee specialists Andy Alcock and Graham Orme had a tight fight, won by Graham 15-10. In the final, Graham Orme used his epee skills to disconcert foilist Nick Olliver and set up a very tactical 15-10 win to claim the first PTC gold medal of the day. SAC Karen Funnell claimed the ladies gold as highest placed female foilist.

Sabre
In the sabre, it was to be a different story, although with the same protagonists making their way through a field of 7, with Mark going through unopposed as top seed. In the semi-finals, Mark turned the tables on Nick as he drove towards a 15-7 win, while Graham despatched Andy 15-8 in the other semi-final. In the final, Mark refused to allow Graham to disrupt his game as he had Nick's in the foil, and calmly secured a 15-8 victroy to claim the sabre gold medal. Karen Funnell again won the ladies gold medal.

Epee
In the epee competition on the Sunday, the field expanded to 9 with the entries of SAC Skippy Hosking and Cpl Kev Bayman. Despite the enlarged field, the usual suspects occupied the semi-final placings, with Nick Olliver and Mark Gumley falling to Graham Orme and Andy Alcock as they claimed their places in the last individual weapon final. Graham, with his grip on the Master-at-Arms trophy now unbeatable, saw off the challenge from Andy to claim his second gold medal, with Karen Funnell again awarded the ladies gold.

Master-At-Arms
With the same 4 names in each semi-final, the 2005 PTC Master-at-Arms competition was unusually close, with Off Cdt Graham Orme (23 points, 2 golds) winning ahead of Sgt Mark Gumley (20 points, 1 gold). The ladies Master-at-Arms title was not awarded as the field was too small.

Inter Unit 3-Man Team
The Inter Unit 3 Man team was fought between RAF Cranwell and RAF Cosford, with the Cranwell team securing victory.

Inter Command Competition
For the first time since 2001, there were sufficient competitors to permit full teams (3 fencers) in each weapon. The rolling 45 format was adopted for the first time.

The STC foil team secured a comparatively (compared to the tight fights in the other weapons) comfortable victory over a relatively inexperienced PTC side. In the epee, the ding-dong battle was to be decided on time, as Graham Orme managed to edge PTC ahead for the first time since the half-way point, holding a 44-43 advantage as the clock ran out. In the sabre, it again went down to the wire, as Mark Gumley just failed to complete a comeback from a 4 point deficit due to a superb parry-riposte from Dave Long at 44-aa, giving STC a 1 point victory in sabre. Accordingly, with 2 weapon victories to one, STC retained the trophy.

Conclusion
The weekend was brought to its conclusion by the award ceremony, led by RAFFU President Air Cdre Nick Kurth.

In yet another year with the RAF at high operational tempo, the entry standard was again excellent, with strong senior fencers fighting hard to try to hold their positions against excellent juniors. The strong fencing throughout, coupled with excellent sportsmanship from all and great attitude, meant that the Commands were once more a success. This competition pits juniors against seniors and can act as a bellwether for future success. As the results (and tight fights) show, there are a number of juniors with their eyes firmly on claiming RAF colours in the future, and the strength in depth of the RAF Fencing Union is now probably better than in recent memory.

My thanks go to all who worked so hard to make this weekend a success: all of the fencers for such a good and wholehearted effort, all of those who helped to set up and take down the venue (which included almost all of the earlier category as well as those who came to support and assist), Sgt Phil McNulty as Director of Combats for his sterling work throughout, Sqn Ldr Andy Alcock for stepping into the role of PTC Captain, and Air Cdre Kurth for supporting and awarding the trophies.