2021 Review – Bethersden Bulls

As we prepare for the 2022 season, our Clubs take a look back at their 2021 successes! Bethersden Bulls, based in the South East, tell us all about their 2021:

Bethersden Bulls 2021 – What a year that was!

Wow, what a mixed bag. It was looking a bit ‘dicey’ early doors. We didn’t even know if there would be a season. Then Boom!! We are off. Unprepared, not ready, but hey we got to go with the [lateral] flow, right? We had taken a hit because of Covid and even Brexit from previous years. Boris said ‘No’ to our European contingent (and they followed the rules!) Some Club members were thinking of getting married and others in the midst of lock down projects (including babies!)

Anyway we muddled through the season, fielding teams where we could . Our forces were depleted and then some. Let’s face it we are an ‘older’ club and we not only have lame horses, we also have to worry about lame players!

Mid season we were the ‘nearly’ team; narrowly missing two finals. We were competitive, just untuned…. and a little bit bad sometimes! We had to turn this ‘nearly’ team into a winning team.

Two weeks before Nationals we had both lame horses and lame players but with no room to wiggle we had a C team – no selection necessary; we played everything we had! Not expecting much.; we were the lowest graded. We should have come last. Then it started to happen. Astonishingly we stormed the Warriors in the opening gambit. Goodbye Yorkshire. Then onto the Cotswolds who put up more resistance but were no match for the Unbeata-Bulls!. Into the final, and wow what a final that was. Never before have I known a horse to go lame on the way to the first line out, but Bubbles managed it. That put us behind the game for the first few chukkas, but slowly and surely we edged it back. Like the Magnificent 7, this team of ‘olduns’, with the odd (young) misfit, survived the shoot out in the OK Corral before the dusk fell. National Champs! But also a fantastic season for Sally Beekes and for Kelly Burrows (who won Best Newcomer), David Beekes (Best Veteran) and our own Chairman Mikey Turner (finally got a Best number at Nationals!). Take that at the beginning of the year!

So despite the ropey start, the injured horses, the back strains, the gout, the LGIs*, the impossibly wet summer weather, actually, what a great finale to the year our Nationals was. And have to say, not only hats off to the organising committee for such a well run Nationals, but having the pitches on the old World Cup site was fabulous too!

Bring on 2022!

• LGI = Long Grass Injury (this is an injury which can occur when doing a pick up in long grass causing a severe and often painful strain in the wrist. This is most likely to occur just before the Nationals or any major polocrosse tournament.)