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Well it proved to be the hottest flyballing weekend of the year so far as we pitched camp at Nuneaton's Tournament on an old air field in Newark. The venue was fantastic, plenty of room for camping and for the dogs to stretch their legs. But best of all was the showers which were a huge bonus and a definite must have as the weekend hot’s up not only in the flyball arena....ask Craig he has white bits to prove it......
Captain's Report - Barking Owlers
Dogs - Meg, Jet, Buffy, Kim and Jess
Captain - Julie
Box Loader - Jane
As Captain of this newly formed team I lead them into Division 5 with only 100ths of seconds separating the group. They had some very challenging racing ahead of them but this team was prepared and raring to go. Making her first appearance after proving herself in the Night Owlers was Jet our Retriever x Collie, her handler Katie was very excited and nervous all at the same time.
Our first race was against Cleveland Arrows, for this first race we rested Jet and went with the formation of Meg, Buffy, Kim and Jess, they raced like true pro's and won the Arrows it what was some very good racing. Our next opponents were Doncaster Artic Stars for this race Jet was brought in as 2nd dog with Buffy resting on the sideline. Katie was extremely nervous but Jet was raring to she just wanted to get that ball, Katie needn't have worried she did well with her first change over and Jet in true Jet fashion flew up the jumps and brought the ball home, the team went on to the win the race taking there total to two out of two.
Our 3rd and final race of the morning was against Molten Metals and this was a race the team really wanted to win as they just missed out at Sutton Fields. What a race it was, so very close. it was always left up to the anchor dog in the form of Jess our Jack Russell x Collie and ironically she was up against a Jack Russell in the opposing lane, unfortunately for the Metals Jess proved too much of a force to be reckoned with and stormed home with a clear win to take our 3rd race of the day before we broke for lunch.
The afternoon came and our fourth race of the day was against our lovely friends Dog House Smash 'n' Grab, again it was going to be another race worth watching. Both teams raced like troopers until it ended in 2 legs each with a 5th leg to race as a decider. The lights were set and off they went the racing was fairly tight but we had a slight lead then unfortunately Jet fumbled the ball at the box and we couldn't quiet get the lead back again so we lost out on the win...never mind, we'll get you next time Dog House. Huge congratulations to Charlie and Mum Christine of the Dog House, who whilst racing us achieved his mile stone award of 40,000 points.
Our last race of the day was against the Northern Bytes which on paper should have been a fairly easy win for us but due to a few lights and lose change over’s it just wasn't to be and we succumbed to another loss on our sheet. Never the less over all we were placed second behind Dog House Smash 'n' Grab, the team ran some superb legs and showing us all they are getting ever closer to that sub 20 second time.
Well done to each and every one of you, this is a team that has bonded so quickly and worked so well together, I am so proud to be the team captain. Huge thanks must also go to Jane our box loader, you’re a true box loading pro Jane!
Captain's Report - Night Owlers
Dogs - Big Archie, Little Archie, Stripe, Buddy, Mollie & Luke
Captain - Jane
Box Loader - Leanne
The Nights had a very tough call after the re-jigging of the divisions up against a top seed time of 22.97 in comparison to their 24.06 but hopes were high that they could beat the 24 second barrier.
First to race in the morning they got the coolest part of the day and started with an impressive straight leg victory over Mansfield Ifit. The other 2 races that morning were going to be seriously difficult against the fastest teams in the division – Sheffield Shooters and The Killa Bytes. What on earth could we pull out of the bag to get anywhere near them for our bunch of supremely competitive handlers?!
Well, on his god like throne in the comfort of the caravan was the grand old man of the Leeds ‘Owlers – Luke, the Barney’s former lead dog who at the age of 11+ is supposed to be taking life a bit easier these days (although he has his own opinions about that) and teaching the ropes to baby brother Stripe. On the sheet in case of any disasters as team training had not gone particularly well the Wednesday before we decided to see if he could give them a boost in the speed stakes and so frantic calls were made from the ringside to bring the old boy up for a bit of fun!
It was oh so close and if lady luck had been on our side it could have been so different, but after taking Sheffield to 4 legs and the top seeds to 5 they just missed out. It was great racing and that PB did go – Little Arch, Mollie, Buddy and Luke achieving 23.95secs.
The afternoon started as well as the morning had - 3 straight legs against Yorkshire Rockets but the last opposition of the day was Hucknall who had managed to run 21.99 in the morning. They took the first leg but we were not miles off so we swapped a tiring big Arch for Mollie and took the second. A silly mistake lost us the third technically on interference and so the pressure was on, we dropped Bud and gave the old man another shot at glory and boy was it close. Kim and Luke were renowned in the Barneys Div 2 glory days for their 0.00 starts and they pulled one out of the bag to give the team a cracking start but there were some heavy legs now after the heat of the day and they just missed out by a fraction – great racing again and a huge team effort.
The team got a very creditable 4th to go with their PB and it couldn’t have been closer racing, the team spirit with this lot was amazing as usual and you all did brilliantly. Super height dog Little Arch ran his legs off all day catching superbly, only Dad Richard caused an upset by standing by the ringside during one race so Arch had to go over and say hello instead of going for his ball, sorry for shouting at you so loudly to get you back on the right side of the netting!
The Nights have an additional competition it seems at every tournament now – the who will get the egg out of the customary bacon & egg butty breakfast down the front of their shirt first competition. I am usually the winner hands down, but June took the baton earlier in the season much to Richard’s amusement, but he took the prize himself on Saturday. You were a great sport this weekend Richard after taking some good natured “stick” - you know we love you really!!
The Nights are proving the dark horse of the ‘Owlers so far this season with a 1st, 2nd and 4th from 3 outings, fingers crossed they continue the form at Doncaster where a speedy star fresh from starters joins them for her open tournament debut.
Barney Owlers
Dogs - Norah, Broke, George, Murphy, Poppy
Captain - Craig
Box Loader - Joanna
Well the Barney's achieved a new first at Newark, in a hot (in more words than one) Div 1, we again struggled to find form and got our first ever 7th place! We surely provided the most entertaining race of the day again though against our great friends Dog Friendly who having suffered the misfortune of an injury during racing to Charlie (hope he makes a speedy recovery guys) were pretty much out with the washing with ourselves. So we made our race against each other the hotly contested fight for 7th place much to the amusement of our judge Doreen!
There were odd glimpses of hope - taking the eventual winners Mansfield Marnicks to 5 legs (again!), but best of all Murph showed a snippet of what he has been doing well in training for the last 2-3 weeks - red lane racing, successfully doing a couple of legs much to all our delight, fingers crossed we are now well on our way with him. Well done to Julie for all her hard work with him and hopefully the Barney's will show very soon what they really can do - before George & Brooke draw their pensions, it's only a matter of time guys we can do it!
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