The Civil Service Tug of War teams put in an excellent performance at the Triangular Services Championships at Larkhill Royal Artillery Barracks in Wiltshire (20 July 2011). The Civil Service had to contend, as in so many years, with absences of some key men. However those who were there more than made up for them in taking two gold and one silver medal against very strong Police and Combined Services teams.

The day started enough with the lightweight 600 Kg team going through their matches looking good and making short work of the Police B and Combined A & B teams. The last match was effectively a final against the Police A. Both teams were unbeaten and had looked stylish, however there was nothing stylish about the way they attacked each other. There was some attack and counter attack while the teams felt each other out and it was the Police that detected the first sign of weakness. They put in a big lift the first time the Civil Service let the pressure off and made it count, dragging the Civil Service over the line. In the second end the Civil Service attacked from the drop but the Police now had their measure and waited their time before counter attacking and taking the end and the Championship.

The 680 Kg started immediately and the Civil Service A team showed that they could live with the big guns from the Police and Combined Services. They used all of the teams' collective experience to wear down all of the opposition sides before powering them out. The B team were also showing their mettle by having good battles with the other sides and a well deserved win over the Police B. The Civil Service A team went through the whole event without dropping a point and took the Championship.

Things didn't start quite so well in the 640 Kg for the A team. The Police A took the Civil Service A by surprise and pressured them out to take the first end. A quick conference between Craig Mitchell and Glyn Jones at the back of the Civil Service rope saw a change of tactics that reaped immediate dividends. The Police were comprehensively driven out in the second end in text book fashion. The deciding end saw more of the same with a drop, a drive and a run for the line. The Police had no response and effectively conceded the Championship in the first match. The Civil Service B team were again battling hard but without much to show for it. They did the A team a number of favours by working the opposition over in the match before the A team. The A team obliged by taking every match in style and took the Championship, and it was a victory for the whole squad.

The last event of the day was the Catchweight. This is always a big ask for the Civil Service because of the small squad and being much lighter than either of the Police or Combined Services. As in other years the big Police side proved too strong with the Combined Services winning the battle for the silver medal.

The overwhelming feeling in the Civil Service camp was that this was a huge success and that that there was more to come from this squad. Next year the Civil Service will host the event at a venue yet to be decided.

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