Race Reports by User

Find Rower Enter/edit crews

All race reports for Mike Goodson

Event: Lent Bumps 1997 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

I beg to differ Chris - was the altercation with the Maggie Fellows' VIII not with the 4th VIII in the May Term of 1997? We hadn't actually raced them, but overtook them on the way home and one of them (one of the seven doctors, the professor or the reverend) used language that would have got John Lydon into trouble. Or maybe they do it every time they race?

Event: Lent Bumps 1997 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Oh, the joy of pain. Darwin II, our targets for the day, were chasing First and Third VI - extra incentive to get the early bump if ever any were needed. Unfortunately, they bumped out pretty early on, leaving us a long, miserable, lonely row to the finish. Or it would have done, had Derek not decided to tell us we were going for the overbump on Fitz III. Our (non-)training plan kicked in, the spacking increased at a speed matched only by the fall in rating, and we ploughed down the reach in pursuit of the elusive overbump (and a respectable up 4 for the week). Shouts from the bank told us we were only half a length off as we crossed the finish line. I'm pretty sure now that this was bollocks and we never got close. Still, it was (apart from the horrible, searing pain) a great fun set of bumps, especially for those experiencing it for the first time.

Event: Lent Bumps 1997 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

We already knew that we were faster than CCAT III on day one, so the previous day's race had been a bit of a foregone conclusion and this was the first opportunity to really test ourselves. It took slightly longer than the previous day, but we did manage to push Peterhouse's boat into a tree at full race pace (not very high, but we were doing our best) and snap the bows off. Add in one fine for failure to easy and we were really getting our money's worth. Or not, as the case may be.

Event: May Bumps 1997 - Wednesday
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

I may be misremembering this after all the intervening years, but was it not the case that Downing were awarded the technical overbump because the crew two in front of us either weren't there or weren't spun by the one minute gun? Unless I am wrong (which happens frequently), Clare only had to pass the station in front to get their bump, but we managed to get them before they did so; this was partly due to our superior speed, but mainly due to their inept start. I can't think of any other valid reason to award a technical overbump to Downing. Anyway, it certainly was over very quickly, and 15 strokes may even be an overestimate.

Event: Lent Bumps 1997 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Starting bottom of the river, in a division so bad it no longer exists, we were out to get CCAT III. So we did. We rowed like spackers but it still didn't take very long. Much cheering was done and greenery collected. A lot of bumping virginities were lost that day [nudge nudge wink wink]

Event: Lent Bumps 1997 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Spirits were high in the "Joy Of Dawn" (so named due to our propensity for early morning outings) after the training regime instigated by coach Derek Hill ("I recommend you do the training, but it's entirely up to you") drove us to success in the getting on race. Initially placed bottom of the river, we were moved up a slot after a higher crew binned out and CCAT III took our coveted last place. Not being a crew to take this sort of slight lying down, we set off on day one determined to regain that position. Unfortunately we were much faster than CCAT and had to rely on a huge gust of wind blowing us practically sideways into the reeds by the motorway bridge. It quickly became apparent that we were not going to make an easy escape from our predicament and, after what seemed like an age, CCAT rowed past us cheering and clapping themselves at a job well done. A fine performance for what was (for most of us) our first taste of bumps racing.

Event: FaT vs BPBC Cricket Challenge 2002 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Not much to add to Neil's excellent report, other than to mention the incident, about half way through the BPBC innings, of "cows stopped play". Being a proper village cricket ground, and to be reached out the back of a pub car park, over a stile and through a field, the Madingley ground virtually shares the grass with several (rather lively as it turned out) cows. Having left a gate open as we entered the ground, it was not immediately apparent that said gate would have a direct impact on the match in hand. Indeed it was not until a cry came from the outfield of "Hold on a minute, what the **** is going on there!?", that we realised the herd's afternoon constitutional had taken them through the gate and onto the appropriately named "cow corner" region of the pitch. A several minute hiatus ensued, as a team of willing volunteers clapped, shouted and chased the cows back where they belonged, and the game was able to resume.

Moral of the story? Always remember your country code...

Event: May Bumps 2002 - Thursday
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

"Don't worry, it'll only take 15 strokes" said Dan Jane as he tried to persuade me to row with the Golden Boat. Don't believe this man. He is either seriously delusional or a pathological liar. So as Kit Evans, with an admittedly original excuse (down in London to go on TV to talk about Tae Kwon Do) dropped out, I was called into the boat with, ooh, hours to go before we raced. A quick check of the results so far revealed that we were chasing Caius IV, who double-overbumped on day 1. 15 strokes in, and we hadn't hit them. Surprise surprise. Anyway, we were inside distance, and although the previous evening's warm-up session at Life was beginning to show on the crew, we closed to around a length by 1st post corner. Downing IV (in front of Caius) decided to be bumped at this point, and both crews initially drifted into the near bank, allowing us some clear river to go at Hughes Hall for the overbump. But this was not good enough for the marshal. Oh no. Ordering Caius to clear to the far side of the river, he sent them straight into our path, and although Sarah did well to avoid them, she could do nothing about ploughing into the Downing boat sat on the bank. Apologies to the cox of Downing IV if you're reading this, we hope we didn't hit you too hard.

Anyway, tomorrow, Kit is back, I'm out again, and Downing IV are the next fodder for the Golden Boys. Bring on the overbump on Saturday...

Event: Cambridge Autumn Regatta 2003 - Senior3 VIII
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

This was a race of three halves. The start was terrible (lots of power being applied, but all at different times and probably in different directions) and Putney soon made up the distance we had because of the staggered start and some more besides. The middle third of the race had some semblance of decent rowing and we rowed through them to gain a several seat lead. But through some amazing spacking we contrived to lose this lead in the final third and only just pipped them at the line with a finish that was far more power than finesse. It hurt. A lot. And it was only 600m. Clearly shows I shouldn't be doing this rowing lark.

Event: Cambridge Autumn Regatta 2003 - Senior3 VIII
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

'Wet' was probably the best way of describing this race. A (marginally) better start than before, combined with the grossly unfair stagger, saw us move up a couple of seats and maintain that lead with what we in the bows thought was much better rowing than in the first race. It was looking like another close race until, with about 100m to go, Weybridge clipped a buoy and suddenly dropped back, leaving us to cruise home a length in front. The rowing must have been more efficient than the first race, as it didn't hurt nearly as much, but we didn't half shift a lot of water into the boat.

Still, there's no points for style in this game...

Addendum to report: maybe it was just me that thought the rowing was better in the second one then - I was mainly basing it on the fact that it hurt less...

Event: FaT vs BPBC Cricket Challenge 2003 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

The First and Third CC vs BPBCCC challenge took place, as has now become traditional, on the Sunday after May Week at Madingley Cricket Club (or the MCC, as it is now known). The weather was not quite as good as last year's opening fixture, but the match was every bit as exciting, as the young blood took on the old hands.

There was an initial delay to the game, with half of the First and Third team being involved in a match for Trinity BAs (an unfortunate semi-final defeat in the MCR League), but with Byrne and Ingram providing a taxi service, the two captains were out on the square by 2:30 for the toss. Talbott won the toss, deciding to bat first - a decision that had served him well last year. Accusations thrown at Ingram of being a useless tosser were perhaps a little harsh.

But with the two teams ready and raring to go, it looked as if the weather might have other ideas. An early interruption for a heavy downpour was an ominous sign, as were the lightning forks clearly visible as the game got underway. But after a few minutes spent sheltering in the pavilion, the First and Third innings resumed, with openers Goodson and Harding looking to build a useful early partnership. The game began with Mike Goodson and Dan Walker opposing each other - a situation similar to last year but with the teams reversed. Walker has now graduated to the ranks of BPBC, while Goodson, an ex-rower still in statu pupillari currently enjoys the status of "floater" and will turn out for whichever team is in need of numbers.

The early overs, from Walker at the Mount Everest End, and Crawford at the Dead Sea End, were negotiated safely, with the score standing at 24 for 0 in the fifth over when BPBC made their first breakthrough. Walker removed Harding for a score of 5, smartly caught behind by Ingram off an outside edge. This brought last-minute addition to the side Ben Olbourne to the crease for a short but eventful innings. His first ball was a full toss from Walker hit in the air to Blackburn at midwicket - the catch was taken, but only after a fumble and spectacular diving recovery. BPBC celebrated, but joy turned to dismay when the square leg umpire revealed that he had called it no-ball - for being above waist height. Now facing Crawford at the other end, Olbourne hit the next ball for four on the onside, and was then caught off a top edge, attempting the same shot, at mid-on by Al Fisher. Sills was next up, and could only manage 2 before a beautiful ball from Crawford pitched on middle and clipped the off stump. And with Goodson falling next over to Walker for 16, looping up a catch to Glass at cover, 4 wickets had gone down in the space of three overs, and First and Third were rocking on 37 for 4, with only seven of their allotted thirty overs gone.

The new men at the crease were Talbott and Lea-Cox, and both knew that a partnership was needed to stem the flow of wickets. A veteran of last year's game, Talbott had been in exactly the same situation, so knew exactly how to go about the task. Some obdurate defensive work saw the pair last ten overs, moving the score onto 70 before the next wicket fell, Talbott edging an attempted hook to Ingram behind the stumps off the bowling of Al Fisher. Talbott had only made 4, but it was a captain's innings, steadying the ship, and allowing the runs to come at the other end in a partnership of 33.

In this time, several bowling changes had been made in an attempt to make the breakthrough. Crawford, having bowled through his spell of six overs with figures of 2 for 25, was replaced at the Dead Sea End by Graham Fisher, with Case taking over from Walker (2 for 21 off 4 overs) at the Mount Everest End. Both bowled tightly, with Case's four over spell yielding only five runs, and only one of those being off the bat. It was the introduction of Al Fisher though, running in down the hill, that had brought the sought after breakthrough. Bullock was the next batsman in, but was trapped leg before by Graham Fisher in the next over for just 1, and BPBC could sense another mini-collapse in the offing. Not so, with Jenny Lee content to hold one end up, while Lea-Cox, looking increasingly confident under his helmet, scored the runs at the other end. Another valuable partnership, this one of 20, ensued, before Lee was bowled by Graham Fisher. This completed Fisher's spell of 6 overs, with figures of 2 for 22.

Meanwhile, Al Fisher was struggling to cope with the precipitous slope at the Mount Everest End, and sent over a succession of no-balls, including a hat-trick of them in his second over, and with figures of 1 for 15 off 3, was replaced by Case to finish off his overs. A maiden was followed by an extra-strewn over which rather dented Case's remarkable figures, but he did manage to pick up the wicket of Byrne, given out lbw without scoring, amid protests that the ball was heading down legside. This left Case with the still economical figures of 1 for 14 off his six overs, with only six runs being scored off the bat in that time. This latest breakthrough spurred BPBC on to complete the job, and with Glass removing Lea-Cox in his only over, bowled for an innings-anchoring 35, and Walker taking only two balls of his second spell to clean bowl Dunleavy for 1, the innings was over. The excellent rebuilding work done by Lea-Cox in the middle order, ably assisted by Talbott and Lee, had pushed the First and Third total past the hundred mark, to post a challenging score of 104.
After an excellent tea, First and Third came out to bowl, knowing that wickets would be needed to defend this score, and in openers Glass and Ingram, they had opponents who were looking to deny them exactly that. Two further rain delays had briefly threatened the completion of the match, but the pitch soon dried out, and play was able to resume. With four overs of the BPBC innings gone, the game plan was clear - block everything. Ten runs had been scored, none of them off the bat, as the openers looked to Geoffrey Boycott for their batting style. Using this to his advantage, Talbott made early bowling changes, bringing on Lea-Cox for Sills at the Dead Sea End, and Lee for Goodson at the Mount Everest end. Saving the front line bowlers for defence against a potential late slog was a primary reason for this, but it also brought the advantage of wickets, after Sills had bowled two overs for 9, and Goodson an economical, if unthreatening, three overs for just one run.

With the pressure building, and the openers finding it difficult to do more than block, Lea-Cox continued his great day of cricket by striking in his second over, clean bowling Glass. This was in the seventh over, and Glass had faced seventeen balls for his duck. Ponsonby soon followed, bowled by Lea-Cox in his next over, a wicket maiden, again for no score. The next man in was Darley, who clearly had no taste for such slow scoring antics, and soon hit the first boundary of the innings - a four off Lee in the 12th over. But Lee struck back immediately, using the slope to her advantage and bowling deceptively quickly. Ingram perished to the first attacking stroke of his innings, caught by Talbott at cover, diving forward to take a very sharp, low chance. Blackburn was next to go, bowled first (legal) ball. Following a no-ball as his first delivery, there was some post-match debate about whether Blackburn's innings counted as a golden duck or whether the no-ball counts as a ball faced. Perhaps Bill Frindell could shed some light on what the convention is in these cases...

With the score looking perilous at 29-4 in the 12th, Darley and Wilton were at the crease, and with Jenny Lee bowling to Emma Wilton, the quote of the day was made by Mark Crawford, umpiring at square leg. With clear relish in his voice, he announced to the world in general - "marvellous, some girl on girl action". The rest of the over was seen out, and Goodson came on at the Dead Sea End, replacing Lea-Cox, whose first four overs had given him two wickets at a cost of only five runs. Goodson, with the long uphill climb taking away what little pace he had, saw his figures immediately dented by the first six of the match, hit by Darley into the field over the square leg fence. But with Wilton bowled soon after for 0, Walker came out to join Darley with still plenty to play for. A cat and mouse spell saw BPBC move to 53 for 6 off 17 overs, with Goodson bowling out his allotted six overs by trapping Walker in front of leg stump for 8. Though a couple of boundaries had been conceded, Goodson ended with figures of 2 for 13 off six.

With useful batting still to come, the game was still very much in the balance, but the introduction of Talbott into the attack proved to be the final turning point. With Talbott bowling down the hill and about to start his second over, what followed was the stuff that bowlers' dreams (and batsmen's nightmares) are made of. First, dangerman Darley's off stump was removed, sending him back to the pavillion for a creditable 21 - rewarded for being willing to hit out and score quickly. Next up was Crawford, determined to make amends for last year's first ball duck, when he was given out off what might have been called a no-ball. This year, he can reflect on being unfortunate enough to be caught behind off his first ball by Olbourne in the middle of a hat-trick, for the next batsman in was Case, whose off stump was also knocked back with a beautiful leg cutter.

Talbott, never the most taciturn of cricketers, was understandably jubilant at his hat-trick, as the match was now in First and Third's hands, with Graham Fisher joining Al Fisher at the crease with 9 wickets down. Graham managed to survive the next three balls, setting a new record for his longest ever innings, to complete a remarkable triple wicket maiden for Talbott. His two overs had yielded 3 wickets for just 6 runs. With victory in sight, Lea-Cox came back at the Dead Sea End for the next over and wrapped up the match within four balls. After a near run out, when Graham made it more than half way down the pitch before being sent back by Al, Graham made it onto strike, and was sharply caught at mid-on by Lee after a mistimed drive. Lea-Cox, the bedrock of the First and Third innings, had proved very useful with the ball as well, finishing with 3 for 9 off 4.4 overs. BPBC had just not been able to put together the partnerships, and the innings closed on 57 after 18 overs and four balls.

As with last year, the margin of victory (47 runs), does scant justice to the excitement of a game that could have gone either way. In the end, it was Andrew Lea-Cox's innings-bolstering 35 runs and his three wickets that earned him the BPBC vote as First and Third's man of the match. Neil Talbott's hat-trick also deserves an honourable mention, as in most games he would have won the accolade with that achievement. Dan Walker was the recipient of the First and Third vote for being BPBC's best player, for picking up three wickets with the ball and second top-scoring for BPBC with the bat.

Credit must go to Tom Rose for being a fair and consistent umpire throughout, to Ingram and Talbott for captaining and organising the teams, to Mark Crawford for booking the venue and organising the tea, and to whoever it was who baked the chocolate brownies - they really were delicious.

With another set of First and Third-ers graduating to the exalted ranks of old buffers for next year, it can surely be only a matter of time before BPBC record their first victory in this fixture. Congratulations to all involved, and roll on next year...

Event: Cambridge Winter Head 2002 - Senior4 IV+
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Going off behind the 1st and 3rd women's IV, the race plan was obvious: take down the crew in front. But as BPBC settled into a very strong rhythm in the first half of the course, it was quickly evident that there would not be only two boats involved in this race. A seat problem in the 1st and 3rd boat at Grassy meant that BPBC closed to within inches at Ditton. Alex, coxing 1st and 3rd, held his racing line and Bronwen was forced to take BPBC wide as both crews were suddenly confronted with the sight of a slow Fitz crew in front and an even slower crew from some other out of town club in front of them as they entered the reach. The Fitz cox then had the slightly intimidating situation of having Alex attempting to overtake on the towpath side, with Bronwen heading round on the meadows side, while the random slow crew in front wandered down the middle of the river threatening to cause even more carnage than there already was. The race quickly descended into a contest of who could intimidate the Fitz cox more, with commendable efforts from both coxes, and special mention to Bronwen for swearing like a trooper when the occasion demanded. Before long, the four boats were all racing side-by-side, and this on a river that can barely hold two boats without clashes occurring. Miraculously, no collision occurred until the Railway Bridge, where Bronwen, having been forced to the Meadows side round Ditton, had the inside line. Alex was forced to take evasive action to prevent his head being taken off by a Fitz blade and BPBC had the clear run to the finish. One of the most entertaining head races I have ever had the good fortune to watch - who says that the Cam can't hold side-by-side racing?

Event: RTT Regatta 2005 - Open 1x
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

My aims were modest for this regatta. Having not been in a scull since 1999, I was mainly hoping not to fall in. The racing itself was going to be a test of whether my lack of technique or lack of fitness was going to be the limiting factor; in the end, lack of technique won by a mile. In this race I was lulled into a bit of a false sense of security on stroke two when Sarah screamed and almost fell in, but she soon rowed through me to take a comfortable lead. There was a bit of a blade clash somewhere along the line (my fault I'm sure) but other than that, not a lot to suggest I might have a chance of winning.

Event: RTT Regatta 2005 - Open 1x
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Well my sculling didn't get any better after my first race and I didn't even have the pleasure of a faster start in this race. It wasn't long before I gave up looking round to see where Lilie was and as I drifted over the line I heard the dreaded result of "easily". Again it was the total lack of technique that did for me; I can count the number of decent strokes I had on the fingers of one foot. At least I didn't fall in though, which puts me ahead of three other competitors.

Event: FaT vs. BPBC Golf Challenge 2005 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

This was the first of the two hotly anticipated matches between Bullock and Mackowiak. Chris Mycroft was ably supporting Richard, while I was dragging the side down for Black Prince. First and Third took an early two-hole lead, but Jeff and I managed to pull one back at the fifth with a nicely taken birdie. Unfortunately, I then went from the sublime to the ridiculous; having holed the birdie putt from off the fifth green, I proceeded to put the tee shot at the sixth into the lake, leaving us two down again. A good up and down at the seventh gave Bullock and Mycroft a share of the hole and guaranteed them at least a half point from the match. And another halved hole at the eighth meant that First and Third won their third consecutive match without reply. This was a case of missed opportunities for me and Jeff. We can have no complaints though - Richard and Chris took the chances that came their way and fully deserved their victory.

Event: Lent Bumps 2006 - Friday
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

CUCBC Handbook:

84. That a boat be considered fairly bumped when it is touched by any part of the boat behind it
before its stern is past the finishing post, drawing level with a boat being considered equivalent
to a bump, provided the bow balls are level.

Sounds clear to me...

Event: FaT vs. BPBC Golf Challenge 2006 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Having done the rather ungentlemanly thing of going out for a practice round earlier in the day, Graham and I were reasonably confident of being in solid, if unspectacular, form. We knew the opposition were no slouches though, and so it proved as we traded points on the first four holes, with Andrew holing a couple of long putts to win holes 1 and 3. At hole five things started to turn in our favour. A long putt saved our four and put us in front for the first time, and good putts from both teams on the sixth meant we shared a hole for the first time in the match. Another four on hole seven (our seventh consecutive four) put us dormie 2 up and with victory in sight. Nathan put the pressure right back on at the eighth, with (amazingly) his first putt of the round from on the green to take a par. But I managed to sink the putt that gave us our first par of the round to halve the hole and seal the win. Another four at the ninth gave us a round of 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-3-4. It may look uneventful, but due to the mediocrity of our tee shots (no greens hit) we were having to save all of those fours through tricky recovery play and pressure putts. Foursomes is a great fun format - I thoroughly recommend it.

Event: FaT vs. BPBC Golf Challenge 2007 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Lest you think that BPBC is packed with super-golfers, I would like to point out that this result is rather flattering for Jon and me, and rather harsh on Bryn and Henry.

Jon and I (rather by luck than design) managed to put together a perfect bit of fourballs play, dovetailing our successes and cock-ups beautifully for the first five holes. Bryn and Henry showed later in the round (and later in the day) that they were of comparable skill to us - we were just a bit faster out of the blocks.

Event: FaT vs. BPBC Golf Challenge 2008 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

This was a very pleasing performance. After we traded the first two holes, we managed to stay a little more consistent than Bryn and Jim, scoring a three-over-par round of 30 between us. On a personal note, I was pleased to hit three out of four greens from my tee shots, a feat I sadly couldn't replicate later on in the day.

Event: FaT vs. BPBC Golf Challenge 2008 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

This was a fantastic match that went right down to the wire. I knew that my work would be cut out when Tom hit his first tee shot to within six inches of the pin, and duly took his birdie to take the first hole. I took the next to draw level, and although I took the fifth, I found the sand on the sixth and Tom took advantage to level again. I hit the green on the eighth and parred to go dormie one up and in a nail biting finish, we both missed putts that could have won the last hole, making the final scoreline one up.

Event: FaT vs. BPBC Golf Challenge 2009 -
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Steady golf won this one. I managed to get round with entirely threes and fours so we won with a bit to spare. Sadly, most of the First and Third team then had to leave, meaning a default victory for BPBC.

Event: Cambridge Town Bumps 2009 - Tuesday
Posted as: Mike
Event Link

Well it started badly, it tailed off a little in the middle and the less said about the end the better, but apart from that it was excellent.