And George hit form in Le Mans
Flixton star Widdowson delighted with Great Britain debut
Flixton’s Natalie Widdowson is delighted to have earned top 20 finishes in her first-ever dressage international in Le Mans, France.
Widdowson and Gorgeous George capped a great year by gaining a wild card for the Prix St George, and the duo represented Great Britain against different nations including France, Netherlands, Hong Kong, China, Portugal, Korea Belgium and Columbia.
She said: “We had a horse vet inspection on the Thursday then the first day of competition was on the Friday, and our first test was the Prix St George.
“Thankfully we secured a solid test with just a couple of small mistakes, George can be quite excitable so keeping his attention in such a big arena with an atmosphere was my main goal.”
She added: “He kept his composure and we got a re- spectable score of 63.4% and 20th place.
“On t h e s e c o nd d ay we competed in the intermediate one class and managed another fairly solid test again with a couple of mistakes.
“We s c o r e d 6 2 .7 % a n d moved up to 17th place.”
A delighted Widdowson admitted: “I’m over the moon with George at his first international and how he traveled and behaved at the show.
“I’m hoping to be selected again and we can build on our performance and scores.
“George will now have a short break but our next big show will be Bury Farm High Profile show in December.”
The reelance instructor is looking to complete a superb 2015 with success in the latter event.
She said: “I have had an amazing year so far with Gorgeous George.
“We kicked off the year in great style finished reserve champion at the Northern Regional Championship at advanced medium and Prix St George level.
“We gained direct qualifi- cation for National championships at advanced medium and got a wild card for the Prix St Georges. We finished 10th and 11th at the Nationals.
“T h e n we nt o nt o c o mpete at Premier league shows around the country where we were trying to gain international qualification, we gained many top 10 places and very consistent scores.
“The highlight was gaining sixth place in a very strong class at Hickstead premier league with nearly 69% which s e c ured our i nternati onal qualification.
“It was thanks to this performance that we were selected to represent Great Britain at Le Mans. It was great to represent my country.
“I’ve competed for England five times previously which was a great honour but Great Britain qualification was beyond my wildest dreams.”
Wi d d o w s o n a d d e d : “I would like to thank my sponsors Premier Equestrian, 4 Oaks, Pukka Pol i s h, Lexi s Lashes, Top Spec and Tammy and Marc Mathison for all support for the trip.” Scarborough Men’s hockey team suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to Ben Rhydding 5ths on Saturday.
The hosts were looking to claim back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
During the early exchanges of the first half the away side started the brighter by pressing Scarborough into their half.
Home keeper Tim Allison had to be on alert from Rhydding’s first short corner by parrying the ball to safety.
The game was becoming very cagey in the middle of the park as both teams were looking to take control.
Rhydding made the decisive breakthrough as their forward found time to slot the ball through Allison’s legs.
There was a brief delay in proceedings as the goal scorer was involved in an collision with Allison both players were able to continue.
Scarborough didn’t al - l ow the goal conceded affect their performance as a quick exchange in passing gave Aaron Dyson the opportunity to score, but the shot was deflected the shot onto the post.
J u s t b e f o r e h a l f - t i me midfielder Rikki Lawrence was given a great opportunity as he created space within the D with precise ball control Rhydding’s defender was able to sniff the danger out with a last-gasp tackle.
There was a late burst of pace from Michael Waterfield from defence to attack.
Scarborough piled up the short corners but were un- able to trouble Rhydding’s goal.
There was a blow to Scarborough’s backline as captain James McMillan picked up a foot injury from defending a short corner he was taken of for precaution.
The home si de altered the formation to play three across the back.
Scarborough carved out a rare chance as Samuel Echevarria was unable to sort his footwork out when ball came free after Dyson rifled the shot on goal.
Allison was called upon to make three world-class saves to keep Scarborough in it.
Pressure was mounting up consistently with a series of short corners where Allison stood strong.
When Scarborough managed to obtain the ball they resorted to firing to James McMillan, who was running to provide openings. Rhydding recognised the tactic and were intercepting.
Harry Renwick shone in defence, cutting out waves o f att ac ks a nd prov i di ng great link-up plays with fell ow players, while man of the match Allison pulled off a further three saves.
Eventually Rhydding’s determination and desire are enough to break Scarborough down as they conceded a second goal conceded.
Scarborough continued to push but Rhydding took all the points.
Both Scarborough teams are away this weekend.
For the firsts a trip to Harrogate 4th and the seconds head to Ben Rhydding 6th.
“I’m over the moon with George at his first
international”