Abingdon beat Radley – by 3/4 length – to win the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley. Abingdon also won this prestigous cup in 2002 & 2011.

Ben Rodford took this picture of the Abingdon Crew on way to the start.

The second picture shows the winning Abingdon Crew.

The Abingdon boat had beaten the Australian and US national champions as well as Latymer Upper School and St Peter’s School to reach the final.

This win, together with victories at the Schools’ Head of the River and the National Schools’ Championship Eights earlier in the year, secures the three major rowing titles for Abingdon this season. Winning the triple is a rare feat and has only been achieved once before in the School’s history in 2002.

Athol Hundermark, the Abingdon coach said, “The Henley win is the culmination of a fantastic year for the crew who have performed extremely well under pressure. Radley made us work for every inch…”

Congratulations to both Abingdon and Radley. Both can be seen rowing near us on the River Thames, just a few miles downstream from Oxford.

On Sunday I saw two completely different games of football happening at the same time in Southern Town Park. This was the weekend of the annual Abingdon Youth FC Festival of Football. So on one side 150 teams, from age under 9 to under 15, were playing in a series or tournaments.

Nearby over on the rugby pitches, American Football had started, and the Oxford Saints beat Gloucester Centurions 41-0. The Saints next host Bristol Apache at Abingdon RFC on Sunday 27th May.

They bring their own goalposts and vocabulary such as “…the oxford Defence was generating turnovers through fumble recoveries…” and “… a brief spell of punt trading…” and “…Jonny Dover tacked on his 3rd PAT out of 4…”

Back at the Youth Football there was a replica FA Cup, and lots of stalls. On one stall there was a signed picture of the Chelsea team who have just won the UEFA Champions League on Saturday beating Bayern Munich on penalties.

After this victory, the headline in the Süddeutsche Zeitung read “How much bad luck fits into one match?”. The Gazzetta dello Sport reported on the temporary  Chelsea Manager Di Matteo saying “Two and a half months at the helm were sufficient to initiate a series of miracles”.

In The Guardian we read of “The Great Escape.”

There was a lot going on down at Abingdon Rugby Club as the club celebrated eighty years with a very well organised day combining rugby, competitions, fun for the family, a reunion for past players, music, and a beer festival.

On previous visits I have noticed the ground can get very damp after rain but that problem seems to be solved now. There were no mud splattered players.

Abingdon Rugby Club have been playing at Southern Town Park since 1989, and in recent years have developed a very successful youth program, with lots of youngsters and their parents at the club on Sunday Mornings.

Good to see the seniors for a change, but I wish I could understand the rules.