| Sussex vs Ireland: 26th - 27th February 2005, Shannon
Sir Patrick Moore who presents BBC2's The Sky at Night programme from his home in Sussex played for the county in the 1950’s provided the cup which also celebrates Sussex 's victory over Ireland in their last match (2002, which Sussex won on a tie break). The cup was presented by the Irish Minister for Education. She congratulated everyone involved, praising the children, remarking on the benefits of this stimulating sport and saying how refreshing it was to experience their enjoyment rather than the all-too-frequent stories of trouble with youth. The 14 strong under 10 team, including Freddie Keen and Jude Lenier, Polly Lambert and Freddie Keen with 4 wins plus a draw, and Joseph Quinn, Ben Rudling and Kipp McAdam Freud (4 wins) were a deciding factor in the overall victory, winning by a huge 49.5 points to Ireland's 20.5 and giving Sussex great hopes for the future. The under 12 and under 16 sections were won by Ireland , earning them the Irish Junior Challenge Shield. David Grant with his rating of 1260 played 1st board for the under 12's, picking up 3 wins and a draw from his 4 games including a win against Ireland's Seanna S Ryan who has a remarkable rating of 1465. There were 11 boards in this section which Ireland won 30 to 14. The
8 boards and one reserve in the under 16's team scored 10.5 to Ireland's
21.5 with most of the Sussex points being scored by Lyall Baylis,
Robert Stebbings and Toby Cooper.
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In an incredibly close match, Sussex beat the Ireland team by 74 points
to 72 to retain the Sir Patrick Moore Sussex Challenge Cup. Sussex
under 10, under 12 and under 16 teams notched up this overall victory.
Our most prodigious point scorer with a perfect 5 wins from 5 matches
was Charlie Mills (age 8), photographed here with Patrick Moore and
Jude Lenier aged 9 with a score of 4.5 out of 5.