CO:Reading organiser Fiona Titcombe reports back from our annual western Ireland outing

CO:Mon has been on my “must do” list for a while, so this year I booked my flight to Knock and committed and I loved it!   

The event is held at Lough Gara Lodge in Monasteraden which is very homely. There’s accommodation downstairs, and upstairs has a kitchen, nice big dining area and the bright room where the event was hosted. At the top of the building is a lounge with comfy chairs and board games.  

Many of the attendees were staying at the lodge and arrived at various points during Friday afternoon and evening, inevitably ending up in the pub right next door where the visitors to Ireland enjoyed a Guinness or two while the locals drank whatever locals drink! Perfect!

Jessamine was a fantastic host, ensuring the event went smoothly, everyone was having a good time, and all our other needs were looked after! 

At UK events, it’s become traditional for at least some of the participants to start the day with a parkrun and Maus (Thomas Carey) and I weren’t going to let the horrendous wind and sleet we woke up to stop us.  There were a few parkrun options, so we picked Castlerea as it has a 9-letter anagram – very appropriate for a countdown weekend!

The event itself had a mixture of CO:Mon stalwarts, co event regulars but first time visitors to CO:Mon, and CO:Event newbies (who promised they’ll be back next year!). It was great to see so many female players at an event too – we do seem to struggle to get a good balance at UK events.  Hazel Drury has been an unstoppable force at previous CO:Mons, winning 4 out of 5 previous events, her only defeat at the hands of Brendan Duke who was also attending. The event was conducted “Bristol” style, with everyone playing in pairs from the same letters projected onto a big screen at the front. There were five randomly drawn 9-round games, after which Jessamine split us into three divisions, based on how many wins we’d had and how many points we’d scored. From there we played three seeded 15-round games to crown the winner of each division. If that all sounds a bit complicated, it really wasn’t – it felt very relaxed and friendly and everyone seemed happy to play whoever they were drawn against, although some people undoubtedly did get some tough draws with Paul Drury playing the final top three in his first three games!  Between the morning and afternoon sessions, we enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch prepared by Jessamine’s family and friends.

The event was rounded off with the Grand Final, which was battled between reigning champion Hazel, and Co:Mon first timer, Thomas Carey, which looked to be a very tasty match up and it lived up to expectation! It was a great game with lots of changes of lead and a couple of crucial mistakes from both players – a real nail-biter, or to borrow Brendan Duke’s description, a slobberknocker!  After 14 rounds, Tom was 8 points ahead going into the crucial conundrum, but Hazel clearly wasn’t ready to surrender her crown and solved it in a fraction of a second!  Brilliant stuff!

You can watch the final here  https://www.youtube.com/live/UwK7doUUvsM

In the other divisions, B was won by Roger Stevens (Jessamine’s partner), and the winner of C was Seán O’Connor (Jessamine’s son). A real family affair! Very well done to you both!

With the pub’s kitchen temporarily closed for renovation, most of us enjoyed a take-away seated round the big kitchen table, with many heading to the pub afterwards.

It really was a fantastic weekend, with the countdown just being part of it. I hope to be back very soon, and definitely recommend adding it to your event calendar for a future year! Thank you Jessamine!

Next weekend, FOCAL are back in Edinburgh, before trips next month to York and Tunbridge Wells. Take the plunge and join in the fun!