As every racing season begins, the third Saturday in June is a date that is highlighted on the calendar of every department in the 5th Battalion regardless if they have a drill team or not. The third week of June is a time to get a team together, practice hard, and compete for pride and bragging rights within the Battalion. Bragging rights belonged to the Oyster Bay Fire Company #1 Teddy’s Boys for 14 straight years as they dominated the drill from 1992-2005. From 2006-2010 it was the Atlantic Steamer Fire Company #1 Rough Riders and the Roslyn Highlanders trading wins. This year’s drill was shaping up to be as exciting as ever with the always dangerous Glenwood Greenhorns, East Norwich Spooks and the new and improved Bayville Oak Neckers looking to throw around some points and earn their first ever 5th Battalion title.
The drill started without a hitch as Individual Ladder was run for trophies only. Bayville’s climber led the drill off with an impressive 4.80, which is especially good considering he started climbing only a few months ago. Bayville was eventually topped by the Highlanders’ Ron Presti with a 4.50. Glenwood’s Sean Clampet took third place with a 4.89. Fourth place went to the Sea Cliff Indians with a 5.60 and the Spooks and Teddy’s Boys tied for fifth with a 5.61 each.
3-Man Ladder started minutes later and the Highlanders were the only team in the 6’s winning the event with a 6.76. Once again the Bayville Oak Neckers were impressive running with three new climbers and turning in a 7.45, which was good for second place. The Rough Riders, Teddy’s Boys and Spooks rounded out rest of the top five.
Running ladder began with a little excitement from the Highlanders' camp. With two teams to go before their run they lifted their cart to center it on the track and lost a wheel. As we all know, there are no breakdowns in Old Fashioned racing. The team was granted permission to run last and they scrambled to re-attach their wheel. The event went smoothly and quickly with the Rough Riders leading the pack with an 8.69 until the Highlanders came to the line (with their cart intact) and put up a first place run with a time of 7.79 seconds. Third through fifth place were taken by the Teddy’s Boys, Indians and Oak Neckers.
The only delay of the day was during the water test, but a consistent water time of 4.76 was eventually established. Running Hose is where the Greenhorns got on the board for the first time with a 12.37 which was good for 3 points. The Highlanders were the only team to run in the 10’s running a 10.93 which was good for first place. The Rough Riders took second place with a 12.26 and the Oak Neckers and Spooks rounded out the top five in the event.
The Running Hose Replacement event is where Old Fashioned drills start getting interesting, especially with motorized teams in the 5th Battalion only having one week to practice them. The Teddy’s Boys took first place in this event with a nice run of 21.79. A few familiar faces popped up on the track as the replacement events began. Guys like Bobby Gorney, Steve O’Neill and Doug Flynn are well known as key pieces to the 14-year Teddy’s Boys’ dynasty. The Highlanders came in with a smooth run of 22.83, which was good enough for 4 points. The Indians, the Glen Cove Wet Ears and the Oak Neckers rounded out the top five for this event.
Going into Efficiency Replacement it appeared as if the Highlanders were running away with the drill with 19 points out of a possible 20. The Rough Riders were in second with 11, the Teddy’s Boys in third with 10 and Bayville in fourth with 8. Efficiency Replacement was where the Highlanders made their first blunder of the day. A mistake connecting into the back of the WYE left the Highlanders with no points for the event. This is where Glenwood started their comeback by topping the second place team by almost 2 full seconds with a 27.99. The Teddy’s Boys took second with a 29.89 and the Oak Neckers kept chipping away by coming in third with a 29.98 while the Rough Riders and Indians finished fourth and fifth with 31’s.
Glenwood continued their strong comeback with a 10.13 in Efficiency which was good for first place. The Rough Riders came in with a second place run of 10.27 and the Teddy’s Boys took third with a 10.48. That scrappy Bayville squad was in there again with fourth place. The Highlanders had a great run going but had some difficulties at the nozzle which left them with an 11.01 which barely put them in the top five.
The point breakdown was now even tighter going into the final two events. The Highlanders still led the pack with 20 points while the Rough Riders and Teddy’s Boys were tied for second and third with 17 points. The Greenhorns and Oak Neckers were tied for fourth and fifth with 13 points apiece. The Spooks seemingly came out of nowhere in Two Into One and took first place with a time of 9.60. The Oak Neckers, proving that they belong in the top five, took 4 more points with a 9.90. Meanwhile, the Rough Riders were closing the gap between them and Roslyn by taking 3 points and the Highlanders coming up empty. Glenwood’s comeback continued with a fourth place finish and the Syosset Nightraiders squeaked out a point coming in fifth.
Heading into Buckets, the Highlanders and Rough Riders were tied for first place with 20 points. The Teddy’s Boys and Oak Neckers were tied for third and fourth with 17 points while the Greenhorns held fifth place with 15. The drill turned very interesting in a hurry and was proving to be one of the best finishes in 5th Battalion history. Everyone was anticipating a Buckets shootout to decide the drill but it turned out to be quite a sloppy finish. The Rough Riders and Highlanders had a few slips on the ladder and a few dropped buckets. The Highlanders took third in the event and the Rough Riders took fifth. Bayville came up empty in a contest for the first time all day and the Spooks stepped up to take fourth. Glenwood finished second, capping off their impressive comeback and giving them a total of 19 points for the day. As the Teddy’s Boys stepped to the line we saw those familiar faces that were part of one of the best bucket teams in the State. Although they had a slip on the ladder they still managed a 25.90 which was good enough for first place.
In the end, this turned out to be one of the tightest finishes in 5th Battalion Drill history. The Highlanders led in points all day despite their collapse in the second half and they reigned victorious for their seventh 5th Battalion Drill win in their history with 23 points. The Teddy’s Boys, who gave the Highlanders fits for years and had them biting their nails until the very end, came in a close second with 22 points. The Rough Riders were unable to repeat their win from a year ago but raced well and came away with third place with 21 points. Glenwood’s furious comeback gave them fourth overall with 19 total points and the impressive Oak Neckers finished in fifth place with 17 points giving them their first ever top five finish. This drill will be remembered by many for its tight finish but it will be especially be remembered by yours truly, who finally won his first one.
Roslyn Highlanders - 2011 5th Battalion Drill Champs
Well put stan was one of the best tournaments I've ever had the privilege of running in
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