Bright sunshine, blue skies and the crisp green grounds of the Bank of England sports centre greeted the annual Hacks v Flaks clash on Saturday, which ended in a triumphant sweep across the board for the journalists.
Retaining the title of football champs for the second year in a row, Fleet Street’s finest beat the flaks 5-2 in a dramatic game that resulted in two PRs hobbling off the pitch with ankle and achilles injuries. Not only did Guardian reporter Josh Halliday win man of the match, scoring four of the winning goals – he kindly distributed his champagne to the celebrating crowd. Cider has enough bubbles for this footy star.
The A-team hacks netball team were on astounding form, thrashing their PR counterparts with a record victory (64-16). Monkey feels weary even thinking about it. And to add to the flaks’ dismay, the hacks’ netball B-team won their match 16-12 after a loss last year. There was a sterling effort from the Telegraph’s senior personal finance reporter, Katie Morley, as centre combined with inspiring energy from the team’s shooters.
More than £8,500 was raised for the children’s cancer charity Rays of Hope at the event, which was sponsored by IG and EY. Although it was second year in a row Monkey had spied Sir Trevor McDonald at the sports ground on the same day as the Hacks v Flaks clash, it admits that the Reading v Arsenal game seemed to have more of a draw for the newsreader: asked by one attendee if they could have a selfie with him, he replied, eyes fixed on the screen “Do I have to move?”
See you next year hacks, flaks ... and possibly Trevor McDonald.