Ashbourne's Royal Shrovetide football day two - as it happened

Summary

Down'Ard Martyn Taylor was clapped and cheered as he was carried to the Greenman pub after scoring on Tuesday evening
Theories have emerged over the two-hour disappearance of the ball on the first day
The Royal Shrovetide Football has taken place in Ashbourne every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday since at least 1667
The game has seen thousands of players in teams called the Up'Ards and Down'Ards compete to move the ball to opposite ends of the town
Farmers Dave Bott and Brian Pegg were given the honour of "turning the ball up" to get the game under way on each day

Live Reporting

Edited by Olimpia Zagnat

A town dividedpublished at 13:25 Greenwich Mean Time 4 March
Isaac Ashe
BBC News, Derby
Ashbourne’s population splits into two teams, the Up’Ards and the Down’Ards, and the town becomes a three-mile pitch.
These two factions, over the course of two days, attempt to manoeuvre a large ball through a hundreds-strong scrum to tap the ball three times against one of two goals at either end.
These goals are two stone monuments on the site of former mills, Clifton Mill and Sturston Mill.
Plan to 'at least touch the ball'published at 13:18 Greenwich Mean Time 4 March
Heidi Booth
BBC News, Ashbourne
I just bumped into Chloe Anderson, 27, and her fiance Anton van Marion, 29, from Grimsby - very much north of the river.
They have never been to Royal Shrovetide before but have heard about it from friends that live close by, so they travelled from Grimsby last night to come and see the game.
Chloe says she is very much a "spectator" but Anton said he wanted to try and "at least touch the ball".
This year's turner upperspublished at 13:10 Greenwich Mean Time 4 March
Isaac Ashe
BBC News, Derby
This year’s turn up will be carried out by two farmers in Ashbourne.
David Bott will do the honours on Tuesday, and on Wednesday Brian Pegg will take to the plinth.
Play starts this afternoonpublished at 13:04 Greenwich Mean Time 4 March
Isaac Ashe
BBC News, Derby
The game starts at 14:00 GMT each Shrove Tuesday, when a ball is launched by someone known as a “turner up” from a specially-constructed plinth in Shawcroft in the town centre.
And the play ends at 22:00 each day.
If a team goals - and sometimes, that isn’t even close to happening - the play is restarted from Shaw Croft once more.
Never mind the pancakes, it's game daypublished at 13:02 Greenwich Mean Time 4 March
Isaac Ashe
BBC News, Derby
Image source, Adam Vaughan/EPA/Rex/Shutterstock
Across Britain, most of us think about pancakes when Shrove Tuesday rolls around.
In one corner of Derbyshire, the residents' thoughts instead turn to flattening each other.
For two days, Ashbourne shutters its shops, hangs its bunting, and draws its allegiances between two teams for the annual Royal Shrovetide Football 2025.
We'll be delivering a blow by blow account over two days of action.
Image source, Reuters