As most of our pupils gear up for their Christmas break, some were still on the rugby pitch playing the last games of the season; and what a season it has been for our boys!
1st XV v Churcher’s College
The game started with Shiplake giving away an early penalty and Churcher’s getting ahead by three points. Shiplake then starting adding pressure on the opposition’s defensive line, with carries from Robbie Cartwright and Joe Kerrison linking up well in the midfield. Churcher’s tried to hold out the power game but the 1st XV were starting to play with a series of two-man tackles and Shiplake soon made it over the line through Jack Rees, who finished off a lovely try in the corner. The rest of the half did not go Shiplake's way as Churcher’s managed to score a few minutes later. The home advantage allowed the opposition, who had better experience of their pitch, to play the territory game well, making life very tough for the back three. The half finished 5-8 to Churches.
Shiplake struggled to find their feet in this game, not being able to build up the pressure they wanted when they needed and were not able to finish off what they had worked on all week in training. It was a very tough finish to the game with Shiplake working their socks off in the last ten minutes; pushing to get themselves over the whitewash and score. Unfortunately, this was not the case and the game finished 5 - 13 to Churcher’s.
Shiplake have drawn a line and now look forward to the match on Wednesday, against Sir William Borlase’s at 2:15pm on 1st XV pitch for the last game of the season, where many of the boys get the honour of pulling on the jersey for the last time. We would value your support at this match.
Report provided by Robbie Cartwright
U14A v Churcher’s College
It was the last game of the season and the boys knew that Churcher’s College had a good side, so they needed to perform well. It was a windy and wet Riverside so the Shiplake side knew they had to keep it tight in the forwards. The game started with our boys kicking to the opposition but they got a scrum straight away. Shiplake had to make a mark by making a big hit and pressurising the competition. Churcher’s started off well with two tries but then Oliver Denison-Pender miraculously broke through the maul and scored our first try. Despite playing against the wind, Brody Burnett and Ollie Rouiller made serious moves at the breakdown.
The second half started with Churcher’s scoring another two tries, which surprised our boys because the wind was now against the opposition. The U14As then executed a nice move in the backs; making a lot of ground. Oliver Denison-Pender then picked up the ball from the ruck to score our boys’ second try, before scoring yet another. The score was 19-22 to Churcher’s and there were just ten minutes left when the ball was kicked into their 22. The ball was retrieved by Shiplake who were only two meters away from the try line. The ball was shifted out to the wing but the ball was dropped. It was game over. The U14As lost by three points 19-22. What a great season!
U14B v Churcher’s College
This was the last match of the season and the U14Bs really wanted a win after only having two losses all season. The team was told that their opposition, Churcher’s College, had also lost two matches beforehand so this was going to be an intense match. The match started fiercely with good tackling in defence and good passing when attacking. Max Patterson managed to score in the first two minutes, but some uncoordinated defence led to the opposition scoring and making the conversion. Shiplake came back strong with Lucas Ferrer De Arriba weaving his way through the Churcher’s defence and scoring under the posts. After half time, Shiplake conceded another well-earned try from the opposition. The score was now 14-12 to Churcher’s. Max Patterson had another solid run and managed to get his second as well as Henry Doyle scoring in the corner. The final score was 24-14 to Shiplake.
U12B v Moulsford School
It was a cold winter's day and pouring with rain when the U12B team went down to the Riverside pitches to play Moulsford School on Wednesday. The game started and within 30 seconds, Shiplake scored a try after Henry Steel broke through their defence to score. Just minutes after, Jacob Morley also got a try but just minutes after that, and to our despair they broke through to get a good try. The U12Bs did not give, and rightfully so, because they went on to score three more great tries and after that we got together for the end of the match the final score was 5-1 to Shiplake.
Report provided by Freddie Teague