A week of fixtures that proved very mixed for the Shiplake teams; the girls took on a very strong team from Bradfield College for their first netball fixture of the season, giving them a lot to work on in training sessions. The 1st XI hockey team had a victorious win over Pangbourne College, which boosted team morale ahead of their upcoming fixtures…
Hockey
1st XI 3-2 Pangbourne College
‘This classic local derby has been a closely fought fixture over the last few years and this year did not disappoint either. Pangbourne started the stronger side and it took a while for the Shiplake players to get themselves in the game mentally, but once that happened Shiplake began to string together some positive attacking moves. Shiplake's positive pressing turned over the ball in the opposition half and a foul led to a short corner which was neatly executed and then tucked away by the industrious Billy Sayers. Shiplake continued to dominate the first half, with some sweet interlinking play and a few dazzling runs from the midfield quartet of Will Gresswell, Tim Herbert, James Smith and Dom Deakin leading carving open the Pangbourne defence. This lead to Shiplake's second goal which was finished with precision. As the half went on, Pangbourne managed to wrestle back some of the authority in the match and a loose ball was punched upon and swiftly finished on the reverse to leave Shiplake 2:1 up at half time.
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The second half started with Pangbourne in the ascendancy, piling pressure on Jonathan Meadows, Liam Peachey, Chris Baker and Orla Brown at the back. Meadows and Peachey were doing their best to play the ball out but the Pangbourne press was high. Eventually, Shiplake broke and tidy move started by Jack Rees on the right hand side was finished off by Dom Allen after Sayers squared the ball superbly. However, Pangbourne hit back immediately after some sloppy defending and finished a short corner past the despairing Jack Tooley, who had otherwise made some cracking saves as usual. The final 10 minutes was tense and will not have helped any parents looking to keep their blood pressure down but Shiplake held on to win 3:2. With thanks to the supporting parents!’
Master in Charge of Hockey Mr Tom Walter
2nd XI 2-1 Pangbourne
'Shiplake started the game with a positive attitude, passing the ball nicely and a quick goal came from a clever play by Freddie Davies. The back four worked hard to defend the constant attack from Pangbourne, as Shiplake gave away multiple short corners. However, good clearances from Ollie Brown saw another counter attack and from a quick through ball from Jacob Bowley caused another goal to go in, making the score 2-0 to Shiplake. The second half continued in the same vain, with Shiplake defending very well and pushing into their half. Man of the match goes to Justin for his multiple saves, making the final score 2-1 to Shiplake. Thank you to Mr Beckett for taking and supporting us.'
Alex Bradley
U15A 2-3 Pangbourne
‘With several county squad players in the Pangbourne ranks, Shiplake U15s were always going to be up against it. Early passing pressure from Shiplake put the opposition under pressure and the game looked fairly even in those opening salvos. Unfortunately, after ten minutes, Pangbourne’s midfield took control of the game with some intricate dribbling that proved unstoppable. Half time came and Pangbourne were in the ascendancy having scored five goals in the first period.
The second half was more evenly balanced, with Shiplake defending better in numbers and constructing a few quality passing movements that bypassed the opposition’s midfield. Although they lost the second half 2-3, the Shiplake U15s will have developed a better understanding of where their strengths lie and what they need to do to be more successful next time around.’
Mr Richard Curtis
U14A 2-2 Pangbourne
After a shortened warm up Shiplake started strongly, dominating possession and putting together some good passing moves. After some continuous pressure on the Pangbourne 25, another of Shiplake’s swift passing moves was well finished on the back post by Tom Lynskey. The game began to open up and Pangbourne’s strong players in the middle of the pitch began to come into the game more. Shiplake responded well and Jacob Kirby finished yet another clinical passing play from Shiplake to make it 2-0 at the half time break.
Pangbourne came out stronger in the second half and up for the fight. They started to press Shiplake high up the pitch, which was a move to stop Shiplake’s strong passing game. Two quick goals for Pangbourne coming via a short corner and one dubious back stick finish left the game in the balance. Second half keeper Billy Parrish had a tough time, but pulled off a superb save high with his left glove to deny Pangbourne a third goal. Shiplake rallied towards the end of the half which culminated with captain Callum Creighton going on a brilliant run slicing through the Pangbourne defence, round the keep only to have the ball cleared off the line by a recovering Pangbourne player. The game ended 2-2 which came as a slight disappointment to the Shiplake side as it was a game they could have won. However, there are lots of positives to take forward to our next fixture.'
Director of Sport Mr James Gaunt
U13B 0-5 Abingdon
‘With six of the twelve pupils playing for the Shiplake making their first appearance in a hockey game this was always going to be a tough fixture. Predictably we started slowly, conceding three early goals within the first 10 minutes. However we really grew into the game with Ben Yeoman, George Lucas and Casper Hjortland Marks making some incisions into the opposition D. We regularly rotated our twelve players as we were playing seven a side. This meant fresh legs were constantly available. Ben Thornber, Casper Good and Sylvester Sutherland tackled well turning defence into attack where possible. As the second half progressed the ever impressive Zac Kennedy moved the ball to the wider areas of the pitch where Ralph Burrows and George Hinton could ins space. Two late goals made it 5-0 to Abingdon but a couple of great saves by William Lovatt kept the score line down and the spirits up. Very well done to all involved. We can't wait until our next game when we know we will show real improvement.’
Director of Sport Mr James Gaunt
Football
2nd XI 6-1 Licensed Victuallers' School Ascot
Zach Heppner-Logan provides the following report from this victorious match:
'Looking for our first win of the season the second team were fired up for a big game against LVS Ascot. 'If you don't buy a ticket you don't win the raffle'; these were the inspirational words the team was told before kick off. Shiplake had good possession at the start of the game which paid off through an early goal from Finn Arbuckle. This was followed up by a strong run down the right hand side and a shot from George Emeny going in the back of the net. Following this, Emeney had a shot which was saved and the rebound pounced on by Sam Wisely to bag the side third goal. After a dominant first half LVS started to find their feet in the game but the yet again an Emeny assist lead to an Arbuckle goal. As Shiplake looked to keep control of the game our discipline went, and we conceded a foul in the box which led to a penalty scored from LVS. With ten minutes left and a lack of concentration from LVS, Shiplake took a quick throw in which led to a break from Callum James down the left hand side and Shiplake's fifth goal. In the final play of the game, Shiplake won a free kick, which was taken by Charlie Betram and deflected through the wall. This led to a tap in at the end by Zach Heppner-Logan. Good win from the lads to kick start the rest of the season.'
4th XI 0-0 Long Close School
'The team lined up with some new additions to the team, desperately looking for our first win of the season. It was a soaking wet day and the pitch was heavy. The first half started well and some excellent defending from Todd Harman, Hugh Rutledge and Toby Holliday-Williams ensured that Dhanyal Butt was a mere spectator in goal. Jack Peck, Finn Rowan and Jason Fryer were bossing the midfield while Will Tompkins, Alex Sutton, Vizard and Szweda were all putting in a good shift. We created a good number of chances but lacked the cutting edge.
At half time Mr Tiki Ebun-Cole, brought us over for a quick team talk and proceeded to make some radical changes – the goalie was now on the wing and the striker in goal. Hugh Rutledge was moved from defence to upfront where he terrorised Long Close’s defence with some penetrating runs. It was end to end and we had many attempts on goal but a combination of good goalkeeping and poor finishing meant that we couldn’t break the deadlock. It was the most enjoyable 0-0 game any of us have played in and we take a lot of confidence from it into the next fixture.'
Captain Todd Harman
U14A 6-3 Licensed Victuallers' School Ascot
‘After three weeks of excellent training sessions the U14As were ready for their first match of the season against LVS Ascot on Saturday. After a cagey first few minutes, we settled into the match and after a quick break down the right from Rory Diez-Harrison, Harvey Greenaway fired home our first goal of the season. Despite plenty of pressure we couldn’t get the second goal we deserved and just before half time some indecision in our penalty box allowed them to equalise. 1-1 at half time.
After some wise words from our coaches, we started the second half positively but our attacking formation of 3-5-2 was to become our undoing. We were caught by a long ball and the LVS centre forward raced through to score and make it 2-1. They then had a chance to make it 3-1, but a brilliant double save from Billy Parrish kept us only one goal down.
We then had an excellent five minutes. Substitutes Adam Porter and Lewis Evans were dominant in the centre of midfield and we scored three goals in five minutes, the first from Will Richards and two more from Harvey Greenaway to make it 4-2. We finished the game strongly with two further goals from Rory and Sam Rogers, and despite leaking a late goal secured a comfortable 6-3 win.’
Netball
1st VII 3-23 Cokethorpe School
The 1st VII faced a very strong and coherent team from Cokethorpe School. Being only the second match that they had played all season, the game showed up some flaws in the team that can be worked on for future fixtures. It was beneficial to go up against such a well-oiled team, as it provided the girls with the ideal opportunity to find their strengths.
3rd VII v Bradfield College
'The 3rd and 4th VII had their first fixtures this week, against teams from Bradfield College. The 3rd VIIs started the first quarter strongly, fending off attempts to shoot and driving the ball towards our goal, and we scored our first goal. Sadly in the last few seconds of the first quarter, after a flying leap into the air we had our first injury; Cara Hunt had twisted her ankle and was taken off court to seek medical attention. We started off the second quarter strongly, managing to get the ball up to our end of the court numerous times, only to be stopped by an aggressive oppositions' defence. Hannah Brown replaced Cara and quickly got into the game with plenty of fast and accurate passes. The teamwork between our centre courts was skilled and very fast paced. Due to the slippery court we had a few more slides and falls but nothing serious, and that ends the second quarter. At half time we came together as a group to discuss different things we could do better and strategies to get through their solid defence.
As we started the third quarter, we had numerous chances at goal but they were always foiled by the oppositions' goalkeeper. Suddenly Bethan Tinker had the ball again and after shooting and missing once, but managing to catch the rebound ball, she shot and scored our second goal of the match. In our last quarter we fended off most of the opposition, although we were beginning to tire from the stress of the match. At the end of the match we all grouped and evaluated on the match we just played. We all learnt that we need to work together as a team but also that we are strong when put under pressure from a tough opposition.'
Louisa Bird
