Today's Sports Report includes some big results from the last week of sport! In girls' hockey, our 1st XI put in a big shift against local rivals Reading Blue Coat School while on the rugby pitch, our 1st XV also put in a dominant performance in their latest round of the National Vase. The basketball season also got underway and in what could be a first for the College, we saw a sailing team race at Dinton Pastures.
Hockey
Girls’ 1st XI vs Reading Blue Coat School
On Wednesday 26 September, the girls’ senior hockey 1st XI played Reading Blue Coat in a league match. From the first pushback, Shiplake remained in possession with good attacking play from F Dix, I Woolfrey, P Hart, and A O’Shea. The girls worked hard moving the ball around the pitch which led to B Sauboua scoring a goal in the first five minutes of the game. As the game progressed, we saw strong defensive play from L Dix, A Flower, O Clarke, and M Spooner in goal. Just before the end of the first half, T Gillard scored a goal which put us up 2-0 going into the second half.
During the second half, Shiplake were awarded a short corner which S Pendlebury scored. Before the final whistle blew, F Dix also scored in the final few minutes to make it 4-0 to Shiplake at fulltime. Player of the Match was S Pendlebury, Players' Player was F Dix, and Coach’s Player to P Hart. This was such a good match for the girls and has given us a positive push ready to play The Oratory in a few weeks' time.
Report: S Pendlebury, Girls’ Hockey Captain
Coach: Miss A James
Girls’ 2nd XI vs The Oratory School
On Wednesday 26 September the girls’ 2nd XI took on the Oratory School in our second hockey match of the season. The game started off strongly with some high-quality passages of play from A Holden and C Thomas on the attacking side, both using great communication and putting in a strong effort to keep possession of the ball. A Richardson did some fantastic goalkeeping preventing many goals from entering, however the Oratory managed to get two goals in within the first quarter. Our short corner routines had increasingly improved from the last match, and we had some great player-to-player marking from the defence. Despite having numerous short corners against us, we prevented many from scoring which was a strong improvement from the last game. Although all the girls put in such a great effort throughout the whole match, the Oratory managed to take the win this week with a score of 8-0. Our well-deserved Player of the Match went to our goalkeeper, A Richardson. Well done to all the girls this week and thank you to our coach Mrs Dunn!
Report: R Dewar, 2nd XI Hockey Captain
Coach: Mrs F Dunn
Rugby
1st XV vs St Bartholomew's School
The 1st XV was too strong for the boys from Newbury. A messy start with no rhythm was quickly settled by some good counter attacking rugby and a K O'Connor try. The game continued in the same vein for another five to ten minutes. St Barts made the game a scrappy and physical contest, but the Shiplake boys kept their nerve and continued to capitalise when they got possession. By the time we were 20 minutes into the game, it had stopped being a contest. W Rider, H Benton and J Wilson were dominant up front, and the backs began to shred the defence apart with quick front-foot ball distributed well by E Jones and A Mullens. Two hat tricks, one for K O’Connor & one for M Taylor-Fitzgibbon, and a debut try from J Laing-Buck as well which garnered the biggest roar from the crowd and celebration from the players so far this season.
Final score: Shiplake College 43-0 St Bartholomew's School
Coach: Mr R Edwards
U15A vs St Edward’s School
The U15As showed that rugby at Shiplake is beginning to climb the ladder and compete with the big schools. Shiplake started well with constant pressure inside the St Edward half and were awarded with a quick turnover followed by a great score and conversion. The opposition then struck back with their big ball carriers to make it 12-7, but the Shiplake team eventually rallied. Two further tries from St Edward’s nearly put them out of sight but at 17-7, Shiplake come back at them to make it 17-14 before a heartbreaking disallowed try that meant they could clear their lines after 10 minutes of Shiplake banging on the door at the 5-meter line. A breakaway try put the game away for St Edward’s. One that got away for the U15s, and a game that showed they can compete with some of the bigger schools in schoolboy rugby.
Final score: Shiplake College 14-22 St Edward’s School
Coaches: Mr K Heaney & Mr J Wheeler
U14A vs Gillotts School
Final score: Shiplake College 17-25 Gillots School
Coach: Mr M Hindley
U13A vs Gillotts School
Final score: Shiplake College 40-25 Gillots School
Coach: Mr G Lawson
Sailing
The College entered its first sailing team to race at Dinton Pastures on Saturday 28 September in a three-way competition with Reading Blue Coat School and Kendrick School. Representing the College was Year 11’s A Dodwell and Year 13’s J Vivian who both did exceptionally well in the tricky conditions - there was very little wind, but it's a valuable skill to learn how to manoeuvre a dinghy efficiently in such conditions. On the day, J Vivian came 4th and A Dodwell came 6th; we hope to have more participation at future races!
Basketball
U14s vs Bohunt School Wokingham
Shiplake's U14 basketball team's first match of the season was to be played away at Bohunt, the school that won last year's competition at U14, U16 and U18 level. The game started in a fast and frantic manor with neither team really gaining control of the match until one of Bohunt's stronger players started to find his feet in the game and scored 3 baskets in quick succession, allowing Bohunt to lead the first quarter 11-7. Shiplake began the second quarter a lot more positively and took the lead before struggling to deal with the height of the Bohunt attack and went into the break 19-14 down. Half-time was a really collaborative effort with the boys rallying together to give the 3rd, and arguably the most important quarter, a really big push and they did not disappoint! With a flurry of Shiplake baskets from O Thorpe, A Palmer and J Elston, Shiplake took a real foothold in the match to make it 24-26. With it all to play for in the final quarter, Shiplake continued the fight back and pushed on to extend their advantage. Twinned with a superb defensive display from Player of the Match, J Elston, Shiplake gained a triumphant victory 34-29. Player of the Match went to J Elston while O Thorpe was highest scorer.
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