In today's bumper-packed Sports Report, we catch up on the latest round of fixtures including those from basketball, hockey, and rugby. And additionally, we celebrate another story of individual success as we catch up with Year 11 pupil James Middlehurst following his fencing endeavours!
Basketball
U16 vs Holme Grange
Shiplake College’s U16 team came out strongly last week, setting a dominant tone right from the first quarter with an impressive 24-0 lead. The team's sharp offense and solid defence overwhelmed Holme Grange early on, putting Shiplake firmly in control. Holme Grange managed to find some rhythm in the second and fourth quarters, but Shiplake kept pushing through. The match concluded with a decisive 51-17 victory for Shiplake - a well-rounded team performance. Players of the Game and Best Scorer was W Nicholas while Best Defenders were L Hilton and J Filippetto.
Coach: Dr Rousseau
U14 vs Holme Grange
Our U14 basketball team played Holme Grange in their second game of the season and coming off the back of a great win against Bohunt, we were feeling confident. Shiplake started the game very fast and with every intent of laying down their own benchmark. A flurry of baskets from A Palmer, O Thorpe and J Fillipetto saw the 1st quarter end 16-3 to Shiplake. Quarter 2 saw the introduction of T Siviter, H Woodward and debutant A Webb. These three made an instant impact defensively and denied Holme Grange any chances. This, paired with some more great attacks, meant Shiplake went into half time 28-3 to the good. The third quarter was to be the golden quarter for this team as they scored 18 points completely unanswered! With the match seemingly all tied up, Shiplake took their foot off the gas somewhat and allowed Holme Grange to score a few points in the final quarter which saw the game end 51-11 to Shiplake College. Another strong outing for a very talented team who now have eyes set on finishing this term top of the league with two games to play. Top scorers were O Thorpe & J Fillipetto (16 points each). Player of the Match went to J Prosser for his superb defensive display mixed with several fantastic assists.
Coach: Mr Gingell
Fencing
Over the weekend of 9 and 10 November, Year 11 pupil James Middlehurst competed in the wheelchair categories at the Welsh Fencing Open. He writes the following:
‘In terms of detail, there are three weapons in fencing -foil, sabre, and epee. I fought with all three weapons and there were two categories: men's and mixed. In the Mixed Foil, I won bronze; gold in the Men's Foil, bronze in the Mixed Sabre, gold in the Men's Sabr, gold in the Mixed Epee, and gold in the Men's Epee.
I did a lot of wheelchair fencing when I was 9/10 years old and have met many of the paralympic champions. After a few camps and competitions, I stopped it for a while during lockdown. I have only got back into it four months ago and since then have trained with the GB "para-fencers" at places such as University of Nottingham, Bath and at Stoke Mandeville.
I really enjoy wheelchair fencing and hope to one day represent Team GB at either LA in 2028 or Brisbane in 2032.’
Hockey
Girls' 1st XI vs LVS
On Wednesday 6 November, the girls played LVS in their annual league fixture. The game started off strongly with Shiplake scoring a goal within the first three minutes. We saw great attacking skills from A Godfrey, F Dix and A O’Shea and as the first half progressed, we scored another goal putting us up 2-0 by halftime. In the second half, LVS gained possession however Shiplake's defence did not let them through with amazing defensive play from T Nicholson, S Bhambra, and O Clarke. Shiplake were awarded many short corners and during one of these, A Godfrey scored. Before the final whistle blew, Shiplake had scored again with the final score ending 4-0 to Shiplake. Goals scored by B Sauboua, F Fisher, and A Godfrey (2). Player of the Match was F Dix, Coach’s Player was I Woolfrey. and Players’ Player was O Clarke. So proud of the girls and what a good match leading up to Friday Night lights next week
Report: S Pendlebury Girls’ 1st XI Captain
Coach: Miss James
Girls’ 2nd XI vs The Oratory
On the Wednesday 9 November, we played a match against The Oratory. The first half of the match started with strong play from both sides, with strong defending from M Rider who used good pressure to keep the ball away from the goal. Our attacking side demonstrated really strong technique throughout the game, and this was particularly displayed by A Holden and S Fergusson who used great communication and made really effective passes. Unfortunately, The Oratory went 4-0 up after the first half. Although this was disappointing for us, the girls did not let this discourage them and continued to put in great effort for the second half of the match. During the second half, we faced multiple short corners, and the girls played these short corners really well, demonstrating a strong routine. Our goalkeeper, K Pitman, saved multiple close goals but despite really great play from the girls, the final score was 9-0 to The Oratory. Well done to the team and thank you to our coach Mrs Dunn.
Report: R Dewar, Girls’ 2nd XI Hockey Captain
Coach: Mrs Dunn
Girls' Lower School
On Tuesday, the U13 hockey girls played against LVS school. The A team dominated from the outset and won convincingly 7-0 with goals scored by L Jones (2), D Crisford (2), and A Mertes (3). Coach’s Player went to D Crisford.
The B team also won 2-1 and demonstrated determination and resilience in the face of some strong tackling! A Woodward was our goal scorer with two goals; Player of the Match was M Green.
On Wednesday, the U12 girls played Luckley House at home. We had slightly diminished teams, but the girls played with rigour and a fantastic attitude. The U12A team dominated and won their match 7-1 with goals scored by A Longden (4), P Holmes, and two own goals. Player of the Match went to S Owens.
The U12 B team played with resilience and lost in the closing minutes 2-1 with E Merry our goalscorer. Player of the Match went to E Bacon
Coach: Mrs Neill
Rugby
1st XV vs St Benedict's
On a day where we had both the second rows missing and an early injury, the 1st XV put on a dominant display but were unable to capitalise on their momentum. St Benedict's found ways to constantly answer the questions posed by the Shiplake attack and they leaned on their one winger with elite speed. Ultimately, we've closed the gap on St Benedict's and the boys should be proud of their performance, but we're left with a feeling of ‘what if’ having played the better rugby for much of the game.
Final score: Shiplake College 24-28 St Benedict's
Coach: Mr Edwards
2nd XV vs St Benedict's
A sloppy start by Shiplake; from the kick-off conceding a penalty at the breakdown. From this, a few quick phases with minimal contest allowed a try. For much of the next 20 minutes, Shiplake did not compete well in the forwards and struggled to get any good ball. Luckily the opposition made a few handling errors, and the score remained at 7-0. However, the lack of competitiveness at breakdowns allowed St Benedict's to get easy possession and run in two tries before half time. A much-improved effort in the second half saw Shiplake control possession and territory, though no points were scored. St Benedict's managed to move the ball wide too easily and missed tackles resulted in two more tries. The possession for Shiplake did then lead to points. After several penalties were forced upon the opposition, two tries were scored to end the game.
Final score: Shiplake College 10-30 St Benedict's
Coaches: Mr Bradley & Mr Wozencroft
U16A vs St Benedict’s
Within the first 5 minutes, the team was two tries down and it looked like it was going to be a long morning for Shiplake. However, after a commanding team talk from O Beaney, we started making smart decisions in the backs and two great penalty kicks from S Lingard brought us back into the game. In the second half, Shiplake did not concede any points, but the total was too much to chase even with an incredible break through try from E Fulton.
Final score: Shiplake College18-19 St Benedict's
Coaches: Mr Dix and Mr Cooper
U15A vs St Benedict’s
Final score: Shiplake College 31-21 St Benedict's
Coach: Mr Wheeler
U15B vs St Benedict’s
While a loss, a positive game with strong runs, good tackles and the team linking up in our attack. We started off with enthusiasm in our contact, good tackles coming in from G Wang and A Bowater-Rubio. The opposition were able to execute 2 on 1s well and ripped the ball from us a couple of times leading to a 17-0 start to the game to them. However, we started to turn it around. A fabulous tackle from A Bowater-Rubio led to Z Miles turning the ball over. Strong runs from G Wang and Z Sanders then drew the player across for our first try.
The second half saw the opposition bring on some fresh legs, and we started to get fatigued. We missed some crucial tackles leading to the opposition getting ahead 29-12. All wasn't lost; T Jomar ran back to collect an exit kick and made a fantastic run up the pitch. After a few phases, it came to him again and he scored our final try.
Final score: Shiplake College 17-36 St Benedict’s
Coach: Miss Povey
U14A vs St Benedict’s
Another good result though ironically, we didn’t play as well as we have in other games but still some excellent performances, most notably from G Huckle who has now scored a hat-trick of hat-tricks and captained the side very well.
Final score: Shiplake College 41-17 St Benedict’s
Coach: Mr Hindley
U14B vs St Benedict’s
Shiplake fell behind early to a well worked try from St Benedict's, which seem to stun Shiplake for a few minutes. However, with some brilliant determination and grit, Shiplake slowly started making more tackles. With some exceptional rucking enabling us to quickly turn over the ball, Shiplake grew more and more into the game. That turn in momentum then resulted in H Perkins scoring a brilliant individual try from 50 yards out. St Benedict's swiftly replied and scored another soon after, however the boys heads didn't drop constantly trying to move the ball down the line. The half ended positively with a brilliantly worked try down in the corner, scored by O Owens. This left the game very much all to play for at the halfway stage.
The second half started as the first unfortunately with St Benedict's able to score a very early try. Throughout the second half, we saw both teams try to play some expansive rugby down the sides of the pitch, with some brilliant tackling on display by the likes of L Ellison, O Owens, and J Colligan. Shiplake scored late on through T Siveter after bursting through their back line. In what proved to be a very competitive and hard-fought game from both teams, it ended with St Benedict's as the victors.
Final score: Shiplake College 17-31 St Benedict's
Coach: Mr Canning
Flickr album: Sports Report 12 November 2024 |
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