There may not have been fixtures over the weekend owing to Exeat, but there were still many matches that took place during the week! In netball, three senior teams were in action while in football, there were fixtures across all age groups. And in rugby, our senior boys continued their fine run of form at another 7s tournament.
Football
Girls’ 1st XI vs St Edward’s School
Last week, our girls’ football 1st team played St Edward’s. In the first half, we played well with some great balls through from M Mundy, A O’Shea and A Flower, resulting in many shots from M. Spooner, A O’Shea, and T Gilliard. But it was B Sauboua who scored a great goal, with an assist from K Pitman. Our defence worked so hard at keeping the ball in our opposition's half but in the last 10 minutes of the first half, we unfortunately lost some motivation and St Edward’s scored several goals leaving the score at 4-1. Despite this, it was still a good half and we played well. At half time, Mr Cooper and Miss James gave us a motivational speech, and we knew we could turn it around. The second half was dominated by Shiplake, and we kept possession with strong defending from S Pendlebury, M Mundy, P Fisher and R Dewar. There were many shots from A O’Shea, M Spooner, T Gilliard, and K Pitman, with overall skilful playing and great confidence throughout. The opposition struggled to get onto a corner from M Spooner, resulting in a goal, leaving the final score at 4-2. We played incredibly well in the second half, with strong defence and confidence in the attack. Players’ Players were A Flower and A O’Shea, Player of the Match was M Spooner, and Coach’s Player was S Pendlebury.
Report: M Spooner, Girls’ 1st XI Captain
Boys’ 2nd XI vs Salesian College
The game started with both teams looking fairly comfortable on the ball, using the size of the pitch to their advantage with some great switches of play. In the early stages it was Shiplake who created the better of the chances with R O'Boyle able to draw out two good saves from their goalkeeper. However, from that point onwards, Salesian were able to gather a bit more momentum in the game dictating most of the possession. Shiplake stood firm throughout until the very last minute of the game where unfortunately, a poor clearance from a corner allowed the Salesian player to fire home a goal into the bottom corner. Nevertheless, it was a very determined Shiplake performance with everyone giving their absolute all.
Boys' 4th XI vs LVS Ascot
Shiplake were up against a quite strong and quick looking LVS side and held their own for the majority of the first half until a swift counterattack from the opposition led to a goal. Shiplake did not let their heads drop and some continued stalwart defending, with T Lane at the heart of it, meant that the team had the opportunity to fight back. A frenzied goalmouth scramble saw us hit the woodwork three or four times, but the danger was soon cleared. LVS took the initiative and scored two goals in quick succession. Both goals, unfortunately, were the result of some defensive blunders meaning that this is an area the team will need to focus on heading into the final stages of the season. Player of the Match went to T Lane
Boys' U15B vs Cokethorpe
This was a very competitive and close game right up until the final stages for this very valiant and fluid Shiplake side. It is amazing the progress this team has made in such a short space of time, and this enabled Shiplake to really make a mark on this game. Some lovely build up play allowed Shiplake to open the scoring, although it was not long after that that Cokethorpe managed to score two goals in quick succession to lead 2-1 at half time. The second half started and Cokethorpe took a firm grasp of the game making it 4-1. However, Shiplake never gave up and managed to get right back in the game with moments to go from a corner. As Shiplake were pushing for a third, it enabled Cokethorpe to play one ball in behind and leave the final score at 5-2.
Boys’ U14A vs Cokethorpe
Following four seasons in 30 minutes with wind, rain, snow followed by glorious sunshine, our 14As worked hard against a very strong opposition. Shiplake were able to take the lead through a fine finish by H Sargent. However, from this moment onwards, Cokethorpe managed to grab hold of the game as some poor passing enabled Cokethorpe to capitalise. At the break, Shiplake were very much still in the game at 2-1 down. Into the second half, Cokethorpe looked in complete control with four unanswered goals. The efforts of captain H Sargent, and midfield of L Currie, A Webb and D Mellor must be mentioned though.
Boys’ U14B vs Cokethorpe
Shiplake’s U14Bs played an entertaining game against Cokethorpe school last Wednesday afternoon. The game started at a frantic pace with both teams flying into challenges and eventually Shiplake started to exert some control with some lovely passing. This led to several early chances that we failed to take. We hit the post twice and their keeper made three lovely saves. Against the run of play, the Cokethorpe boys hit Shiplake with a slick counterattack and scored. Not to be deterred, the boys kept driving forward and were rewarded with a corner that captain E Hills took and delivered perfectly to the back post, where J Prosser was unmarked to tap in. Two minutes before half time, W Webb drove forward down the left wing and put in a beautiful cross for S Harrison who smashed it into the back of the net. Into the second half, the boys stayed on the front foot and after 10 minutes, E Hills was rewarded for an excellent game by scoring Shiplake’s third. Shiplake continued playing lovely football and both H Williams and T Siveter came close, but eventually the boys were rewarded with a 4th as W Webb was fastest to react to a loose ball in the box and bundled it in. Into the last minute, and Cokethorpe were rewarded with their second goal and the game finished with Shiplake winning 4-2.
Girls’ U13 Tournament
Last week, 8 Year 8 girls and 2 Year 7 girls played in an invitational 5-a-side football tournament at Gordon’s School. We were placed in a very tough pool and the girls played brilliantly, demonstrating excellent sportsmanship throughout and getting some good results against big named schools:
- Shiplake 1-1 Winston Churchill
- Shiplake 1-0 Charters
- Shiplake 1-0 Gordon’s A
- Shiplake 0-0 Wellington College
- Shiplake 0-2 Lambrook
Unfortunately, we narrowly missed out on a semi-final play-off place on goal difference. Well done to A De Felice for receiving Coaches’ Player. Scorers were A De Felice, C Edwards, and A English.
Boys’ U13A vs Cokethorpe
After an electric start with O Pollard scoring goal of the season quickly followed by R Collar making it 2-0, it looked like Shiplake were well on their way to winning the game. However, Cokethorpe came out a lot stronger in the second half and if it wasn’t for some heroic keeping from T Jackson, it could have been more. A disappointing loss after a great start but well done to all. With a special mention to W Arden who was solid at the back the whole game.
Boys' U13B vs Cokethorpe
An enjoyable outing to Cokethorpe with the boys full of confidence and determined to enjoy their football. Despite the 2-1 half-time time lead, our passing was sloppy and Cokethorpe were gifted a goal from a corner when their scorer was left unmarked on the penalty spot. A better all-around performance in the second half led to a flurry of goals as Cokethope lost their way. A Gern-Gross with a hat-trick, while J Rawlinson, F Greenway, and E English all scored two, and F Barnes with his first of the season.
Boys' U12A vs Cokethorpe
On a Subbuteo sized pitch, Shiplake scored first with D Rosser finishing well after a through ball from Z Field. Shiplake continued to dominate and played some lovely football, but the score remained 1-0 at half time. Cokethorpe drew level after the break until F Currie scored with a delicious volley over the keeper. After the opposition hitting the post and the ball ricocheting around the goal, Shiplake were fortunate not to concede an equaliser. A Gilbert-Smith had just cleared off his own line and minutes later put the game to bed with a superb volley - ‘top bins’ - from outside the box. 3-1 to Shiplake.
Boys’ U12B vs Cokethorpe
A very riveting and positive encounter for the Shiplake U12B side who were unfortunate not to get the win in this game. As ever it was a game filled with attacking intent and both teams piled forwards in search of a goal. It was Cokethorpe who managed to take the lead in the game, but Shiplake soon responded with a lovely counterattack leading to the ball being neatly tucked away. Shiplake then took the lead from a corner but were denied the win by a late Cokethorpe equaliser. Overall, a very fun afternoon of football.
Netball
1st VII vs The Oratory
We had our last match against The Oratory and secured yet another win, 34-17. Great game play from all the girls and a strong finish to conclude our league matches. We are looking forward to playing our last couple of tournaments and friendly matches for the season. Well done to Coach's Player, E O'Neil, Players’ Player, S Bhambra, and Player of the Match, M Mundy.
Report: M Mundy, 1st VII Captain
2nd VII vs Holyport
Last week, the 2nd VII played Holyport's 2nd team. The match started off very tight with the score 3-3 at the end of the first quarter; we managed to hold our own for a while with amazing defensive performance from L Dix and A Richardson. However, we ended up slipping up by letting in a couple more goals in the last two quarters although we scored some difficult goals against the opposition through A Flower and F Rait. The final score was 16-11 to them; Player of the Match went to A Richardson, Coach's Player was A Flower, and Players’ Player was B Broad.
Report: M Rider, 2nd VII Captain
3rd VII vs Claires Court
On Wednesday 12 March, Shiplake’s 3rd VII played Claires Court. We won the first centre pass through C Thomas, before we went on to win the first quarter 11-0 with goals from M Spooner and I Woolfrey. Going into the second quarter, there was great defence from I Davenport-Thomas and I Forrest, helping keep the ball out of the opponents’ third and kept Shiplake's upper hand of 23-1. Additionally, there was great play from B Sauboua and I Loyd who kept getting the ball back down Shiplake's third. Going into the third and then final quarter, I Lloyd, and I Woolfrey scored seven more goals, bringing the final score to 30-1. Player of the Match was B Sauboua, Coach's Player was I Lloyd, and Players’ Player was G Moran.
Report: B Sauboua, 3rd VII Captain
Rugby Sevens
There was more success for our boys’ U18s where they competed at the RBCS 7 Event last week. The boys beat Rams Foundation and Reading Blue Coat by large margins, winning the group with a draw against St Edward’s School, Oxford. This set up a thrilling final against St Benedict's, which the boys won at the death.
Flickr album: Sports Report 18 March 2025 |
Height: auto |
Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin
