It’s been a super busy week for sport at Shiplake College with many pupils out and about representing the College in different sports. In rugby, four teams were in action at Rosslyn Park Sevens while there were play-off matches for our senior boys’ football teams. And, in netball, our senior girls were competing at a tournament. A separate article will be published on how the Boat Club did at Schools’ Head of the River and The Sculling Head.
Rugby Sevens – Rosslyn Park
It was a busy week for our rugby players last week with four teams playing at Rosslyn Park National School Sevens - the largest school rugby tournament in the world. It was brilliant to have a strong representation at the tournament with pupils from U13 to U18 playing for the College.
Preparation had been strong going into the tournament and each team had strong aspirations in making it out of the initial group stage. First up were our U18s who played on Monday 24 March who came second in their group. A strong 35-7 win in their opening game against St Cenydd Community School was followed by a 19-31 defeat against group winners Reed’s School. However, the boys put this behind them to finish in impressive style with a 56-7 win against Ryde School with Upper Chine.
Next up was our U14 team on Tuesday 25 March. After a thrilling 26-26 draw in their opening game against The Windsor Boys' School, the boys went on to lose 14-26 to group winners Haberdashers' Monmouth School. However, like the U18s, the boys shook this off to win their final game 24-21 against Rougemont School to finish 2nd overall.
Our U16s were next to play on Wednesday 26 March, bowing out in third place in the group. The boys began their campaign with a 29-14 win over Sevenoaks School before losing a tight contest 29-33 to The King's School, Worcester, before losing their final game 19-31 to Taunton School.
Finally, it was the turn of our U13s who were playing at Rosslyn Park for the very first time. Despite losing and drawing their first two games 5-35 and 20-20, the boys turned it around to win their next two games 35-10 and 30-5. With a final game loss of 10-35, the young boys finished their group a respectable 4th overall.
Well done to the following pupils who did a fantastic job of representing the College:
- 1st VII: W Rider, L Spence, H Benton, O Perkins, A Mullens, F Hawkes, M Taylor-FitzGibbon, E Jones, K O’Connor, Z McConkey, H French, W Huckle, G Demery, and F Partridge.
- U16 VII: F Holgate, M Crane, J Henshall, O Woodward, W Huckle, K O’Connor, H Terrington, S Lingard, S Baker, E Fulton, I Doherty, J Morgan, J Calow, and D O’Brien.
- U14 VII: G Silver, M Terry, J Prosser, E Hills, L Waldergrave, G Hickle, F Jenkins, J Elston, O Thorpe, T Siveter, Z Hashemi, G Hotston, and B Keown.
- U13 VII: T Maskell, J Rawlinson, M Brown, O Wray, L Moss, D Stewart, W Hargreaves, R Collar, G Denning, C Goss, O Pollard, L Ball, J McDavid.
Netball
1st VII Leighton Park Tournament
The 1st VII team put in a fantastic performance, playing seven matches in total—winning four, losing two, and drawing one—which secured us a well-deserved 3rd place overall. With no substitutes, all seven girls showed incredible determination, teamwork, and resilience throughout the competition. A huge congratulations to A O'Shea who received Players' Player!
Report: M Mundy, 1st VII Captain
2nd VII Leighton Park Tournament
Last week, the 2nd VII team played in the tournament at Leighton Park, playing 9 matches overall. We started the tournament playing Leighton Park’s C team, before playing the other teams. Our performances during matches improved, and we finished overall winning four, losing four, and drawing one of our matches. We played tough opponents but managed to keep possession despite the hot weather. I am very proud of everyone that played and sad that it was our last matches as a team. Players’ Player was B Broad.
Report: M Rider, 2nd VII Captain
3rd VII vs Leighton Park
We were fortunate to be given a chance to play Leighton Park again who we’d lost to earlier this season. After the first quarter, the score was 4-3 to us with the match very much in the balance. However, the second quarter saw us push on to 11-3 and from then on, things kept looking up. B Sauboua was incredible with her shooting skills and G Moran worked really hard to help the midcourt as much as possible despite playing defence and overall, everyone just had so much fun. This game was an amazing way to end the season, and our coaches were so pleased as we played our best netball yet and ended with the best win of our season.
Report: N Howard-Jones, 4th VII Captain
Football
Boys’ 1st XI vs Claremont Fan
In our third and fourth playoff, it was Claremont who came away with the win after a performance that really lacked a bit of energy. It took 15 minutes for anyone to get a real foothold in the game and saw Claremont with their first attack of the game score at the back post after a set-piece. The second half started and Shiplake managed to get a lot more possession on the ball. Realising one switch of play could open Claremont's defence, Shiplake started to create some great opportunities with their keeper making several fantastic saves from A Mullens and L Spence. The equaliser did then arrive with A Hooker providing a brilliant strike into the bottom corner. However, just minutes later, Claremont were able to take the lead after a few very scrappy tackles left them able to fire home. Shiplake kept pushing and had two more great opportunities to equalise, however they just whistled past the post. A better half but sadly not enough to take the win.
Boys’ 2nd XI vs Halliford 2nd XI
A remarkable way to end off what has been a great season for the 2nd XI, finishing 3rd in the 2nd XI division and doing it in such a dramatic style. The game itself was very cagey with both teams feeling the nerves of the playoff game and struggling to create any clear-cut chances. However, this soon changed just after half time when Halliford took the lead with a long-range strike. However, Shiplake soon equalised with a well worked goal down the right. Shiplake then took the lead in the game from a corner before Halliford fired home an equaliser with just 15 minutes remaining. With the scores being level, it meant the game would go to penalties and what a show of grit and courage the Shiplake boys showed. Some brilliant penalties on display from Shiplake who fired home all four penalties with F Partridge making two exceptional saves himself to leave Shiplake victorious and 4-2 winners on penalties.
Boys' 3rd XI vs Claires Court
A superb win for the 3rds to sign off for the season, making a real statement from our previous defeat in this fixture. J Hinton with a sublime hat-trick (all with his head) as well as wonderful strikes from J Wakefield, N Rogers and a long-distance rocket from W Jennings. A top-class performance all round and a lovely way to end a brilliant season!
Shiplake 4th XI 4 - 2 Halliford 4th XI
A beautiful day away at Halliford for the 4ths. The game started a little rough for Shiplake who were looking a little sloppy in defence. However, a moment of brilliance from E Chalfont who flicked the ball round their defender with his heel and then cut inside past another defender to slot home. Soon after unfortunately, Halliford managed to find a way through our defence and get a shot away from close range to make it 1-1. However, E Chalfont managed to grab his second of the match towards the end of the first half with a real poacher's goal to make it 2-1 going into half time. Shiplake started the second half on the back foot but fortunately goalkeeper S Murray was able to keep things calm at the back and make some great saves. Shiplake managed to push back and take back control of the match. E Chalfont would complete his hat-trick with a goal that really needed to be seen fully to appreciate. Unfortunately, a mistake at the back led to a second Halliford goal and Shiplake had to dig deep for the last 15 minutes of the match. Fortunately, their efforts paid off as J Scotchbrook scored a powerful strike in the last seconds of the match to seal the win and third place. Player of the Match goes to E Chalfont for his goals, but a special mention needs to go to H Carlsson for excellent play in midfield and A Chauda whose positional play was brilliant.