Sports Report

Tennis

Our Year 10 Aegon team beat Garth Hill College this week to go through to the next stage of the competition. The match was extremely close with the squad digging deep to become the first team at Shiplake to make it this far in the tournament.

Marcus Hillman and Laurenz Claas will be hoping to provide more tennis success stories as they compete in the County Finals of the ‘Road to Wimbledon’ competition this weekend. We wish them the best of luck.

Meanwhile, the Junior House Tennis competition took place on a scorching Thursday afternoon. The tournament proved to be an incredibly close contest with virtually nothing to choose between Everett and Orchard House who were tied on 7 wins each. The trophy was awarded to Orchard after a count back of games found that they had lost marginally fewer. Welsh came 3rd with 3 wins, with Skipwith 4th and Burr 5th.

Road to Wimbledon competitors Hillman and Claas were particularly effective, notching up 4 wins for Orchard against the other House’s first seeds. Everett’s second seeded pair of Towell and Ward also remained undefeated in their 4 ‘best of 7 game’ matches.

It was a fabulous afternoon of tennis with plenty of talent on show. Thanks goes to Mr Mallins for organising the event.

Cricket

1st XI:

The 1st XI fixture was the only match to survive the weather on Saturday, but the Shiplake boys unfortunately succumbed to a 6 wicket defeat against Pangbourne College. Having been bowled out for a below-par 100, the bowlers were not quite able to restrict the Pangbourne batsmen. A low scoring match followed on Wednesday against Windsor Boys School. Remarkably, the match finished in a tie as both sides were bowled out for 67 runs.

U15A:

The U15A beat Windsor Boys in their T20 fixture to extend their remarkable wining run. Shiplake won the toss and batted. Openers Miles Bridgeman and Henry Atkinson got the match off to a flyer before Miles was stumped down the leg side for 18 and Henry dismissed for 45. Poor batting rather than good bowling then ensured that Shiplake did not post the high target they had hoped for, eventually being bowled out of 143 in the final over. George Emeny marshalled the tail scoring 18not out during the last 10 overs.

Shiplake then bowled extremely well, taking regular wickets and eventually limiting Windsor to 109-6 for a 34 run win. All bowlers chipped in with George Docwra taking 2-22 from his 4 over spell. Mr Seccombe’s side are still yet to taste defeat this season.

U14A:

From Freddie Bowcock’s opening hostile wicket maiden onwards, it was clear that the Windsor Boys School batsmen would struggle. Spinners Ollie Simpson (3 for 5) and Ben Westbrook-Bur (3 for 6) presented more problems on a turning pitch that favoured the bowlers, who all ended with impressive figures. Good catching and two outstanding run outs from alert fielding further compounded Windsor’s woes and they were all out for just 36.

Shiplake soon found that it was a highly difficult day for batting as they collapsed to 15 for 5 until Darius Braun and Freddie Bowcock calmed nerves with a flurry of boundaries as Shiplake eased home by 4 wickets. It was a very short match and although the quality of cricket was not as high as the U14A’s have been accustomed to this season, they were still relieved to record the win.

Lower School:

Four Lower School cricket teams took to the field on Tuesday to face Claires Court. The Maidenhead school proved to be extremely tough opposition and ended up winning all 4 matches. The U13As battled bravely but found it tough in the field as Claires Court set a massive target of 133 to win. After losing early wickets, Shiplake rallied but fell 47 runs short.

The U13B season ended in disappointment as their unbeaten run finally came to an end. Entering the match with 5 wins from 5, the young all-rounders are a serious contender for team of the season.

After a strong opening series of overs from Sebastian Hjortland-Marks, Josh O’Hare and the Mullins twins, a victory looked very much on the cards. Claires Court were reduced to 8 runs for 2 wickets, but their middle order batsmen were a different class and soon put Shiplake on the back foot. Left-handed cover drives were pretty to watch, but demoralising to chase for the Shiplake fielders!

With the run rate increasing, the bowling and fielding got a little sloppy compared with the terrific standards the boys have set all season. A target of 123 from 20 overs was always going to be tough, but the heart and resilience of Mr Duncan’s side meant anything was possible. Unfortunately the bowling from the Claires Court openers was fast and accurate and Shiplake fell to a disappointing defeat.

Mr Duncan commented: “To their credit, the boys hung on in there for 12 overs but after a gruelling two and a half hours we were sent away with our unbeaten record and confidence severely dented. However, the tea was very nice, everyone bowled and was given the chance to bat and the bus ride home much quieter…every cloud! Well done Captain Jack Underwood and vice captain Josh Lewis. Both players are extremely fair and calm. The atmosphere in the field was excellent and on the whole we have had a brilliant season.”

The U13Cs struggled with the bat and suffered a heavy defeat, while the U13Ds ran Claires Court a little closer but ultimately were unable to chase down the 100 runs required for victory.

Junior House Cricket:

In a busy sporting week, the Junior House Cricket tournament took place on the New Field. All five Houses fancied their chances in the 7-a-side format of the game, with all players other than the wicket keeper bowling an over each in the preliminary stages.

Orchard and Welsh were paired together in the first semi final while Everett and Burr faced each other to earn the right to play Skipwith in the other. Orchard batted first in their match and set a competitive total but Welsh demonstrated their batting talents with star players Freddie Davis and William Gresswell helping to chase down the target in impressive fashion.

Burr and Everett played out a much tighter, low-scoring contest, with Burr knocking off the winning runs in the final over despite tight bowling from several Everett boys including Hassan Rubbani. Skipwith entered the semi final as favourites, with Shiplake and Skipwith captain Miles Bridgeman opening the batting. Ultimately their fresher legs and energy in the field proved too much for Burr to overcome.

The final was played over an extended format of 9 overs. Skipwith won the toss and elected to bat first. Unfortunately it looked like the wrong decision as their top four were blown away in the first 3 overs. At 20-4 things didn’t look promising, but they rallied with skipper Bridgeman leading the scoring with a patient 20. A late charge led by Ross Johnstone (10) took Skipwith to 53 all out in the last over. An extremely strong all-round bowling performance by Welsh helped to keep things tight, with regular wickets stemming Skipwith’s flow.

Requiring exactly a run a ball, Welsh could afford to be patient but decided to adopt a more adventurous approach. The innings started explosively with Freddie Davis smashing 2 sixes down the ground inside the first 4 overs. He soon reached a cracking 25 not out and with it an enforced retirement. By the seventh over, it was all over, with Welsh easily reaching Skipwith’s total and finishing on 54-2 to win by 8 wickets.