Last week, our rugby boys traveled to Oxford to compete in the St Edward's 7s Tournament, while two of our Netball teams won last week's fixtures against Leighton Park and Ranelagh School. After another busy week of fixtures, our boys are ready for a rest, and they shall get just that this exeat weekend.
Rugby 7s
St Edward’s 7s Tournament
Shiplake were due to play 4 matches in group A; 3 group matches against Magdalen, Uppingham and St Edward’s followed by a final against the team finishing in the same position as the 1st VII in group B. As our boys boarded the bus, the snow started to fall thick and fast. The journey to Oxford, through the Oxfordshire countryside, was picturesque but the boys remained focussed on the job at hand; play with desire and develop as a 7s side.
They arrived as St Edward’s and the whole format of the matches had been re-arranged. It became apparent that Shiplake would not face Magdalen but would instead face Bryanston School. The boys were well aware that Bryanston, a school that have produced a number of Aviva Premiership rugby players in recent years, would be a stern test for the Shiplake 1st VII. From kick-off, possession changed hands a number of times as the players adapted to the snowy conditions. An opening score by Louis Ashcroft lifted the spirits of the 1st VII. Shiplake gained control of the match but the Bryanston defence held firm. Three tries in quick succession by Harvey Hendry, Lucas Smyth & Joe Booth gave the team much needed confidence as they went into half time 20-0. Bryanston came out the blocks firing, scoring within a minute of the second half to bring the score to 20-5. A final try in the second half by Matty Fitzgerald left the score at 25-5 and gave the Shiplake boys much needed confidence in preparation for the Blue Coat match.
The 1st VII started off well, controlling all aspects of the game. After an attack down the left of the field was snuffed out by the scrambling Blue Coat defence, Louis Ashcroft executed a kick pass that Beauden Barrett would be proud of, for Lucas Smyth to collect and cross the whitewash. Physicality from Robbie Cartwright, Matty Fitzgerald and Joe Booth prevented the Blue Coat team from building any sort of attack. Pace shown by Lucas Smyth, JJ Acton, Harvey Hendry and Rory Diez-Harrison put the match well out of sight for Reading Blue Coat. The final score of the game came from a solo effort by JJ Acton, showing his pace to weave through the Blue Coat defence, starting 10m from his own try line in the bottom left corner and scoring in the top right corner at the other end of the field.
Grit, determination and confidence displayed by the 1st VII who demonstrated “total 7s” in some biblical conditions. Next tournament for the side is the Shiplake 7s on Sunday 4th February. Further details can be found at www.shiplake7s.co.uk
Football
U15A v LVS Ascot
Shiplake started well from the kick-off, keeping most of the possession and pressing forward down both wings. This was rewarded with several shots at the LVS goal that prompted excellent saves from their keeper. Shiplake were clearly the better footballing side. As the first half went on the playing conditions deteriorated in the rain and LVS began to creep into the Shiplake half. Strong defending from Freddie Diver and the back four. Excellent saves from Luke Roxburgh-Smith made his long awaited debut in goal and kept LVS at bay until a minute before halftime, when a lapse in concentration let them take the lead.
The second half saw Shiplake come back strongly in ever worsening conditions. Having won the ball back in defence by Theo Fewtrell, this was played through the middle by Kai O’Hare and Max Way and up to Josh Gibson who crossed the ball in to Luke Theodorou for the equaliser. Shiplake then went on to score a second goal through centre forward Luke Theodorou. The muddy and grassless surface contributed to LVS getting back into the game with two goals in quick succession silencing Shiplake’s short-lived joy at leading the game. The last 20 minutes saw the whole team put in a huge effort to come back and this was finally rewarded with 5 minutes to go when sustained pressure in the LVS box got the ball to Josh Gibson on the edge of the area. Rather than panicking and snatching at a shot Josh sized up the goal and curled a shot into the top left hand corner of the goal, a ‘worldy’ to level the game once again.
U15B v The Oratory School (Saturday 12 January)
On a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon, the U15s kicked off their football season with an away match against The Oratory School in Woodcote.
The boys got off to a good start with an excellent through ball from Ben Day to Josh Hazell who slotted the ball nicely in the bottom right corner. The Oratory then kicked off and played the ball around the back, they got a lucky deflection which lead to one of their players putting one past our goalkeeper. After The Oratory kicked off, Ben Willis won back the ball and dribbled it down the left side of the pitch. There were no options for Ben so he took a shot, and curled it right past the goalkeeper. Making the score 2-1 at half time.
With a momentary lapse in concentration, The Oratory capitalized and scored another goal. 2-2 with only 10 minutes left to go. Shiplake quickly got control of the ball and played it out to Archie McArthur who whipped a ball in to the box. They cleared the ball but it fell kindly to Freddie Diver, who was able to drive a right-footed shot it into the bottom right corner straight past the goalkeeper. It was 3-2 to Shiplake with only a few minutes left to go. With a silly mistake, Shiplake gave away a penalty. The Oratory missed the penalty due to a great save by Alex Bartlett, but their players were quickest to follow up on the rebound and managed to score. Full time 3-3. Man of the match - Ben Day.
U14A v LVS
Despite losing 8-3, the U14As were able to take a lot positives from their performance on Saturday. Stand out displays from Tom Carpenter and Freddie Ellis in the middle of the park allowed the team to enjoy the majority of possession - particularly in the second half. Archie Arnold also played very well up front - making some excellent runs and scoring a well-taken goal. If not for LVS's goalkeeper making some fingertip saves, he would have scored a hat trick. MVP for Shiplake went to Ben Allan for his tireless running down the left hand side, showing great skill in both attack and defence. Another loss, but an improved performance.
U13B Vs. LVS Ascot
LVS arrived short of players, so Shiplake offered two players to alternate every half for the opposition. Once the first half kicked off LVS gained control of our defence, with Shiplake’s own Taj Angell scoring past our goalkeeper to give LVS the 1-0 lead.
As Shiplake began to push the ball up the pitch, it was intercepted by the LVS left-back. The U13B’s defence was not ready for an interception from the far left side which let in another goal to give LVS a sight for the victory in the first half making the Score 2-0.
However, our boys’ heads were held high while they pushed through the LVS defence. Luke Byca, Finlay Woods and Taj Angell (who alternated teams) put pressure on their defence, but a pass that came through from the Shiplake defence caught the LVS defence by surprise allowing Shiplake to score their first goal of the game to make it. As Shiplake fought back, determination filled the team and inspired them to push the LVS defence into their half for the majority of the game. LVS had given away the ball Luke Byca, who scored to equalise the game to 2-2. From there, Shiplake pressed into the LVS half to score three additional other goals to make the final score 5-2.
Report provided by Zac Morrison
Netball
U18A v Leighton Park School
Last Wednesday, Shiplake’s U18As started the league amazingly, winning our first game 27-21 against Leighton Park School. It was a very hard match with both teams eager to win. All players were very similar in playing style, making the score level for almost the entirety of the game. The first quarter was the toughest, starting with Lydia Lyons, Brooke Creighton and Liv Bartlett in attack, Weazy Harman as centre and Charley Burgess, Darcy Timms and Jem Evans in defence. Leighton Park scored almost instantly, but our girls were never far behind. The score was tight, with Leighton Park in the lead by only a few points. After adjusting the team by swapping Charley and Brooke and bringing on Georgie Stebbings on in defence, Shiplake immediately brought it back, scoring one goal after another. It was an amazing game and well done to all the girls that played, especially Weazy for getting player of the match.
Report Provided by Captain Jem Evans
U18B v Ranelagh School
On Wednesday 17 January, the Netball B team travelled to Bracknell to play their second league game against Ranelagh School. With the girls full of enthusiasm from last week’s performance against Upton Court, the team was keen to get back out on court and play their second match. Shiplake started the first quarter with a positive attitude and efficient game play. However, it quickly became evident that our girls had begun to rush a little, which led to inaccurate passing and giving the ball away to the opposition at times.
Both teams were evenly matched, which meant that Shiplake had to work much harder to ensure that they were in a strong position that would enable them to score more frequently. After a brief team talk, the girls agreed that the quality of their play wasn’t as good as it has been the week before, so the plan was to slow down the pace and to allow more accurate passing. Seconds after starting the second quarter, it was evident that the team talk payed providence and the level of play improved greatly.
With Shiplake now in the lead, it gave the girls even more determination to carry on with the controlled style of play. As the game continued into the third quarter, the defensive team put on a superb display of defending the ball at every opportunity, allowing us to get the ball back down to the Shiplake goal end. The whole team worked well together throughout the match, which reflects the final score of 22-8 to Shiplake. Another outstanding result from the girls and a well-deserved win. All of the team should be proud of their achievements and player of the match goes to Hannah Simonds-Gooding.
U18C v Reading Blue Coat School
Last Wednesday, Shiplake's C team travelled to Reading Blue Coat School to play their second match of the season. Due to their performance in our previous game, our girls’ confidence levels were low, and they were nervous about the upcoming match. However, with a quick start, the U18Cs managed to score their first goal, making the team positive about the rest of the game.
With the Shiplake squad focusing on spacing on the court and control of the ball, their gameplay began to improve. Sadie and Mimi played well together in midcourt, showing some impressive attacking skills. As the team worked the ball up the court, the Shiplake shooters, Eve and Sophia, worked flawlessly together scoring the winning goal of the second quarter.
However, with the Blue Coat team subbing on some new, skilled defenders; it became difficult for the Shiplake attackers to maintain possession of the ball. Shiplake’s defenders, Jade and Ella, made some impressive interceptions and worked hard to prevent the opposition of taking control of the match.
During the last quarter however, the girls began to tire and unfortunately, Blue Coat had the upper hand resulting in the final score of 13-8 to the opposition. The girls are all very proud of each other and of how well they worked as a team, considering this was only their second time playing together. Congratulations to Sadie Foster for achieving player of the match.
Report provided by Captain Tayla Caldeira
Hockey
Shiplake 1st XI v Lord Wandsworth
On Wednesday 17 January, Shiplake 1st XI played Lord Wandsworth College at home- Reading Hockey Club. With the team changed from last year, it was up to McNally, Deakin, Gilbert-Blay and Underwood to step up to the plate. The match started with an aggressive attack from the Wandsworth side, but the solid defence held them back. A push from Paine into the midfield gave us much needed but short respite. An attack from the Shiplake side into the D resulted in a shot on goal from Rees, Ashcroft and a push from Bowcock. Unfortunately for the 1st XI, the keeper saved each and every one of them. A Wandsworth counterattack resulted in a short corner and as Brown charged up to try to get the ball, it was pulled back and struck into the trusty hands of Gibbs. However, one well-taken goal slipped by and as halftime was called; the score was 0-1 Wandsworth.
After an inspiring team talk from Mr Walter at half time, Shiplake were eager to pull pack and get straight back into the game. With huge amounts of effort being put in by Creighton within the midfield and some great passing between McNally and Bowcock. Shiplake had another good chance with a great shot from the top of the D from Tan, which seemed to be heading into the top corner, only to be met by a great save from the Wandsworth keeper, thus denying Shiplake an equaliser. In the dying minutes of the game, as Shiplake committed to the attack, Lord Wandsworth broke away on the counter and a one on one between Gibbs and the Wandsworth striker resulted in the opposition’s second goal. The final score was 2-0 to Wandsworth.
A good start to the season with many positives taken from the game and introduction to new members to the team. Man of the match goes to Callum Creighton.
Report provided by Brandon Tan
Shiplake 2nd XI v Lord Wandsworth
After a week of training, the 2nd XI were excited to face their first opponents of the season, Lord Wandsworth, especially after many new faces joining the historical team. It was clear from the beginning of the game that Lord Wandsworth were the more technical side and it was going to be a challenging encounter for the team. However, our defence stayed strong during the opening minutes of the game, being capably lead by Will Brunning and occasionally assisted by Bilal Akeil. Due to this strong defence, the 2nd XI were able to make many quick counter attacks via the strength of Joe Booth and pace of Tom Lynskey. Sadly though, their shots failed to hit the target on a couple of occasions. The first half ended with the score at 0-0.
During half time, the team felt the game could be theirs for the taking if they stayed solid at the back and carried on using those punchy counter attacks. However, this did not happen as Lord Wandsworth showed their true skill by scoring a couple of quick fire goals despite Justin JVV’s best efforts. Due to this, the Shiplake team moved to a more direct format of play, with Lewis Bishop putting some powerful through balls hoping that the strikers would be able to get a deflection into the net. Despite some close opportunities, Shiplake were unable to hit the back of the net. The final score was 3-0 to Lord Wandsworth. Shiplake will hopefully have better fortunes in the next game against Cokethorpe where we will aim to play a more cultured style of hockey.
Junior A v Lord Wandsworth College
With the opposition having game-time under their belts, it was clear that there was only going to be one winner. Lord Wandsworth moved the ball around the park with consummate ease and consequently went into the break three goals to the good. Having watched the opposition play for half an hour Shiplake decided to change tack after half time. More urgency to get the ball up field, a greater willingness to run for each other and better use of the ball in the outside channels created a much more balanced competition. Whilst only creating a couple of clear-cut scoring opportunities in the third quarter the desire to play hockey rather than dribbling through the whole defence was much more evident. However, as their legs tired in the final quarter of the match Lord Wandsworth exerting more pressure to add two further goals.
A disappointing start to the season but plenty to work on especially if we follow the example of Jai Angell who was non-stop in the middle of the park and a deserved man of the match.
Junior B vs Lord Wandsworth College:
It was a cold and clear afternoon- perfect hockey weather to start the season! After a short warm-up, George Belcher (Captain) and Hal McLaren (Vice Captain) walked over for the formalities of the toss. Lord Wandsworth kindly offered to match our starting numbers and the match got underway with eight players a side. A centre pass from George saw Shiplake on the attack and they were soon at the edge of the opposition’s D. Unfortunately, their defence was well organised and they were able to counter-attack rather quickly. This set the tone for the rest of the match. The Junior B’s defence was able to stay calm and continued to rob Lord Wandsworth of the ball at the last minute. Blake Butler-Creagh had a blinder of a debut match in goal and made some terrific saves, including his first penalty stroke! The boys were able to counter attack on numerous occasions but were unable to finish this off with a good shot on goal. The half ended with Lord Wandsworth having a lead of 0-3.
After some good feedback from the players and having a full team (thanks to Casper Good, Henry Kunzig and Henry Poustie joining us after their Junior A game) the team was able to put more attacking moves together. The second half saw our boys defending consistently and playing the ball out the back with some accuracy (great saves by Blake and good defending by Alex Turner, Hal McLaren, Sam Marriott and Charlie Lewis). Although the juniors put more attacks together, Lord Wandsworth were able to counter attack quickly and with numbers. This resulted in a few unmarked players and the goals leaked through. The boys never gave up, defended ferociously, and still had the energy to put a few attacks together. The full-time score ended at 0-7.
