Sports Report 27 February 2018

Last week, Shiplake were opposed by seven teams from across the country, in football, netball and hockey. A good helping of wins with the occasional loss means that Shiplake continue to climb league tables across the board! The 1st VII also travelled to Christ Hospital's 7s tournament, the third they have played this season.

Netball 

U18A v Holyport College

Last Wednesday, the A team played a very difficult away match against Holyport. From previous matches against Holyport, the girls were nervous, not only for the opposition but including their umpire. They started with a strong line up of Charley and Brooke in defence, Weazy as centre and Lydia, Liv and Tory in attack. The game started very evenly, with Shiplake really pushing themselves to intercept and turnover balls. Charley played excellently as keeper, using her height to her advantage, intercepting high over head balls whilst working well with Brooke to push the ball up court. Weazy did amazing to cover the whole court and mark her very quick player.

Overall, the opposition were very difficult to play against with their very biased umpire calling Shiplake up and even threatening to remove our two nicest players off the court. Our girls started off very strong with Lydia really boosting up our goals thanks to her very accurate shooting, but sadly Holyport won the match 50-25 but Coach Mordue is so proud of the girls that played, for keeping their heads up, pushing themselves through tough umpiring. Well done girls, especially Charley for achieving player of the match.

U18B v Licensed Victuallers School 

Last Wednesday, Shiplake played their first match after half term against LVS. The girls began the game with high hopes of scoring and continuing to play at the same level as they had been before half term within the Super League. It became apparent that Shiplake were against a similarly matched team, which led LVS scoring three goals in the first five minutes. The girls noticed early on that they weren't playing as well as they had done previously and therefore changed their attitude almost straight away.

Minutes into the second quarter, Shiplake were defending the ball and having a lot more control over the passes between our players. With great defence from Mary Keswick, Gee Frye, Hannah Simmonds-Gooding and Rhian Edwards, it was easier for the girls to get the ball back down to their own end, resulting in Shiplake scoring goal after goal. With a few position changes, the team began the third quarter a few goals ahead of LVS. Hannah Stevens and Hannah Burnett attacked the ball well, despite the opposition being difficult to mark. This meant that the team could gain the ball back on many occasions. After three quarters, the girls were down to their final quarter, which meant they were eager to score a few goals before the game finished. By no surprise, Daisy Stuart and Megan Tooley scored some excellent goals leaving the final score 18-13 to Shiplake. Player of the match goes to Megan Tooley.

Report provided by B Team Captain, Emma Renwick

Football

1st XI vs Reading School

Last Wednesday, Shiplake's 1st team came up against Reading School in what was always going to be a tightly contested game. Without a training session this half term, the boys were going to need to start the game quickly with a good intensity. They started well, applying pressure on the opposition and Shiplake’s hard work eventually lead to James Roxburgh-Smith beating the high line of the opponent and having his shot palmed across into the path of Ben Monson who slotted the ball into the back of the net from a tight angle. 1-0 Shiplake.

The team’s intensity then dropped slightly with the midfield and defence putting less pressure on whilst theirs’ increased. This lead to Reading School scoring two quick goals past stand in goalkeeper Callum Creighton who put in a solid debut for the team. Near the end of the first half, a ball was played over the top from the defence to Matty Fitzgerald who calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net after going one-on-one with the keeper.

In the second half, the Shiplake could sense that there was a third goal coming and upped the tempo with more chances falling to Matty and Ben following some good midfield work from Callum Theodoru and Joe Ruffle. However, whilst the 1st XI were pushing forward, looking for a winner, they left themselves vulnerable and after a good piece of play from Reading on the counter attack, their striker scored to make it 3-2 with two minutes to go. In the last few seconds of the game, Shiplake won a free kick right on the edge of the opposition box. With the last kick of game, Matty stepped forth, struck his free kick well and the keeper made an excellent save to push it against the bar and to safety. The game finished 3-2 to Reading School, the team played very well and did not stop working till the very end of the game. Man of the match goes to Max Gosby.

2nd XI v Reading School

Shiplake 2nd XI v Reading School 2nd XI was a highly competitive and hard fought match, which was narrowly won by the visiting opposition. Both teams showed great desire from the first to the last whistle and Shiplake were very unlucky to take nothing from the game, losing 1-0. The only goal of the game came against the run of play in the first half when a long ball fell to the Reading striker in the box and he calmly finished. James Grundy in goal for Shiplake made two outstanding saves for which he must be commended.

In the second half, a large percentage of the game was played in the Reading defensive half with Shiplake piling the pressure onto the visitors and narrowly missing a number of chances. Joe Gillen, Cameron Dalziell and Will Richards were responsible for some good build up play and through balls that our forward line failed to convert. The 2nd XI hope to get back to winning ways on Saturday in their home game against Wellington.

4th XI vs Reading school

After a solid warm up lead by skip Alfie Rigby, as a team Shiplake were ready for their next challenge, although saddened by the absence of coach, Mr Geyton. The game kicked off with some exciting football being played from both sides. However, after the ten-minute mark it was clear to see That Shiplake were dominating play, quickly followed by a screamer from outside the box by Alfie Rigby into the bottom corner of the opposition’s net to make it 1-0 to Shiplake. This motivated the team to keep on scoring, with goals coming in from Adam Porter and Jack Powell to make things 3-0.

Some more relaxed play from our boys caused them to concede a penalty, which in turn, lead to the opposition putting away another goal. After half time the 4th XI were confident about their performance, which was unfortunately contradicted by witnessing Sam Rogers missing a practically open goal which he went on to make up for it by getting a goal shortly after. With more exciting football, Jerome Rocks scored two more goals and Reading School scored a well-put-together goal and another penalty despite some great defending from Adam porter and Josh Lewis. The whistle blew, putting an end to this end-to-end game with a score of 6-3 to Shiplake.

U15A v Wellington College

After the whistle, it wasn’t long before Shiplake took control of the match and created opportunities through good passing by Durcan and O’Hare and strong running by Way and Theodorou. After a defensive error by Wellington, Way delivered a fantastic half volley from just outside the area which flew over the keeper’s head to give Shiplake the lead. Not long afterwards, quick interchanges between Ferguson and Symons put Theodorou through the offside trap, to score the second goal of the match. A lack of concentration from Shiplake and a well-organised attack by Wellington led to a goal just before half time.

The second half saw Shiplake play into an increasingly strong headwind and Wellington into a very low sun making it an even game. Increasing pressure from Wellington led to desperate defending and Wellington being awarded a penalty that levelled the score. Shiplake were determined to regain the lead and after some tactical substitutions, and patient work up the left wing by Rex and Redding, the ball was put across the box by Theodorou for O’Hare to slot past the keeper and give Shiplake the lead once again. For the last 15 minutes of the game, Wellington piled on the pressure and managed to score a lucky goal with 10 minutes to go. Great defending by Duncalf, Sharp, Fewtrell and Bryan and numerous saves from Roxburgh-Smith kept Shiplake in the game ‘til the final whistle to end the game 3-3.

Report provided by Kai O’Hare

Hockey

1st XI v Lord Wandsworth College

On Wednesday 21st February, Shiplake’s first team travelled down to Lord Wandsworth College (LWC) in Hook to compete in the Hockey 7’s tournament. After a long bus ride, Shiplake had to play almost straight away. With some major rule changes such as a two-minute period where you could field another player and how the game kicked off with the keepers, Shiplake took this in their stride and went out to play their first game.

In the first game, Shiplake were still half-asleep from the bus ride and thus they didn’t play to their full potential. A distinct lack of communication and eyes up resulted in the opposition gaining the ball and scoring. However, after this goal, Shiplake switched on and Jack Rees pushed through and scored. The opposition used the wings well and managed to break through once again and hit it into the back of the net. A foul in their own D resulted in a penalty flick but Jamie Gibbs saved it very well. Final score 2-1

The second game was directly after the first, so our boys and girls organised a team of fresh players and went back out to go play hosts Lord Wandsworth College. Shiplake had previously lost to their second team in a friendly, so moral was not high. However, they went out to give it their all with true Shiplake spirit. The game was very one sided, but a push down one side from McNally to Bowcock offered some breathing space for a very short while. LWC came back quickly before Shiplake had time to reset. An unmarked man in the Shiplake D resulted in a goal from LWC. The 1st XI dug in deep but could not stop the onslaught from the opposition. Final score 4-0 LWC.

After a 30-minute break, replenishing energy supplies with of course, Mini-rolls, Shiplake had their final group match. A very quick start with lots of energy from all the players on the pitch. The team rolled on and off to make sure that everyone was able to give 100%. However, after an attack at their goal, a counter attack with an unmarked player in the D again resulted in a goal. Shiplake reset and fought through. In the dying moments of the game, Louis Ashcroft smashed a ball right into the back of the opposition’s net. It was 1-1.

In the next round, the playoffs, Shiplake played very hard against another school who they had never faced before. It was a hard match with the team bonding together well, however they did an aerial and an unmarked player got onto the ball and passed it to the back post past the Shiplake keeper. As the full time whistle went it was 1-0.

Unfortunately, due to timings, Shiplake had to concede in the final match in order to get back to the college in time for buses. However, it was a good afternoon with some brilliant hockey being played by all teams. Well done to the team for digging deep even in the hardest matches!

Report provided by Brandon Tan

Junior Bs v Lord Wandsworth College

Shiplake U14s turned up for the game with many of the A team away so it gave an opportunity for some B team players quality game time. Shiplake knew it would be a tough match and it proved to be exactly that. The Juniors tried to fight back but at the half time whistle, it was 7-0 to Lord Wandsworth. After a good half-time team-talk, Shiplake started like it was a brand new game displaying some really good hockey and achieving a great goal of a short corner which was put in by Henry Kunzig and finished off by Olly Rouse-Roberts. The final score was 9-1 to LWC with much to improve on.

Rugby 7s

Christ's Hospital 7s Tournament

After a good training week, Shiplake 1st VII travelled down to West Sussex for the third tournament of the 7s season. The boys were placed in group C, (which was clearly the strongest of the four groups by a long way) along with Epsom, Felsted, Maidstone Grammar & Peter Symonds. The first match of any tournament is always closer than it should be, and this proved to be the case once again. Joe Booth opened the scoring after just two minutes, quickly followed by Louis Ashcroft to give the boys a 10-0 half-time lead. Maidstone hit back from kick-off but Louis Ashcroft put the game out of sight on minute 12, final score 21-7.

With first game nerves out the way, Felsted were the next opponents. U16 player Rory Diez-Harrison broke the line with what is quickly becoming a trademark “show and go”. Felsted were a physical side and the referee’s interpretation of the breakdown allowed the Felsted players to use their physicality to get on top, scoring two tries in quick succession. A stray arm clipped Joe Booth on the nose and that was his tournament over, along with Louis Ashcroft with a neck injury. Against a depleted 1st VII, Felsted scored a couple of further tries in the second half to bring the final score to 5-33.

Peter Symonds were next up, from kick-off Shiplake controlled possession and territory, with tries from Matty Fitzgerald, Harvey Hendry, Rory Diez-Harrison and a brace from Robbie Cartwright in the first half, the boys went into half-time with a 31-0 lead. Rory Diez-Harrison showed some class to break the line and put the game out of sight. Peter Symonds’ claimed a final consolation try, the game finishing up 38-7.

Going into the final group match and Shiplake down to 10 men, they knew the odds were stacked against them for second place in the group. Epsom were powerful from kick-off scoring two tries in quick succession. Harvey Hendry clawed one back on minute five before Epsom put the game out of sight with a try before and after the half-time break. Final score 5-24.

Shiplake went into the knockouts third place in group C, and entered the Bowl competition where they faced hosts, Christ’s Hospital. Shiplake found their rhythm with an opening try after 30 seconds by Matty Fitzgerald, the 1st VII seemed in control. An England U18 player for Christ’s Hospital was a handful for the Shiplake defence but further tries from Matty Fitzgerald and Harvey Hendry gave Shiplake a 19-7 lead at half-time. With the semi-finals calling, Shiplake kept possession of the ball and Matt Dalrymple put the game out of sight with a try in the first minute of the second half. Final score 24-7.

After spending ten minutes trying to find our next pitch, the opponents in the semi-final, Worth School were waiting for us. Having watched them play at the Shiplake 7s a number of weeks earlier, Shiplake knew it would be a stern test if they were to make the Bowl final. Shiplake dominated all aspects of the match with Matty Fitzgerald capitalising and scoring two sensational tries giving the 1st VII a 10-0 lead at half-time. If the Shiplake boys find this form in every tournament, they will be a handful at Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s at the end of March. Further tries by Joe Tucker, Robbie Cartwright, Harvey Hendry, Rory Diez-Harrison seemingly put the boys in the Bowl final. Worth gained some confidence after scoring a consolation try in the final minute or so, only for Harvey Hendry to cancel this out with a solo effort to dot down under the posts. Final score 39-5.

After an hour wait, the 9 1st VII boys remaining went into the final with confidence against opposition Hayes School from South London. However, from kick-off, Hayes set alarm bells ringing by scoring an opportunistic try, snatching a 0-5 lead. Shortly after, Robbie Cartwright was clearly not impressed and took it on himself to use his physicality to break the defensive line. 5-5, game on. The passion from both sets of players was clear, and Hayes slipped through a tackle to go into half-time 5-10. Shiplake attacked with purpose and all the fitness training they have been doing was starting to pay off in the 7th match of the day. After the assistant referee controversially disallowed a try by the 1st VII, Hayes scored a further try, 5-17. Robbie Cartwright scored in the final minute but with a 5 man bench, Hayes had a little too much power in comparison to the 2 subs for Shiplake, the final score 10-17. Next up, Windsor 7s on Sunday 4th March.