An interesting sporting week has just passed us by! Not only did four Shiplake Football teams face the Forest School, but the Junior As Hockey team also achieved a fantastic win against St Joseph's School. A special mention must also go to Trainee Teacher of Maths, Mr Harry Geyton who has not only achieved an undefeated season with the 4th XI Football team, but also broke the record for most time spent on the floor during the annual Staff v Pupil Netball game!
Football
1st XI v Forest School
A trip to Forest School is never a dull prospect and with last year’s 2-0 win to spur the boys on, they went into the game with the belief that they could get a result against the run-away leaders of the league. Highlights from this match included the spells of excellent passing and possession displayed in patches throughout, especially between the 20th minute and half time. The spirited second half display after being 4-0 down at half time was also particularly enjoyable, as was the team’s only goal. The opposition’s coach complementing the Shiplake style, picking out Theodorou, Ruffle & Fitzgerald as ‘ballers’ and praising the whole teams gentlemanly approach was also a thoroughly respectable feat. The areas of improvement, identified by the boys, are that while they are too gentlemanly, they may need to grow physically and compete for the loose ball with more vigour so as to make more of an effort to shoot.
2nd XI v Forest School
Shiplake 2nd XI started with energy and intensity in their away fixture with Forest School and were rewarded with a number of early chances and much of the possession. They took a deserved lead when captain, Ben Westbrook-Burr, broke away from his defender and slotted home. After twenty minutes, Forest grew in confidence and leveled the score just before half time. Shiplake lacked focus and concentration at the start of the second half and heads dropped when Forest scored with their first attack: a neat finish from the striker who stole in to chip the ball over a diving James Grundy's head. Shiplake gave the home side too much room to play with and Forest took control of the game making it 3-1 and shortly after 4-1 with a superb volley. Westbrook-Burr rifled home a shot into the top corner from a Rufus Stone through-ball to give Shiplake hope of a recovery but the home side settled the game with a final goal.
4th XI v Forest School
It was a proper 4th team game on the rugged pitch with Shiplake kicking off. Within five minutes, Captain Alfie Rigby took a great shot scored first, with Harvey Greenaway putting in two amazing finishes to put Shiplake at 3-0. With a small retaliation from the Forest School, our boys ended the half 3-1 up.
With Shiplake’s focus dropping, the opposition scored straight from kick-off. Shiplake began to dig in to preserve their lead with some great defence from Archie Buchanan and man of the match, Taz Ruparel. Shiplake held the lead thanks to a goal from Jack Powell and a late penalty for the team, putting the game to sleep and winning the 4th team the league
Hockey
Junior As v St Joseph’s School
A positive pep talk from Mrs Bayley really got the team into a motivated and positive attitude for the upcoming match. Shiplake was a little unsure of St Joseph's ability, but the Junior As worked quickly and got to grips with the game within the first five minutes. They were strong but missed a few early opportunities. However, our boys were still motivated and felt sure they were close to scoring a goal. Around ten minutes in and Shiplake achieved just that - Henry Kunzig scored and the team became even more motivated for a win. Five minutes later, Jack Lynskey bagged another great goal.
Half Time 2-0 Shiplake.
The second half started well, Shiplake gained possession again but a few missed shots left the boys’ score unaltered. A couple of attacks from St Josephs challenged the Junior As’ defence but with some good tackles from Dom Mealing and Henry Poustie and positive goal keeping from Alex Turner, the team kept St Josephs from scoring. Some further strong attacks from George Lucas, Jack Lynskey and Jai Angell left the opposition feeling uneasy. A special mention must go to Oliver Rouse-Roberts for a few great attacking drives that were unlucky not to end in a goal. A strong press from St Josephs challenged the Shiplake defence and resulted in their first goal. This left the game at 2-1 Shiplake. Man of the Match Dom Mealing for his calm defence and creative attacking play.
Report provided by Harry Watts
Netball
Staff V Student
Last Tuesday, the Year 13 netballers took on many of the staff in the annual Staff V Student Netball match. Following last year’s match, which ended in a draw, it was all to play for. With a crowd of people watching I think it is safe to say that both teams were nervous before they stepped on to the court. To get as many people playing as possible we played six games of 8 minutes.
From the beginning, the girls knew it was going to be a tough match. The male staff were a lot taller than us, and also a lot quicker. They may not have been extremely accurate with their passes but this did not stop the fact they could move the ball around the court very quickly. The girls did not let this affect their play and they carried on controlling the ball down the court and into the hands of our shooters, Charley, Megan, Daisy and Sophia. At the other end, the defence tried their hardest to keep the ball away from Mr Hunt, as clearly he had been practising his shooting skills. However, with the attacking staff throwing in strong balls to him, he was hard to stop. The girls did not let this get them down and every player carried on with enthusiasm to the end.
The whole afternoon was enjoyable for everyone involved even though the staff took home the trophy with a 40 - 12 victory. I would like to say a massive congratulations to the staff for this win and especially to Mr Hunt for scoring about 99% of those 40 goals. Also, a huge thank you to Miss Mordue for organising the match for us.
Report provided by Brooke Creighton, Head of Girl’s Sport
