Sports Report 6 March 2019

Hockey

U15B v Abingdon

Milo played an excellent support role of being the release pass to almost everybody and was relentless in his defensive work. Near the 20-minute mark, Archie found himself on the edge of the D after squeezing the defence, and was able to calmly belt-one into the bottom left corner. Half time saw us leading 1-0.

The team talk focused on the great defence we were showing, and how to turn strongly with the ball. The second half saw Abingdon start strong on the attack, but each time the defensive team of Ollie, Henry, Brandon and Josh were able to break it down and build from the back. The boys delivered multiple attacking moves down the right and Taj was able to put in some good crosses into the D. Unfortunately, Abingdon were strong on the last tackle and it the ball found its way back to mid-field where Ollie L, Milo and Henry D would start us off again. The last 10-minutes saw Roman with the ball at left striker. He showed good skill in being able to turn strong and cross the ball to the top of the D. The game ended with all 11 boys very tired but very happy with the result. Shiplake College win 1-0.

U15B v Pangbourne

Even with a couple of 'ringers' in the U15B side due to logistical issues, it was a challenging afternoon for all concerned. The game started in earnest with Shiplake trying to play the ball through the backfield, but Pangbourne quickly pounced upon the loose ball control of Shiplake's back-line and midfield and snaffled three goals in quick succession before the half time break. 

A tactical change to a much longer game relieved a lot of pressure for Shiplake and enabled the U15Bs to gain much greater control over the game and consequently limited Pangbourne to only three or four scoring opportunities in the second period. The final play of the game saw Shiplake drill the ball through a significant gap for Taj to finish; alas, his attempt went awry, with the final whistle signalling a 0-3 defeat.

Players of the Match - Henry Kunzig and Fergus Heggie

U15A v Pangbourne

The U15s were excited to travel to Pangbourne and their great facilities; the weather was perfect and their warm-up went well. Pangbourne were all physically larger and stronger than our boys (a team of year 10s vs our team of year 9s) and we knew it was going to be a very tough match.

The match started well and Shiplake moved the ball quickly around the park on a number of occasions. The U15s created an early opportunity but were unable to release a powerful, on-target shot. Pangbourne were great in their counter attack, and were given too much space on the pitch. This allowed Pangbourne to have uncontested shots on goal, with three going in during the first half. Shiplake created another two opportunities during the first half and could have changed ends with the score even. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.

The second half saw Pangbourne start strongly and they were able to score two quick soft goals. Our boys picked themselves up and played brilliantly for ten minutes - Pangbourne were on the back foot and Shiplake were able to force a short corner, which resulted in a great goal from Henry P. This energised the boys and the team was able to keep pressing Pangbourne. Unfortunately, their physical strength and skill had the U15s on the defence in the last seven minutes of the game and they were able to sneak in another absolute belter and unfortunately, another soft goal.

The final score was 1-7. Great hard work and skills from Zac Bailey-Williams and Milo Griffiths in the mid-field and Sam Gillen up front.

Netball

Shiplake As v LVS Ascot

Last Monday, Shiplake played a match against LVS Ascot. With the original match being postponed due to the weather, Shiplake were ready to start the first quarter strong. At the start of the first quarter, the LVS shooters struggled to convert their centre passes, which gave Shiplake the first lead. With great defence from Maddie and Ella, they were able to pass the ball to Ellen, who quickly passed the ball to Georgie and then into the shooters. At the end of the first half LVS were only up on Shiplake by six goals.  

Towards the end of the third quarter, Shiplake lost a few of their key players due to injury; this meant that a lot of the squad were playing out of position. However, this didn’t change Shiplake’s morale. Going into the last quarter with Georgie moving into goal attack and Tory moving into goal defence, Shiplake were able to prevent LVS from scoring, and having shots on goal.

Well done to everyone who played. Player of the match went to Ellen.

Report provided by Lydia Lyons, A Team Captain

Shiplake As v Claire’s Court

Last Wednesday, Shiplake played a league match against Claire’s Court. With Claire’s Court winning the first centre, the Shiplake team was determined to turn the ball over. A few minutes into the game, it was clear that both teams were of a similar standard. With great defence from Katie and Sophia, Shiplake were able prevent Claire’s Court from scoring. With excellent shooting from Tory, Shiplake continued to keep even with Claire’s Court.

A few changes in positions were made at half time and after a good team talk, Shiplake’s defence was eager to go. With some great interceptions from Katie and Beattie, and with the centre-court players working the ball back up the court accurately and strongly, Shiplake managed to pass the ball into Tory, who converted the ball to goal. After a strongly contested game, Claire’s Court gained a lead in the last 5 minutes.

The final score was 29-23 to Claire’s court, player of the match went to Ellen, a special mention also goes to Katie for her first A team game of the season.

Report provided by Lydia Lyons, A Team Captain

Shiplake As v Reading Blue Coat School

Last Wednesday, Shiplake played a match against Reading Blue Coat School’s B team. With morale high, Shiplake were ready to go from the warm up. A few minutes into the first quarter, it was clear that Shiplake and Blue Coat were evenly matched, with both teams struggling to work the ball into each of their shooting circles. However, with stronger defence from Shiplake they were able to work the ball slowly from good passing and movement from Ella and Ellen, into Shiplake’s shooting circle. The score stayed level.

Going into the last quarter, Shiplake and Blue Coat’s scores were close, and with Shiplake more determined, they were able to slowly pull away from Blue Coat. Great passing into the D from Georgie, and good shooting from Tory. Shiplake continued to maintain a lead over Blue Coat. The final score was 19-16 to Shiplake, well played everyone.

Player of the match went to Tory.  

Report provided by Lydia Lyons, A Team Netball Captain

Shiplake Bs v Claires Court

On Wednesday the 13th February, Shiplake Bs travelled to Claires Court to play their third league game of the season. Unfortunately, they lost some players due to illness, all the girls were really positive, which showed in Shiplake’s performance throughout the match. After a shuffle in positions and winning first centre, the Bs were more than ready to play. The first goal came quickly with excellent passing from Rhian in centre and Georgia in wing attack, before the ball was passed down to the shooters who made the score 1-0 to Shiplake. After some great defence from Anna and Mia, the ball made it back up the Shiplake end. With Ella standing on the edge of the D, she scored an incredible goal, making the final score of the first quarter 9-1. Each quarter the girls continued to have a positive attitude and were strong in their positions, which made it hard for Claires Court to get the ball into their end of the court. After an intense match, and with brilliant defence from Liv, the girls made it almost impossible for the Claires Court girls to score. The final result was 27-13 to Shiplake. Well played to all the girls, especially Mia who was player of the match.  

Report provided by Mary Keswick, B Team Captain

Shiplake Bs v Reading Blue Coat School

On Wednesday 27 February, the Shiplake B team played their seventh league game against Blue Coat. After an incredible first half of the season, Shiplake were keen to keep up their unbeaten season. During the warm up and drills the girls knew it would be tough based on the heat! However, they were ready to play another game. The Blue Coat team got first centre however the ball was quickly turned towards the Shiplake goal, due to excellent interceptions from Mia and Anna and after the first quarter the score was 10-1 to Shiplake.

The goal difference became bigger during the second quarter, as Shiplake pulled the score away from Blue Coat. In the third quarter, the Shiplake girls started getting tired and giving the ball away easily. Shiplake had a quick team talk and in the final quarter, they came back with strong passing as well as good shooting from Ella.

The final score was 33-8 to Shiplake. Well done to all the girls especially Katie who was player of the match.

Report provided by Mary Keswick, B Team Captain

Football

Shiplake College 1st XI vs RGS Guildford

Shiplake started the game well with some nice passing. However, RGS found a way to pass through the middle, instantly putting Shiplake under pressure. This was quickly identified and the team recognised the well structured play of RGS and shuffled around the midfield to counteract this.

Shiplake then took control of the game working the ball from the back taking risks that if paid off, would have exposed RGS to the attacking threat Shiplake offer. Despite some early mistakes, Shiplake stuck with this and it began to work giving chances. Eventually, this led to George playing a ball that was somehow controlled, and tidily finished, by Callum T. The left-winger came in off his wing to pick up the loose ball and thundered the ball underneath Fynn from close range, to level the game.

Shiplake were determined to bounce back and shortly after consecutive attacks, a corner was floated to the back post where Eddie was there to power it home making it 2-1.

Halftime came and despite being on top Shiplake felt they had more to give and went back out confident in they play. This translated into complete dominance forcing a series of corners that led to a scuffle in the box, with the ball bouncing around until put into the back of the net only to be disallowed for a foul somewhere in the scramble.

Some fast pressing forced an RGS mistake at the back, which gave Callum a chance to put the game out of reach of RGS, which he took from the rebound of his own shot putting the ball into the bottom corner. The game became more open for Shiplake, playing through the middle to the wingers and getting crosses into the box time after time. Eventually with a result, when Callum lofted a ball to Eddie to comfortably finish at the back post ending the game 4-1.

Player of the match goes to Callum Theodorou.