Sports Report 19 November 2019

Last week was busy for Shiplake sport, with the whole-school House Cross Country competition and a round of rugby and hockey fixtures against Merchant Taylors' School, Holyport College and St Benedict's School, including the Friday Night Lights match for the 1st XV.

1st XV Rugby v St Benedict's School (Friday Night Lights)

After a disrupted build up to Friday Night Lights and the potential cancellation of the match, the team were pleased to hear that thanks to Mr Beckett's efforts, the match would go ahead on Maidenhead's all-weather pitch. However, conditions on the night were challenging for both teams with torrential rain and wind throughout the match. In front of a vocal crowd of supporters from both Shiplake and St Benedict's, the early exchanges were tense as both teams struggled to control the slippery ball. A good line break by St Benedict's allowed them to get behind our defence and score a converted try. The boys responded well with strong drives from F Brown, C Crisp and H Allan taking play into the St Benedict's half. Swift handling from the backs and A Buchanan to score in the corner, made the score 5-7. St Benedict's dangerous backs showed their pace again and scored an unconverted try taking the score to 5-12. As before, the Shiplake forwards drove hard and won a well-deserved penalty on St Benedict's 22m line, that J Shortland subsequently converted, 8-12.

After half-time and a short respite from the rain for both teams, the match restarted with a period of pressure from St Benedict's, that allowed them to score 3 points from a penalty, 8-15. Throughout the second half, both teams tried hard to move the ball and a kick ahead from Shiplake nearly led to an equalising try. However, as for most of the game, the defences from both teams and difficult conditions reduced the scoring opportunities. The match remained finely poised, until St Benedict's were awarded a try, although Shiplake felt they had already grounded the ball. The try was converted leading to a final score of 8-22.

While very disappointed not to win, on reflection the team knew that it had been a good and even game, with chances for both sides. St Benedict's were the worthy winners and all look forward to the return match. The team were hugely grateful for all the support from friends, parents, staff and particularly those members of last year's 1st XV.

Report by J Walne, Captain of Rugby

1st XI Hockey v Holyport College

The Shiplake Girls' Hockey team played Holyport College last Wednesday. Knowing it was going to be a tough game, Shiplake were ready to work hard. As the game started Holyport were quick with their passes and created a strong attack, allowing them to get the first goals. However, Shiplake's defence from E Booth and E Guironnet made it harder for Holyport to get the ball through to their goal. This gave Shiplake attackers, A Smee and P Whitfield a chance to move the ball up the pitch to put pressure on Holyport. The game ended 4-0 to Holyport, however Shiplake have taken away points to work on collectively to improve. Well done to A Galpin for receiving player of the match.

Report by Miss C Mordue

2nd XV Rugby v Merchant Taylors' School

Shiplake College 2nd XV had a very successful evening on Wednesday 13 November vs Merchant Taylors. Strong go-forward rugby from J Stevenson and T Carpenter, allowed J Lynskey to break through the defensive line putting the first points on the board. This was followed by an exceptional conversion from A Arnold centimeters away from the touchline. With strong defensive work in the second half from S O'Brien, and T Lynskey close to a hat-trick on his debut under the lights, in the second half Shiplake broke away winning 51-22.

Report by M Connolly

U15B Rugby v St Benedict's School

After an excellent week's training, the U15Bs felt well prepared to take on St Benedict's - one of the few teams they lost to last season. As soon as the whistle sounded, the imperious Bs set about their task in a professional and ruthless manner, scoring two tries within the first five minutes. Once it became apparent that this game would not be quite as close as last year's, the team started to test out their skills - scoring tries from offloads and cross-field kicks. Z Morrison was excellent in the first half, as were half-backs C Keena and G Fitzgerald, who were fizzing the ball out of the rucks. Whilst tries came from everywhere, H Doyle stole the headlines by scoring a hat-trick. Another win for the U15Bs, and we now look froward to a mid-week clash against local rivals Pangbourne.

FT score: 50-0 to Shiplake College

Report by Mr D Miller

U14A Rugby v St Benedict's School

After a week focusing on defence, it was great to see the Shiplake U14As working hard for each other in this element of the game. But it was the team's all-round attacking potential that really came to the fore on Saturday with forwards inter-weaving with backs at regular intervals, identifying space and making life very challenging for the St Benedict's defensive structures. 65-70% and getting better by the week!

FT score: 35-17 to Shiplake College

Report by Mr R Curtis

U14B Rugby v St Benedict's School

It was a scrappy start versus St Benedict's with multiple handling errors and missed tackles in the opening 10 minutes. D Coles scored a good try on the blindside and another from a lovely pick up and go from the base of the scrum. This settled Shiplake's nerves and we headed in for a half time team talk. After careful analysis, the boys took on board what was said and suddenly played with flair and power, hitting the rucks with force. The ever dependable M Wallace, D Coles, E Houghton and M Gardiner seemed to be first ones at the rucks nearly every time. H Saker scored a superb try, where White sliced through the defence and drew the man before passing to H Saker who bulldozed his way through two tackles. Shiplake thought they had crossed the line again, only to be held up. T Lebeau and E Houghton scored two other tries, where the latter was textbook play (something an international team would be proud of). J Biggin grabbed a couple of amazing conversions and was a whisker away from getting a third. St Benedict's scored a good try but the all round game of Shiplake was too strong. Men of the match go to D Coles and W Forster (who controlled the game superbly at 12).

FT score: 29-5 to Shiplake College

Reported by Mr R D'Rozario

House Cross Country Results

On Monday 11 November the whole school came together for the annual House Cross-Country competition. Almost 400 pupils ran the 4.5km route, which reached Lower Shiplake and heading back along the Thames Path to the College. As for all House sports competitions, the larger Orchard and Skipwith Houses were split into sub-Houses (Bevan and Lapping, Eggar and Wells-Furby).

Congratulations to Joint Head of College R Ash who completed the course in an impressive 16 minutes 44 seconds, closely followed by A Hunt coming in at 16 minutes 46 seconds. The first girl over the line was N Dunn who finished in a speedy 18 minutes 54 seconds. The fastest Lower School boy was A Malcolm, completing the course in 20 minutes 37 seconds. The Olympians won the Lower School competition overall with an average time of 28 minutes, 21 seconds compared to the Titans coming in at just over 37 minutes.

Other Results

2nd XV Rugby Lost 3-25 v St Benedict's

U15A Rugby Won 36-7 v St Benedict's

Flickr album: Friday Night Lights 2019 | Height: auto | Theme: Default