It feels like we are well on the way to normality, with lots of brilliant fixtures over the past few weeks including the first matches of the season in netball, our Lower School’s first cricket fixtures and some tennis fixtures too!
Netball
A Team v Leighton Park
The A Team had their first match of the season against Leighton Park A Team on Wednesday. The girls played really well together and in the first quarter took the lead with 8 goals to 4. One of our key players that stood out during the match was Maddie Adams with her on-point shooting, as well as Georgina Garner who showed great sportsmanship during the breaks. After the second quarter, Shiplake was still in the lead with 16-13. There was great defence seen from Trixie May and Emily Lambert who were intercepting and turning over the ball into the Shiplake mid-court players. Despite the terrible weather, Shiplake continued with their lead, and the final score was 30-26 to Shiplake. A fantastic match for the first game of the season and it sets Shiplake off to a great start. Player of the match went to Maddie Adams.
Match report by Antonia Tunnicliffe, A Team Netball Captain
B Team v The Oratory
It was the first netball match of the season this week, and our B Team were playing The Oratory's first ever girls' U18 Netball team. Despite the challenging weather, the whole team played amazingly. It was Shiplake's first time playing together as a team, so it took the first quarter to get into the rhythm and to work out play down the court. It was clear to see the great potential Shiplake have for their next matches this season. Due to an injury in the fourth quarter, the game was stopped and the final score was 9-19 to The Oratory. Shiplake would like to thank The Oratory for being brilliant hosts and to also thank their medical team who looked after one of their players who was sadly injured. Well done girls. Bring on this season!
Match report by Poppy Whitfield, B Team Netball Captain
Year 13 Team v Reading Blue Coat Year 13
On Wednesday 5 May, the Shiplake Year 13 girls played against Reading Blue Coat. The game was very competitive from the first whistle. Even though Blue Coat were playing very well and as a team, the Shiplake girls were able to keep their heads up and work together to ensure that they were able to keep possession of the ball. At half time the score was 21-14 to Shiplake. This made the girls were determined to make sure that they were going to win the game. The girls were continuously playing to their own game which ensured that they were able to get a final score of 36-23 to Shiplake. Great play in shooting from Amy Selwyn and Maddie Arora with good work in defence from Georgina Garner, Elizabeth Tang and Poppy Whitfield. Good work in the centre court from Megan Hadfield, Laura Pasmore, Anna Galpin and Antonia Tunnicliffe. Player of the match went to Georgina Garner.
Match report by Maddie Arora, Year 13
Year 12 Team v Reading Blue Coat Year 12
On Wednesday 5 May the Shiplake Year 12 girls played a very competitive match against Reading Blue Coat Year 12s. Although we had a rocky start in the first quarter we gradually got more comfortable with each other and began to understand how our teammates played. We were faced with a challenge in the 2nd quarter when it started sleeting and the court became slippery and wet but we simply laughed and continued to play on as best we could. The final score was 42-26 to Blue Coat but in the second half we really found our flow and in the final quarter there was only a 2 goal difference. Player of the Match went to Maddie Adams who played GA; she was amazing getting almost all of her shots in and really allowing the play to move nicely from the centre third to the goal third. More special mentions go to Milly Short, who although had never played GS before managed to get a few goals after picking up some tips at half time from Maddie. Finally, well done to Emily Lambert and Emily Pendlebury who swapped positions from GD to C and both got some great interceptions. Emily Pendlebury was so determined and her movements allowed the play to move up and down the court. There was great support from the sidelines both from our subs, some Shiplake girls who came along to watch and some pupils from Blue Coat.
Match report by Emily Lambert, Year 12
Cricket
U12/13 A v Claires Court
A fantastic first outing for the Lower School boys. We batted first and scored a good 101 from 20 overs. Freddie Coultas being the star with some late 'big hitting' runs. He was well supported by Freddie Holgate, Ben Savidge and Elliot Jones. Sam Baker got the team off to a good start opening the innings.
Bowling wise everyone took their turn and bowled steadily throughout. Claires Court required 9 from the last over to win - with a 4 off the first ball things did not not good! However Freddie Holgate responded with the ball smashing the stumps down - ultimately helping the team to a fine win. Well done everyone.
U12/13 B v Claires Court
The first fixture for the Under 12/13 B Team was a great start to the season and fantastic to see some of the Year 7s making their debuts for Shiplake. Claires Court opened the batting and proved a classy outfit with their opening batsman declaring on 50 and overall they scored 147. Notable mentions should go to Oli Bailey for a great bowling spell and he took 1 wicket alongside captain George Paish. With 147 to chase it was always going to be a tough task but we took the battle on and Bryn Lockwood showed some real class with the bat and Oscar Griffin also displayed some strong hitting. However, we fell a little short scoring 98 in our 20 overs but there is plenty to be excited for this season.
U12/13 C v Claires Court
The opening game of the season for the Under 12/13 C Team was for many of the team their first ever experience of competitive cricket and they should be very proud of their performance. All boys were given an opportunity to bowl and display the skills they have been learning in training sessions. Whilst their line and length will develop there were some fantastic spells most notably from Zac Wood. Claires Court set the team a target of 87 runs and after a slow start it began to look this could be a realistic target to chase however we fell just short achieving 75 runs. Special mentions should go to Ollie Wright who made some lovely shots with the bat and was out top scorer.
Tennis
Lower School Tournament at Leighton Park
On a very cold and wet afternoon Shiplake played their first Lower School tournament of the season. Sadly the final matches of the tournament were not able to be played but overall the players should be proud of their performances.
Samuel Murray played 3 matches and lost them all but he played exceptionally well against some very strong opposition.
Zac Fisher lost the first match against Crosfields but fought back beautifully to win against Reading Blue Coat and Oratory.
Max Jobson was superb in the tournament, narrowly losing his 3 matches but should be proud of his perseverance and winning 2 games against Reading Blue Coat.
Will Smith won his first match against Crosfields but lost to The Oratory and again was fantastic all tournament.
