It was another great week of sports fixtures at Shiplake last week, with rugby games against St George's and Magdalen College School, and the girls' hockey team playing the 'best hockey' Miss Mordue had ever seen against Reddam House, despite the 2-1 loss.
Hockey
The Shiplake girls played a competitive game against Reddam House last Wednesday. There was brilliant play from all of the girls as they worked amazingly well as a team right until the very end. The Players' Player of the Match was A McCarthy who scored the Shiplake goal and the Coaches' Player of the Match went to G Garner for her fantastic work in the Shiplake shooting end. Special mention must go to E Young who made a fabulous tackle in our defensive end during a short corner, where only two girls were left to defend it alongside R Allen in goal due to faulted starts by some Shiplake players. Unfortunately, the final score did not reflect the fantastic play seen on the pitch from Shiplake and it was 2-1, with Shiplake conceding the final goal in the last quarter. The girls were communicating well and we had possession in our attacking end for the majority of the game. A really big well done goes out to the Shiplake girls!
Report by E Lambert, Girls' Hockey Vice Captain
Rugby - Shiplake v St George's and Magdelen College School
1st XV - Mr Beckett
Once again the 1st XV started strongly with a dominant forward pack and the centre pairing of J Angell and J Rogers. In wet and slippery conditions the handling and endeavour of the team was impressive, along with the ability to adapt the game plan to suit the opposition. Excellent game management by A Arnold led to numerous tries with the final score 33-12 to Shiplake. Final match v UCS on Saturday.
2nd XV - Mr Geyton
A reduced 10 on 10 match as Shiplake matched an injury and COVID hit St George’s side. Early in the first half St George’s started well and made Shiplake’s missed tackles pay and ran in a few early tries. A maiden score from Z Devine and try of the season contender from B Fundell where he managed to carry for 30 metres dipping and darting in between three defenders before fending off two of the St George’s players on the line to score confidently under the posts. Moment of the game, however, goes to F Shorten where, after an interception, managed to run 80 metres to catch up with the winger and tackle him into touch with just five nesters to spare. This, paired with some brilliant place kicking from L O’Donoghue and carries from M Aitkin and S Edwards gave Shiplake hope, but, some late tries from the opposition proved too much with the score ending up 42-14. The 2nd team’s unrivalled played-4, lost-4 run remains in tact - we look forward to the game this coming weekend.
U16s - Mr Bowden
The squad effort from the U16s couldn’t be faulted with a terrific attitude displayed from all. L Burwash, W Forster and B Zacharias led from the front. With a number of substitutes it was difficult for the team to get into a rhythm but some terrific contributions across the board.
15As - Mr Dix
It was a tough morning for the U15As as they suffered a heavy defeat against a strong St George's Weybridge team, who had not conceded a point so far this season. Shiplake will know that they could have performed better but numerous injuries did not help, reducing the game to 12-a-side; but all battled to the end. The group will move on positively for their Wednesday afternoon match. Our thoughts are with B Stokes who suffered a very serious ankle injury.
15Bs - Mr Miller
Despite tricky conditions and strong opposition, the U15Bs showed plenty of heart against St George's. A Tufail and D Tabbarah kept us moving forward with some strong carries. Whilst Z Wilson, F Feltham and A Siveter made important tackles to keep the score close. The final score was 19-7 to St George's, but Shiplake won the second half 7-5, thanks to a late score from captain L Wilson - a try which was finely converted by prop, S Massie.
14As - Mr Curtis
The 14As started brightly with two or three really good line breaks and went ahead before St George's worked out a way of stopping Shiplake's threats. Two scores to one down at half time, the U14As struggled to maintain possession and despite the heroic tackling efforts of A Kami-Hawkins, Shiplake conceded a further two tries to leave the final score 5-20.
U13As - Mr Jones
The U13A team built on the success of last week’s match with a stirring home performance against Magdalen College School. In wet conditions, their short passing and effective rucking helped to build the phases before unleashing our many strong runners. The team was marshalled very well by the captaincy team of F Holgate and I Doherty. The final score was 5 tries to 2. But, special mention must go to B Lockwood who, at the start of the second half, caught the kick-off and ran in a try, much to the delight of the Shiplake supporters.
U12s - Mr Crisford
The U12Bs played champagne rugby eventually winning 9-5 in a try fest. Z Sanders with 5 and O Griffin with a hat trick. They played with a great team spirit and displaying the coaches aim of “get on his shoulder’!
In wet miserable conditions the U12As put on a fantastic performance with some free flowing superb rugby played by all involved. Final score 4-4 with mentions to B Oliver for some powerful drives and J Callow for finishing some great tries.
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