Sports Report 16 November 2021

It was an action-packed week of fixtures with rugby matches for all year groups, hockey for the girls in a closely fought match against Leighton Park, a successful day at the Fours Head for the rowers and a victory in our first ever basketball fixture against Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow.

Basketball

Shiplake’s inaugural basketball fixture v SWBS kicked off with a 39-20 win for Shiplake in Marlow this week. Twelve of Shiplake’s basketballers travelled to the fixture after school following a series of lunchtime training sessions. They showed great spirit in their first competitive fixture. Great leadership from R Wang, scoring from C Carey and agility from B Allan which was too much for the home team and Shiplake came out victorious. 

Rugby

1st XV - Mr Beckett

After a slightly disrupted training week, the 1st XV travelled to West London to take on St Benedict's, who lost narrowly to Harrow in a midweek fixture. This result threw the 1st XV somewhat and whilst we started well, giving the opposition too much respect at the breakdown will never put you on the front foot. J Blacknell put the 1st XV ahead with two penalties but sustained pressure on the St Benedict's line wasn't capitalised on, and a turnover led to a try at the other end of the field minutes later. Half time score was 12-6 down with a more direct game plan for the second half. Once again, there was more pressure on the St Benedict's line but the 1st XV came away with no reward. Issues in the scrum and a malfunctioning lineout left the 1st XV floundering in the final 15 minutes. St Benedict's took their chances well throughout, final score 24-6 to St Benedict's. We have a break for exeat then a Friday night match v Magdalen College at Oxford Harlequins on 26 November. 

2nd XV - Mr Geyton

The 2nd XV looked to bounce back after their narrow Wednesday Night Lights loss away to Merchant Taylors as they came up against a well-drilled St Benedict’s in Ealing. The bounce of the ball and key decisions went against a dogged 2nd XV and they went in 12-7 down at the break. An early second half flurry of tries gave Shiplake hope, with good leadership of interim captain B Wallace, kick-chase from H Poustie and ferocious tackling from J Macleod the team looked in a good position. Exceptional counter rucking from St Benedict’s and slick lineout work from the opposition forwards proved too much in the end with the score ending up 35-21. Special mention to O Stalder for converting the first drop-goal attempt of the season.

U16A - Mr Bowden

With a reshuffle of the backline, the boys did very well to settle into an early rhythm, they came up against a strong defence and in the first half were attacking too close to the ruck which made it easier for them. The group showed good patience in attack and this paid dividends in the second half with F Stewart scoring some excellent tries. With a bit more of this style of attack, the scoreline could have been a lot more and the next stage is for the boys to be more adaptive of what the opposition presents. Shiplake 26-19 St Benedict's

U16B - Mr Lawson

Shiplake had to match the opposition's reduced numbers, but as a result the game was an open flowing contest. Shiplake took their opportunities well and put into practice the game plan and moves we worked on this week. Every player had the opportunity to contribute, but a stand out moment was C Kerrison's individual try. Final score 53-10 to Shiplake.

U15A - Mr Dix

After a much improved week of training and work rate in the match, Shiplake produced a fine performance, winning 31-12. There were tries for S Mealing, A Malcolm, W Rider and H Gallagher, three of which were converted by C Burnett. Special mention for H Brough on his tackle count and intensity but a real team performance.

U15B - Mr Miller

A great performance in what was a close and hard fought game. D Tabbarah scored a couple of excellent, solo tries, but it was definitely a whole team effort. The usual suspects played well, but special mentions go to D Higgins, who captained the team superbly, and H Kerrison, who had an impressive game on the wing. Final score: 15-10 to Shiplake.

U14B - Dr D'Rozario

A tough day at the office. Came up against a well-organised team. A few stand-out players in S Broad, P Welsh, H Carlsson, F McCalley and C Nash-Steer. Let’s see what happens in the next game…

U13A 

The U13As travelled to St John's School, Northwood last Wednesday. The first half saw three tries by St John's with a fourth by Shiplake's F Holgate, leaving the half-time score at 3-1. The second half saw Shiplake equalise with tries from S Baker and F Holgate. Unlucky for Shiplake that in the last five minutes, St John's scored another try to win the match. Most valued player of the match was F Holgate, with some good player performances from I Doherty, O Bailey and Z Wood.  It was an exciting game with some good tackles and runs, the boys performed at a good standard however they were unlucky at the end.

U13B

It was a rainy day at St John's School, Northwood but we worked hard. We warmed up on the pitch doing stretching and running and warming up our hands by jogging and catching down the line. The first half ended 3-3 with tries from J Zacharias, S Murray and M Crane. The second half was close, M Crane scored a try but St John's came back instantly. We then had a break and all pushed forward with J Zacharias getting the final try. The score was 5-4 to Shiplake.

U12A

After a tough start we were already 1-0 down and realised we needed to get equal to the St John's score. We passed the ball down the line and had a good run by A Massie to score in the corner leaving the score at 1-1. After we had a couple of attacking phases we managed to score from a lovely dummy try from O Spearing. A few tackles and tries later we were 5-4 down. With one minute of the half left we had a strong run from B Oliver and were able to equalise 5-5. A few minutes into the second half we were up by one try. But St John's kept coming back. We were able to get some fresh subs on the field for the last play and after an amazing run down the wing by O Spearing we were ahead. In the last few seconds we were able to score yet again. The game was won. Tries scored by J Calow, O Spearing, W O’Callaghan, B Oliver, J Martin and finally A Massie.

U12B

Under the management of Mr Brown, Shiplake U12Bs kicked off their first home game of the season. Five minutes into the match and Shiplake College were dominating the game scoring 3 tries in quick succession with from some great battling by J Feltham and some nice running from H Biggs. Though suddenly, from out of nowhere, St John's team came alive bursting through the Shiplake defence line multiple times scoring tries to make it 3-3. The rest of the half was back and forth as each team had plenty of chances. However, the last kick before half time and the attacking team fought through the defence of Shiplake and just about wriggled their way past the line to finish the first half 5-4 to St John's.

As the second half commenced in this tight match Shiplake quickly reacted scoring a quick try. Through the second half, both teams were trying to find the gap that would give them the lead until fast pace from J Swankie left the St John’s defence for dust as he scored a paramount try for Shiplake. St John's weren’t finished though as they scored some tries to sadly make it 9-9 full time. Shiplake College played really well against a hard team but deserved to win.

Rowing

Traveling to the Tideway in London, Shiplake entered four boats into Fours Head competition, a 6.8k race in a time trial event between Chiswick Bridge and Putney Bridge. The three boys crews and one girls' crew boated from Quintin Boat Club, Chiswick.

The Boys' School/Junior Coxless Quad with F Middleton at stroke, M Johnston, J Birch and D Hillier at bow managed to achieve 3rd place in a popular event with 43 crews participating, racing against top schools and clubs.

The Boys' Coxless Four with L Byca at stroke, F Fox, E Taylor and F Arkle at bow steering the course, these boys managed to get a strong 4th place with only two seconds away from 2nd place, with 12 boats in the category.

The boys racing in the Coxed Four achieved 4th place out of 28 crews, with S Critchley at stroke, E Dallas, T Rackett, E Humphris at bow and W Fisher coxing. 

For the girls' crew, it was only possible to enter one boat into this event due to the popularity. They raced in their Coxless Quad with M Oakes at stroke, M Hadfield, S Maleham and M Vickerman at bow, and achieved a strong 3rd place with 4th a long way behind, but in close margin with first and second.

For those who didn't get an opportunity to race at Fours Head, the rest of the boat club paddled up, to have a private match against Reading Blue Coat, with two girls' quads and two boys' matched eights. With all crews coming out with wins all Shiplake crews came away with brilliant results and have demonstrated that the top boats for the coming season will be competitive. 

Report by W Fisher

Hockey

The Shiplake girls had an amazing game against Leighton Park this Wednesday and were undeserving of the final score 1-0 to Leighton Park. The game was neck and neck for the first 40 minutes, with Shiplake having the majority of the possession. Due to the Criminology Day and illness, the team was down some valuable players resulting in G McKie-King, S Murray and I Hepburn all playing out of their usual positions and E Young stepping in as goalkeeper. E Young was great at sweeping and clearing up the 'D' as Leighton Park didn't end up having many shots on goal. A McCarthy, as usual, was dominating the pitch and really stepped up, even when physically exhausted, with some fantastic balls down the line to G Garner who made some rapid runs onto the balls. M Berry had a smashing game; clearing balls out of Shiplake's defensive D. Leighton Park scored their only goal in the last 2 minutes from a penalty flick, which E Young dealt with so bravely as she has never played keeper before. Player of the match went to E Lambert. Miss Mordue is incredibly proud of the girls and everyone played so well. 

Report by E Lambert - Girls' Hockey Vice Captain