An action packed week of sport with netball, football and rowing fixtures across all year groups. Well done to those who have played for the first time as a team against some tough competition.
Netball
A Team
On Wednesday, the girls' A team played their first netball match of the season, away at Leighton Park. They were very successful and won the match 35-13. As a new team they decided to go into the game switching the positions around every quarter, as everyone is very versatile, changing combinations that worked best with each other. In the first quarter, the majority of players played their usual position and ended the quarter with a comfortable lead of 4 goals. Moving into the second quarter, positions were dramatically changed but the girls used this to their advantage with some fantastic shooting from S Di-Cuffa, who ended up with player of the match, as well as some strong defence across the court. Throughout the 3rd and 4th quarter the ball was predominantly down the attacking end, due to many interceptions taking place. The girls' high spirits and determination led to a comfortable win. This was definitely a first match to be proud of for the girls, as Leighton Park have previously been a strong competition. The player that stood out during the match was M Berry for picking up the tactics of the sport incredibly quickly, intercepting the ball and in all gaining more confidence with a positive attitude. G Garner also played really well, moving down the court and playing a huge variety of positions. E Pendlebury was a great support and had amazing ball placement into the circle. E Young and M Adams had great control but quick movement in the attacking half, helping to take the lead. The A team are excited to see the team go from strength to strength throughout this netball season. Player of the match went to S Di-Cuffa.
Report by M Adams, A Team Netball Captain
B Team
On Wednesday 19 January, the Shiplake B Team played a league match against Salesian's A Team. With Salesian winning the first centre, Shiplake were determined to turn the ball over. A few minutes into the game, it was clear that Salesian had the upper hand over Shiplake. However, this didn’t affect Shiplake’s play. With great defence from A Townsend and G McKie-King, Shiplake were able to put great pressure on their attacking players. Then with accurate passes from P Sanderson and T Firth, Shiplake managed to convert the passes to goal. After a good team talk at half-time, Shiplake were ready to go. With some great teamwork from M Fisher and S Murray, and with E Harris passing the ball accurately into the shooters, Shiplake managed to score some goals, even with the very tight defence of Salesian. After a strongly contested game, and great play from both teams, Salesian took the win. Player of the match went to E Harris.
Report by S Murray, B Team Netball Captain
C Team
On Wednesday 19 January, the Shiplake C Netball Team played a league match against Leighton Park C Team. Shiplake won the first centre pass and started the match well. There was fantastic defence work seen from D Atherton-Bebbinton and D Jenkins, as they worked really well together to stop Leighton Park from scoring in their attacking end. I Wood and S Goggins worked really well in mid-court, passing the ball down court and into the Shiplake shooters. Half time saw a great team talk from the C team, thinking of tactics to keep the ball in the attacking end of play and push till the end of the match to secure a win. S Reid and M Short worked really well in the shooting end, passing the ball accurately and scoring to keep Shiplake in the lead. Even with the very tight defence of Leighton Park, Shiplake managed to win the match 9-8. This was a fantastic way to start the season and the C Team are really looking forward to their next game next week. Player of the match went to S Reid.
Report by M Short, C Team Netball Captain
Football
Girls' Football
On Saturday 22 January, the Shiplake Girls' Football Team had their second fixture of this term, against St Edward’s School in Oxford. Shiplake arrived, excited to play on a Saturday afternoon and were hungry for a win!
The girls set their expectations high and were playing phenomenally, with the best play Miss Mordue and Mr Cooper had seen from them so far. R Allen was awarded player of the match for her excellent defence and amazing saves as goalkeeper, not being afraid to dive for the ball and just go for it! Shiplake nominated C Wapshare as
The end score was 3-1 to St Edward's, however despite the loss, the team were really proud of the brilliant play, team work and effort seen by all players. Thank you for Mr Cooper and Miss Mordue for helping coach us on a Saturday and hopefully for a win at the next match!
Report by I Hepburn
1st XI v St Edward's (3-3)
A hard fought first fixture of the season which could have gone either way. A talismanic performance from A Arnold and playmaking from F Ellis saw the 1st XI 2-0 up after 15 mins. The bounce of the ball went against us for a period of about 15 minutes where St Edward's were able to claw their way back and scoring a scrappy goal to put themselves in front just after half time. T Carpenter led the way and, along with S Gillen, gave energy in the midfield. Shiplake were dominant for the last half an hour and managed to equalise through the excellence of F Ellis. A contender already for goal of the season, where he cut inside two St Edward's defenders rolled past a third, before chipping the keeper from the edge of the box.
2nd XI v St Edwards (1-1)
The second XI's first match of the season should have finished in a decisive victory. And it certainly looked that way after J Rogers scored with a brilliant header in the third minute. However, despite a fantastic team performance, with plenty of intensity and opportunities, a second goal never came. St Edwards' only tactic was the long ball which never caused our powerful defence any problem. That was until the 89th minute of the match, when somehow another one of their long balls managed to find its way through to their quick front man who poked the ball into the net. The game finished one all but it felt like a defeat. So many superb individual performances but man of the match was awarded to L Poundall.
3rd XI v St Edwards (6-1)
A great game with goals from C Kerrison (2), C Stewart, M Noble, J Lynskey plus M Hepburn's penalty save.
4th XI v St Edwards (4-4)
A rollercoaster match where Shiplake led twice and then fell behind twice before securing the draw in the last 5 minutes thanks to B Watson's goal. Other goals came from S Chambers (2) and B Staddon, with man of the match performance being shared between captain T Sharp and keeper H Palmer-Garrett.
U15A v St Edwards U16A (6-0)
As the U15A’s stepped up to play St Edward’s U16, we were ready for a fight. The game started well for both teams but W Jennings was able to make a good run and slot the ball past the goalkeeper. Just before halftime, H Edwards was able to get another goal for Shiplake, to make it 2-0 at halftime. In the second half, St Edward's started well but against the run of play, Shiplake scored again. Shiplake picked the game back up and continued to score goals with goals from L Spence and A Siveter getting a hat trick. The final score was 6-0 to Shiplake. This is a brilliant start to the season and we hope we can continue this on Wednesday against The Oratory.
U15B v St Edwards U16B (5-1)
The U15Bs technical ability trumped the physicality of the opposition allowing them to eventually break loose in the final 10 minutes to secure a 5-1 win. Special mention goes to D Higgins for his hat trick and H Gallagher for an assured performance between the sticks.
U13A v Caldicott (0-8)
Caldicott proved a tough opposition for the team's first 11 a-side match. We struggled to press the ball and allowed their excellent forwards space to play resulting in the team conceding early goals. Once the team got used to a new formation the game was far more even and competitive. Despite a loss, plenty of positives to work on for next week. A stand out performance by J Terry in goal.
U13B v Caldicott (1-3)
The team showed great resilience in limiting the score to 3-1 against a very strong Caldicot team. S Murray and B Kellett played superbly in goal and W Smith, N Thurgood and E Miot were energetic upfront. E Fulton scored our only goal from the spot with a cracking strike.
U12A v Caldicott (5-6)
Shiplake’s U12As showed a great deal of potential and determination in their narrow 6-5 loss to Caldicott. Captain H Biggs impressed with his driving runs from midfield.
U12B v Caldicott (unknown)
The U12Bs first game of the season saw the boys give a spirited and battling performance. We moved the ball well and scored some good goals but went down to a Caldicott side playing their fifth game of the season. Great displays in defence from W O’Callaghan, J Martin and B Oliver and a brave first half in goal from T Berry.
Rowing
On Saturday the boat club raced at Dorney Lake against Eton, St Edward's, Abingdon, St Paul's Hampton and Bedford School. Our two matched 8s came 2nd and 3rd being beaten by St Edward's 1st 8. Our 3rd boat beat many schools' 2nd 8s. The J16 8 finished 6th in their category and this was their first ever race. The J15s also raced their first ever race and finished 12th and 22nd. The girls didn't have any other girls to race against so competed internally against each other in quads and a double. It was great to get racing and good experience was gained by all.
And finally, congratulations to the girls quad for being Commended in the Junior Crew of the Year category in the 2021 British Rowing Awards last week.
.JPG/U12FootballSq(1)__500x500.JPG&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "HM's Team of the Term, Spring 2023")
