In this week's Sports Report we see a fantastic weekend for Shiplake rowing at Wycliffe as well as some brilliant matches in netball and football for the girls. In the boys' football there were some tough matches against Radley, however lots of our teams were playing Radley teams a year up. They put in some amazing effort and team spirit. The Year 7s also played a great game against John Hampden Grammar. Finally in hockey our mixed team of Year 10 to 13 pupils played a brilliant game against The Windsor Boys' School.
Rowing
Wycliffe Head on Saturday was another positive step on the run into Schools' Head of the River for our Senior Rowers. Although the crews had to battle against rain and blustery conditions it did not dampen their spirits.
The Boys "A crew won the Open Eights and took the Head of the River whilst the " crew won the Junior 18 Eights event, both crews finished ahead of Shrewsbury's A crew.
The girls' squad boated two matched quads and a 3rd quad. One of the match crews won the Open Quads event with the other one coming second to Wycliffe College in Junior 18 quads. The C crew finished 5th in the same event.
Netball
A Team Match Report
Last Wednesday, the girls' A Netball Team put an amazing performance into their match winning 36-20 against Great Marlow School. They gave outstanding effort by turning around the play, putting a lot of pressure on the ball and scoring the goals from each centre pass. The girls are really starting to settle into their positions and put out a great fight to get the best score possible. M Adams was chosen as Player of the Match by the opposing team for her movement around the circle and her accuracy on shots. With E Lambert being named Players' Player due to her amazing defence as GD; she was able to get many interceptions and pick up as many balls as she could, also her accurate passing to players really helped benefit the team and impact the score. Well done girls!
Report by M Adams, A Team Netball Captain
B Team Match Report
On Wednesday 2 February, the Shiplake B Netball Team played a league match against Reddam House with Shiplake winning the first centre. A few minutes into the game, Shiplake were already able to score a few goals. With great defence from A Townsend and I Hepburn we 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 goals. After a few changes at half time and a good team talk, Shiplake was ready to go. With some great shooting from M Fisher and S Reid, and with T Firth passing the ball accurately into the shooters, Shiplake managed to score some more goals, even with the very tight defence of Reddam. After a strongly contested game, and great play from both teams, Reddam took the win. Player of the Match went to S Reid and the Players' Player went to T Firth.
Report by S Murray, B Team Netball Captain
C Team Match Report
On Wednesday 2 February, the Shiplake C Netball Team played against Reading Blue Coat in a league match. Shiplake started strong with excellent centre passes from I Wood and C Pink, quickly moving the ball down the court where M Short scored some excellent goals. Shiplake ended the second half with 11 goals and knew it was going to be a close game. Shiplake managed to convert some of their passes to goals but unfortunately Blue Coat managed to steal too many goals. After a good team talk before the final quarter, Shiplake were ready to go. With some great team work, Shiplake managed to keep up their defence, even against Blue Coat's very fast attacking players. After a great game from both teams, Blue Coat only just managed to take the win and player of the match went to our centre player S Goggins for her incredible passes.
Report by M Short, C Team Netball Captain
Hockey
1st XI v The Windsor Boys’ School
On Wednesday 2 February the 1st XI hockey team had their debut match against The Windsor Boys’ School. It was lovely to have a team of players right from Year 10 to 13, including A McCarthy. The first half of the game was very close, with neither team being able to keep possession. However, after some coaching and a change to the formation at half time things began. Shiplake began to dominate, moving the ball well and breaking up The Windsor Boys' structure .
Z Bailey-Williams scored the first goal, beating the keeper who had rushed out. Soon after, S Mealing scored an awesome goal - reverse stick from the top of the D. The final whistle blew with a 2-1 victory for Shiplake. Player of the match was awarded to T Rossouw for his fantastic defense and pinpoint accurate aerials. Thanks must go also to the captain and vice captain A Thomson and J Perry, both in Year 13. We are excited to learn from this first match as we look to two more fixtures after half term.
Football
Girls' Mixed Ability Team 1 (0-3)
On Thursday afternoon (3 February), the Shiplake girls' football team had a major match at home with local rivals, Reading Blue Coat School. The girls were excited to play, wanting a win, and the team’s energy was at a high.
The girls started strong with great runs from E Browne and S Di Cuffa, acting as our midfield and forward players, with excellent kicks with the ball travelling far. There was great defensive play overall, with amazing headers and marking from A Townsend, making sure the attackers didn’t get too close to our goal. There was also great defending from I Hepburn, who was not afraid to charge at the players. As the match continued, it was clear to see R Allen in her natural element as goalkeeper, excelling at always saving the ball at times of need. Our player of the match was S Di Cuffa, as she wasn’t afraid to bulldoze her way through the defence and had some near attempts at scoring.
Even though the score ended at 3-0 to Reading Blue Coat, it didn’t reflect the amazing play of the girls, not being afraid to get stuck into it. The cheering on the side gave the game a special feeling of support as Shiplake pupils and teachers had come to watch and shout their support. Thank you to Miss Mordue for organising the match and Mr Cooper for refereeing our match and making sure there weren’t too many hand balls!
Report by I Hepburn - Girls' Football Captain
Girls' Mixed Ability Team 2 (0-5)
The Shiplake girls' football team had the best attitudes coming into their game against the Year 13 Blue Coat team on Thursday. Smiles all around, even when the score began to add up against them. Although they lost 5-0, goalkeeper E Harris made some fantastic diving saves and even dribbled the ball half-way up the pitch! She deservedly won player of the match, getting a special mention from the Blue Coat referee. Shiplake defence made some great tackles and showed no fear in getting stuck in and trying their best. G Garner seemed to get a bit confused in the game and managed to catch the ball before putting it on the floor and running away from the most obvious handball of the season. The Shiplake girls were so supportive of each other, cheering each other on and loving the support from the sidelines. They are raring to go for their next game.
Report by E Lambert - Girls' Football Captain
First XI vs Radley (2-3)
The 1st XI fell victim to another late set piece after a well matched 80 mins left Shiplake disappointed losing 3-2 to Radley. By far the 1st XI’s best performance of the season and plenty to take forward.
Second XI vs Radley (2-2)
A superb team performance from the 2nd XI who came close to securing their first win of the season. The score finished 2-2. With several regulars unavailable, S Looney, E Thomas, H Palmer-Garrett and D Henson had an opportunity to show off their talent and they certainly didn't let the side down, all putting in cracking performances. D Henson was man of the match.
Third XI vs Radley (0-2)
An epic top of the table clash ended with a narrow defeat for the Fighting Thirds. With grey, louring clouds looming heavy over the pitch, and a fierce wind blowing, a knife-edge game was played out. The Fantastic Thirds came close to scoring several times with C Stewart's dangerous runs wreaking havoc. They so nearly opened the scoring before half-time when the excellent L Pottier made a dashing run to split through the Radley defence and then just narrowly put his shot the wrong side of the post with the goalkeeper helpless.
The team did brilliantly to survive being ten men down in the middle of the game and then still created chances thanks to the tireless runs of J Lynskey and B Fundell. But just at the end Radley finally managed to get past the resolute O Smee, who had a great game, and then a suspiciously flukey free-kick got them a second. Nevertheless, the Fearless Thirds battled on fiercely to the end, and we are all proud of them for doing so.
Next up for our heroes? Derby day. Reading Blue Coat. See you there!
Fourth XI vs Radley (1-7)
A bruising 7-1 loss, did not do justice to the spirit and quality of a brave performance by the 4ths. Hampered without a recognised goalkeeper, the team got scant reward for their efforts through a F Shorten penalty at the end. The whole team deserve massive credit for their work rate and never-say-die attitude with performances from A Esselemont, E Pratt and L Rouse Roberts particularly impressive.
Fifth XI vs Radley (2-11)
Tough afternoon for the 5ths. Great goal from M Gardiner in the second half. We will come back fighting in the next game!
U15A vs Radley U16A (1-3)
A great performance in difficult conditions, against a strong Radley side. Despite playing the year above, Shiplake more than held their own.
Radley opened the scoring, but Shiplake soon equalised after an I Hobden through ball found the impressive A Siveter, who was then fouled inside the box. H Edwards cooly converted the penalty.
The second half could have gone either way, with both sides creating chances. J Lucking made some excellent saves, and C Burnett was solid at the back. Despite this, Shiplake leaked a couple of goals late on, leaving the score 3-1 to the hosts at full time.
Once again, the 15As upheld the spirit of the game. MOM: I Hobden
U15B vs Radley U16B (0-9)
Whilst losing 9-0 is never ideal, the team stuck together and kept competing until to the end. Ultimately, the gap in age and ability was too much to bridge this time around.
U14A vs Radley U15A (0-5)
The U14 A team played Radley’s U15s. Ultimately the difference between the two teams was the age gap with four of the five goals conceded via two corners and two long throw-ins. On the occasions when the Shiplake team managed to get the ball down and play we looked for the better side, but were unable to complete these good moves with shots on goal. An excellent fighting spirit and togetherness from the team was very encouraging.
U14B vs Radley U15B (1-13)
The U14Bs endured a tough afternoon against a physically imposing Radley Year 10 side. After a shaky start, Shiplake improved markedly with A Dean proving particularly effective at right back. Most importantly, however, heads did not drop and Shiplake were rewarded with their first goal of the season.
U12A v John Hampden Grammar School (2-1)
Under the management of Mr Crisford, Shiplake College's U12A team commenced their second game of the season against John Hampden. We knew within ourselves that John Hampden was going to be a good side so we were preparing to the best of our ability so we could give them a great game. When the whistle blew, right from kick off, we were straight to the ball producing hard and fair tackles. We were dominating the game but needed a goal. However, it wasn’t long before Z Sanders smashed the ball into the back of the net. 1-0. Suddenly, John Hampden came back at us, almost scoring but outstanding saves from C Cooper meant we were winning at half time.
Once the second half commenced, it was much the same as the first. Back and forth each team went with Shiplake just about edging their opponents until a breakthrough and a lovely run from the captain, H Biggs resulted in a tap in from W Hunt, a great way to make a debut for the first team. We kept the lead but right at the end John Hampden scored a controversial penalty making it 2-1 to Shiplake.
It was a fantastic game of football throughout with the sun shining brightly amongst the players. In addition, some great defending by our defence including D Siddiqui secured our victory.
Report by H Biggs
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