In this week's Sports Report, which features the last round of fixtures before the half-term break, there were both hockey and rugby matches. In hockey, the girls went up against Leighton Park - their last match before travelling to Holland for a hockey tour; and in rugby, there were block fixtures in which the U14-U18s faced Lord Wandsworth College.
Girls' Hockey vs Leighton Park
The Shiplake girls played Leighton Park on Wednesday 19 October. The game started with a Shiplake push back. The girls showed enthusiasm and energy going into their fourth match of the season, taking their new skills and techniques into the match. The attacking girls used the width of the pitch well, allowing the ball to flow to one another and bring the play towards our attacking end. This allowed Shiplake to force the first short corner of the match. Leighton Park put up a strong defensive line and cleared the ball well. By half time, the score was 1-0 to Leighton Park, however Shiplake put up a strong defensive end with H Boddy removing the ball well and E Young playing sweeper. This kept the ball well away from the Leighton Park attacking end. G Bradbury stepped in to play in goal and made some tremendous saves. H Boddy got Player of the Match and I Wood and G Weedon both received Players' Player. Well played girls. Final score: Shiplake 0-4 Leighton Park
Report: Eve Browne, Hockey Captain
Coach: Mrs C Lovelock
Rugby
1st XV vs Lord Wandsworth College
The 1st XV limped into the seventh week of the term with injuries to some key players, although C Moss and W Diver both coming back from injury bolstered the squad. It was a cagey affair for the first half with Shiplake exerting pressure on the LWC try line and forcing two penalties in quick succession, which were converted by B Macleod. The forwards ran hard but kept the ball too tight at times and the backs didn’t use the full width of the field allowing LWC to remain in the game. Some straight running by the LWC backline, and a few missed tackles, left the 1st XV 6-7 down. Another penalty, converted by B Macleod left the squad with a lot to do in the 2nd half but 9-7 up. The second half started well and some excellent defending kept LWC at bay but it was almost inevitable with another missed tackle - the LWC centre crashed over and they took a 9-14 lead. With huge possession, but poor decision-making, the 1st XV handed LWC the win despite the clear difference in the two sides.
Coaches: Mr S Beckett & Mr T Armstrong
2nd XV vs Lord Wandsworth College
In the final week before the half term break, the 2nds were in a great mood after a well fought win against the Oratory school. Picking up injuries the 2nd XV knew that LWC was going to be a hard fought opponent. Shiplake entered the score board first with a early try which set the mood and the team had full belief that they could win. LWC then scored a few tries and with minutes to go, the score was level. However, LWC ended up winning the game but there were stand out performances from F Stewart, P White, M Gardiner and H Simonds. Final score 29-22 LWC.
Match report: M Walker
Coaches: Mr W Nel & Mr J Wheeler
U16A vs Lord Wandsworth College
LWC deserved their win on the day, but the Shiplake squad knew that they did not play to the high standards they had reached in previous fixtures. The first half was frantic, perhaps affected by Shiplake playing into the wind, with wild passes, knock-ons, defending too narrow and being too slow to support or to the breakdown. Shiplake were again on the back foot in the scrum and in contact against another larger pack. A couple of very ‘soft’ tries either side of half time did not help. We did show our potential in patches, which included a fine try through offloading in the forwards, and patience when going through the phases. Final score: Shiplake 7-24 LWC.
Coaches: Mr A Dix & Mr D Miller
U15A vs Lord Wandsworth College
Coming off a tough block last weekend to a disjointed training session, with 6 starters at a football fixture and more off injured or ill, saw the U15 A team crawl into their fixture on Wednesday. Fatigued bodies and minds, along with further disruption to the squad just before the fixture, saw them get out of the blocks slowly and never recover. A tough lesson to learn about controlling the controllables and one of those ‘bury the ball’ type games. We draw a line under it as a squad and take a well-deserved break over half term. Final score: Shiplake 0-53 LWC.
Coaches: Mr R Edwards & Mr D Bradley
U15B vs Lord Wandsworth College
The U15Bs were buzzing coming into this fixture after an impressive victory against The Oratory on Saturday afternoon but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Due to unforeseen circumstances, a disrupted warm up reflected the early part of the game and we found ourselves 12-0 down early on. A hard-fought try late in the first half gave us a glimmer of hope but on the day, LWC were too strong. Overall, a lot of positives to take away from the last couple of weeks and we look forward to building on our foundations after the half term break. Final score: Shiplake 7-26 LWC.
Coaches: Mr J Burgess & Mr K Heaney
U14A vs Lord Wandsworth College
After going down three early tries, the players regrouped and pulled two tries back and fought hard and deep into the second half. The U14A's scrum was a strong part of our game and allowed us to gain momentum at key points. Stand out players were E Dickenson, M Crane, and M Ball. Final score: Shiplake 10-35 LWC.
Coach: Mr J Cooper
U14B vs Lord Wandsworth College
The U14Bs took on an undefeated LWC away from home in a tough and highly fought contest. With some very difficult refereeing decisions going against us, the team performed honourably to maintain a positive outlook and challenge for the game. Sadly, we lost 27-20 from being down 22-5 at half time. This just shows the character the boys have to bounce back and really push to try and get a result out of games. D Litchfield with three tries and H Tilney with one try concluded the scoring.
Coach: Mr B Gingell
