This week's Sports Report features the latest news from basketball, football, and netball. In football, there were a range of opponents for our fixtures including Cokethorpe School, Maiden Erleigh, The Bulmershe School, and Sir William Borlase School. In netball, our girls' A team travelled to Leighton Park, while our girls' C team hosted Reddam House. And, in basketball, there were two close matches for our boys' U16 and U18s against The Bulmershe School and John Madejski Academy respectively.
Basketball
Boys' U18 vs John Madejski Academy
Going into the game, we knew this would be the toughest opponents to date as JMA are a basketball and football academy school. Nevertheless, it was a really exciting, end-to-end game with the opposition somehow scoring an 'own hoop' from an attempted interception. The team worked tirelessly for the duration of the match with special mentions to R Wang and C Carey for their superb composure in front of the hoop and scoring the majority of the team's points, as well as J Greig-Bartram for making his first appearance. Final score was John Madejski Academy 72-55 Shiplake College.
Coach: Mr A Gingell
Boys' U16 vs The Bulmershe School
Final score: Shiplake College 36-43 The Bulmershe School
Coach: Dr C Rousseau
Football
Boys’ 1st XI vs Cokethorpe
Match abandoned after 60 minutes - on a very boggy/waterlogged pitch, the 1st team still tried to play our passing brand of football. However, work rate and determination again let us down as we conceded early. We replied very quickly with good passing and A Siveter assisting again for H Doyle to slot home. We then took our foot off the gas and conceded two avoidable goals.
After the break, we were a new team with a new lease of life, keeping possession and moving the game to work open spaces. Unfortunately, the game was cut short due to increasing rainfall and the pitch becoming dangerous which was gutting as goals looked imminent for Shiplake.
Players of the Match: A Siveter & S Gillen
Coaches: Mr B Claridge & Mr A Gingell
Boys’ 2nd XI vs Cokethorpe
Shiplake College 1-4 Cokethorpe. Shiplake made a slow start to the match and conceded three early goals. A more energetic display in the latter stages of the first half and throughout the second half provided a more even contest. O Smaje was outstanding in midfield and covered every blade of grass on the pitch. O Prosser provided a glimmer of hope when he scored a decent goal with 20 minutes to go, but it was too little too late. H Simmons was awarded Player of the Match for his never say die attitude.
Coach: Mr K Heaney
Boys’ 3rd XI vs Cokethorpe
The third team found their feet with their 4-1 victory against Cokethorpe. Goals scored by L Pottier (2), T Redfern and L O'Donoghue, who scored goal of the season. B Zacharias with an outstanding aerial performance. O Renwick gave a valiant performance on his debut as captain.
Report: O Renwick
Player of the Match: L Guo
Coach: Mr J Wheeler
Boys’ U16A vs Maiden Erleigh
Shiplake College 5-0 Maiden Erleigh. As the rain, snow and sleet fell over the pitch, the mighty U16As brought a storm all on their own. L Spence started it with a dynamite finish, followed by an electric hat-trick by T Bell, and superb finishing by O Palmer-Page. J Lucking saved yet another penalty in the dying minutes to keep his clean sheet. A great home win - this is our town!
Player of the Match: T Bell
Coaches: Mr J Player & Mr J Cooper
Boys’ U16B vs Cokethorpe
Final score: Shiplake College 3-1 Cokethorpe
Goal scorers: N Rodgers, D Gemmell, D Tabbarah
Player of the Match: H Steel
Coach: Mr C Ellison
Boys’ U15A vs Maiden Erleigh
Shiplake College 1-2 Maiden Erleigh. Despite the conditions, an excellent match was played in good spirits. 0-0 at half-time, with both sides missing good chances. Shiplake took the lead early in the second half, when C Nash-Steer played through C Kirkwood - who finished well inside the box. The away side then struck back, within 5 minutes, and they went on to take the lead with just 10 minutes to go. Shiplake applied a lot of pressure towards the end of the game, but just could not find an equaliser.
Player of the Match: H Arnold and F Baikie
Coaches: Mr D Miller and Miss S Lane
Boys’ U14A vs The Bulmershe School
Final score: Shiplake College 2-6 Bulmershe School
Coach: Mr D Bradley
Boys’ U13A vs Sir William Borlase
Final score: Shiplake College 1-4 Sir William Borlase
Coach: Mr A Dix
Boys’ U13B vs Sir William Borlase
A match of two halves against a SWB team who had a strong team spirit and some skilled individuals. Shiplake had two penalties opportunities in the first half, but both penalties were missed. That gave enough confidence to the SWB team who started the second half stronger and scored quickly. Shiplake had a couple of shots close to the target, but lady luck had chosen her side. And then the best SWB player scored a second goal from outside the box - a magnificent shot that our keeper could not do anything about. The final score of 2-0 to the opposition did not reflect the way the game went, but it will teach Shiplake that we must be more clinical with scoring opportunities. Overall, a great match played in good spirit.
Player of the Match: A Ball
Coach: Mr R Guillaud
Boys’ U12A vs Sir William Borlase
The Under 12s had a great first half dominating the game for most of the first half and taking an early lead, but somehow managed to go in at half-time losing 2-1. Unfortunately, the second half was a tougher challenge with SWB taking all their opportunities very clinically and Shiplake just coming off the boil in their defence allowing 50/50 balls to be lost. Sadly, the games finished 6-1 to Borlase and overall, a really good learning opportunity for the boys.
Player of the match: T Lane
Coach: Mr T Crisford
Boys’ U12B vs Sir William Borlase
Final score: Shiplake College 0-3 Sir William Borlase
Player of the match: O Methven
Coach: Mr N Brown
Netball
Girls’ U18A Netball vs Leighton Park
Shiplake were very excited for their last match of the season against Leighton Park which was thankfully still on (despite the rain) due to access to an indoor court. Shiplake finished their first quarter being a few goals ahead of Leighton Park, thanks to everything working well in the shooting side of the court. This was thanks to A Botterill and S Di Cuffa’s great teamwork which awarded A Botterill with Player of the Match and S Di Cuffa with Players’ Player.
Towards the second half of the match, Shiplake progressed even more and increased their goal difference. Thanks to the defence of M Berry and A Townsend with their quick reactions to rebounds, this helped us turn over a great number of balls. Shiplake found that their team worked tremendously well together for this match and really gelled together in partnership throughout the game. Great play was also seen from E Browne and T Firth for finding space with each other while supporting one another during the whole match. In the last quarter of the match, Shiplake more than doubled their score leaving the final result 42-18 to Shiplake. What an amazing match from Shiplake!
Report: S Di Cuffa, Netball A Team Captain
Coach: Mrs C Lovelock
Girls' U18C vs Reddam House
Shiplake’s C Team maintained a positive and optimistic attitude throughout a very challenging match against Reddam House. Shiplake started off excellently with R Acton and E Bell displaying great enthusiasm for the game while also communicating superbly with each other. D Knight constantly supported other players by being an option and constantly intercepting passes, ending the first quarter 1-1. A special mention also goes to D Atherton-Bebbington for remaining positive and maintaining our strong defence after having a challenging quarter. The match sadly ended 17-2 to Reddam House, however the girls played extremely well and I’m very proud of how they continue to show great sportsmanship and enthusiasm every week. J Pallett and E Morris received Players' Player and A Baiden received Player of the Match.
Report: A Baiden, Netball C Team Captain
Coach: Mrs K Neill
