This week's Sports Report not only includes the latest news from the usual inter-school fixtures across basketball, netball, and football; but also includes a feature match from within the College where our Year 13 pupils in the Gilson and College House took each other on in a netball match! Additionally, we also get the latest from the water following a successful day at the Schools' Head of the River in London.
Basketball
Boys' U16 vs John Madejski Academy
JMA taught our boys’ U16 team a lesson in shooting with nearly every shot going in. Nonetheless, the boys never quit and even though the scoreline ended 71-16, Shiplake had their highest scoring quarter in the final one. Player of the Match went to C Zhou.
Coach: Mr A Gingell
Football
Girls' 1st XI vs Reading Blue Coat School
On Thursday 16 March, the Year 13 girls took to New Field for the last time this season. The girls started the match strongly with a great attacking duo of C Wapshare and A Townsend up front, and a defensive line consisting of I Wood, M Berry and H Boddy.
The first half was fairly matched, with Shiplake having the majority of possession. Due to some great play, especially from P Kay on the left wing, the first half ended with a 0-0 score. Going into the second half, the girls were confident and wanted to end the season on a high. With this energy, the girls went on the attack. E Browne gained possession and with the help of C Wapshare, got the ball into the box where T Firth received it and scored a goal.
At this point, the score was 1-0 to Shiplake and the girls were aiming for a win. Unfortunately for Shiplake, the opposition had some amazing attackers and despite R Allen's best efforts in goal, they managed to score three goals in a short amount of time.
The final score was 3-1 to Reading Blue Coat, but this did not reflect the skill that was on the pitch. The Shiplake girls had an enjoyable game and it was a great way to end their football experience at Shiplake. Player of the Match went to E Browne and Players’ Player was P Kay.
Report: T Firth, Girls' Football Captain
Coach: Mrs C Lovelock
Boys’ U16A vs Magdalen College
A SENSATIONAL comeback by the U16As - they were 3-0 down but did our heroes give up? No chance. Instead they rallied brilliantly, L Spence (of course) scored twice and then O Palmer-Page got the crucial equaliser. Player of the Match was H Rodriguez.
Coaches: Mr J Player and Mr J Cooper
Boys’ U16B vs Gordon’s School
Playing Gordon's U16As, the U16B team had a huge mountain to climb. We went down 1-0 early, however a quick G Prosser counterattack meant we went into half-time at 2-1. We held out for 65minutes, thanks to outstanding goalkeeping performance from G Forsyth, however the opposition proved too good for the mighty Bs in the end. The final score was Shiplake College 1-7 Gordon’s School.
Coach: Mr C Ellison
Boys’ U15A vs Mill Hill and Belmont Schools
Despite the soggy conditions, both teams played some excellent football. After conceding three goals in the first 10 minutes, Shiplake showed plenty of heart to bring the score back to 3-2 - thanks to two goals from C Kirkwood. The score was then deadlocked for a while, but Mill Hill scored the crucial next goal, before going on to win the game 5-2.
Coach: Mr D Miller
Boys’ U15B vs Mill Hill and Belmont Schools
Due to the wet conditions, the U15Bs played a friendly 8-a-side match. It took the first half for the team to get into their stride, especially due to the many substitutes happening to keep the players warm in the rain. The second half saw some fantastic saves from O Beaney in goal and the team showed great determination to keep going with the worsening conditions. Final score was 9-1 to the opposition.
Coaches: Mr J Burgess and Ms S Lane
Boys’ U13A vs Cranford House
After the recent 4-1 loss against Sir William Borlase School, we needed to win our upcoming game. That game would be against Cranford House. Having won 7-1 last season against Cranford, we knew we had to carry on that form.
Once we warmed up, the referee blew the whistle for the start of the game. We were confident and that gave us the edge of our opponents almost immediately. And finally, after chance after chance from us, we got our goal from a through ball by H Biggs for A Massie to calmly finish off. We kept on pushing until another sweetly hit goal was scored by D Siddiqui. We weren't done and a goal straight after this came from Z Sanders.
The second half proved to be a very comfortable half with 3 goals coming from Z Sanders and A Massie. This was a great win and bring on next week against Claire’s Court School!
Coach: Mr A Dix
Boys’ U12A vs Cranford House
Final score: Shiplake College 1-7 Cranford House
Coach: Mr T Crisford
Netball
College vs Gilson
The College vs Gilson netball match on Tuesday 14 March was one of the most enjoyable matches of the season. Loaded with fun and laughter, but also some great play, a team from both College and Gilson took to the netball court. The Year 13 netballers played the Shiplake boys in a friendly netball match which included 11 players on each squad and some external umpires in order to keep the game fair.
We began warming up with a lot of nerves in the girls' team as we were very eager to win and prove ourselves. The match was slightly different to the normal structure as we played six ‘quarters’ of 8 minutes to ensure that there were lots of team talks and swaps on court. The girls hit the ground running in the first quarter, and led with the first centre pass - the boys were in for a shock when they realised that just because they were tall, it did not mean they would dominate the match.
The girls led the first quarter 5-0, however the boys created some outstanding chances during the second quarter which rewarded them with goals, but they still trailed 8-3 to the girls. R Wang had some great shooting and movements that could not be ignored, and the girls appreciated it which is why he was awarded Player of the Match. He not only took on shooting positions, but he played as well in defence and centre positions, which also led us to appreciate his wide range of skills on the netball court.
It was a tight score ending with 17-15 to the girls, which reflected the amount of effort and play that both the boys and girls put into to this match. The girls were a bit worried towards the end due to C Moss coming in to shoot – his height advantage meant he could effortlessly and consistently shoot. There was, however, fantastic play in the girls' team from A Townsend who received Players’ Player for playing the whole match and still giving her all – she also helped to achieve a lot of turnovers so that we can get the ball down to the shooting circle. This helped S Di Cuffa to shoot freely which the boys awarded her Player of the Match for. Overall, it was a brilliant match to watch, let alone be a part of, and there were lots of supporters which is why Shiplake has always got a great atmosphere.
Report: S Di Cuffa, Netball Captain
Girls’ U18B vs The Oratory School
On Tuesday 15 March, the Shiplake Netball B team set off to play The Oratory A team for our penultimate netball match of this season. Shiplake started strongly with R Pendlebury and S Goggins in attack, weaving and dodging all the defensive players. Given the cold and damp conditions, slipping was a risk and there were many pauses to the game. However, this didn’t stop the Shiplake team spirit, especially with our side-line supporters.
After half-time, the defence shone with H Boddy and D Jenkins getting many rebounds and showing their great defensive skills. The game ended with the score of 5-21 to The Oratory A Team, with Player of the Match going to P Sanderson, and Players’ Player going to S Reid. Well played all and best of luck for the final League match!
Report: I Wood, B Team Netball Captain
Coach: Miss A James
Rowing
On Friday 17 March, the College entered eight crews to row at the Schools' Head of the River Race (SHORR). Over 350 crews raced at the event in London with the 7km course taking place from Chiswick Bridge to Putney.
It proved to be an excellent day of rowing for the College with the boys' Championship VIII coming first in a time of 16:47.9, over 13 seconds faster than the second-place crew. This makes it an impressive three consecutive wins for Shiplake College in this category, winning the event in 2019, 2022 and 2023 (2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the pandemic). The College still retains the course record from the 2019 time of 16:36.6.
The boys' 2nd VIII also retained the title in their category with a time of 17:31.1, which would have placed them an impressive 10th in the Championship, from the total of 56 crews in the Championship, 1st VIII and 2nd VIII events. The boys’ Championship Quad finished 28th.
The girls’ 1st Championship Quad missed out on 1st by 0.8 seconds to come an impressive second out of 34 crews. The girls' 2nd Quad, also racing in the Championship category, finished 12th overall.
Our junior rowers were also on the water and did the College proud with the boys’ J16 and J15 Championship VIIIs both coming 10th in their respective categories, while the boys’ J15 2nd VIII came 14th.
Well done to the following who rowed in their respective crews:
- U18 Boys’ Champ VIII - F Worthington, F Middleton, H Harper, S Critchley, F Fox, C Wallis, E Floyd, L Byca, C Keena (Cox)
- U18 Boys’ 2nd VIII - L Creighton, T Madden, H Walton, M Provoost, J Meiswinkel, N Summerfield, J Duggan, G Fitzgerald, O Joiner (Cox)
- U18 Boys’ Champ Quad - O Wrobel, O Smee, B Brooks, E Houghton
- U18 Girls’ Champ Quad - A Merritt, E Downing, J Weir, G Catlin
- U18 Girls’ 2nd Quad - A Parker, E Over, L Price, L Vahlé
- J16 Boys' Champ VIII - H Johnston, L Cawdell, L Poundall, M Fairhurst, J Dawn, D Wilson, H Brough, F Collar (Cox)
- J15 Boys' Champ VIII - C Rees, E Jones, M Taylor-FitzGibbon, H Möller, O Bennett, F Coultas, W Tavinor, R Evans, B Loggie (Cox)
- J15 Boys' 2nd VIII - C Watkins, B Hubbard, A Kami Hawkings, E Iu, T Lane, I Powell, R Campbell, B Parrott (Cox)
Rugby
It was national pride in rugby last weekend as Year 13 pupil, Charlie Moss, was called up to the U18 Scotland rugby squad for their fixture against Wales. The match is part of the team's preparation for the U18 Six Nations. The fixture was played on Sunday 19 March and the final score was a tight 31-24 to Wales.
