In this week's Sports Report, we catch up with the latest hockey and rugby fixtures. In hockey, our girls' U18 played their penultimate fixture of the season against LVS Ascot while boys' rugby saw block fixtures against Lord Wandsworth College.
Hockey
Girls' U18A vs LVS Ascot
On Wednesday 15 November, the U18 Shiplake girls took on LVS in our penultimate hockey match of this season. The game was played at a very high standard as LVS had not conceded a goal this season. LVS scored their first goal from a short corner in the first half of the game, but the Shiplake girls kept their spirits high. In the second half of the match, Shiplake made some great attacking plays, taking the ball down into our half of the match multiple times, with shots on goal. Great attacking play was seen from T Gillard, G Weedon, E Bell, L Cheek and E Dickson.
LVS remained strong in their attacking play in the second half of the game securing two short corners, but our defence made relentless tackles and kept the ball away from their goal. Shiplake had an incredible second half, with fantastic play from S Pendlebury, F Lenthall, F Short and O Clarke in defence, which meant no goals were scored by LVS leaving the final score 1-0. It was a brilliant match with great energy and spirit; well played to all the girls. Player of the Match went to S Pendlebury and Coach's Player went to F Lenthall. Best of luck to the A Team for their final match of this hockey season against Reading Blue Coat next week!
Report: O Parkin, Girls' Hockey Captain
Coaches: Mrs Lovelock and Miss James
Rugby
1st XV vs Lord Wandsworth College
The 1st XV didn't get off the bus until the second half as a sloppy performance in the first part of the game allowed a relatively physical LWC side to go up by 17 points. A stern word at half time and the second half was much improved. W Diver, F Stewart and F Partridge all began to get a little more involved and P White's injection of aggression and sharpness at 9 sped the game up. H Brough stepped up defensively and threw himself around but going down to 14 men with 10 minutes to go meant the boys had left themselves too much to do. A gutsy second half in tough conditions, but not the standard expected of the 1st XV in the first half of the game. A much-improved performance is expected at home on Wednesday against Cokethorpe.
Coaches: Mr Edwards & Mr Wheeler
U15A vs St. Edward’s School Oxford (National Vase)
The home team started the stronger with two first half tries through kicking to the corner well and driving over twice from the line out. Shiplake were slow to the breakdown in attack and were guilty of not putting enough width on the ball. The half time score was 12-7 to Teddies, with K O’Connor scoring from a tap penalty. Shiplake were less nervy in the second half with J Henshall, K O’Connor and W Huckle dominating in open play and the forwards securing better balls at the breakdown. S Bailey, E Fulton and M Crane played very well, and it was good to see F Holgate back playing, adding to the depth of the squad. With his new boots K O’Connor added another 4 to his amazing try tally. Final score was 29-12 to Shiplake.
Coaches: Mr Dix & Mr Cooper
U15A vs Lord Wandsworth College
Yes, a cup win in the previous fixture but this performance was a class above. Against a strong Wandsworth XV, Shiplake started superbly moving the ball wide from the kick-off resulting in a penalty to Shiplake. Tapped by K O’Connor who drew in the defence, moved it wide to J Henshall, who put H Terrington over in the corner. Throughout the first half, Wandsworth also looked dangerous in attack, but Shiplake took control with two driving mauls from the line-out, both touched down by K O’Connor.
Shiplake’s defence was tenacious throughout when under pressure. W Huckle kicked well from hand to keep Wandsworth in their half, kicked a penalty to gain a three-score lead, and also offloaded to put E Fulton under the posts for the final try. Final score was 27-5 to Shiplake. Too many more names to mention as this really was a whole squad performance. The best performance of the season so far.
Coach: Mr Dix
U15B vs Lord Wandsworth College
The U15Bs had a tough game but proved their mettle in tough circumstances. Boggy conditions lead to a scrappy game, but the boys managed to grit their teeth and come together on a tough afternoon away from home. Lots of positives to take away and they remain on a good run of form. A great 12-10 win with tries from J Waldegrave and A Prosser.
Coach: Mr Gingell
U14A vs Lord Wandsworth College
Shiplake got off to a promising start against a very physical, well organised and unbeaten Lord Wandsworth side. The backs put in a good line of defence and big tackles from O Jomar and B Lee kept Shiplake in the game. The pressure built and Lord Wandsworth started to break though. Whenever Shiplake made territory, Lord Wandsworth were quick and aggressive in the breakdown, turning over the ball and notching up five tries in the first half.
However, Shiplake set themselves a target: win the second half. Despite an early set back, Shiplake applied pressure and forced plenty of errors, and scored when E Tavinor drove the ball over the line. With renewed confidence, E Grubb, E Tavinor and J Calow lead the battle for territory and good balls were spread wide. But several injuries lead to a 14-man Shiplake team defending two skilfully executed chip and chase tries and the comeback was beyond their reach.
Final score: Shiplake College 5-52 Lord Wandsworth
Coaches: Mr Bradley & Mr Gower
U14B vs Lord Wandsworth College
Shiplake were on the back foot for much of the first half, as Lord Wandsworth had some big runners who were proving difficult to stop. J Andrew and Z Saunders managed to organise the defence and limit the scoring to 0-33 at half time.
Despite running out of substitutions, Shiplake managed to raise their game in the second half by making more tackles and surging forward. Impressive running from J Pearson and S Currie allowed Shiplake to make good territory and were unlucky not to convert a few chances at the try line. Shiplake should take away confidence from the second half that they can trouble and contain such a strong side.
Final score: Shiplake College 0-40 Lord Wandsworth
Coaches: Mr Jones & Mr Gower
U13A vs Lord Wandsworth College
After a training session where we focused on defensive patterns and specifically being more committed and dominant in the tackle, the team was eager to test things out in this game. While there was certainly an improvement from the previous match - and it was great that the players were feeling a greater sense of self confidence - the physicality of the opposition presented quite a challenge, and it was not until the start of the second half that the Shiplake team really got into their defensive stride.
Another close game, reflective of all of our fixtures, where the two teams took turns scoring one after the other. Frustratingly once again, we found ourselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard at the final whistle, with a score of 7 tries to 5, but a performance with plenty of positives nonetheless, and lots of good areas to work on.
Notable performances this week go to O Scofield, who tackled well and ran effectively with the ball in hand, and F Jenkins for some excellent attacking play.
Coach: Mr Armstrong
U12A vs Lord Wandsworth College
Tough day in the office against a very large and physical Lord Wandsworth College team. From the first whistle, we struggled to get the intensity to stop their big and powerful runners and leaked a few early tries. Nevertheless, the boys stuck at it and showed some good qualities and as confidence grew, they started to show more attacking prowess and scored a couple of great tries - both from T Maskell. It should also be noted that we never gave up and our defensive game, bar a couple of lapses, held up well against a much bigger team. Final score was a 6-2 loss.
Coach: Mr Crisford
U12B vs Lord Wandsworth College
The first half was a scrappy affair with both teams running into contact, with our boys tackling well. It proved to be a bit of a stalemate with the forwards dominating the game.
The halftime team talk was simple - pass the ball more to attack the space. The boys took this on and did so superbly well, with the backs moving the ball around the park and finding space to run into. This resulted in a hat-trick for T Jackson and three more tries for the Shiplake team.
Final score Shiplake College 7-2 Lord Wandsworth College
Coach: Mr Bradley
