It was a tough week for the Shiplake teams; playing in very cold conditions was a bit of a shock to the system as the teams took on well-practised oppositions from rival schools. In football, marginal losses to The Oratory School for the first three teams were difficult to swallow, but the 4th XI managed a strong 5-0 victory. Hockey had a similar outcome, with minimal losses against Lord Wandsworth College. However, the U13As had a fantastic week, with a 5-2 win against Pangbourne College. The 2nd VII netball team had a far stronger week than their previous match, beating Claires Court School 14-7.

Football

1st XI 1-3 The Oratory School

Thank you to Mr Alex Duncan for the following report:

‘Shiplake started the game very well, with good possession and some excellent control - then the referee gave a penalty for a push in the box, which nobody could believe...even the opposition looked bemused...but happy. 1-0 down after 10 minutes and once again we had an uphill battle. At this point the home team looked more confident and got in behind Shiplake a couple of times. Resolute defending by Miles Bridgman, Joseph Kerrison, Seb Rivett and Cameron Goodliffe kept the Oratory at bay. With Shiplake's discipline once again completely out-shining the frankly 'angry' Oratory team, the referee, I can only imagine, regretted his early decision to award the penalty. Callum Murray once again looked dangerous in attack and Joe Booth ran his socks off up front. However, Shiplake could not penetrate the penalty area and Oratory scored a second when the ball was not cleared properly and it hit their player and rebounded into the net. At two nil up, The Oratory still did not look comfortable. They knew Shiplake were not out of the game. Indeed, with 10 minutes left, Shiplake put a great move together, passing the ball out of the left back position, into Elliot Whittingham. He slid the ball forward to Alex Shean, timing his run well. He took three excellent touches and finished into the bottom left corner stylishly. Game On! In Shiplake's push for the winner, The Oratory scored their best goal of the game when the impressive centre back marauded forward, got to the byline and cut back to the six-yard box, where two players were queuing up to tap home. Game over! A decent performance...but only in patches. Shiplake need to put a 'whole' performance together now. Mr Ebbage and Mr Duncan were once again extremely proud of the work ethic and discipline shown.’

2nd XI 1-2 The Oratory School

Thank you to Mr Tiki Ebun-Cole for the following report:

‘Shiplake made a bright start, passing the ball at great speed and giving The Oratory midfield little time on the ball. However, we found ourselves a goal down somewhat against the run of play. Unfazed by this setback, we continued to play with purpose and created a couple of good chances. Charlie Garnett and Ben Westbrook-Burr both made delightful runs down the right but their crosses narrowly missed their target. We continued to attack and eventually Finn Arbuckle scored his first goal of the season, reacting quickest to the keeper spilling a shot from Ben Monson.

In the second half, JJ Acton, Ben Westbrook-Burr and Man of the Match, James Roxburgh-Smith, took control of the game and created further chances for Finn, who was unlucky to see his effort hit the right post and Ben Monson, who was inches away from scoring on his debut for the 2nd XI.

In the last ten minutes, The Oratory managed to put us under sustained pressure and were finally able to breach our defence which had until then been led by captain, Ross Johnstone, and ably assisted by Callum James, Brad Wilkins, Josh Howard and goal keeper Ben Dinsdale. A disappointing defeat but a performance of which we can be proud.’

Hockey

1st XI 0-3 Lord Wandsworth College

Thank you to Head of Hockey Mr Tom Walter for the following report:

‘With a number of new players joining the squad this year, the 1st XI players have done fantastically well to gel so quickly and that could be seen in the performance on Wednesday against Lord Wandsworth at Reading Hockey Club. The match was well balanced, with both teams looking dangerous on the attack and solid in defence. Ollie Brown and Harry Emmanuel made several key interceptions and Emmanuel was always keen to get the play moving forward as quickly as possible, with a number of incisive passes. Tom Gorringe slotted in well at left back for the first half and made a number of fine tackles. As the game went on, Harry Rees and Freddie Bowcock began to get a hold of the ball in the middle of the park and bring winders Arthur Langeler and Louis Ashcroft in to plan much more frequently. Both looked dangerous and had several mazy runs along the sideline. Jack Rees and Callum Creighton formed a young front line but did well to carve out a number of opportunities, with Rees in particular unlucky not to get on the score sheet.

Shiplake were in full control for the middle section of the match, although one nervy moment required Jamie Gibbs to make a fantastic double save to keep the scores level. In the last 10 minutes the game could have gone either way and a Brandon Tan almost broke the deadlock with a fierce shot on goal which the Lord Wandsworth keeper was equal to. However, in the final 5 minutes all of the hard work came undone and as legs began to tire, gaps opened up in defence and the Lord Wandsworth forwards made Shiplake pay, with three quick-fire goals.’

U15A XI 0-2 Lord Wandsworth College

Thank you Mr Richard Curtis for the following report from an evenly matched game:

‘The U15s pushed back and immediately went on the offensive with some great interplay between the midfield and the front two. However, we failed to get off many shots with real venom except from a stunning crack from Ed Gilbert-Blay which was heading for the top corner when the Wandsworth keeper made a stunning save. Unfortunately, thereafter, it was all one-way traffic with the opposition being quicker to react to potential threats and taking advantage of the slow pace of Shiplake’s game. The remainder of the game was played out in the U15s defensive half and it was little wonder when Lord Wandsworth took the lead midway through the first half. With Shiplake not working hard enough to get into the wide spaces, it became more and more difficult to get the ball upfield as the game progressed. The 2-0 final scoreline flattered the U15s and Monday’s training session on ‘running off the ball’ is surely going to be a good workout!’

Netball

2nd VII 14-7 Claire's Court School

Thank you to Nadia Sherlock for the following report on a successful game against Claire's Court:

'Last Wednesday, Shiplake B’s travelled to Maidenhead to play our second league match of the season against Claire’s Court. Due to our previous match, we were very nervous about this game and confidence levels were low. However, we proved ourselves wrong as the final score was 14-7 to us.

Due to illness and injury we had to make a lot of changes to positions, this included borrowing Darcy Timms from the A’s to play for us as WD. This meant that in the match versatility within the team was important, as we had to work together to find a formation that would work. We did this exceptionally. The partnership in the shooting circle between Daisy Stuart and Ibby Peacock was flawless and centre court players worked hard consistently throughout all four quarters which was impressive considering we were out of our usual positions.

Two attackers that worked particularly well were Chelsea Holliday and Tayla Caldeira who showed great strength in their positions. The agile defensive duo, Jem Evans in GD and Emma Renwick in GK, worked well together and continually pushed the ball back down the court to Ibby, who was shooting accurately every time, even from the very edge of the D. Congratulations to Ibby for achieving Player of the Match. We are now in fifth position in the league and hope to maintain the same standard of game play in our match today against Ranelagh.'