After last Saturday’s victories in football matches for all the teams, the Shiplake athletes were keen for a repeat performance. However, cancelled matches and an exeat weekend meant a fairly quiet week for fixtures. The 1st VII netball team once again proved that their hard work and strategies were paying off with another win under their belts, this time against Reddam House. Their victory, however, was sadly in the minority this week, as Shiplake’s teams found themselves up against very worthy opponents.
Hockey
1st XI 0-6 Sir William Borlase School
‘Shiplake produced a stunning first half display, capitulating all that they have learnt and developed so far this season. Up against a school with well over 1000 students, Shiplake were always going to have their work cut out but came out of the start blocks with all guns blazing. For large parts of the first half, Shiplake showed fantastic resilience in defence, with Tom Gorringe and Harry Emmanuel developing their partnership at the heart of the defence with a number of crucial tackles and interceptions. Going forward, Shiplake had the upper hand in midfield with Harry Rees, Will Gresswell and Freddie Bowcock linking up on a number of occasions to cause the Borlase defence some headaches. Arthur Langelaar also proved a constant thorn in the side of the Borlase defence with his jinking runs and ability to slip through the tackles with ease. Callum Creighton performed well in goal, deputising for the injured Jamie Gibbs, and made a number of impressive stops for a player who usually makes his mark on the game as an outfield player. Louis Ashcroft and Marcus Hillman also added some stability to the defence, but looked to get the ball forward at every opportunity. Unfortunately, Shiplake couldn't quite make their presence count with a goal, but can be very proud of their first half performance.
The second half proved a challenge as the legs began to tire, and with a key players Ollie Brown and Callum Creighton leaving at half time, Shiplake were also thin on numbers in comparison to Borliase, who could call on their squad of 16 for a regular rotation. A quick fire 3 goals in 5 minutes from short corners tilted the game in Borlase's favour and despite not giving up, Shiplake couldn't find a way back into the game.
Player of the match: Harry Rees.’
Head of Hockey Mr Tom Walter
U14A 3-5 Lord Wandsworth School
In what has come to represent the story of our season we conceded early goals and found ourselves chasing the game. After a poor opening ten minutes, Lord Wandsworth had found the net twice through lapses of concentration on our part. A third goal meant we were staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat. However, after an excellent run down the right wing from Harvey Groves-Raines, Monty Greenaway was able to find space in front of goal to hit a first time shot passed their goalkeeper to make it 3-1 to Lord Wandsworth at half time.
Almost with our first attack of the second half we made it 3-2. Some good play from Ollie Rouse-Roberts and Ed Atkinson finished off by Monty Greenaway. We piled forward looking for the equaliser, but found ourselves short at the back and Lord Wandsworth capitalised to make it 4-2. Monty finished off a superb hat-trick a minute later to put us right back in the game and 4-3, but with time running out the game was killed off as they made it 5-3.
Man of the Match – Monty Greenaway.'
Mr Jonnie Howorth
Netball
1st VII 25-12 Reddam House
‘Last Wednesday, Shiplake 1st VII played Reddam House at home. Shiplake started the match with new strategies and prepared play. The end score of the first quarter showed that this had clearly paid off with Shiplake ahead 8-2. With exceptional defence from Sophia Gibbs and Emily Duncan, Reddam were struggling to keep up with Shiplake's pace. Our set play enabled the centre court to keep possession whilst moving down the court. Accurate centre passes and shooting kept Shiplake in the lead. Another win for Shiplake has put us in a good position for our final league game next week. I would like to thank all the girls for playing so well. Player of the Match: Jess Hide.’
Lauren Way, Year 13
2nd VII 14-21 Upton Court
'Last Wednesday, Shiplake 2nd VII's played a league match against Upton Court Grammar School. In the first quarter Shiplake took the lead which boosted our positivity for this match. However, within the second quarter, Upton Court were catching up with us and we realised that their team had extremely good mid-court defence. This meant we had to change our strategy for the second half. We decided that to improve our game play we needed to be communicating better across the court, as well as slowing the pace right down to improve the accuracy of our passing and boost our score back up. In the second half, Upton Court maintained their position in the lead, resulting in the final score being 21-14 to them. Well done to all the girls who played and worked hard consistently throughout the game; and congratulations to Darcy Timms for achieving Player of the Match for the second week in a row! We are looking forward to the result of the match today against Leighton Park.'
Nadia Sherlock, Year 12