The spring term sports fixtures continued this week, with Shiplake fielding teams across football, hockey and netball. The pick of the results came from the Shiplake Hockey 2nd XI, soaring to victory with a 3-0 defeat of Windsor Boys' School! Scroll down for match reports from all our teams.
Hockey
Shiplake 2nd XI 3-0 Windsor Boys’ School
This match provided a confident win for the Shiplake team.
Starting the match with a great focus on attacking, we struggled to break the
defence of the Windsor Boys’ team, who had formed a packed defence in their D.
Frantic attempts at goal and repeated battles through a forest of sticks was
proving unsuccessful; however, the insistence of our newest recruit, Rory
O’Conor, gained a goal just at the end of the first half, making it 1-0.
The second half brought us a greater confidence and solid
teamwork. Opening up this half with spectacular ball retention and constant,
fluid passing, rewarded us with 2 further goals. These were put to the back of
the net by our leading scorer, Tom McCooke, making it the 6th goal
of the season for him, pushing him ever further up the leaderboard of scorers
to catch this season! Finn Arbuckle put in a strong performance on the right
wing and Henry Atkinson ensured good connectivity between defence and attack. A
brilliant performance also from Louis Jarvis in goal, keeping a clean sheet for
Shiplake.
Shiplake Junior Colts 1-7 Lord Wandsworth
A sluggish start to the game saw Shiplake concede two very
quick goals before they settled into any sort of rhythm. Midway through the
first half, however, Jacob Bowley was set free and calmly slotted the ball past
the keeper to bring the home side back into contention. Lord Wandsworth upped
their game at that point and picked up another goal following some slack defending.
This seemed to galvanise the combined Shiplake team and an array of
opportunities to get back on terms were squandered.
The second half saw Lord Wandsworth take the ascendency as
they rattled in another four unanswered goals against a tired Shiplake outfit,
before the final whistle brought proceedings to a close.
Mr Richard Curtis
Shiplake 1st XI 3-3 Windsor Boys’ School
Shiplake started brightly and looked positive on the attack,
with Yeem Chanthanwan and Orla Brown working hard in the middle to secure
possession. A few early chances were squandered, but Shiplake were committed to
the attack and held the upper hand for the majority of the first half. With
such emphasis on attack, there was always the opportunity that Windsor would
catch Shiplake on the break. Will Gresswell offered protection to the defensive
back 3 of Meadows, Aldridge and Peachy; however, Windsor found space in the D
to convert a bobbling ball past Tooley and into the net. Just before the break,
Shiplake took advantage of some careless defending to counter and Dan Deakin,
making his return from injury and earning him Man of the Match, pounced to
bring the score to 1-1 as the teams left the field for half time.
Shiplake started strongly after the break and some positive
attacking play from Anthony Miarli and Billy Sayers led to a short corner.
Shiplake opted for the ever productive routine of sending the ball back to
Aldridge to slide the ball under the keeper and into the Windsor goal for his
second goal in as many games. Tim Herbert kept up the running and had composure
beyond his years, not looking out of place amongst players 3 years his senior.
Windsor started throwing long balls into the box and eventually paid off as
another Windsor effort was scrambled into the goal via Aldridge’s stick.
However, Shiplake hit straight back and some good build up lead to a silky
finish from Sayers, lifting the ball over the on-rushing Windsor goalkeeper.
Shiplake should have parked the bus but a goalmouth scramble 5 minutes from
time lead to another goal for Windsor. We were disappointed to leave without
the win but will look to build on this result as we head into a week of 2
fixtures.
Mr Tom Walter
Football
Shiplake 1st XI 0-1 Abingdon School
We came into the game ready to put up a fight, and were met
with a very evenly matched Abingdon side. The match kicked off with an
aggressive start, creating chances at each end of the pitch. Shiplake’s defence
was strong with Nick Burnage and Freddie Lock making some crucial interceptions
at the back. However, a fortunate cross and an unlucky mistake from the keeper
resulted in a goal for Abingdon. Callum Heppner-Logan made some brilliant
saves, keeping our adrenaline high and the goal count at 1 for the first half.
An inspirational team talk from our manager, Mr Richard
Ebbage, galvanised us for the second half and chances were created for Adam
Hunt and Markland Tidswell. Unfortunately, these were narrowly wide of the
post. Freddie Ireland put in a fantastic performance, missing the target by a
whisker, but making some spectacular runs. The last few minutes saw Rauari Van
Raatle come onto the pitch, tearing up Abingdon’s defence. A header from
Shiplake flew just past the post, and the full-time whistle called time on an
incredibly close match.
1st XI coach Mr Ebbage claimed that ‘this was
probably our best performance of the season so far against a strong side, our
defence performed solidly limiting their attacking opportunities. Markus Grun
had a great chance in the last minute and on another day we could have got a
point.’
Mr Tom Banks, Senior Football Captain
Shiplake 3rd XI 1-7 Abingdon School
Will Janes was our only goalscorer in a tough match against
a strong side. Difficult day at the office!
Shiplake 4th XI 1-3 Abingdon School
We were narrowly defeated by Abingdon School in a tense away game. Abingdon soared into an early lead when awarded a penalty after a handball from our Captain, but we pulled back with enthusiasm. Seb Rivett and Callum James were playing expertly at the back. This was met by renewed vigour from Abingdon and with it brought the score up to 2-0, despite a flamboyant performance from our keeper, Philliskirk. A red card for Abingdon provided a real break for us, and James Vizard sailed a goal through the net to make the score 2-1 at half-time.
Bringing a hunger for an equaliser to the second half, Ollie West and James Vizard were a force to be reckoned and gave an outstanding performance. However, it simply wasn’t enough to get that all important second goal and the match ended with Abingdon narrowly defeating us 3-0. Ollie West deservedly received Man of the Match.
Shiplake U14A 2-0 Claires' Court
Both
teams started the game strongly with the ball being tossed around in midfield.
A chance from Claires Court was met with brilliant defence tactics from our
team, and the ball got shifted into the midfield. Matty Fitzgerald
struck the ball crisply into the top corner from outside the box. Counter
attacking is a prominent strength and we knew to play this to our advantage. Claires Court played a
strong first half, making the most of their chances. They finished the first
half very strongly, with a striker getting a one on one with Ben Dinsdale.
However, Dinsdale performed a spectacular save and kept us on top for the end
of the first half.
The second half saw some substitutions for us, and pressing high up the pitch
forced errors from Claires Court. Our second goal was set up beautifully from a
through-ball, with Callum Theodorou calmly slipping it to the back of the net. It
was 2-0 to Shiplake with 15 minutes to go. We sat off and played more
defensively, determined to keep a clean sheet. Claires Court played strongly,
getting a ball to the striker. However, this was no match for Josh Howard, who
managed to keep the player from scoring, keeping a clean sheet and finishing
the game 2-0 to Shiplake.
Shiplake
2nd XI 0-9 Abingdon
We
started well, with some early possession and territory. After 15 minutes it was
still a shut out, but Abingdon had begun to pile pressure onto the Shiplake
goal. This pressure eventually proved too much for our defence and Abingdon,
after taking advantage of a mix up in the box, scored the opener. This then
prompted Head Coach Miller to make an inspired tactical change to the
formation…back to trusty 442. This master-stroke only served to open the
proverbial flood gates, and it was 5-0 by half-time.
Despite
some excellent displays of commitment, particularly from Ben Arnold, Tom
Harman, Luke Wilkinson and Toby Brough, Shiplake were unable to get themselves
back into the game, leaving the final score Shiplake, nil- Abingdon, many.
Netball
Shiplake
College 6-39 Pangbourne College
Our
sixth match of the season showed some positive improvements in our teamwork and
communication, no doubt emphasised by our Monday training sessions. We were
fortunate to have our former coach, Lou Porter, on hand for umpiring and
motivation. The first quarter saw strong possession for Pangbourne. However,
our strong attacking team supported Chloe Goodman, player of the match, through
the Pangbourne defence and she scored our first goal. Our defence team put up
an aggressive performance in the third quarter, working well together and
allowing Chloe to score another goal. Pangbourne fought back, matching our
determination. Beth Jones scored a fantastic goal, closely followed by Chloe
scoring another 3. The final quarter was split into two 7-minute sections.
Pangbourne missed a handful of opportunities thanks to strong rebounds from
Emma Haynes, Liv Bird and Annabel Seward. Emily Dewell, playing Centre, was on
hand to receive the ball and make some fantastic passes, allowing us to score
further goals against a solid opposition.
Emily
Dewell and Kate Horn
To access all the fixtures and results of our sports team, please click here.