This week's Sports Report is ram-packed as we catch up on all the sports fixtures and events from the previous week. There were three basketball fixtures across the U14, U16, and U18 level, girls' junior and senior hockey, and block rugby fixtures against Cokethorpe School. Meanwhile, in equestrianism, we had two pupils competing at the NSEA Show Jumping competition.
Basketball
1st VII vs The Forest School, Winnersh
The undefeated Shiplake 1st basketball team travelled away to The Forest School, Winnersh. Shiplake played well out of the tip off, ending the first quarter just 2 points behind the home side,14-12. C Carey (who scored a season-high 19 points at final whistle) continued his strong performance from the first quarter into the second. However, the Shiplake offence was unable to keep pace with the Forest offence, which increased the lead to 34-19 by half time. J Greig-Bartram's hustle and 6-point scoring run in the fourth quarter helped to eat into this lead nonetheless, Shiplake went down 38-58.
Coach: Mr Cartwright
U16 vs Luckley House
From the beginning, Shiplake’s control of the ball was very effective leading to a comfortable lead after the first two quarters. The last quarters saw the gap increasing considerably between the two teams. The final score was 37-12 for Shiplake.
Top scorers: K O’Connor with 19 points, and C Zhou with 12 points.
Best defenders: R O’Boyle and J Henshall
Coach: Dr Rousseau
U14 vs Luckley House
The U14 basketball team maintained their 100% winning record in their debut season in the Berkshire Schools Basketball League against Luckley House School with a 48-8 win. This team is starting to look like a well-oiled machine with cohesion at an all-time high. With regimented defending and fast flowing attacks, Luckley were unable to deal with the constant pressure being applied by Shiplake and to top it off, every player in the team got on the scoresheet. Player of the Game went to S Cripps.
Coach: Mr Gingell
Equestrianism
On Saturday 25 November, Year 10’s J Dag and Year 7’s E Wright represented Shiplake College at the NSEA Show Jumping competition at Berkshire College of Agriculture, organised by Pangbourne College.
Both jumped incredible rounds over tough courses in big classes against some very stiff competition, but E Wright’s performance in the 90cm was outstanding. This placed her 6th overall, and the highest placed rider from schools in Oxfordshire.
Hockey
Girls’ U18A vs Reading Blue Coat School
Our final league game of the season was against Reading Blue Coat. This game came with an intense atmosphere from the start, with the B team coming to watch and support on the sidelines. In the first half of the match, everyone was playing to their very best standards, and we finished the first half level at 1-1 after A Botterill scored an incredible goal in off the post. There was excellent play seen from A Flower and G Weedon in the middle of the pitch, pushing the ball up well to E Bell, E Dickson and L Cheek. Going into the second half the game, Blue Coat had many chances at goal and while most were saved by our amazing keeper, R Acton, Blue Coat were able to score 3 more goals from short corners, making the final score 4-1. There was brilliant play shown from the Shiplake girls, with awesome defending from S Pendlebury, F Lenthall and O Clarke. Congratulations to everyone who played, especially to R Acton who received Players’ Player, O Parkin who was Player of the Match and E Bell who received Coach's Player.
Well done everyone; what an amazing Hockey Season it has been!
Report: O Parkin, A Team Hockey Captain
Coaches: Mrs Lovelock & Miss James
Girls’ U12s vs Reddam House
On Wednesday 22 November, our girls’ U12 A and B hockey teams took on Reddam House in two 7-a-side fixtures at home. This was our final match of the hockey season and all the girls played with tenacity and secured two wins.
The A team won 3-2 with A De Felice, T Lawrence, and L Jones getting on the scoreboard. Not to be outdone, the Bs won their match 3-1 with D Carlsson, A Williams, and M Green getting the goals.
Players of the Match were T Lawrence for the As, and E Chester for the Bs.
Coaches: Mrs Neill & Miss Lane
Rugby
1st XV vs Cokethorpe
The 1st XV looked to bounce back following the previous weekend’s disappointment, and they didn't let us down. The boys produced their best and most complete performance of the year against a physical Cokethorpe team. H Brough took no prisoners and set the tone physically at the breakdown, W Diver and P White kept the team moving at an exceptional pace, and N Scotchbrook produced a Player of the Match performance with 70 minutes of relentless physicality during all phases of play. Captain B Zacharias managed the referee very well and allowed his team the head space to play whilst taking on his role and leading by example.
The game was dominated by Shiplake, but a few poor penalties and a little bit of white line fever kept Cokethorpe in it right until the final whistle. Relentless defence from H Benton at the end combined with some strong W Rider carries nearly made the scoreline a little more comfortable, but an amazing team performance nonetheless and now we look for some consistency going into the final two games of the season.
Final score: Shiplake College 22-17 Cokethorpe
Coach: Mr Edwards
2nd XV vs Cokethorpe
A tough, physical battle for the 2nd XV which saw them trail an athletic and tenacious Cokethorpe side for most of the game. Some great play from H Arnold, E Thomas and G Baker wasn't enough to level the scores until late into the second half, but as the sun set, the boys found themselves bundling over the line to take the lead. A tense defensive battle ensued and Shiplake found themselves coming away with a 10-5 victory after a stressful final 10-minutes.
Coaches: Mr Wheeler & Mr Wozencroft
U16s vs Cokethorpe
During the week away from the action, the U16s had been hard at work on the training ground, and this showed in the opening few minutes against Cokethorpe, with Shiplake scoring a well worked converted try early on. Cokethorpe then regrouped and made the remainder of the half difficult; our boys grew more and more frustrated as the half went on and this highlighted some areas for improvement. A positive half-time team talk, however, lifted spirits and again we started the half off well. This time, we demonstrated our skill set with some excellent attacking play and physical battles throughout the 2nd half. In true M Taylor-FitzGibbon fashion, a powerful run was the pick of the bunch as Shiplake completed a strong performance with a 29-0 scoreline. S Pickering, F Russell, E Iu and C Nash-Steer also contributed to the scoreline. B Demery, Z McConkey, O Beaney and F Adcock were all also instrumental in controlling play and ensuring we played the style of rugby we have become accustomed to seeing.
Coaches: Mr Heaney, Mr Lawson & Mr Beckett
U15s vs Cokethrope
The U15s’ unbeaten run continues. Without some key players, lots of other players had to step up and show what they were made of.
Within the first 20 minutes, it became clear that the depth in this group is outstanding. Four tries up with some great play from W Huckle controlling the game. M Crane and A Crane showed off their rucking skills and set this standard for the whole game. O Clark, J Waldegrave and Z Wood came on in the second half and made a real difference while S Gibson controlled the game well during the many rotations. The boys finished a powerful display to win 45-7.
Coach: Mr Cooper
U14A vs Cokethorpe
The U14As lacked confidence after a couple of recent defeats, and this showed again in this fixture. An aggressive and physical opposition pounced on this lack of tenacity from Shiplake to score 6 unanswered tries though the boys bounced back to score a well-earned consolation try that started from way back in our own 22. A meeting with Mr Edwards on the day after the game and some soul searching has the boys ready and raring to finish the final two weeks in a positive way and get back to playing their brand of positive and exciting rugby.
Coach: Mr Bradley
U14B vs Cokethorpe
The U14Bs bounced back from a tough game against Lord Wandsworth to dominate this contest from the kick-off. Our target was to move the ball into space whenever possible and every player looked to follow this plan. There were two tries apiece for J Pearson and T Sharp, and their direct running was a threat throughout. Special mentions to forwards Z Miles and F Bigmore Wallace, who were present at nearly every breakdown.
Final score: Shiplake College 36-5 Cokethorpe
Coach: Mr Jones
U13A vs Cokethorpe
After a tough fixture against Lord Wandsworth College, the U13As had another meaningful and effective training block in preparation for their penultimate game against Cokethorpe. The hope was that things would click into place on game day, and we would put it all together and to good effect.
From the first whistle, it was clear that this Shiplake team was very eager to put points on the board and to keep hold of possession. It was particularly pleasing to see that there was a clear effort to protect the ball at the breakdown, and ensure it was recycled for the next phase. With the team being marshalled by L Waldegrave, O Thorpe, G Huckle and H Woodward, who all showed excellent communication and awareness, it was not long before our first try came - and it was terrific to see that it was scored out wide!
Cokethorpe quickly rallied and scored a try of their own, but this was followed by a Shiplake try, again on the wing, with F Jenkins being the try scorer.
After discussing where we wanted to see improvements - with a particular focus on forwards working harder at the breakdown - the Shiplake team took full control of the second half. The floodgates opened and we scored four more tries through excellent attacking rugby, and effective defence.
Particular mentions this week go to F Jenkins who scored a hat-trick of tries and to G Huckle for some excellent attacking lines and decision making. L Ellison also defended terrifically, E Morgan for his work at the breakdown, and L Waldegrave for his communication and game management.
Final score: Shiplake 30-5 Cokethorpe
Coach: Mr Armstrong
U12A vs Cokethrope
A fantastic match against Cokethorpe in what was the best performance of the season despite being on the end of a couple disappointing decisions. The first half was end to end with both teams scoring good tries resulting in a 2-2 scoreline at half-time. Shiplake were very motivated in the second half with the intensity really ramping up, but Cokethorpe scored a couple of cheap tries. However, Shiplake responded in true 'warrior' style to bring it back to 4-4. But alas, Cokethorpe scored in the final few moments to make it 5-4 which on balance, seemed a little generous to them. The team should be proud of their efforts and for putting into place so much of what we have been working on in training.
Try scorers: L Moss, T Jackson, O Wray and G Denning.
Coach: Mr Crisford
U12B vs Cokethrope
The U12B winning machine marches on. The best half of rugby of the season saw Shiplake post two unanswered tries through A Gern-Gross and E English. The tackling was exceptional, and we protected the ball well. It was clear that the boys were trying to put Mr Edwards' training sessions into practice, with the defence very well organised.
The half-time talk was simply about supporting breakaway runners and using the overlap, and we managed both, scoring three more tries, two for G Leach and another for A Gern-Gross.
Despite conceding a couple of late tries, the 5-2 victory was fully deserved.
Coach: Mr Ralph
Flickr album: Sports Report 28 November 2023 |
Height: auto |
Theme: Default | Skin: Default Skin
