Sports Report 1 March 2022

Today's Sports Report includes some fantastic results for our rowing crews at Hammersmith Head on the weekend and in football before half term, the girls' teams won both their matches against Salesian College. 

Rowing

On Sunday, the Boat Club raced in London on the Tideway at Hammersmith Head. With all the top rowing schools competing at this event it was a good test for all our crews to see where they currently place. 

The girls' quad did fantastically, winning the J18 girls' quad race.

Shiplake also entered four eights into the event, the girls' boat was the first time they had raced with this crew formation and their first time Shiplake girls have raced in an eight on the Tideway. They managed to achieve seventh place with a very small margin to the third place crew. 

The boys' squad entered three boats. The Second Eight finished second in their division but placed as the fastest school in the Second Eight event. The Third Eight placed as the second fastest Third Eight in the event just behind Radley College. 

The First Eight took part in the Open Eights Championship and managed to place fourth place, behind three university crews beating all local rival rowing schools such as Eton, St Paul's, Radley and many more. This is an amazing outcome and leaves the boys motivated for the Schools' Head of the River in two week's time, where they hope to retain the trophy from two years ago.

Report by W Fisher, Captain of Boys' Boats

Football

Girls' Team 1 

On Wednesday 16 February, Shiplake's Girls' Football Team played Salesian College. It was a wet and windy day but the girls still managed to make the game their best. Within the first two minutes of the game, E Browne scored an amazing goal, setting the team up for an amazing win. There was excellent defending from M Adams and M Berry, trying to prevent Salesian from scoring as much as possible. At the end of half time, the score was even at 1-1. The girls knew they had to give it their all in the second half. As the second half continued, E Browne scored another stunning goal, with the ball rolling past the goalies hands, making the score 2-1 to us, giving us the advantage. As the game progressed, G Garner was persistent with her defending and even managed to do a slide tackle! Our Player of the Match went to our goalie R Allen for her amazing saves and attitude on pitch. The final score was 2-1 to Shiplake and the teachers and I couldn’t be prouder of the girls for our first win of the season! Thank you to Salesian College for the fun game and to the girls for their amazing positive attitude. 

Report by I Hepburn

Girls' Team 2 

Team 2 had a great victory against Salesians this week! The girls headed onto the pitch ready to try their very hardest and with the objective of scoring some goals. The first goal was scored by E Lambert and shortly after Salesians scored an own goal from a Shiplake corner. This made the score 2-0 at half-time. A few minutes into the second half, Salesian scored a goal and a little while later another goal as the ball went between the Shiplake goalie's legs. The Shiplake girls did not let this phase them as they continued to fight, striving to win the game. The final Shiplake goal was fed into the box by a big kick from E Lambert and S Reid taking a touch before striking the ball into the back of the net, making the final score 3-2. The girls are so proud of themselves and showed great sportsmanship throughout the game. Player of the Match went to the Shiplake goalie E Harris, who made some impressive goal kicks allowing the play to advance up the pitch and allowing Shiplake to go on an attacking break. 

Report by E Lambert