Sports Report 18 November 2025

18 November 2025

Where to begin with this week's Sports Report?! So many sports feature and too many postive results to list! In Hockey, our senior girls dominated their Hockey Night Lights fixture, our senior boys edged out their opponents in their football cup match, and our rowers have been in action across the last couple of weeks. Plus, we include all the wins from the rugby, hockey, and football pitches for our junior teams!

Rowing

At the Boston Small Boats Head, 19 Shiplake pupils raced in their single sculls with some really good results. Alice Dargue finished 2nd in Junior 18, Aaliyah Hall finished 2nd in Junior 17, Barney Doyle finished 4th in Junior 18, Ella Butler finished 5th in Junior 17, Isis Thurnham finished 6th in Junior 17, Zac Young finished 6th Junior 17, Ottille Campbell-Reide finished 6th Junior 18, Luke Johnston finished 7th in Junior 17, Artem Soloviov finished 11th Junior 17, and Tilly Foreman finished 19th Junior 18.

At the inaugural Junior Fours Head event this weekend, we also had 10 crews in action where there was a win for our J16 4x+ while in the Op Sch/Jun 4+ B event, our crew came in 2nd place. There were also 3rd and 4th place finishes for our W Sch/Jun 4+ and W Sch/Jun 4- boats respectively, and another 4th place finish for our Op Sch/Jun 4+ boat.

Hockey

Girls’ 1st XI vs St Joseph’s School (Hockey Night Lights)

In our Hockey Night Lights game, some fantastic hockey was played from both teams. St Joseph’s had some talented players as well as some amazing team spirit throughout the game however our girls pulled through with a 6-0 win. Spirits were high and the girls played so well together, especially considering how nervous the Year 12s were to play in front of a big crowd. Player of the Match was awarded to B Thompson and Players’ Player went to C Brown. The girls should be so proud of their performance!

Report: T Nicholson, Girls’ 1st XI Hockey Captain

Girls’ 1st XI vs Leighton Park

Our game against Leighton Park was a 3-3 draw with both teams very strong in their play. They scored first, putting them 1-0 up however our girls were able to fight back with A Godfrey getting a goal to bring it to 1-1. Just before half time A Gillington scored an amazing short corner brining us up 2-1. In the second half B Thompson got us up 3-1, but Leighton Park didn’t stop there with two amazing break throughs in the last 10 minutes of the game leaving it 3-3 at the end. Player of the Match went to B Thompson and Players’ Player went to L Broadly and Coaches played went to H Gresty-Evans.

Report: T Nicholson, Girls’ 1st XI Hockey Captain

Girls’ U13s vs Claires Court

The A team played very competitively leading 1-0 at half time. The Claires Court GK made some excellent saves blocking a great shot on goal by A Longdon that was heading for top left corner. Shiplake continued to attack well and after taking a few balls, managed to secure a convincing win 3-0. Players of the Match were M Reed-Ryan and L Amos-Yeo. Due to pupil illness, the B team match was played with 7 outfield players and no goalies. It was a convincing win for the Bs with a 12-1 win. Player of the Match was E Bacon.

Football

Boys' 1st XI vs Wetherby Senior School (IFSFA Bowl National Cup - Round 2)

The game started in a very cagey manner with both teams pressing high to win the ball back and not allowing any team to gain possession of the ball. This remained the case until Wetherby's winger was able to win himself a penalty, which was resultantly blazed over the bar keeping the scores level. However, the deadlock was broken just before half time when a shot was parried out by the keeper and C Zhou reacted quickly to tap in the rebound. The second half started and Shiplake gained complete control of the game moving the ball with intent and speed it soon saw this rewarded with a brilliant finish from F McCalley to make it 2-0, before A Hooker's left footed shot after a quick counter-attack went through the goalkeepers' legs. This left Shiplake 3-0 up with 20 minutes left on the clock. However, a late comeback saw Wetherby fight back to end the game 3-3.

With the light fading, it meant just a 10-minute period of extra time and Shiplake started brightly when after 2 minutes D Johnson-Greenwood hit a left footed shot that nestled into the bottom left corner of the goal. However, again Shiplake were unable to hold out, and Wetherby soon equalised with a free kick. In the last few minutes Shiplake did well to hold out from the confident Wetherby and meant that penalties were once again required to settle this tie.

In the shootout, I Morris kept up his fine record to give Shiplake the advantage before R Elms had the chance to send Shiplake through to the next round, which he was able to do confidently. A tremendous game of football that was full of constant thrills! Man of the Match had to go to I Morris who was superb throughout the tie and again showed what great resilience this Shiplake team have.

Girls’ 1st XI vs Kingston Grammar School

The Shiplake Girls unfortunately ended up second best in this encounter with Kingston very much being in the ascendancy. A rapid start from Kingston in which they went 1-0 up inside 45 seconds put Shiplake on the back foot and it soon became 3-0. However, after this rocky start Shiplake soon regathered themselves and set up some good chance of their own, which weren't quite taken, and against the run of play Kingston made it 4-0. The second half restarted, and Kingston quickly grabbed a fifth, but this gave Shiplake a new life who ended the game putting together some lovely patterns of play. Overall, a tough game but plenty of learning opportunities to take going forwards.

Boys' U15A vs Kew House

A really spirited and determined team performance from all involved in this very close cup encounter. It started off a very balanced fixture with both teams looking very dangerous going forwards when the ball was turned over. It was Shiplake who managed to take the lead after a cross was deflected and fell back to H Sargent who fired it into the bottom left corner. However, Kew House were able to get back on level terms very quickly with a header from a set piece. Then soon after, Kew House managed to make it 2-1 from a corner, however from that point onwards Shiplake dominated the game but were unable to find the equaliser in the time that remained. Overall, a good platform for the Year 10s to build on as we head into the football term.

Boys' U13A vs Cranford School

This was a thrilling match full of blood and thunder (both metaphorical) as well as passages of silky skills and excellent finishes. Cranford are a talented team, with outstanding wingers and solid defence and they bossed the first quarter of an hour, setting up some intricate passing patterns. It wasn't long before they were 2-0 up. But this team are confident in their abilities and, when they play to their strengths, are a potent attacking force. Shortly before half time, Shiplake dragged themselves back into the game, with A Gilbart-Smith finishing smartly after some ping pong in the penalty area. Shiplake came out of the blocks quickly in the second half and equalised with a beautifully worked goal. Excellent work down the wing from T Sales led to a tantalising cross which H Ellison put home with aplomb. Cranford were rocking and were probably there for the taking but as the game went on, things became more stretched, leaving us vulnerable. A failure to clear the lines set up Cranford's third before a breakaway fourth goal left things at 4-2, a scoreline which flattered Cranford, although they did edge the fixture and deserved to win.

Boys' U13B vs Luckley House School

If you wanted to see spirit, determination and pride in the badge, then the U13B fixture was the game to be at today. Against a Luckley House Team made up predominantly of their A team, we gave them a proper match! Luckley took the lead early on, but Shiplake rallied with amazing defending from D Curran, A Woodrow, R Kean, F Horne. We absorbed quite a lot of pressure, but our keepers were superb with numerous wonder saves from O Harford and D Penney. However, when we had the ball, we looked dangerous and S Hashemi tucked away a neat finish to make the final score 1-1. We were unfortunate not to win with a missed penalty, but I was truly impressed with the progress of this team. Special mention to J Greer, A Gleeson and C Hodgson for their work rate throughout the match but this really was a great team effort.

Boys' U12A vs Luckley House School

A controversial goal in the first half separated the two teams at half time with Shiplake 1-0 up. It was a difficult first half with the U12As struggling to break through a strong opposition defence. The message at half time was to step up as a team and put pressure on their defence when on the ball, and with exactly that, the goals started to come with W Parle providing the pick of the bunch. Final score was 4-0 to Shiplake, with one final league game to go before the play off fixtures begin.

Boys’ U12B vs Luckley House School

The Bs started well, stringing together a few well worked passing moves to create multiple chances. Two great converted crosses, and B Rickerby also found the net to make it 3-0. Shiplake took their foot off the gas and let Luckley House back in the game, conceding a goal from a corner through a lack of concentration. The second half produced better quality attacking football with shots coming from all angles. A Chester Towler scored two and T Bentley scored from the edge of the box. E Jones rounded off the goals with a well taken strike just inside the area.