sports results and reports

Match reports 29 March 2012

Year 8 District Netball Tournament
Mon 12th March 2012
Amani Essakhi, Frankie Wood, Millie Wilkie, Lucy Leach, Darcy Norgan, Charlotte Woodman, Marion Nuttall

The girls played solidly  in their pool matches winning 2, drawing 2 and losing 2 which earned us, due to goal difference, a place in the Plate semi Finals.
There were some fantastic examples of play from Frankie Wood’s agility in the shooting circle, Amani’s consistency of shooting (practice makes perfect!), Millie’s much-improved one-handed ball control, Darcy’s pressure on her WA and the energy of Lucy Leach at Centre kept it all flowing from attack to defence.  Our defence was consistently strong and the team were very grateful to Charlotte for stepping in at the very last minute to play GD to support Marion’s numerous interceptions.

The girls unfortunately lost their semi final game against  Barclay in the last minute by only 1 goal (3 – 4) which was a great shame as it proved they were on a par with the teams who played in the final.  Though that gives the team something to aim for next year!

Year 9 District Netball Tournament
Thurs 15th March 2012
Lucy Lapham, Lucie Spurgeon, Ella McPherson (c), Lauren Clark, Sadie Gray, Holly Wright, Hester Lee, Lili Cox.

To say I was proud of the girls’ performances in this tournament would be a huge understatement.  Each individual played to the best of her ability and there is no one I can single out who tried harder than anyone else.  It was the epitome of sportsmanship and teamwork.
The girls played hard in all of their 6 pool matches – winning every game – including those against arch rivals PHC and HGS B.  Lucy and Lucie scored an impressive 47 goals in their 60 minutes of game time and Hester and Lili only allowed their 6 opposing teams to score 11 goals in total!  The centre court strength and resiliance of Ella, Lauren, Sadie and Holly was phenomenal in keeping the ball in our possession.
PHC 10 – 0; Highfield 6 – 2; Nobel 11- 1; Priory 4 – 3; HGS B 5 – 1; Meridian 11 – 4.

This led to a well-deserved place in the Semi-finals against HGS ‘A’!  We knew they were going to be a strong side to beat and it looked dubious in the first half when we were losing 1-0 but the girls stepped up their play again in the second half to fight back and win 5 – 3 and secure themselves a place in the Final…against JHN.  They had lost to their very strong team in the previous week’s League game so our girls were anxious but they played incredibly well again and made JHN work hard to earn their goals.  Our girls did unfortunately lose that final game (4 – 8) but the feeling within the team, and from those watching, was that they had played their very best and had maintained their superb level of performance throughout the tournament.  A true testament to the consistent effort they have put in at practices during the season.  The girls deserved every goal they scored in the tournament and their medals at the end…they were a pleasure to watch on the court.

Match Reports 9th March 2012

St Christopher School Match Reports 9th March 2012

U14 Girls District Football Tournament
Year 8 Team: Helen Harrison, Lauren Thomas (GK), Millie Wilkie, Rosa Loosemoore, Tuscany Talbot-Brady
Year 9 Team: Lucy Lapham, Hester Lee, Sasha Hammond, Rachel Holmes (GK), Sadie Gray

On Thursday 1st March two 5-a-side teams from St Chris set off to play in the U14 Girls District Football Tournament.  A training session took place in the week leading to the event and a mixture of girls from Years 8 & 9 seemed excited for the big event.
Our Year 9 Team played Nobel first and were well organised scoring a penalty (Hester Lee) and showing some fast thinking by taking a quick free kick to make it 2-0 (Sasha Hammond). After winning their first match they played Highfield and HGS who, unfortunately, were both very well-rehearsed and showed skills which took them to the later stages of the tournament. In the final group game, the Year 9s showed true grit and team spirit but unfortunately lost 0-2 after some good work by the Barnwell’s goalkeeper.
Our Year 8 team also played very strong teams in their first two games (Priory & JHN) but things picked up in the third match were they were only marginally beaten (0-2 against Marriotts). The team played with a lot of heart and demonstrated some interesting goal celebrations but were unable to gain enough points to make the next stages. 
It was very encouraging to see all the girls working hard and representing the School, in what is not a regular sport for St Chris girls, but they all seemed to come away from the day with smiles and tales to tell.  Well done to all!

Association Football

Week commencing the 5th March was a very busy week in terms of fixtures the first of which saw our Senior boys (U19) take on Hitchin Boys School on what turned out to be a lovely sunny Tuesday afternoon. The boys started the game brilliantly, playing at a high tempo and almost laying siege to the Hitchin goal. Hitchin Boys seemed to have no answer to the pace and movement of our front players and in the first half in particular Hugo Weaver was outstanding. Despite the good football that we played our first goal came from excellent pressure initially from the tireless Seye Fassan from the right flank which led to an indifferent back pass from a Hitchin defender and further pressing from Weaver led to James Lynch coolly poking home despite heavy pressure. This goal seemed to buoy our confidence and after withstanding the initially expected backlash from our opponents we preceded to play our finest period of football. The impressive Weaver added a superb second smashing the ball home with his weaker foot from full on twenty five yards. The ball flew in at a reasonable height for the goalkeeper and quite close to the centre of the goal however the keeper was rooted to the spot due the ferocity of the strike. Our third goal came just before the close of the half and was the best in terms of team play and build up. Stephen Hughes, another tireless performer, who patrolled up and down the left flank, played a delightful one two with Jez Adams before slinging in a whipped cross that evaded the Hitchin goalkeeper and three defenders before Weaver applied the finishing touches tapping in at the far post.

In the second half HBS came back strongly and were the better side. We seemed content to soak up pressure and to try to play on the counter attack, which to be fair we always looked a threat. However Jack Cottrell, our goalkeeper, was undoubtedly our man of the match in the second period. He made a string of outstanding saves including an incredible penalty stop, which in the context of the game was probably decisive. HBS did eventually pull a goal back but thanks to a superb defensive, team effort the boys were able to see the game out.

On Wednesday afternoon after a horrendous downpour our Year 8 or II Group boys supplemented by a handful of Year 7 or I Group boys took on Kings Ely, an independent school from Cambridge. This was a superb game with both teams looking to play expansive, progressive football and featured in my opinion some of the finest goals you are likely to see in a school boy fixture.  Furthermore I would probably venture this is the finest performance I have seen since I was appointed at St Chris. Wave after wave of attack was rewarded when Max Ryan got the ball rolling goals wise, with an accomplished left foot finish into the corner after a fine double save by the Kings Ely goalkeeper. Joe Holden added a superb second at the near post with a towering, bullet header after fine work down the left flank by Zak Jackson, who retrieved a ball that many would have given up for dead before delivering a pin point cross. Sam Whale added a third with a thunderous drive into the top left hand corner from the outside right position on the edge of the area. Harrison Cole scored our fourth with an impossible finish from an acute angle after rounding the goalkeeper. Zak Jackson scored with a superb chip from another difficult angle before Max Ryan added our sixth goal from thirty odd yards with a superbly taken free kick. Although every goal scored was superb what was really pleasing was the impressive team performance against what was a very useful Kings Ely team. However it would be remiss not to offer particular congratulations should go to the I group students who featured; George Balden, Toby Edbroke, Joe Holden and Sam Whale who all performed with some distinction.

 The Senior team played their second match of the week against Meridian school that were playing their first match of the season. We played on one of the biggest pitches I have ever seen, which I’m sure Barcelona train on, and unfortunately their impressive winning streak came to its end.  Meridian were a well drilled team who utilised their strengths extremely well notably pace and simply football, crossing the ball early into dangerous areas, to devastating effect. St. Christopher played some good football in parts but unfortunately by the end of the first half the damage had been done and ultimately the boys were staring at their first defeat against what was an extremely strong team. Highlights came from Seye Fassan scoring with a brave header, and Jack Cottrell making a sting of excellent saves as his goal was peppered with efforts and his second penalty save of the week.

Sports report 25 January

II/ III  and IV Group Five-a-side Tournament 17th and 18th January 2012
This week we entered two small sided Football tournaments with the II and III group combined and the IV group. They played against schools from around the district and were hosted by Knights Templar and Meridian Schools.
The IV group were in a pool with Barnwell, John Henry Newman and Priory unfortunately they lost all the games, but were particularly unlucky against both Barnwell and John Henry pressing really well in both games and having a lot of possession but unfortunately scoring was the biggest issue in the end. Well done it was a tough group and I hope they can be encourage by these performances. The team included; Guy Palmer, Max Norrington, Nick Cueto, Josh Evely, Callum Bols, Andy Camp, Alex Lokes, Wilf Dutton, Ro Osindero
The II and II Group played on a bitterly cold night and were in a group with John Henry Newman, Marriotts, and Barnwell B team. They started extremely well against Marriotts winning the game 3 – 0 with goals from Max Ryan, Ravi Chopra and Joe Syrett. Next they played Barnwell B and won 2 – 0 with goals from Ravi Chopra and Max Ryan, both matches they enjoyed great possession on the ball, due to their impressive technique and accurate passing. The last match was against John Henry Newman which they drew 0 – 0 this was a tough match and with St. Chris playing 3 games in a row fatigue and injuries started to show. As a result St. Chris won their pool and went through to the final against Knights Templar (hosting school). Unfortunately St. Chris could not continue the high tempo that they first started with KTS showing why ball possession is so important, eventually St. Chris conceded a goal after wave of attacks despite Finley Kamen’s outstanding efforts between the sticks. This meant St. Chris were chasing the game and attacked in greater numbers, a final counter attack in the last few minutes meant KTS scored again and the game was then out of sight. It was a fantastic effort and the boys played some great football throughout the tournament, particularly in the pool games. The team was Finley Kamen, Ravi Chopra, Joseph Syrett, Zak Jackson, Adem Hassan, Cameron Badeshia & Max Ryan.

I Group v II Group Basketball 19th January 2012
In light of several fixtures being cancelled recently by other schools we decided to have a One Group against Two Group fixture. Mind you, we did it properly as though it were a fixture against another school, both teams wore school kits, we had one member of staff scoring, recording fouls and timing as well as two others refereeing. We even had parents and students making up a good body of spectators. All the trappings! It was a fantastic match keenly competitive but played in a lovely spirit. The One Group took an early lead and dominated the first two quarters due to some really clinical basketball as well as some patient build up. Particularly impressive in the first two quarters were Archie Davies, who possesses an unerring lay up shot and Joey Harrison who dictated play sensibly from the ball carrier position. The Two group managed to hang onto the coat tails of the One group just keeping in touching distance scoreboard-wise and by the third quarter began to assert their authority. Harrison Cole after a very shaky start and countless travelling violations began to hit his lay up and Cameron Badeshia who had been impressive throughout became increasingly more influential in the latter stages of the third and fourth quarter. In the end the score line somewhat flattered the Two group, who did deserve a close victory but they were definitely given tougher game than they expected by the young whipper snappers, who will only get better with experience.

IV Group Netball Match v Fearnhill School 18th January 2012
Lost 2 – 12
During the game there were some examples of dynamism from individual players and evidence of consistency from Amy, Maddy and Isobel in the Centre court but unfortunately our result reflects the need for more practices when all the team are able to play together as one cohesive unit.  See you on the court ladies!

I Group Netball Match v Priory School 19th January 2012

We had our second league match of the season on Thursday all students were very excited and singing along in the school bus on the way. Unfortunately we got off to a slow start and let the opposition dominate the first half of the match. After a half time talk about close marking and being more assertive in 50-50 balls we played much better. The final score we lost 15-5 the second half being a much better standard from St Chris and only allowing Priory to score 4 goals. I group had some really good passages of play but to improve our overall standard we need to come to practice more regularly on both Monday lunchtime and Wednesday after school and then I'm sure our results will improve.

Happy New Year!

St Christopher Match Report January 13th 2012

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas and a Happy New Year? Thankfully the students have returned to school in peak physical condition and are straight back into fixtures. They obviously haven’t over indulged this festive period and as a result have acquitted themselves admirably this first week back!

Year 7 Basketball Vs. Barnwell

St. Christopher 17 Barnwell 20

A packed Sports Hall on Thursday afternoon saw Year 7 play their first competitive Basketball match for the school, in what turned out to be a narrow win for the away team. The boys put a lot of effort in across the four quarters and were unlucky not to come away with a victory. The team stuck to their positions and meaning that they maintained a good shape and balance throughout. The work and commitment they have displayed attending lunchtime training was clear and was particularly evident in some of the baskets they scored with flowing team play. Well done to all the boys, they did the school proud.

Year 9 Netball v Marriotts and HGS
The girls played brilliantly and it was great to see Sadie Gray return to the team after a year in Hong Kong.  The shooting in the Marriotts game was consistently accurate by Lucy Lapham and Lucie Spurgeon leading us to an 11 – 0 victory.  We then played Hitchin Girls who were a stronger side but we fought hard and with the strong centre court play from Ella, Holly, Lauren and Sadie, as well resolute defence by Hester and Lili we managed to win the second half, though unfortunately lost the game overall 4 – 7.  But both the Hitchin coach and I agreed the level of play was significantly higher than to be expected by Year 9s so well done to all involved.