Pupil passion on display in final fixtures of the term

U11 Boys ISFA Football

Last Friday the U11 boys travelled to Clifton College in Bristol to compete in the ISFA regional football competition. The boys were excited to take on the challenge of testing their skills against a variety of different, and much larger, schools in the hope of qualifying for the national finals. We started off with a very evenly matched game against The Paragon School that ended in a nil-nil draw despite both teams working hard to try to get the all important goal. Next up we played a very strong Wycliffe College outfit, who had several powerful and skilful players. Despite this, the Hawford boys remained resilient and Max M and Johnnie T worked hard to regain the ball in defence. Unfortunately, we conceded a couple of avoidable goals in the first half and were very unfortunate not to get one back in the second half when Jack M ran on to a Freddie M through-ball and went round the goalkeeper, only to be fouled as he was about to tap the ball in to the empty net. Unfortunately, nothing came from the subsequent free kick and the game ended in a defeat. Our third game of the afternoon was against the hosts, Clifton College, who possessed a couple of skilful players with an ability to evade tackles and dribble through tight spaces against which we struggled to defend. Despite some excellent saves from Freddie P in goal and tireless work and commitment from Ollie B in midfield, Clifton managed to score two goals without reply. The final game of the afternoon saw the Hawford boys pitted against Truro School. With the pressure of trying to qualify from the group removed, the boys played with much greater freedom and Khaleefah GF, Sartaaj G and Barnaby B linked up to play some of the best football that we produced all afternoon. The improved use of the ball in possession soon paid off when Ollie B fired home from outside the box following a good move down the left hand side. Hawford managed to hold on to their deserved lead well in to the second half until the fatigue started to set in. The boys had had an extremely busy week that had begun with a long trip up to Hymers College for a rugby sevens tournament and the tired legs were beginning to show as Truro managed to get themselves back in to the game with two late strikes to claim the victory. The boys remained in high spirits despite what had been a challenging afternoon of football and it was great to see such team spirit and togetherness on show. It wasn’t quite our day with the results but the behaviour and attitude of the boys both on and off the pitch was exemplary, none more so than Player of the Tournament, Max M.

U11 Boys Football Tournament at Hawford

On Wednesday afternoon the U11 boys enjoyed a fantastic end to the football term. We hosted our annual U11 tournament, which had to be moved from our Senior School pitches due to flooding. Despite the somewhat windy conditions, the boys worked hard and demonstrated outstanding commitment in defence as well as effective movement off the ball in attack. It was great to see them bounce back from last Friday’s frustrations and produce several impressive performances throughout the afternoon, which included a 1-0 victory over King’s St Alban’s, a 2-0 victory over Abberley and a convincing 5-1 victory over RGS Springfield, as well as a 0-0 draw with Winterfold and a 2-0 defeat to the eventual winners RGS The Grange. The Hawford boys played well as a team and were a constant goal-threat throughout the afternoon, thoroughly deserving their second place finish. It was a great way to end the football term and demonstrated the huge progress that the boys have made since January. A special mention should go to Barnaby B, who was named Hawford’s Player of the Tournament.

U10 RGS The Grange Football Tournament

The U10 boys put on a strong performance at the RGS The Grange Football Tournament this week. The team have improved week on week, putting into practice everything they have learned in their games lessons. They were in a group with five other teams and finished second in their group, achieving two wins and three draws. During the group matches the boys impressed their coaches and spectators and should be very proud of their efforts. They managed to beat previously undefeated teams, including a well-drilled Northwick Manor team.

From the group matches the boys progressed to the semi-final, where they were unfortunate to lose a hard fought game 1-0. During the tournament there were strong performances from William N and Arthur O. The tournament capped off a very successful season for a talented and committed group of boys.

U11 IAPS Hockey

On Wednesday some Year 6 and Year 5 girls went to Rugby to play in the Midlands’ County Hockey Tournament Final. On arrival, the girls were very excited to see Mrs Marshall Walker had come along to support them in the tournament.  The girls worked really hard and showed they deserved their spot at the finals, they worked well as a team and Mrs Miller Symonds was really impressed with the progress the girls had made from the regional round. Unfortunately, the girls missed out on the semi-final round on the day by 1 point, Miss Holtham and Mrs Miller Symonds were really proud of the effort and determination the girls showed, a special mention must go to Darcy B who played as the team goalkeeper, she played really well and made some really good saves for her teammates. Erin L was the team captain for the day and was chosen as the overall player of the day.

U10/U11 Netball V RGS Springfield

A chilly, but glorious afternoon saw the U10 and U11 girls play RGS Springfield for the final game of the season. It was a fantastic afternoon of netball, where the girls demonstrated some lovely skills and game play.

With both teams playing to the Bee Netball rules, the players were able to develop and show an all-round skill set throughout both games. All the girls are starting to demonstrate natural attacking and defending skills through the All-England Netball vision of play.  Both teams, (at times) still need to work on positional awareness and slow down the passes: King’s Hawford never lack enthusiasm but can sometimes try to play at 100 miles an hour!

All the girls played well and demonstrated superb progress.  Captains, Holly and Chloe led their teams well and both have made huge progress in their own game play.

The girls demonstrated a sound understanding of the game and showed their ability to create space and drive forward for the ball. However, Springfield had some fast players, and their passing was equally as sharp as ours. They managed to work the ball through the team very well, specifically in their attacking third; this gave them many opportunities to shoot. At times the girls found this difficult to defend; however, they continued to try to intercept the ball and mark their opposition out of the D all the way through the game.

With constant motivating team talks from Mrs Beech and Miss Kingston, positions were switched and we played with improvement on every rotation. This was an excellent end to the season girls, well done!

Shooting Players of the Match were awarded to Jetta, Michelle, Issie and Holly.

Defensive Players of the Match were awarded to Robyn, Edith, Sophia, and Ava W.

Mid Court Players of the Match were awarded to Blythe, Harriette, Georgia, Annabel, Ava I, Ava H Chloe and Bella.

Player Awarded by Springfield went to Holly, Jetta, Issie and Michelle.