Sports Review: Pupils not scared to get stuck in!

U11 Foundation Hockey Tournament

On Monday we travelled to Droitwich for a fantastic afternoon of hockey with King’s Hawford. We took all our Year 6 girls and created four mixed teams with King’s Hawford to play a round-robin tournament. It was great to see the girls mixing and chatting to each other throughout the afternoon. The hockey created a real sense of comradery among all the children.

 

U11 Malvern Hockey Tournament 

Our girls enjoyed a very busy afternoon of hockey at Malvern College on Wednesday. They played five games almost back-to-back. They were a little slow to start in their first match and found it hard to utilise the width of the pitch. As the afternoon progressed this improved and they started either to pass the ball wide or run with it into the space.  Their tackling in defence was tenacious and Ace tracked the ball well while timing her tackles superbly. Ella remained as our centre midfield throughout the tournament and her work level was commendable. Our player of the tournament would have to be Georgia, who had an absolute ‘stormer’ as goalkeeper. She keeps a very cool persona, but she made some brilliant saves.

 

U11 A v Hereford Cathedral School

A great trip over to Hereford for our U11’s rugby team. The boys put on an impressive, competitive match with some fantastic rugby on display. The boys started well, scoring a few early tries through Peter U and Will D. Hereford replied with a try in the corner. Eddie H and Connor R carried the ball impressively, making ground before finding their teammates with a well-timed offload. Great to see Leo S, Charlie M and Barnaby J’s confidence in their ball handling and tackling continue to grow. Jack B and Mortimer D showed good body position in the rucks, allowing the team to keep possession. Special mention for Will D who captained the side, showing great communication skills and leadership.

 

U10 A v Hereford Cathedral School

Wow!  What a tremendous advert for Prep school rugby this game was!  On Wednesday afternoon, our boys took on a fierce, powerful and well-drilled team from Hereford Cathedral.  The rain drove down and the hardy parents who braved the conditions were treated to a ‘proper’ game of rugby.  No quarter was asked or given as both teams gave their all in a close, enjoyable and competitive fixture.  Our boys started slowly, perhaps waiting for one or two ‘stars’ to go through, but the tackling was strong.  Recycling was good but perhaps a lack of depth on phase play stifled our attacks.  Hereford possessed some real speed and a few early missed first-up tackles meant we were chasing the game.  As the game went on, Francis marshalled well from 9, Rook showed elusiveness and Monty and then Theo provided power, but it remained ‘nip and tuck.’  Our defensive line speed improved as the game went on and we started to counter-ruck effectively too.  In the end, we went down by the odd try in 17; a tremendous match and a great learning opportunity.  The boys now need to start more quickly and not assume the opposition will wave through our strong runners, have consistent line speed in defence and, above all, pass a bit more.  My first experience of taking the boys this term and I was most impressed!

 

U10 B v Hereford Cathedral School

This week the U10 B team played against Hereford Cathedral School at Slingpool fields and continued to develop their skills of the game. It was an exciting match with the boys scoring a magnificent seven tries in total. Joshua had a fantastic game, always a constant threat when running with the ball at speed and Humphrey displayed his best performance of the season, scoring an excellent try. Jacob, Arslan and Wilf tackled well in defence and George scored a great try showing his speed and agility with the ball. The boys now need to work on improving their rucking and tackling skills. Well done boys!

 

U10 A and B Hockey matches v Hereford Cathedral School

The 10 A and B hockey teams played Hereford Cathedral school on Wednesday afternoon. We played at the Astro and consequently played on a normal sized 7 a side pitch. The girls found this a little daunting at first as it was quite a bit wider than they were used to. However, they took it in their stride and pushed forward, listening to coaching points to improve their game. The A team played first and were matched against a very similar ability side from Hereford. We were unlucky not to score, Helena had a few attempts set up by Laura, Lottie and Karla. These four in the diamond at the front were brilliant. Similarly, Millie and Evie were excellent in defence, listening how to hit it hard out of the D. Well done to Karla for being name OPOM. The final score was 0-0. In the B team match, it took a while to get used to the bigger pitch but when they did, they tried really hard to keep up with the pace. Unfortunately, it had started to rain early in their match, and we let an early goal in. It didn’t dampen their spirits though and were soon trying hard to score and then running back to defend. Phoebe made some excellent saves in goal and Emily was so close to scoring a goal. She was superb taking the ball wide and then back into the D. Final score 0-1 to Hereford. OPOM was rightly awarded to Emily. Well done all, a superb afternoon of hockey.

 

U9 Hockey tournament at The Elms

The U9 girls had a super tournament on Saturday. The sun was shining, they were full of enthusiasm and raring to go. We won 2, drew 1 and lost 3 matches. Overall, we came 4^th out of 7 which is very impressive since they have just come out of playing 4 a side and played 7 a side in the tournament. The girls were great, listened to the coaching points and improved their game throughout the tournament. I should mention every girl Georgia, Tilly, Marnie, Sophia, Skye, Ariya, Emma and Charlotte for their never-ending effort even when it got a bit tougher towards the end. Great resilience girls, well done!

 

U8 and U9 Hockey festival at Malvern St James

Every girl in Years 3 and 4 played in a festival at Malvern St James on Tuesday afternoon. Due to their lower numbers we rotated our teams so sometimes we had to play our own team. This was great fun. We mixed up the teams and played a lot of hockey. We had some wins and losses across the board, but every girl enjoyed and improved their hockey throughout the afternoon. Well done girls!

 

U8’s v Malvern St James 

Even their parents couldn’t believe the progress these girls have made this term. They are a ‘gritty’ group of girls who are not scared to get stuck in. Tackle after tackle saw us driving the ball towards goal and scoring a number of times. We hope they all enjoyed their afternoon and will continue to play with such enthusiasm.