Easter Term 2023 - Week 7 Sports Report

Netball v Sherborne Girls and Bradfield Tournament

1st team at Bradfield Tournament

Canford had a hard pool to compete in. We started off with Wellington, always a tough opponent, and the match saw Dom and Lauren making countless interceptions. We ended up losing the match 12-10 but was a good effort from Canford. An important match was against Lords Wandsworth as we knew they were strong but with Esther and Georgie linking well in the centre passes saw Canford turning over many balls. Mia also did exceptional front cuts and made herself free for the ball and the team ended up winning the match by 16-6.

The final game was against Bradfield who had home advantage. It started off well Charlotte and Daisy A moving well with each other scoring some outstanding goals. Daisy brown held her position well to receive the ball nicely to put a shot up.

Unfortunately we didn't get through the group stages but this was a good learning curve going into next week against Marlborough.

Written by Georgie Boon

Sherborne Girls

2nd team

Another great game from the seconds to continue the clean sheet. The first quarter started off tight as we got into our groove. Leaving it at 8-7 to us. Second quarter, we saw some great interceptions from Nookie and Tara with some lovely shooting from Bella. This allowed us to maintain the lead but still ended at half time very even. Third quarter we took off and we’re sensational with great shooting from Nia and lovely saves from Alex. The result did not match the play however still carried the score. With continued effort from the attacking end by Daisy and solid defence from Elle and Maya. Last quarter we went above and beyond and took it home with everyone putting in the work to finish the game 27-21. Well played everyone. A special mention to Bella for encapsulating the meaning of teamwork by receiving player of the match.

Written by Maya Doubleday

3rd team

The girls played a wonderful match, which we won 29-21 against Sherborne. The team dynamic was excellent, and the girls communicated well with each other. The defence was very strong, with Hattie F, Emily, Lulu and Hattie W, who all applied good pressure to the opposition and made some super interceptions. Our shooters were Olivia, Evelyn and Freya who all scored several goals and were extremely good at communication in the D. Our mid court were Tara, Ruby and Lulu who were especially good at communicating with the rest of the team and helped to keep the morale high. It started off with a 6-5 to Canford we knew at this point it would be a close game and after half time it went up 13-12 to Canford. The pressure was on, so we knew we needed to get the ball down to the shooters so they could up the score which they did, with the score laying at 22-16 in the third quarter. This created a nice gap for the fourth quarter where the final score was 29-21 to Canford.

Written by Freya McDonagh

4th

On Saturday the 25th of February Canford’s mighty 4ths took on Sherborne Girls. The result was 38-3, leaving the 4ths undefeated this season. Although the game was not our most challenging this season, it provided the team an opportunity to practice their movement and pace in match play, which was well controlled and had a good balance between proactive movement and thinking carefully about the next pass. Our defence was strong, stopping Sherborne’s attack from scoring any more than 3 goals. Our attack was equally, as the score reflects, very effective in getting both the ball down the court but also the ball in the net – most notably Daisy who received the players’ player award. Hopefully the team can continue to remain undefeated through the course of the season.

38-3 win

5th

On Saturday, the formidable fifths took on Dauntsey's strong side, performing superbly considering their lack of subs. Lara C and Elodie made a fantastic pair, working in the D together to secure some magnificent goals. In the centre, Jorgia and Lara E did an amazing job of feeding the ball to the shooters and in defence, Liv, Maddie, and Hattie did an incredible job of turning the ball over and making some cracking interceptions. Although we did lose, the formidable fifths worked well together and challenged the other team. All the girls played well but the players that stood out were Lara E and Maddie. Well done girls!!!

Written By Jorgia Holtby

6th

The 6th team played an excellent game, neck and neck the whole way through. The final score was 13-14 to Dauntseys which shows how tight the game was. The shooters, Bee and Elizabeth scored amazing goals, balancing the score after every Dauntsey goal. Our attackers, Sophie and Alice did a great job sending balls down to the shooters, keeping on their toes for when the shooters needed help. The defence stayed very strong throughout, Ntemi, Evie and Tiegan all made some amazing interceptions and made it very hard for the opposing shooters to score. The players of the match were Ntemi for defence and Alice for attack. Overall it was an excellent match.

U16 A

Our team went into our game against Sherborne 3rds with enthusiasm and determination. With the help of our mid courts, Charlotte, Layla, Lyz we turned over many center passes which gave us a strong lead going into the second quarter, helped by our accurate shooting from Melisa and Bea and strong defence in the D by Sophia Smith, not letting Sherborne conceive a goal.
After another brilliant quarter, this gave the team an opportunity to play out of positions. Grace, Molly, Charlotte and Hettie all pulled through with the shooting and our mid court helped bring the ball down the court with precise timing and movement, winning the match 36-11.
Congratulations to Grace who got player of the match, as well as the rest of the team for this end result.

U15 A

The whole team took everything we worked on in training and applied it to the game. Delilah had a great game intercepting balls in the air whilst Annabelle was able to close down Sherborne's attack with some great denial of space.

The girls were able to balance the court and opened up space which led to some fast transitions through the court. The final score of 55-14 was a fantastic result with Jessica and Poppy taking players of the matches for some great feeds and circle drives.

Coaches player of the match goes to Delilah. Despite some injuries she had a strong game and worked hard defensively.

U15 B

This week the girls faced Sherborne Girls at home. Right off the first whistle the girls realised they had a good fight upon them. Both Poppy and Rose taking techniques learnt in the training sessions, they made some great drives and shots to goal. Tilly took some great interceptions turning of the ball several times. The final quarter ended with Canford in the lead at 8-6. A few changes in centre court offered up new challenges, Hanna and Gigi in defence hassled the Sherborne shooters combined with Ella getting some great turn overs, at half time Sherborne took the lead 13-15. After a good half time chat and some switching up, the girls made some good drives to circle edge; Penny and Emily VS giving some great interceptions to both Rose and Ellie in the Shooting circle, bringing back the lead to 21-19 at the end of the third quarter. The girls gave their all in the final quarter; Emily Kiff repeatedly getting interceptions and turning the ball over, the final score ended with a draw at 27-27.

U15 C

Lost 13-22

U14 A

We began the match with a high intensity, both teams eager to win the ball. With great teamwork and quick passes and shots from Canford, we managed to pull ahead. As the first quarter ended 7-3 to Canford. Overall the first quarter was a warm up and throughout the game we kept on progressing. Into the second quarter, the attacking end did well to work the ball into the D and the Canford defenders made some amazing interceptions to give the attackers more shots on goal. On defending centres, we often forced them to pass backwards and often turned over the ball. Our attackers worked well around their defenders and after the second quarter we were again in the lead with a score of 12-16. Progressing into the second half of the game, Sherborne fought hard and started to score more often. We didn’t let this change our mindset and we continued to play a quick, good game of netball, keeping our lead. After a motivational team talk, we entered the final quarter, eager to win. With our attackers working hard to get around their players and our defenders preventing lots of goals we finished the game with a great score of 28-22. Chloe and Poppy were then voted player of the match by Sherborne, with Chloe being voted our players player.

Written by Poppy Young

U14 B

A very close match was had between the U14b with Sherborne. A late arrival from the opposition, did not help us start well but we managed to stay within a goal right the way through to the third quarter. Great work rates from Lily and Aoife helped us enormously but their best players in GK, GD put our shooters under enormous pressure. When the ball got to hand, Caitlin and Willa had a strong response.

15-23 does not reflect how close the game was at times but does give us clear areas to work on this week in training.

U14 C

Saturday's match against the Sherborne girls resulted in a defeat against our U14C's, with a score of 11-31, an exceptional play on their half, especially with their shooters, and Centre who which was awarded player of the match. However, each girl on the Canford team played their roles outstandingly, specifically Annie with her precise shooting, Brooke and Cata with their aggressive defending skills within the D, Millie with her energetic passing and getting into every space as Centre, and Ella, Amber and Polina with their noteworthy intercepting on the Wing. overall, the action resided mostly around the Sherborne goal, although at greater times, the ball was furiously passed back and forth across the court, giving the chance for both team's shooters to score. A very well done! L11-31

Rowing

East Dorset Indoor rowing.

On Wednesday afternoon Canford was invited to the East Dorset Indoor Rowing Qualifiers at Bryanston School. It was an incredibly exciting afternoon with eight shell girls and seven shell boys attending. We had a great performance across the board with many students setting new PBs in the four-minute races.

William Trotter said, “The East Dorset rowing event went amazingly for Canford shells. Aaron Blackman and Charlie Tyndall both came first, winning their individual races. Ethan Gallagher coming third in his race as well. The boys relay was outstanding, beating Poole Grammar boys and emerging with a satisfying 1st place victory.”

Cecily Davies reported that “The girls arrived at Bryanston with high spirits ready to row their socks off. They started off with an individual race and everyone performed to their best ability. After four minutes of intense rowing, the highest two out of our Canford girls, Zoë, who ended up in 3rd place, and Cecily, who ended up in 4th with only a few metres separating the two of them. Afterwards, Ella A, Zoë, Cecily and Liz competed in a relay race as a bit of fun. The four of them worked really hard and finished with a very good result. All the girls had an enjoyable time and look forward to the next regatta.”

The event was a great opportunity to get our newest rowers out and racing and we can’t wait to see what other successes these athletes have to come. An exciting afternoon with lots of promise for the future!

Football v Milton Abbey

Canford 1-0 Milton Abbey

Goal: Okubanjo

The Oaks hosted a strong Milton Abbey side on Thursday. Milton Abbey started off strong dominating the ball in the early exchanges. They had the ball in the net early on but the goal was disallowed for a foul on Landale. It was a really tough first half for the boys and we really struggled to get our foot on the ball. The boys stood firm again and went into half time at 0-0.

The second half was a significant improvement for the boys, we were able to get the ball down and retain the ball for longer periods. This was mostly helped by our defence stepping up an extra 10 yards, meaning that when the tricky Milton Abbey boys got past one player, there was another ready to take it off them. Martin had one of his best games of the season, and he was well rewarded late on in the game. Some nice combination play down the right, the ball was laid into Ransom-Esposti's feet who broke the line and laid in Martin down the right. His cross was beautifully delivered, the GK got a touch on the ball but it fell to Okubanjo who volleyed home. With not long to go in the game, the boys knew they would receive an onslaught of pressure from Milton Abbey. The aggressive mid block forced Milton Abbey to go direct, where Landale was waiting to clear or collect the ball.

Players of the match were Tyndale Kwan, Tele Okubanjo and Jack Martin.

Hockey v Peter Symonds, Dauntsey’s, KES Southampton and Dorset County U15 Championships

Last week saw a high volume of matches, against various opposition.

The 1st team played three times in four days, following the rearrangement of the league game v Peter Symonds scheduled earlier in the term. This was always going to prove a challenge, against the league leaders, but we were composed in possession and worked hard to deny their talented players space. Indeed, we took the lead through a sharp Monty Hooker deflection after good approach work from Ant Leung. Symonds equalised before the break, after an unfortunate rebound in the D. We then suffered from a 10 minute spell where we were reactionary rather than staying proactive, which saw us ship three unanswered goals. In between, we had a great chance to score again, but were not as clinical as our visitors. Still, at 4-1 down with 20 minutes left, we could have rolled over. Instead, we fronted up and created chances. The game ended with a 4-1 defeat against a team who deserved their victory, but the physical effort shown by us was outstanding.

Less than 24 hours later, with slightly heavy legs, we hosted Dauntsey’s. An even first 25 minutes was had, with both sides trading opportunities. Fin Craigen, a threat with his direct ball carrying throughout, opened the scoring with a composed finish. Minutes later, Jack Bartholomew won possession on the edge of our D and fed Ed Schuster Bruce. He calmly threaded the ball to Monty Hooker, whose through ball found Leo Vorobyev following an intelligent lead into space. Vorobyev finished with his usual assuredness to take his season tally to 9 and give us breathing room with a 2-0 half time lead. After the break, Dauntsey’s pulled one back through a well worked corner, before Dill Howell, reading the game expertly at all times, restored our two goal cushion with a drag flick that was too hot to handle for the opposition keeper. Ed Timberlake then pounced on a corner rebound with a smart backhand finish to wrap up the game with a pleasing and well deserved 4-1 win.

On Saturday, we travelled to KES Southampton for our final league match of the season. Despite superior territory and possession, we were 1-0 down at half time after a corner conversion. As usual, we continued to create chances, but KES extended their lead after a good solo finish from their key player. Both sides traded green cards as the tempo quickened, but we were still trailing by two. With 15 minutes remaining, we changed the system to go more direct, and the tactical switch proved masterful, with a brace of goals from Ed Schuster Bruce only minutes apart – levelling the game up at 2-2 with only 6 minutes left. Both sides had chances to win it from there, but some good goalkeeping meant the match ended 2-2.

The compete set of results ten from the 1st XI boys this week, with a win, a draw and a defeat, but we proved we have come a long way this season in our endeavour, desire and quality, and much will have been learned from the opportunities on the field. (MDC)

The mighty 2s also had a tough week having to deal with their first loss of the year to a good Dauntsey’s outfit. We started very slowly and lethargic, half term had a part to play unfortunately. Miss traps, miss passing, poor ball control, was just all adding up and it lead to us conceding first. A wake up call we needed, as we turned up a little bit and replied with a goal. We went into half time 1-1. Unfortunately, we were the better team in the second half but just couldn't get it in the goal. Dauntsey’s then had one counter attack from a poor pass and slotted their second goal. We ended 2-1 down; not a reflection of the game but the boys weren't up to their normal standard. But, they showed good spirit and dedication and did their best to bring it back. Player of the match: Olly Peters

On Saturday, we faced KES Southampton in the hopes to raise our spirits from Thursday's unfortunate loss. Once again, we started slow but luckily KES joined us in that regard. The first 15 minutes was a tough watch, it was extremely scrappy, turnovers everywhere, free hits every second. It took one close missed opportunity for the boys to rock up and play our brand of hockey. Unfortunately, the KES goalkeeper was up to the task and denied everything we through at him. We tried everything but to no avail. Definitely not a fair reflection of the teams on the pitch but we take it in our stride looking forward to the last few big fixtures. We ended 0-0. Player of the match: George Guirdham. (AGF)

Also on midweek, the 3rds game against Dauntsey’s was a very good match up between two similar sides. Dauntsey’s started as the stronger team pressing high and capitalizing on mistakes in the Canford defence and so were first to score. When Canford eventually got the ball out of their own half, they were brilliant - we had pace and movement off the ball. However, it was their first short corner that levelled the score. After another exchange of goals the score of 2-2 at half time meant there was all to play for. Canford deserved taking the lead with their 3rd goal after a break from the midfield. Dauntsey’s regrouped and having found their midfield structure were dominant for the final quarter equalizing and hitting the post. A share of the spoils in a 3-3 draw, then. Well played both teams. (CHJ)

It was not the 4th XI’s finest hour, but arguably a mismatched game in a heavy deafet away at Dauntsey’s. Nat defended with enthusiasm. George Fullman maintained his effort and enthusiasm at a very high standard throughout. (LTM)

On Saturday, the 3rd XI won 3-1 vs KES. This was the best performance of the season so far with some excellent passing hockey capped by three excellently taken goals. Isaac Ameyaw made a number of important saves at our end while Xan Brooks and Sam Webb ran high lines to get behind the opposition. Ross Jemmett made a welcome return in midfield and Sam Martin added some real power to our game including a fantastic short corner rocket. The commitment and determination off the ball was the key to a thorough team performance. Well done. (RMBS)

The U15A’s also played in the U15 County Cup. The first game saw the boys play against Sherborne. Canford started well pressing high up the pitch and keeping the ball in the opposition's half. However, Sherborne broke on the counter to score first against the run of play. Canford responded quickly and scored through Massimo Brown with a close range effort past the keeper. With half time looming Gabe Davey found space at the top of the D and hit the ball on the backhand to make the score 2-1. At half time Canford wanted to keep the pressure on the visitors. With this in mind the team stepped up again made life tough for Sherborne. The Canford midfield controlled the second half and the game finished Canford 2-1 Sherborne.

The second game of the evening was against Clayesmore. Canford again started on top and controlled the game. Moving the ball wide and with purpose lead to a short corner. The routine worked perfectly with Seb Rowland deflecting the ball to open the scoring. Canford kept creating chances but couldn't convert any of the opportunities. At half time the boys were in high spirits and wanted to keep playing attractive hockey in the Clayesmore half. Early in the second half a long ball from the visitors meant that they equalised. Canford came at Clayesmore hard however, couldn't find the winner. With these results Canford won the County Cup! (BBD)

Following the County Cup victory in the week, the team were excited to play against a strong KES side. With the start of the match the visitors started well and controlled the possession. In this spell the away side used the baseline well and scored first. Canford responded quickly and scored a goal through Luca Bartlett. After this the game balanced out into a well contested game. Just before half time Toby Lemans pounced on a loose ball in the D for Canford to take the lead. At half time, the home side wanted to up the ball pace and stretch the KES defence and midfield. After a round of short corners for KES early in the half they finally equalised. Canford then controlled possession and created their own chances through. After space opened up on the right Canford carried strongly down the baseline for Bertie Cutler to finish off. With Canford in the lead again KES dominated possession and equalised. With 5 minutes to go KES attacked down their left. After a scrappy mess in the D the ball found its way into the goal. With KES leasing Canford came out hard after the restart and didn't let the ball out of the visitors 23. Unfortunately, no goal came for Canford meaning a final score of Canford 3-4 KES. (BBD)

The U15B side had their toughest fixture of the year to date. Our opposition contained a number of very good players that kept us on our toes. We struggled to contain them in the first half and a rock solid partnership of Bertie Aspinall and Ben Priaulx at the back kept us in the game. As the game progressed we did a much better job of shutting down their options and we started to dominate. Our pressure resulted in a number of goal mouth scrambles but we could not quite apply the finishing touch to win the game and it finished 0-0. (JEA)

The U15Cs put in a fine performance despite going down 0 - 3 away at KES on Saturday. KES started strongly forcing a number of penalty corners of which 2 were put away with fine finishes. They went further ahead following a well worked deflected goal and for much of the first half Canford were playing mostly defensive hockey at which they acquitted themselves well slowly growing in confidence and improving their own attacking options. After a quick discussion and a bit of reorganising at the half time break the game resumed with Canford proving to be much stronger and creating numerous scoring opportunities including their own attacking penalty corners. Unfortunately, due to good goalkeeping, defending and just wide of the goal shooting Canford didn't get the goal their improved performance deserved. KES also continue to play good hockey and the Canford defence played excellently to keep a clean sheet in the second half with goalkeeper Gulliford making a series of fine saves. All the team can be very proud of their performance and attitude especially their resilience in the second half. In particular the work rate of Jenkinson, Cochrane and Boyle were exceptional with H Boyle giving a player of the match performance with his passing, running and intercepting being stand out all match. Overall a great team effort and a credit to the school. (HD)

In a tightly contested game where the result could have gone either way, the U14A team unfortunately came away with a 1-0 loss. Canford played some of their best hockey of the season so far, creating multiple opportunities in the first half that could have resulted in at least two, if not three goals. However, with a change of formation at the start of the second half to allow us to practice how we might play in the West tournament next week, holes opened up and we put ourselves needlessly under pressure. We stopped identifying who we should be marking and we failed to pass the ball effectively. This was disappointing but a useful lesson learnt. We will look on Monday again at our match tactics for the tournament and decide what is most likely to work. (NRB)

Another away match for the U14Bs but a short trip down the M27 took us to King Edward’s school in Southampton. We had a full team and it was great to see so much parental support on the side-lines. Unfortunately, despite lots of encouraging cheers the team were no match for a good KES team whose speed and commitment on the ball completely outplayed us. The final result was 10-1 with our goal being scored by Ethan Croirie. Luke Pusaz put on yet another brave performance and if it hadn’t been for his efforts the score might have been far higher. Lots to work on in training this week and hopefully a more positive result this Saturday. (VOG)

A great effort from the U14C boys to take away a convincing victory from KES. James Mitchell claimed an early goal, finished very tidily past the keeper following a nice move and aerial through ball from Hector Hedges. This gave the boys the belief that we could go on and win the game. Canford dominated territory in the first half and produced quite a few chances, but went in to half time at 1-0. The lead was finally doubled early in the second half, as Hector Chissell very nicely found the backboard following a short corner. He was again on hand to finish off a goalmouth scramble to take us to 3-0. Honourable mentions go to these players of the match: Hectors Hedges and Chissell were constant attacking threats. Hector C caused KES some havoc down the left wing and provided several excellent reverse stick crosses as well as taking his two goals nicely. Hector H never stopped running and distributed the ball really well. In defence, Felix de Mounteney was robust and chased down everything KES threw at us. Although he didn’t see a huge amount of action, Kit Bulstrode-Newman was nonetheless faultless in goal and made a few vital interventions, dominating his area well and showing good decision making when charging forward. (NJW)

This week sees a block against Millfield, as well as cup matches/tournaments for the U16s and U14s.

Badminton v Sherborne Boys

On 25th March Sherborne Boys School visited Canford for a series of badminton matches.

Our players won 15 of their 16 singles matches with Forest Li, Michael Huang, Doug Bowering, Louis Pearson, Joey Zhou and James Yuan all playing on top form and Summer Hookey comfortably winning her first match 21-14 despite taking a shuttlecock to the eye during warm-up, before narrowly losing her second. Lucas Svedberg decisively won both his matches by a huge 21-9. Also worth mentioning are our number 1 ranked Forest’s 21-6 easy victory over Sherborne’s number 2 and James’ impressive 21-7 win against his equal ranking opponent.

The doubles matches proved slightly more challenging with some very close-fought games. In total Canford won 12 of their 16 matches. Joey and James proved to be an unbeatable combination, winning all 4 of their games.

The fixture saw a big improvement in form for Canford’s players since their last fixture against Sherborne Boys. The matches were well attended by spectators. Parents commented afterwards on the friendly atmosphere and positive attitude of both schools' competitors and supporters.

Basketball v Sherborne Boys

The Canford Towers made their return to competitive action last week with a 2nd fixture against Sherborne. A decent crowd was in including banners of support for the home team. Sherborne had arrived with a slightly depleted squad after a couple of late pull outs but still had some very talented ball handlers. Their quality showed in the 1st half as the visitors opened out to a 20-9 lead at the break. The Towers used the 1st half to try out lots of different combinations amongst our 15 boys.

As is becoming usual at Towers fixtures the crowd got their share of entertainment and this game was not different. Spurred on by the words of coach Dronyk and with some more settled combinations the home team set off in pursuit of our visitors score. To say they achieved this would be an understatement with the Towers on the back of great play and scoring from Lexing Zou, Ollie O’Brien and Henry Lane, surpassing the tiring Sherborne team total and winning the 2nd half 33-10. That left the home team victorious by a margin of 42-30. Well done all, a great 2nd half performance and more to come from this group of players.

Running / X-Country – Sherborne Trophy

A full cross-country team travelled to Sherborne and took on the challenging 5km course in the castle grounds. A scenic run through the deer park and the fearsome hill climb saw Canford’s runners do themselves proud and putting a real shift in to deliver some impressive results. Abi took the gold medal in the Senior Girls showing how far she is coming along as a competitive runner at her level. Other notable results include Tom narrowly missing a medal in 4th place in the Inter Boys and Jemima bringing home 5th in the Inter Girls. In Elliott’s first outing of the year in the Senior Boys category, he finished in a very commendable 7th place.

In the Team competition, Canford’s Inter Boys A squad managed to hold off Sherborne Inter Boys A by one place to come runner’s up! Therefore Sam’s 12th place was vital in securing second place.

Otherwise, this week saw runners explore the delights (impressive views and rolling hills) of Badbury Rings.

Lacrosse v Sherborne and Milton Abbey

Canford 1sts V Sherborne 1sts

The girls had a strong start against Sherbourne 1sts, scoring the first goal of the match and seeming to dominate the in attack within the first quarter. Evie Johnstone and Ana Quieros displayed speed and assertion within the centre draw, directing their centre passes towards midfielders Katie Clark and Lucy Vrettos. Attackers Laura Edwards, Millie Heyman and Topsy Holder all exhibited a calm approach to attack and showed no fear against the Sherbourne defenders. Defenders Serena Chen, Annabel Seabrook and Freya Coughlan showed aggression and determination against the Sherbourne attackers. Player of the match went to Ana Quieros for her unbeatable stamina in the midfield and Grace Mansfield in goal for making both excellent saves and incredible clears from the goal circle. The girls showed determination in the face of adversity, only having one sub compared to Sherbourne's full team and the final score came out as 9-6 to Sherbourne.

Canford 2's V Sherborne 2's

The 2's had a tough game against a strong opponent but came out having learned what it is like to play against more experienced players. Suzy Cribb in goal made some excellent saves and Ella Webb was seen to be dominating in the midfield. The final score was 3-0 to Sherbourne.

Canford 2's V Milton Abbey 1's

The girls enjoyed playing an evenly matched game against another team of beginners. Verity Warner was strong and determined within the goal, whilst Nuala Binnion and Millie Martin were constantly busy within both the attacking and defensive thirds. The final score of 3-3 reflected hard work from both teams and the girls should be very pleased with themselves.

Rugby

The Canford senior group travelled to Sherborne on Sunday for a few 7’s matches with the hosts and Marlborough. Despite only have10 players the boys stood up to the challenge and performed well.

First up was Sherborne, the boys started slowly, conceding a try in the first minute however, they almost hit back straight away as Mark Kosgei made a superb line break and tried to find Tele Okubanjo under posts with a grubber however, he may have been better inclined to try and score himself. The boys continued piling on the pressure and were rewarded, defending on their own line, Ivor made a fantastic last ditch tackle and Mark Kosgei brilliantly turned over. The ball was played to Oscar Feingold who hit Felix Synnott on a hard line and galloped the length for a score to put us 7-5 ahead. Canford extended their lead straight after the break, good defensive pressure from Max Firth forced a mistake for Tele to capitilise on and jot down for his first of the day and make the score 12-5. Tele wasted little time in doubling his tally as he received the ball on the wing, stepped in between two players breaking the tackle and was away, 17-5 to Canford. In the final moments of the game, Sherborne broke down the wing, however Felix chased down and caught his man with Ivor turning the ball over. Two passes later and Jansci Motsi got himself involved in the action with another full length try seeing Canford run out 24-5 winners.

There was no time to celebrate as the boys were off again pretty much straight away against Marlborough. The boys feeling the effects of the previous game and playing into Marlborough’s hands, allowing the game to be a physical contest saw themselves 22-0 down at half time. The boys were better in the second half and pushed Marlborough, creating multiple chances but ultimately the game finished 36-5 with Ivor Ritson charging down the wing to get the only try for Canford. The day finished with playing 3 x 6 minute sections vs Sherborne. The first third started similar to the first game with Sherborne taking the lead straight from kick off before Mark Kosgei made a linebreak from his own half and scoring under the posts taking the score to 7-7. Sherborne retook the lead, a period of sustained possession eventually saw them make a break and score in the corner, 12-7 to the hosts. Shortly after, Sherborne capitalised on some poor support from Canford and a turnover led to another score, 17-7 to close out the first third. Straight from the restart Mark Kosgei received the ball right on his own try line, burst through an attempted tackle and was away to get Canford right back in the mix, 17-14. That try provided a big momentum shift and suddenly Canford were in front, some good pressure saw Tele capitalise on a misplaced pass, showing good footballing skills to then pick up and dot down under posts, putting Canford 21-17 up. Canford were then starting to move through the gears, playing with tempo, moving the ball side to side at pace. A half-break by Jansci who passed off to Johnny Walster and Canford extended their lead to 28-17. Shortly after, a great steal by George Burnell, popped off to Jimmy Johnson and Canford were in for another, 33-17. At the start of the final 3rd, a mishap at the scrum and Sherborne broke down the wing to score and make it 33-22. Shortly after the restart and momentum had swung again, Canford’s support had dropped off and Sherborne stole the ball and scored. Fortunately, Canford managed to give themselves some breathing space, A kick in behind off a scrum and the bounce of the ball deceived the Sherborne player and Felix but fell into the welcoming hands of Johnny Walster who scored his second of the day and the score finished 38-27 to Canford. The boys battled hard all day and 2 out of 3 wins was a solid return for the group.

Real Tennis v Wellington College and the U14 Schools Doubles Championships

Real Tennis U18s vs. Wellington

Louis Potts beat Joe Pym: 6/0
Tom Clark beat Toby Barton: 6/2
Merlin Cork lost to Arthur Toosey: 0/6
Louis/Tom beat Joe/Toby: 6/1
Tom/Merlin lost to Toby/Arthur: 5/6
Louis/Merlin lost to Joe/Arthur: 2/6

Final Result: Canford 3 - 3 Wellington

A very strong start from Louis who kept Joe in the corners scrambling the ball back, and ultimately being too strong, winning 6/0. Tom carried on the good form taking a very quick 5/0 lead with Wellington struggling to get a grasp on the match. However with some positive away support Wellington managed to get a little bit of momentum taking the next two games. Tom put his foot down and finished it off 6/2. Merlin came next with a tight game against Arthur, and was unlucky to not come away with a game but left the match at 2/1 to Canford. The boys showed some great doubles tactics again with Tom and Louis winning 6/1. We just needed one more match, but Wellington held on tight to win 6/5 in the next match to leave the tie 3/2. Unfortunately we couldn't put the game to bed and a comeback from Wellington left the match at a 3-3 draw.

MVP: Louis Potts. Louis showed some great match play throughout the day, both in his singles play working Joe around the court and his doubles tactics covering the galleries at the right moments. Well played!

Real Tennis U14s School Doubles Championships at The Oratory

We took two Canford pairs to the U14s Schools Doubles Championships at The Oratory. This was a great chance to experience another court and give our shells their first taste of competition. Most of the competitors were in the same boat, starting real tennis over the last term and a half.

There were three groups, with three pairs in each. If you came top you went to Group A, second place went to Group B and third into Group C.

Both Canford pairs struggled to adapt quickly to the bouncier court, with Will Trotter and Hector Chissell losing their opening match 1/6 and Archie Brown and Jack Gao losing 3/6. However, all grew in confidence with each point, with Will and Hector both showing off their impressive railway serves, resulting in a much closer second game and a point here or there could have tipped it in their favour. Archie Brown and Jack Gao were Canford’s top pair and were in a tough group. Canford were unfortunate; everyone beat everyone, but due to games scored on countback Canford came third in the group. The result was that Canford 1 and 2 ended up playing each other in Group C, with the underdogs giving Archie and Jack a scare by going 4/2, but Archie and Jack just had that little bit extra to come back and take it 6/4. Both pairs finished off in style, winning their final group matches of the afternoon to take the top two spots in Group C.

No silverware this year, but a great experience and afternoon of tennis!

Other news…

• Court join School in the Junior Boys House Squash Final!
• Squash match at home against Bryanston on Thursday 2nd March
• Real tennis fixture on Sunday 5th March against the Hyde

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