Easter Term 2023 - Week 10 Sports Report

Hockey v Sherborne and Wellington College

Last week saw matches v Sherborne and Wellington College.

The 1st XI made light work of a spirited Sherborne side, showing control throughout in a somewhat scrappy game. Dill Howell slammed in a corner early doors and we continued to create chances but were a bit loose in possession and couldn’t give ourselves the two goal cushion we deserved. However, Howell did double our lead with a doubly deflected effort, before Ed Schuster Bruce produced the moment of the game with a mazy, dream, 3D central dribble before calmly rolling the ball past the keeper for a 3-0 lead. Though Sherborne pulled one back near the end, we were good value for our win, with Elliot Hilton impressive on the flanks and the whole team digging deep for the win.

On Saturday, we hosted Wellington College. Unfortunately we were guilty of rare slow start, and found ourselves behind in the first minute. We struggled to gain a foothold in the game but drew level through Leo Vorobyev’s 10th goal of a fantastic season. Two more opposition goals before half time when we lost our shape and left too many gaps in the middle of the field meant we trailed 3-1 at the break. Wellington College scored a fine corner to go 4-1 up, at which point we could have been rolled. However, our response was excellent. A change of formation saw us solve the issues in the middle of the field and we pulled one back through Dill Howell. Chasing the game, we created lots of good chances and peppered the goal, but their keeper was inspired. Moving Howell further forwards and with Sam Wilmot causing havoc with his wizard-like hands, we scored again to only trail 3-4. The opposition were on the rack, and we substituted our keeper with a few minutes left to try and engineer one more goal scoring opportunity. Alas, we couldn’t quite manage it, and lost 3-4 in an entertaining game that was fun to watch.

The boys have one last hurrah on Saturday at the KES Festival versus Haberdasher’s which will provide the Upper Sixth with a fitting send off for their service to Canford Hockey. (MDC)

2nd XI

Two final outings for the mighty 2s this past week. A double header to finish what's been a very successful season. Ending on a high note was the main priority. We spoke about how we can make sure we leave those that are leaving the school with a great final couple of games, and wow did we deliver. We faced Sherborne on Thursday afternoon, a close encounter for sure. We went down 1-0 early on and that's how we ended the half. We came out guns blazing and quickly equalized. The goal gave us the push we needed, and we started playing some great hockey, Kit Blomfield finally scored his first goal which also gave us the lead. With this in mind, we took our foot off the gas and conceded again. Lucas Francis decided to make a play and as skipper, something we spoke about, to substitute himself and play with no goalkeeper and 11 outfield players so secure the win in the last 2 minutes. And my oh my did it work. With 10 seconds on the clock, Olly Peters finds James Harvey waiting in the D and a little touch gave us the win on the buzzer! Some great character and drive were shown from these boys, and it meant we ultimately won the game on the final whistle! Man of the match – everyone!

v Bryanston

The final game. Canford v Bryanston 1s, a game we've been looking forward to playing. After a long successful season, we wanted to end on a high. The last game for Upper Sixth James Harvey and Lucas Francis. We were excited for them and wanted to make sure it was something to remember! We started unbelievably well, and that meant we scored early doors though James Harvey, very smartly moving the keeper and putting it in the side netting. This then opened the doors and within minutes, possibly the goal of the season from Freddie Warrack, who intercepted a transfer at the back, and on the volley, absolutely whacked it top bins. James Harvey just continuing where he left off getting 2 more, giving him a first half hat-trick, in his last game. Talk about a way to go out. 4-0 at half time. The 2nd half was always going to be different, and it showed, we couldn't get going as smoothly and Bryanston got 1 back. Jack Flegg then had a moment of individual brilliance going through 4 defenders, using his long levers to his advantage, giving us our 5th. We ended with a 5-1 win. A great way to go out and a memorable season indeed. Thank you to James Harvey and Lucas Francis who finish their time at Canford Hockey on a high.

Player of the match – James Harvey

The mighty 2s ended their season with only 2 losses. A great statistic and a good way to end! (RHJH/AGF)

3rd XI

3-0 Win v Sherborne

This was an impressive performance and a real team effort with skill and precision displayed all over the pitch. The backs, led by Oscar Bailey put up an impenetrable wall which was rarely breached by the Sherborne attacking line. Remi Brooks was extremely secure and dynamic, passing the ball with great accuracy, while in front of him Will Vessey used his speed and skill to cause havoc on the left flank, also striking a superb reverse stick goal midway through the second half. Likewise Xan Brooks continued to run aggressively at centre forward and put away two excellent goals, the first of which seemed to curl around the keeper from an implausible angle. With Sam Martin, Woody Woods and Ross Jemmett dominating the midfield a good Sherborne side was made to chase the game and at no point did Canford victory really look in doubt.

3-3 Draw v Wellington College 2nd XI

On balance of play this was a game we should have wrapped up in the first half with ample scoring opportunities. However, instead we somehow contrived to be 0-3 down going into the final 10 minutes of the match, and it was only then that we decided to create some excitement for the spectators by scoring three goals of our own in quick succession. Woody Woods stood out for his end to end running throughout and Ross Jemmett was his usual silky skilled self. Will Vessey continues to play with maturity and caused all sorts of problems when running with the ball out left, and Oscar Bailey continued to hit the odd rocket from 16s. In the end a draw felt like victory, and the 3rd XI can be delighted with their impressive end to the season since half term. Well done. (RMBS)

4th XI

2-0 Win v Bryanston 2nd XI

The final match of the season proved to be a thriller, where pace and patience proved critical to Canford’s success. The match started with a high tempo as both side eager to secure an early advantage. The Canford front line of Sam Askew, Tom Fox-Pitt and Ciaran Amy made up for any lack of skill with their lightning pace and found themselves with the ball in the D on several occasions early on, but sadly failed to capitalise, much to their frustration and groans from the rest of the team! The midfield were engaged in a battle for territory and moving Murray Carswell to the middle was critical, allowing Harry Taylor to attack up the right with Ciaran Amy and Sam Calvert-Lee and Sam Askew to link up nicely on the left flank. To Bryanston’s credit they had several players with skill that were able to eliminate players successfully, but Canford were quick to replace the lines of defence and so protect the D and the goal. The game could have been won by half time, if we had taken our chances, but 0-0 meant the boys had to maintain their composure. The first goal came from Fox-Pitt, pressing the centre back and resulting him being 1 on 1 with the goalie – whilst not the cleanest strike, the ball did hit the target – what a different player he now is from one year ago. The second goal came from a breakaway by Tom Amy on the left wing at the far post. The defence looked solid throughout, and Luca Anstey Gray and Isaac Hung both having positive impacts when they came off the bench. A very enjoyable contest – well done both teams! (CHJ)

U15A

v Sherborne

After the short trip north, the boys left the coach in high spirits. After a long warm up with only 3 balls given to us from the opposition, we started the game well. After Charlie Allen made several goal line saves, some with his head, Canford countered, and Luca Bartlett finished the move off with a goal. After the restart Canford won the ball back and were 2-0 up in the first 3 minutes thanks to Bertie Cutler spinning around the keeper. Ben across looked threatening down the left-hand side and was a good outlet from the back. However, Sherborne got a couple of goals back in quick succession. Canford scored through a remarkable Gabe Davey deflection at a short corner which was above his head. Canford went into the break 3-2 up. The mental game continued in the second half with both teams leading and pulling the game back. Canford worked a liquid short corner into the Sherborne net through Bertie Cutler. However, Sherborne scored more in the end. 5-4 loss was the final score.

v Wellington

After a ridiculous game on Thursday the boys travelled to Wellington. After a long warm up in the wonderful sunshine the home side started better than Canford. Whilst trailing a new formation Canford found themselves 2-0 down within the first 10 minutes. After winning a short corner, with a scrappy goal came after a Canford player put the ball in the goal. Wellington scored a few more goals before half time. Canford changed back to their formation they've used all season for the second half. This worked well and Raffie Organ on his returned smashed the ball past the Wellington keeper and nearly broke the backboard. The midfield and forwards created a couple of chances, but we lacked the final touch in the D. Final score Canford 2-6 Wellington. (BBD)

U14A

Canford 2, Sherborne 4

A tired looking Canford lost to a team that we had already beaten in the county tournament. Although two fine goals were scored, we were exposed repeatedly with key players being stranded at the wrong end of the pitch either when we should have been attacking or defending. We were also exposed in the first half with a large gap appearing between the midfield and the defensive line. This left us vulnerable to Sherborne running into that area on the pitch unchallenged and then building pressure on our goal.

Canford 1, Wellington 3

After a disappointing match on Thursday we produced one of our best performances of the season. The energy that had been lacking returned and an early well worked goal, after considerable pressure from us, resulted in us leading the match for the majority of the first half. Despite three goals from Wellington we competed for the whole match and repeatedly looked like scoring. This was excellent against a team that had just won their regional championship. After a tough season in terms of results much has been learnt by the 18 or so boys that have regularly played for us. With more experience we will continue to develop and will become a hockey force to be reckoned with. (NRB)

My sincere thanks to all the pupils for their efforts on the pitch representing Canford this term. Also to the coaching staff for their expertise and umpiring and not forgetting the parents for their unwavering support on the sidelines. (MDC)

Netball – National Plate and King Edward’s Southampton (KES)

National Plate Final vs Epsom

1st team

After a long journey, we had a delayed start to the match. Epsom were firing from the first whistle while Canford were still shaking off the coach journey. In the first 5 minutes they went ahead, and we couldn’t shake the gap. Fantastic work from the defensive end turning over countless balls. Esther Browning doing a brilliant job working with Dom Hudson in the circle to try and reduce the ball to some impressive shooters. The attack worked incredible hard to work that ball down to a goal, they had tight defence on them, and it was incredibly hard to shake the Epsom defence.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t our day, but the team put out a fighting show and never gave up and this is a great ethos to have.

This Canford team should hold their heads high and be extremely proud of all they have achieved.

POM – Dom Hudson

2nds

This week, the 2nds turned up to play KES. After a disappointing loss from last week, we were all very determined to make this a good match. However, a last-minute change to the schedule meant we were playing a tournament style format. This meant we were on and off playing 4 ‘mini matches’ against the KES 2nds. The first match we played started off slow, both teams were adjusting to the tricky conditions on court. There was some great mid court play, up and down the court by Daisy and Tara, ending the score 9-7 to us. This was a good start from Canford however we were still only getting into our rhythm. The next match, we felt a lot more warmed up which meant our defence and shooters were on fire! Alex and Maya did some fantastic interceptions and Nia continued to get goal after goal! The final score was 10-4 to us. In the 3rd match this was continued, Varya did some amazing shooting and linked up very well with the mid court players. This match ended 11-5 to us again. Final match of the day, we mixed some positions around and Nia played phenomenally in defence, Tara was also never missing a goal! Overall score left Canford winning 39-21. With some tricky conditions of drizzle and sun, a great penultimate match!! Special mention to Maya Doubleday for POM!

Written by Bella Rose

U15 A

Saturday’s match against KES was another one we knew needed to win after losing to them in the National Cup.

We started off strongly taking the first quarter 11-2. Their mid-court was strong in getting the ball to the circle, but it was no match for our defensive team Annabelle, Matilda and Kate. Every turn over we had to work hard to get the ball back to our goal circle. Their defence worked hard, with their GD reading every pass but it wasn't enough to stop our mid court who were able to deliver some great feeds into our shooters. We were able to finish the game with a great result of 34-15 win to us.

Players of the match went to Georgia and Annabelle.

U15B

This week was the final game of the season and the girls faced King Edward’s, Southampton at home. Even though the weather was a bit off the girls were ready to end the season on a high. In the first quarter, play ran smoothly with Ella G and Penny D driving to the circle edge and feeding amazing balls into the shooters. The defence held up their end only conceding 2 goals in the first quarter. The second quarter started a little rocky and the girls took a little time to settle again. However, with some amazing turnovers from Tess, Gigi and Hanna they managed to keep their lead by half time. Ellie, Poppy and Rose did some amazing shooting and movement around the circle, stretching the lead even further. Emily K and Tilly took made many interceptions that ended with goals for Canford. The game ended with a massive win for Canford U15B with the score finishing at 40-8 to Canford.

Opposition’s players were Ellie and Gigi

U14A

We had tough match against KES Southampton. From the very start, the opposition were focussed and ready to play. The first quarter Canford took a little time to settle into the game and making a few unforced errors. However, as the match progressed, we took better care of the ball and learnt from our errors. The attackers were under pressure around the D but were patient and kept resetting the ball. The third quarter we pulled back to within 5 goals and felt confident going into the final quarter. Despite the immense efforts to turn the game around, we were playing catch up after the first quarter. However, our spirits were still not broken we fought to the end with a 21-34 loss. Many lessons were learnt from this game. Well played everyone, great the team kept fighting till the end. The opposition voted Chloe Pletzer and Poppy Young as Canford’s Most Valuable Players. The Canford team voted Chloe Pletzer as their Players Player.

Written by Captain Oriana Bowater

U14B

This game saw us far more ready to start than the week before and getting an early lead really helped signpost that we were the stronger side. Great performances in the defence from Phoebe, Matilda and Esme made getting the ball into the shooter’s hand very difficult for our opposition. Centre court saw Lily and Josie connecting some beautiful passes and shooting from Caitlin and Willa, sealed the deal. Great win 22- 17

Coaches’ player Phoebe Lewis

U14C

The U14Cs worked hard against KES on Saturday. Their strong defence put all our attackers in a troubling position. Luckily, we had Annie with her quick, speedy turns finding easy spaces for some amazing passes to Zara who scores with every chance she gets. In defence we had Cata with her incredible interceptions and her springy feet. Right behind her Brooke was using her distracting jumps to prevent many goals from ending up in the hoop. Our birthday girl Ella Lane was left huffing and puffing after doing some fantastic running making easy spaces for Millie to pass into. Millie covered every inch of the court as usual and held the team together as centre. Overall, the girls worked so hard and were exhausted!

Rowing at Schools Head, Bryanston Stampede and Junior Sculling Head

Schools’ Head of the River Race 2023

With the biggest entry to date the Schools’ Head held annually was a massive event with over 350 crews from all over the British Isles and Ireland.

This year Canford were represented by:

Rex Batt, Olly Stuart, Benji Bishop, Ed Fillingham, Arun Samra, Dan Coupe, Archie Jones, William Fearnley and cox Imy Woodcock who finished 3rd in 1st Eights.

Mia Ulyett, Amelia Frost, Maddie Nickell, Sophia Whelan, Susie Jones, Eliana Covell, Valerie Roberts, Jess West and cox Millie Gardiner claimed another positive result finishing 11th in Girls’ 1st Eights,

Jess Burke, Jasmin De La Haye, Imo Whitehead, Daisey Pinner, Arthur Brooke, Freddie Pearce, Julian Newell, George Roche and cox Ralf Allen finished 3rd in the new mixed co-educational event.

A great all round performance and a lifetime of memories for our Canfordians. Very well done!

The boys then stayed on for the next days of racing in the Head of the River Race again over the Championship course.

Finishing 118 overall and 9th in Junior eights. A brilliant result considering two back-to-back races over the four and a quarter miles course. The Thames is slightly different from our River Stour!

Bryanston Stampede

J14 Boys

Lightweight Crew - 3rd, 1 sec behind the Bryanston crews and looking neat.

Heavy weight crew - 4th, 4 seconds behind the Lightweights - Proving it's all about technique not raw power!

The mixed crews did a decent job, but they learnt much about staying in time, not panicking, and rowing together!

They were excellent at rigging and boating.

J14 Girls

Our 6 different crew combinations rowed very well in their first event and just lost out to a more experienced crew from Christchurch Rowing club. They gained a great deal of confidence from the day and are looking forward to some more racing in the summer term.

J15 Boys

7th in their class.

Junior Sculling Head, Dorney Lake

Canford Junior 15 boys and girls headed to the Olympic Lake at Dorney Reach near Windsor.

WJ15. 4x+. Maddie Woodcock, Clementine Watts, Isabelle Keeley, Freya Coupe and cox Devon Perrin. Finished 45th.

WJ15. 4x+. Felicity Alston Rebecca Neill, Eva De Niro, Ella Johnson and cox Lola Wood. Finished 68th.

J15. 4x+ Ollie Stear. Harry Percival-Lynch, Raif Anderson, Olly Walpole and cox Joe Bichard. Finished 53rd.

A big step up for these youngsters will hundreds of children from around the country representing their schools and clubs.

Special thanks to the coaches for all tireless help and dedication over three day of competition.

An exceptional turn out for racing by our school and one to be proud of.

Basketball v Sherborne

The Towers faced their third fixture of the season against Sherborne and expected a big challenge with the away team having several returning senior players who missed the previous fixture. The previous games had all been tight fixtures and this 3rd instalment was no different.

It was Sherborne who made the early running with their No 3 being particularly influential in the first quarter which give the visitors a three point lead despite Lexing Zou’s seven point quarter. The game continued in a nip and tuck fashion over periods 2 and 3 with first Canford surging ahead on the back of points from Henry Hancock and Leo Vorobyev. However, it was Sherborne who held a 37-35 lead heading into the final period after a big third quarter

The final fifteen minutes were a nail biting affair for spectators in the sports hall as both teams traded blows. An early blow for the home side saw Lexing Zou fouled out but Leo Vorobyev (20 points in total) came alive for the Towers as they game wore on. Aided by Vic Lee and Freddie Jackson, four points each, it was the Canford Blue that tasted victory by 53-50 as the final hooter sounded.

A great game to finish the term and thanks must go to Mr Dronyk for his coaching and support of the boys who have improved so much over the course of the year.

Lacrosse v Talbot Heath

2nd Team vs Talbot Heath

The 2nd Team had their final match against Talbot Heath last Thursday and came out with a very convincing 20-4 win. The team worked well together and displayed the impressive stick skills that they have gained over the last term. Isla Young dominated in center, working coherently with Lottie Heyman in the attack and getting some convincing shots in, whereas Francesca Hensher and Jess Coughlan-Davies showed off their defensive prowess and did not let their opposition pass them by. A brilliant end to the season for these girls.

Football v Winchester and Sherborne

Oaks 1-2 Winchester

Goal: Kwan

The Oaks came up against a tough Winchester side on Thursday. Winchester retained the ball well in the early exchanges but were unable to break the deadlock. A great save from Landale forced him to go off. Homer stepped up and made two incredible saves to keep the scores level going into half time.

The deadlock was broken halfway through the second half by Winchester, a defence splitting pass was finished well by the Winchester forward. After all the hard work the boys put in they were determined to get back on level terms. They did just that, as Kwan finished with his left foot, past the onrushing keeper. However, it wasn’t to be as a long ball was flicked on into the path of the Winchester striker who was able to bury it.

Oaks 0-5 Sherborne

A tough day at the office for the boys, with Sherborne running rampant in the first 15 minutes. The boys found themselves 3-0 down early on. But after that, the scores remained the same for the next 50 minutes. A late Sherborne charge made the game 5-0.

Running / X-Country at Canford Relays and National Schools Cross Country

Canford Relays

This week saw the annual cross country relay race which took place on home soil at Canford Park. Eight schools entered teams from Inter Boys to Senior Girls to cover a 2 mile course. Special thanks to Mr Gordon for his meticulous planning of the event and the race started bang on time at 1430. Unlike other races, all boys and girls ran the same course and all the first leg runners start at the same time.

Canford put down an early marker of intent as Santi crossed the line first out of all the first leg runners. A split of 12m04s, saving his best for one of the last races of the season, he put the Inter Boys A team in pole position going into leg two. Alex (12m52), Tom (12m12) and Henry (14m20) proceeded to light up the race track, creating a big gap on second place and took the win by an impressive 3 minutes. Meanwhile the Inter Boys B squad demonstrated the strength in depth that Canford currently enjoys. Consistent running by Sam (14m30), Adrian (14m58) and Harry (14m52) meant that they held off Kingswood A team by 18 seconds to complete the podium.

In the Senior Boys race, special recruits of Sam, Sam and Will joined Elliot to make a crack team. Elliot managed to pip Sam by four seconds for fastest Canford senior with a 12m31 and their collective efforts meant that they held off Bryanston to take 3rd spot.

In the Inter Girls, Jemima impressed with a 14m 07 (3rd fastest Inter Girl) and Bella, Paige and Maiia put in solid performances and demonstrated how much they have improved over the term. In the Senior Girls, Abi was in the mix with the Sherborne Girls and was only one of three who broke the 14 minute barrier (13m52). Special thanks to Honoré to complete a Senior Girls team so Abi, Charlotte and Ellie could make it onto the leader boards.

With Canford walking away with 5 medals for individual performances and 3 trophies for team performances, it was an afternoon to enjoy and it was particularly great to see everyone so enthusiastically encouraging the Canford runners at the change overs.

Cross Country National Championships

On Saturday, Abi Crossley travelled up to Wollaton Park, Nottingham to take part in the National Cross-country Championships with the Dorset Team. Following regionals, she joined forces with Sherborne Girls to add an interval track session on Monday nights and it looks like this has paid off! Hoping for a top 350 before the gun, she managed to sneak into the top 250 with 246th out of 400 runners. She even manged to gain a place since regionals to be the 6th fastest from the Dorset team. This is a huge achievement from Abi and bodes well for next year when she gets another chance in her Upper Sixth year. A star in the making!

Golf v King’s Taunton

L 3-0 V King’s Taunton

The Canford Golf Team came out of hibernation and played their area semi-final of the HMC Foursomes. This alternative shot format is difficult when playing golf regularly, as you have to rely on your partner to atone for any of your poor shots, and doubly so if it is your first match of the year.

All three Canford pairs started slowly and found themselves behind their opponents owing to a mix of good golf from the latter or being too ambitious themselves. Foursomes golf is more about making fewer mistakes and keeping double bogeys off the card rather than going for birdies!

After 9 holes, we started to play much better, and perhaps more conservative golf, but by this point a very good King’s Taunton side were in the lead in all 3 matches by a few holes. The opponents continued to play very strategic golf by never giving holes away cheaply, and so the Canford teams had to try to win holes back. Sadly it was a case of one step forward, one step back and none of the 3 pairs could narrow the advantage that King’s had built up on the first few holes.

Leo V and Johnny W L 4&2

Suzy C and Yakov V L3&2

Nate S and Guy G L 3&1

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