Summer Term 2023 - Week 6 Sports Report

Athletics – Winchester Meet

The athletes headed to Winchester University Athletics’ Track to compete against Winchester College, Marlborough College, Dauntsey’s and Portsmouth Grammar School. Overall the Juniors Boys came 3rd, Inter Boys 4th and Senior Boys 4th. In the girls section, Junior and Inter girls both came 3rd.

Stand out performances were seen by Harry Williams in the 200m, Ethan Yeow 1500m, both taking the gold, Kit Bulstrode-Newman in the 100m and Tom Hakes in the javelin. On the track in the Inter boys competition, Isaac Ameyaw impressed in the 200m, Tom Camilleri in the 400m and George Mackie in the Hurdles. While in the field, Harry Pilkington came 2nd in the high jump and Ralph Boldt also took 2nd in the javelin. Jansci Motsi produce a sound jump in the long jump to secure victory and solid performance in the 100m, along with Ivor Ritson. In the girls competition, Elsa Kenny produced a personal best and win in the high jump and hurdles, Poppy Young clinch 2nd place in the 200m and Josie Carswell took the relay home to a victory and produced a solid 2nd place in the long jump. In the Inter girls competition Megan Mowbray won both the triple jump and high jump with Eliza Miller taking silver in the shot.

After half term several Canford athletes have been selected to represent Poole and East Dorset in the County Finals at King’s Park.

Junior Girls

Elsa Kenny High Jump and Hurdles

Millie Bowley Long Jump

Josie Carswell Long Jump

Inter Girls

Megan Mowbray High Jump, Triple Jump and Hurdles

Senior Girls

Elisabeth Koppert Pole Vault and Discus

Evelyn Young Discus

Junior Boys

Harry Williams 200m, High Jump and Long Jump

Inter Boys

Isaac Ameyaw 200m

Lawrence Al Hariri Shot

Ben Jack Shot

Harry Pilkington High Jump

Senior Boys

Jansci Motsi 100m and Long Jump

Cricket v Dauntsey’s, Glenmoor and Winton and St Helen and St Katherine’s

1st XI

Canford

202 for 6 (40)

Dauntsey’s

203 for 5 (40)

A great game of cricket, nobody deserved to lose and a lot to learn from.

This best sums up our first defeat of the season.

Choosing to bat first with Fifth Form pair George G and Harry Serjeant opening we got to 33 off 8.3 before we lost our first wicket to a catch in front of the wicket going hard at it.

The wicket was playing a little too paced and statistics showed that we had 8 overs’ worth of dot balls in our first 14 overs. Dauntsey’s attack did bowl a consistent length but best ball rotation is something we need to work on. George was unlucky not to score his first 50 and fell for a well made 43 in the 21st over with the score on 88.

Our most fluent partnership was between Dill and Will Fountain and they put on 102 in 17 overs, an excellent 74* (75) from Dill and 46 (48) from Will got us up to what should have been an above par 202 off the 40 overs.

First thing to notice was the pitch improved as the innings went on, secondly the outfield had sped up considerably, but it should still have been enough if we bowled as we can.

Unfortunately, we didn’t as we over pitched early on to allow batters to hit straight and then over corrected and got hit square of the wicket. Saying this our spinners Kit 8-24-0 and Thomas 8-37-2 bowled very well in the middle overs to keep the rate rising and the pressure on. With 5 overs to go Dauntsey’s still required 53 runs but we could not stick to our plans or bowl to our field. It must be said that the batting from Butterworth (39*) and Campbell (46) was composed and intelligent but we did make things easier in the field and give away some 2’s that should have been 1’s.

A last ball defeat was followed by some very honest reflections by the team and all felt that it was almost the perfect (bar the victory) preparation for our National Cup QF against Wellington College this week.

2nd XI

Canford: 94 all out (26.2 overs) Johnny Walster 27

Dauntsey’s: 95-4 (19.2 overs)

Player of the Match: Johnny Walster

Missing a few key players from the batting line up, the challenge for the 2nd team this week was to get runs on the board. Unfortunately, they came up against a strong Dauntsey’s bowling attack with no weak links. Put into bat, we lost Jimmy Johnson without any score on the board, but Johnny Walster and Emelia Butler steadied the ship and took us to 40/1, with Johnny playing some powerful pull shots, punishing the rare poor ball. From then on the wickets fell regularly, some due to good bowling, some unlucky decisions and some poor shot selection.

94 never looked enough, but we needed early wickets to give ourselves a chance. Will Allen produced another excellent opening spell, beating the bat on numerous occasions, and shaving the stumps regularly too. He did everything but take a wicket, with a sharp catch also dropped in the slips. Tom Kiff supported him well, and picked up a wicket in the 6th over, Johnny redeeming himself with a solid catch at slip. Unfortunately, the Dauntsey’s opener, on 0 for 18 balls, then found his range, and the powerful number three struck the ball well to take them close to the target (so well in fact that he caused injuries to Emilia and Charlie Pallot as they were hit on their follow through bowling). Alex Landale, a late call up from the 3rd XI picked up a wicket with 7 needed to win and Will Vessey and Johnny took two more with the scores level, but it was too little too late. Dauntsey’s deserved the win.

3rd XI

Dauntsey’s won the toss and elected to bowl first

Canford 132-4 (20 overs): Adam Driver 48* (51), Sam Symes 25 (25), Hayden Weedall 20 (22).

Dauntsey’s 121(18 overs): S Lloyd 40 (38). Lucas Francis 3-13 (3 overs), Clare Robinson 3-26 (4 overs), Henry Lane 2-22 (4 overs), Angus Brown 2-20 (2 overs)

Canford 3rd XI won by 11 runs.

A tight win took the Canford 3rd XI to back-to-back victories and maintained our unbeaten season going into half term.

Asked to bat first, Canford openers Sam Symes and Adam Driver accumulated runs at a good rate, Symes being the more aggressive with some lusty blows and one glorious six straight back over the opening bowler’s head. Driver was more circumspect but took advantage of the loose deliveries to carry his bat for an almost run-a-ball 48 not out. Brief cameos from Jocelin Child and Angus Brown contributed to a good total (a mammoth total by our usual standards!) of 132 from our 20 overs.

In reply, Dauntsey’s raced out of the blocks with some big hitting from their numbers 1 and 3, but a steady loss of wickets prevented serious damage. Henry Lane struck in his first over and Clare Robinson, making her 3rd XI debut, removed the dangerous Dodds LBW with just her fourth ball. Robinson would remove two more of the Dauntsey’s top order (and was unlucky not to claim a couple more) in a lovely spell of left-arm wobblers that tempted the big swing but ultimately left the stumps splattered. Wickets continued to fall, but against a steady leaking of runs in the background via wides and high full deliveries (31 runs in total were conceded from bowling extras). Angus Brown added two more victims of his left-arm darts to his season’s tally, and Lucas Francis took away the best bowling figures with three wickets of his own. However, the Dauntsey’s number 5 Lloyd was scoring freely and refusing to get out, and with the visitors still going above the required rate it seemed that we would have to attack the other end and hope they ran out of wickets. Some good captaincy from Child starved Lloyd of the strike, meaning that the remaining tail-end wickets ultimately fell by the 18th over with Dauntsey’s 11 runs short of the target.

A much improved batting performance, but we will need to ensure that we cut down on the extras conceded as this could end up making a big difference in tight matches. As always, though, great team spirit and sporting values on display and a good time had by all in the sunshine.

U15As v Dauntsey’s

As every side has from time to time, the Under 15’s had a ‘bad day at the office’ with regard batting. Three or four key players nicked off or were bowled by decent deliveries and so a well below par total of 73 all out was mustered. Trying to force big shots from decent deliveries is something to think about with securing singles a better option from these? A real positive was Freddie Jackson’s 24 which contained some free-flowing shots. The team looked keener run well too which is a step forward.

On a turning pitch, lots of spin option was used and despite putting the brakes on significantly and taking regular wickets, there wasn’t quite enough scoreboard pressure to avoid defeat. Gabe Davey was exceptional with the ball and Ben Priaulx also picked up 3 wickets. Our vibe, positioning and application in the field was the best yet with Raffi Organ probably winning ‘fielder of the day’.

Canford –73 all out (21 overs) Dauntsey’s - 74 for 6 (26 overs)

U15B v Dauntsey’s

Canford 71 all out 18.2 overs

Dauntsey’s 73 for 8 21.1 overs

Dauntsey’s win by 2 wickets

Canford won the toss, and with a great deal of confidence in their willow-swingers, chose to bat; they strode out onto a pitch that (compared to last week) seemed like a billiard table par excellence. Sam Armstrong and Fred Blackburn seemed to know what was required but managed to get involved in a crazy run out. After last week’s heroics, Louis Smith was elevated up the order but was then caught behind off a thickish outside edge just after hitting a lovely 4. Daisy Timberlake was next in but unfortunately she played over the top of a straight one. This was followed by a tough spell as the Dauntsey’s bowler wrapped up a hattrick of Bowled, LBW and Bowled taking out Daisy, Jacob Royle and Oscar Ingarfield. Will Gulliford came and went pretty quickly for a single and Fred, patiently waiting at the non-striking end, must have wondered what on earth was going on. Izzy Reeve steadied the ship significantly with Fred before he finally succumbed for a healthy nineteen. Ellie T-Anderson was a brief visitor and Izzy was then joined by our debutante, Penny Dirou. Izzy faced a new bowler and played over a straight one and had to go having collected ten runs. Skipper Jenkinson came and went with the same alacrity as many of the middle order leaving Penny stranded for her 9 not out. 71 was our final total.

Seventy-one never seemed like enough on a true wicket but our bowling nearly produced a result. Will Bayer opened, powering up the hill, and after a couple of deliveries to remind himself of how to deliver a snorter, he became quite a handful. And alongside the broadsword called Will, coming down the hill we had the rapier that was Izzy Reeve. Her figures speak for themselves: five overs, one maiden, 9 for 2. Ellie Anderson showed a pleasing amount of late outswing; and at this level, many batters find this quite difficult to cope with. An important wicket was her reward; their top-scoring, and most competent batsman. Penny came on with her spin bowling and the Dauntsey’s batters were utterly flummoxed by her particular brand of spin. Five overs for a paltry 16 and a wicket (a well taken stumping by Daisy). Sam Armstrong filled in one maiden over at the end, alongside Izzy as the Dauntsey’s score inched its way towards the required total. A big shout out for Skipper Linc who, for the second week, earned his spurs bowling very tidily for four overs, eleven runs for three wickets, with a brace of ‘clean bowled’ to his name.

However, in the end, our batters had set the bar just too low; Dauntsey’s squeaked home by two wickets. In spite of being given a perfectly good batting track, both sides squandered their opportunities and the bowlers (on both teams) reigned supreme.

Girls U15 – National Cup Last 32 v St Helen and St Katharine’s (SHSK)

A trip to Oxfordshire for the girls as they continued their National Cup run at a neutral venue in Kingston Bagpuize CC. The girls knew this would be a step up from previous rounds with our opposition having recently qualified for the national indoor finals in both the U13 and U15 age groups.

SHSK were first to bat and showed intent from the outset. Despite some good bowling and a couple of early wickets the hosts rattled along at 6 an over and with 12 overs gone, 80+ runs were on the board and being down two bowlers (taken out of the attack for too many no balls) it looked like we would be chasing a big target. A pair of our year 9s however thought differently though and excellent spells by Alice Laird (2.2 overs 1-4) and in particular Caitlin Wilmot (4 overs 3-7) tied SHSK down and they also picked up regular wickets. From a position of strength SHSK stumbled through their last few overs as our fielding continued to strangle their batters. The target eventually set of 114 seemed a lot more gettable.

The Canford reply started steadily but saw both Poppy White and Ruby Hindell find the boundary once they had seen off some good bowling from the hosts. Their partnership was ended by an unfortunate run out which saw Poppy depart (21) and Captain Izzy Reeve come to the crease. Izzy and Ruby then picked apart the middle section of SHSK bowling and by the two of them had departed (Ruby 27 and Izzy 39) only 10 were needed for victory with overs in hand. Daisy Timberlake and Emily Von Schirnding steered the team towards victory, and despite losing Daisy when the scores were level, the girls duly completed a 6 wicket victory with nearly 4 overs to spare.

Into the last 16 we go, searching to at least replicate last year’s quarter final place, where we will play the winner of Millfield or Plymouth College.

U14A v Glenmoor & Winton

With a change of scenery, the U14s warmed up on Lower Tadmores to face Winton Academy. Skipper Felix Inglis like every time this season lost the toss, and we went into bat. The captain was joined by Freddie Rodber at the crease to start our innings. After 2 overs both opening batsmen were out, and we had 4 runs on the board. However, 'Mr In Form' with the bay Guy Punnett came out and set off steadily Monty Palmer had a brief time batting followed by Tom Hatherley. Guy and Tom had a healthy partnership of 30 runs to help the scoreboard along. Hatherley departed after missing the ball; so Teddy Mcsheehy came in to try a whack the ball. This fleeting innings was cut short. Hector Hedges batted for a healthy partnership with Guy again until Guy was bowled for 15. Yakov Vorobyev came in swinging. After chipping the ball the mid-on his reasoning for this was "well no one on their team could catch" didn't seem so true. Lex Vrettos again came and went. Will Goold batting at 10 came to the rescue. Between Hedges, Goold and Phoenix Wilson the teams total grew into a very good score. Hedges with 25 before being bowled and Goold 30* and Wilson 10* both finishing batters with positive strike rates meant the total was 156/9 after 20 overs. Goold and Wilson then opened the bowling. Goold bowling tight lines restricting the batters. And Wilson "scaring the living daylights" out of the batters to use Winton’s number 3s words. The opening bowlers finished with a wicket each and making our total nearly out of reach for the batting team. Vorobyev and Rodber again restricted the batters going at less than 4 runs an over each off their 3 overs. Mcsheehy, Vrettos, Hedges and Inglis all bowled well rarely giving away extras of bad balls. Winton finished on 71/5 off 20 overs meaning a Canford win by 85 runs!

U14A v Dauntsey’s

After a cup win midweek, the U14s went back to Upper Tadmores. Captain Felix Inglis lost the toss, and we bowled first. Will Goold and Phoenix Wilson bowled well and applied the pressure. From this a sharp run out by Freddie Rodber at short third man. Next ball Goold bowled the visitor's number 3 for a golden duck. After a tight start spin was the way forward for the side Teddy Mcsheehy and Freddie Rodber bowled well and restricted the batters. Caitlin Wilmot and Hector Hedges bowled economically at the death to restrict Dauntsey's to 131/8 off 25 overs. Inglis and Rodber opened the batting for Canford. Rodber's wicket fell after 11 balls at the crease. Guy Punnett came in and went back shortly later after a nasty in swinger caught his back leg. Monty Palmer then got a snorter of a delivery that pitched on leg and clipped the top of off. Absolutely unplayable! Goold after his terrific performance on Thursday came in but got an in swinging Yorker in front of the stumps on his front foot. After the opposition's opening bowler collect his 5 wickets, Hector Hedges came to the crease. Inglis then chipped the ball straight up and was caught by the keeper. With the score at 37-7 we needed a miracle up stepped Caitlin Wilmot. A brave 13 off 29 partnered Hedges well with his 6 off 27. With extras now raining down the score accelerated nicely Hedges departed with the score at 54 and Wilmot at 77. Lex Vrettos and Tom Hatherley stood as the last wicket with over 50 runs required it was a tough ask. Hatherley quickly got to 4 runs then got out. Canford were 82 all out after 20.3 overs.

U14B v Dauntsey’s

Another sunny Saturday on MT’s after two narrow losses but this time with a different captain in Toby Flegg with Monty having departed to the A’s. Dauntsey’s won the toss and decided to have a bowl on a surface that definitely offered some variable bounce.

The captain was joined by Josh Sinclair and they set out to build a score that we could happily defend. The best partnership of the season ensued with both openers contributing well, alongside a healthy helping of extras, to reach 86 at pretty much a run a ball before a wicket was lost. As often happens, one wicket follows another and with both openers departing along with Will Hickey it was left to Ruby Hindell and Alice Laird to rebuild the innings. That they did with Ruby in particular striking the ball to the boundary on a number of occasions before a minor late collapse saw us finish on 139-8 off of our allotted 25 overs.

Dauntsey’s set out to chase seven an over to reach their 140 target but in reality the game was over fairly soon. Some excellent bowling and fielding from all the team meant no batters reached double figures as Dauntsey’s were all out for 56 inside 14 overs. Special mention to Will Hickey for his 2-5 off 2 overs but especially to Ruby Hindell for her 5-9 which tore the heart out of the Dauntsey’s middle order.

A win after two close defeats and a satisfied feeling of improvements being made and a job well done!

Tennis v

Girls 1st v Dauntsey’s

With a completely different looking 1st team, it was a tough afternoon for the girls away at Dauntsey’s. The score doesn’t tell a fair reflection of what happened. Across all the courts, the girls battled so well! Serving was much improved and much more positive play at the net, leading them to always be in every point, but on the day perhaps not quite consistent as their opponents. My favourite part of the afternoon was the girls feeling that they wanted another go! They felt that if they had been given another set, that some of the score lines could have been different. Anouska Loveridge and Katie Clark were the queens of deuces and stepped up to the occasion of playing a very well drilled 1st team. First run out for Shell Bella Jenkins, partnered with Tara Hogan, who got better as the afternoon on. They learnt a lot about adapting play and being patient with their shots, the chances will come. The pair of the week must go to Maya Doubleday and Mia Ashby Rudd, with an epic first two matches going tiebreaks, one of them they managed to convert into a win, despite trailing in the set. They had run out of steam a little in the final round, but again did not let up. The first pair had a very accomplished tennis player who was incredibly talented in all areas, yet they did not look out of place and fought for every point.

POW – Maya Doubleday and Mia Ashby Rudd.

Girls 2nds v Dauntsey’s L 9-0

At the final hour on Saturday morning, this group of girls, suddenly found themselves in the seconds, competing against a side that didn’t look to dissimilar to the 1st team. The first round all the pairs took a set to get used to the very sandy surface, the pace of the ball coming at them and that all pairs, loved to try and attack at the net. Isla Knatchbull and Lara Witter, got progressively better as the afternoon went on and became more confident at the net and were trying different things to stop their opponent’s rhythm. Bella Rose and Lara Edsall gave it all they could during the afternoon and felt much like some of the first team, that if they were given another chance they could have got even closer. Not only did Bea Woodward and Layla have exams on Monday, with lots of revision on the bus, they had a great afternoon and after the first round were starting to hit the through the ball much more confidently and play aggressively. Whilst it might have not been the result they wanted as a group; I was pleased that they felt that they had learnt from the experience.

POW – Bea Woodward and Layla Stannah.

Girls U15s v Dauntsey’s 1-8 L

The girls should be congratulated on their improved performances, despite the one-sided score line. Kurumi and Connie won their first set very convincingly 6-1 and fought well in their remaining 2 sets losing narrowly 5-7 to the oppositions first pair. Both girls had improved their shot selection in this match and looked very strong when they were not making unforced errors. Jess and Ella, continue to be competitive and were rightly very frustrated losing 4-6 and 5-7 in two very close matches. Sienna Fitzpatrick and Rose Sanderson justified their selection for the A team, making a fantastic come back from 2-5 down against the Dauntsey’s second pair taking the match to the first tie break of the season. They even nearly repeated this against their opposite number at 2-5 down again, only to lose 4-6. A gutsy effort for the newcomers. Well done, everyone.

Canford v Sherborne (2nd Boys)

James Balasubramaniam & Alex Cochrane: 3/6, 4/6, 6/1

Rohan Samra & James Harvey: 3/6, 6/0, 6/1

Leon Keating & Louis Pearson: 3/6, 2/6, 3/6

Canford lost 3/6.

A sunny afternoon at home to Sherborne for the boys second team, with a couple of players unavailable due to exam season kicking off, this was always going to be a tough one. Approaching the final round of matches, Canford were 4-2 down and needed all wins to take victory. It was looking good for a while, with Rohan and James comfortably beating their second pair 6/0 and the other two games close in the early stages, but unfortunately Sherborne just had the legs in the latter stages, taking the win 6/3. Well done boys though, great effort all round and good to see progress is being made each week!

3rd Boys

The Canford 3rd team hosted Dauntsey's this week and put in a strong shift, winning 8-1.

Oscar and Fin breezed through the first game winning 6-0, as they punished the Dauntsey’s errors, keeping the rallies short. Albert and Ross produced a similar performance with the same result. Leon and Olly took a bit more time, with multiple deuce games and long rallies but still managed to come away with a 6-1 victory.

The second round saw more of the same, as Canford flew through the games going into the final round 6-0 up. Unfortunately, a perfect 9-0 slipped through the cracks, as Leon and Olly came up short in their final game. However, the boys performed extremely well throughout the day, with Oscar and Fin only giving up one game while Albert and Ross and went perfect winning, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

The boys can be proud of their performance and hopefully they can continue this form going forward.

U15A Boys v Sherborne 6-3 Win

On Thursday the U15As hosted Sherborne 16B side. Lewis and Hector are forming a brilliant partnership as the top pair, and stormed their 3 sets, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1. Cam and Seb D started well, winning their first two sets 6-2. However in their final set they struggled to get going and lost 6-4. Rhodri earned a well deserved first match for the A team. Partnered with Tim, they took the opposition first pair to an unlucky 7-5 loss, and then lost 6-3 to the 2nd pair. In their final set, they got what they deserved and won 6-1.

U15A Boys v Dauntsey’s 6-3 Win

Some great performances on Saturday for the U15A boys. Lewis and Hector continue to grow and won all 3 sets once again. In their first two sets they only dropped one game. Tim and Cam, a new duo, also won all 3 of their sets, 6-5, 6-4, 6-0. Seb D and Rhordi struggled to make their mark in the day, but due to the other pairs winning all their sets, Canford went on to win 6-3.

U15B Boys v Dauntsey’s 3-6 Loss

A tough day for Sam F and Henry against a strong Dauntsey’s side. Although they didn’t win a set they worked hard throughout and only lost each set 6-4. A bit more work on movement and consistency and these two will begin to see the benefits. Yakov and Jack were superb, winning 6-2, 6-2 and finally 6-4. Ralph and Xander had a tough start but finished in style, winning their final set 6-5.

U15C Boys v Dauntsey’s 6-3 Win

Will and Sante, slow starters but a great finish for them. After losing their first match 6-2, they went on to win 6-3 and 6-4 in their final two sets. They’ve massively deserved this for all the work they have been putting in. A new partnership of Ollie S and Ethan was formidable to start, two 6-4 Wins, and some great tennis played. Better communication and teamwork at times would’ve seen these two win all 3 sets. Kunwho had the difficult job of playing with a step in, but what a performance he delivered. Two 6-5 wins to settle the match for Canford.

U15 Girls Bs and Cs v Dauntsey’s

This was an absolutely nail-biting fixture from beginning to end as the game points went back and forth and match points were rescued and then lost again. There was brilliant tennis played across both teams with the Bs winning three of their matches. Special mention must go to Kate Landale and Emily Kiff who went above and beyond to get to some tramline shots in time and despite ending up on the floor a few times, managed to win two of their three matches. Dogged determination and the belief that they could make a come-back was absolutely instrumental in their performance. Gigi and Tilly were queens of the Deuces in some hotly contested games whilst Poppy and Tess very nearly concluded two matches as the winners, concentration just slipping in the latter parts of their matches, leaving the overall match score as a 3-6 loss. Over in the C's Cara Siggers came back strong from injury and played her first match of the season, partnering well with Ella MacMillan and coming away with 5 games taken from Dauntsey's. Flower and Elvin battled valiantly but couldn't quite convert their shots into points won and Hanna and Anna had some very close matches winning nine games in total. The 0-9 loss for the Cs doesn't reflect the level of tennis on court, which was remarkably even and made for a very entertaining fixture with a lot of learning opportunities.

U14A Girls v Sherborne L 3 - 6

Oriana and Willa K kept their heads and continued to push the opposition in every match, coming out with two wins for the day. Willa B and Chloe had some very close matches throughout the day, showing how well the work as a team. Playing some close games and matches, they work right up until the end and managed to score themselves a win for the A's. Phoebe and Lily worked tirelessly throughout the day and put up some good fights, scoring some amazing shots, coming close in every game.

U14 B Girls v Sherborne L 3 – 6

After a tough first match, Grace and Alice stormed into form and won their final two games with excellent teamwork, reading of the play, and calmness under pressure. In a similarly competitive match Cata and Annie came close in their first two games before fighting back to win their final game 6-5 in an inspiring display of determination and very clever tennis. Esme and Jemima pushed the opposition all the way and showed some moments of tactical magic throughout, winning some very nice shots.

U14C Girls v Sherborne L 0 – 9

The results certainly don’t reflect the performance the girls put in during their matches. Some exciting tennis was played by all, and there is much to be proud of. Ella and Tess came very close to a win and showed that they can be a very competitive pair, and Elisa and Leena played determined and combative tennis with some extremely entertaining rallies! Bea, Brooke and Lizzie showed moments of skill with some nice shots and are certainly improving their all-round play.

Well done to all of the teams! We’re all moving in the right direction and with practise we’ll be even more competitive after the half-term break!

Futsal – Sherborne U15 Tournament

On Sunday a group of nine Shells headed up to Sherborne to compete in the school’s first ever Futsal tournament. It was always likely to be a tough task as our opposition was mainly year 10s and with our 4th Form away on WDE weekend, a younger squad was pulled together.

After a tough start against Bryanston and Sherborne the boys responded well against Milton Abbey and looked like they could get something from the game, although that wasn't to be. In the second round of games the boys improved again and ran the eventual runners Sherborne very close in their game. After the final game, the boys were disappointed, but their improvement throughout the tournament against the year above is to be admired. More training in futsal and playing more matches will stand the boys in good stead for their participation in football at Canford.

Player of the day - Warren Iyamu.

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