Summer Term 2023 - Week 8 Sports Report

Athletics – Dorset County Championships

It was wonderful to see the Canford pupils representing Poole and East Dorset in the Dorset Championships at King’s Park at the weekend. In the Junior section, well done to Millie Bowley and Josie Carswell for representing in the Long Jump, Harry Williams in High Jump and 200m, and Elsa Kenny in the Hurdles and High Jump.

In the Inters age group, Lawrence Al Hariri came 6th in the shot put and Harry Pilkington 4th in High Jump. Megan Mowbray won the Inter Girls High Jump and gained an English Standard jump in the Triple Jump, with a jump of 11.04m. Isaac Ameyaw had a fine run in the heats and qualified into the 200m final, where he finished 5th with a time of 24.4s.

At the Senior end, Jansci Motsi won both the Senior Boys Long Jump and 100m, Elisabeth Koppert won the discus and Evelyn Young took silver. Congratulations to the following athletes who will represent Dorset in the South West Championships on Saturday 17th June in Exeter.

Jansci Motsi - 100m and Long Jump

Evelyn Young - Discus

Elisabeth Koppert - Discus and Pole Vault

Megan Mowbray - High Jump and Triple Jump

Cricket v Bryanston, KES Southampton, Plymouth College and Sherborne

Girls’ 1st XI v KES Southampton – National Cup Last 16

KES Southampton 85/7 (20 overs): Clare Robinson (3-13), Emily von Shirnding (1-11), Penny Dirou (1-17), Hester Child (1-6)

Canford School 87/2 (12.5 overs): Izzy Reeve 2 (7), Poppy White 54* (35), Emily von Shirnding 1 (9), Penny Dirou 15* (26)

In the next round of the National Cup, and more importantly, Daisy’s birthday, the 1st XI girls travelled to KES Southampton. Captain Clare won the toss and opted to bowl first, with the pitch looking good for our spinners unlike the previous round. Clare started the bowling with Poppy, with the first wicket falling fast and the score at 2/1. With 8 overs bowled between them, Clare and Poppy only gave 32 runs, making it difficult for KES’s bat. The wickets fell fast and KES were struggling at 19/3. They steadied the ship, until the next wicket at 48/4 and again at 78/6 with the final wicket being taken by a stunning catch from Charlotte.

With the change of innings, our girls felt confident heading into bat, knowing that there was time on their side and an achievable run rate. Not onto plan, Izzy was bowled on 5/1 with Emily not far behind at 8/2. Although a strong set of batters were readying to enter, the partnership and particular batting from Poppy sealed us the game. With excellent calling from Penny and some monster 4’s and 6’s from Poppy, there was very little KES could do to stop the inevitable. Poppy sealed her 2nd 50 at this ground and secured the winning runs for Canford. We now progress to the quarterfinals against last year’s National Champions Bradfield College, which will be a good test.

Girls' U15 v Plymouth College – National Cup Last 16

Having overcome National Indoor Champions St Helen and St Katherine’s in the previous round the girls were handed another tough task in a long road trip to Plymouth College to meet the vanquishers of perennial sporting powerhouse Millfield in their Round 3 fixture.

Plymouth were sent in on a dry fast pitch which sloped away one side by Captain Izzy Reeve and the hosts got off to what can only be described as a flyer. 70 off of the first six over powerplay left us a looking at potentially a very sizable run chase. The girls however stuck to their task very well with Emily Von Schirnding, Poppy White, Izzy Reeve, Penny Dirou, Delilah Rees and Caitlin Wilmot all taking tickets, Poppy and Penny 3 each. The early big hitters were dismissed and the other home batters struggled to get runs. It was a huge turnaround and momentum shift in the game and it saw Plymouth bowled out with 5 balls left for 128. A competitive total but one that the Canford girls would be confident of attacking.

The Canford girls started off steadily but kept close to the run rate required in a 69 run partnership between Emily and Izzy. The accelerator was pushed around the midway point in a second partnership between Izzy and Poppy after Emily had fallen for an excellent 31, which came at a run a ball. By the time both Izzy (34) and Poppy (28) had departed the game was nearly done and Daisy, Penny and Ruby Hindell finished things off with three overs still to spare.

An excellent win for the girls and impressively putting Canford into the National Quarter Finals for the 2nd year running. They will hope to go one stage further this year when they face the same opponents we will face in the U18 competition in Bradfield College.

Boys’ 1XI v Bryanston

We won the toss and batted 1st in a 20/20 match away at Bryanston. A quickfire first wicket partnership of 62 off 6 overs between Sam and Robbie H allowed us to post an above par score of 149/8 off our 20. Robbie finishing with a well played 58 off 43 balls.

The wicket was a little too paced and not easy to hit through it once the new ball had softened, hence why our latter order struggled a little to find timing.

This was shown in our defence of the total and our bowlers executed their plans perfectly with only one batter getting in to double figures. Bryanston fell away to be all out for 56.

Our spinners in particular have to be mentioned with Tom B unlucky not to get a five wicket haul.(he had the chance!)

Tom B : 3 overs - 4 wkts - 5 runs.

Kit B : 3.4 – 3 – 14

Canford 2nd XI vs Bryanston (T20) – won by 7 wickets

Bryanston: 74 all out (15.1 overs) Will Allen 3-6

Canford: 77-3 (7.5 overs) Jimmy Johnson 31 not out

Player of the Match: Jimmy Johnson

Canford 2nds completed a second demolition of Bryanston this season, despite rotating bowling options and the batting order. The visitors won the toss and chose to bat first, and the Canford opening bowlers of Monty Hooker and Will Allen quickly reduced them to 23-5 with Will reprising his role in the 100 ball game, bowling full, straight and swinging knocking back the stumps on 3 occasions. Monty got amongst the wickets too, alongside the occasional bouncer! Shout outs also go to Jimmy Johnson and Harry Serjeant for their first bowling of the season, alongside their first wickets, with Serj only requiring one ball! In reply, Jamie Elviss got off to his usual blistering start, hitting 27 off 13 before being caught on the boundary, before Jimmy Johnson also striking above 200, saw us home with 31 not out.

Canford 2nd XI vs Sherborne (100 ball) – won by 4 wickets

Sherborne: 109-6 (100 balls) Harry Serjeant 3-16

Canford: 112-6 (100 balls) Adam Driver 36 not out

Player of the Match: Adam Driver

For a second year in a row Canford 2nd XI snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in a 100-ball game against Sherborne. Bowling first the 2’s restricted their hosts to just over a run a ball, largely due to an excellent opening burst from Monty Hooker (1-10 off 20 balls) and some great death bowling by Charlie Pallot (12 off 15 balls), but the star of the show was Harry Serjeant. His slow left arm (spin?) was a mystery to the Sherborne batters, picking up 2 wickets in his first 5 balls, including an impressive juggling effort on the boundary from Ed Timberlake. Serj’s figures of 3-16 in 20 balls put the brakes on Sherborne’s innings and allowed them to only reach a modest total.

In reply, however, Canford found themselves in all sorts of bother, falling to 39 for 5 and in danger of folding like a deck of cards. However, it was the two boys promoted from the 3rd XI, Adam Driver and Alex Landale, who stepped up and showed how to do it, sharing a partnership of 56 to bring us to within touching distance of the finish line. Both batted with great maturity, putting away the bad balls, rotating the strike and just hanging in there too. Adam punished leg side balls to the boundary and Alex hit a big six down the ground on a free hit. When Alex departed there were still 15 runs needed off 8 balls, but Charlie Pallot kept his head, taking 11 off 4 balls to take us to a thrilling final ball victory.

Sherborne 3rd XI vs Canford 3rd XI

Canford won the toss and elected to bowl first

Sherborne 138-8 (20 overs): Fowle 51 (45), Newell 30 (23). Sam Symes 5-20 (4 overs), Jocelin Child 2-12 (2 overs), Lucas Francis 1-19 (4 overs).

Canford 125-8 (20 overs): Sam Symes 39 (27), Xan Brookes 23 (15). Fowle 3-13 (4 overs), Henderson 2-12 (4 overs)

Player of the Match: Sam Symes

Sherborne 3rd XI won by 13 runs.

A close game against the behemoth that is Sherborne School narrowly went against us. A couple of key moments in the match could have changed the result, but overall a good all-round performance from the 3rds.

On a grassy, spongy pitch, with cloud overhead and humid air all around, winning the toss and bowling first was a good decision. The opening pair for Sherborne made quite a blistering start, with Fowle in particular (apparently a 1st XI player making his way back from injury) playing big shots all around the park. Will Vessey bowled a very good back-of-a-length spell that made scoring risky. Lucas Francis, elevated up the bowling roster due to absences, staked a claim for a starting role next weekend as he put in a superb spell of bowling up the hill, with a mixture or swing, seam and well-controlled length playing havoc with the two established batters. He was unlucky to have the dangerous Fowle dropped on 20-something, but he cleaned up the left-handed opener Newell with a perfect inswinger. This spell helped to bring down the run rate and probably deserved another wicket or two. Sam Symes removed the number 3 lbw, before Jocelin Child aka “The Wincanton Warne” came on to take two wickets in his first two balls – the first a wide loosener prodded up to Charlie Bolland at cover, the second an lbw from a good leg-break. Symes then switched to some spin of his own and left the Sherborne middle order in tatters with 4 more wickets in quick succession, including their star man Fowle for 51. Sherborne were ultimately limited to 138-8 from their 20 overs – a decent score, but one which was looking to end up much higher at one point.

The Canford innings started with circumspection – Fowle took the new ball and bowled with pace and aggression. Ethan Bikhazi-Green survived for a couple of overs before falling to a good catch, with late recruit Freddie Warrack also succumbing to the fire of Fowle. Jocelin at 4 steadied the ship and the change of bowling allowed Symes to start plundering runs with his brand of aggressive batting, before falling for a rapid-fire 39 off 27 balls. A couple of big overs had brought us right back into the frame of required run rate, although things rather slowed down with the arrival of Hayden Weedall and Charlie Bolland after Child had departed for 4. Two calamitous run-outs followed – Hayden and Will Vessey both victims of poor calling. The cause looked like a lost one, but Xan Brookes kept it interesting by hitting 5 fours in his 15-ball 23. A huge six from Lucas in the final over was not enough to get us over the line, the Canford innings finally concluding with a deficit of 13 runs.

A good contest between two quite well-matched teams. Super all-round performance from POTM Sam Symes. Two matches to go now – the unbeaten season is gone, but still time for these players to add their names to the annals of 3rd XI greatness against KES and Winchester College.

U15As v Sherborne

It was lovely to watch Canford go about their innings having won the toss with every player playing with freedom and confidence. It wasn’t as if any Sherborne bowler had a poor day, but each of them went at 6 or 7 an over as Canford punished the poor ball, ran positively and risked assessed astutely on the whole. A sublime 60 no from captain Seb Rowland batting at 7 was the icing on the cake built by useful twenty-odds from Bertie Cutler, Archie Lappin and Raffi Organ.

Once both of our first change bowlers backed up Ben Jack by taking a wicket each, that was Alfie Cochrane and Archie Lappin, combined with a lovely run out by Seb Rowland, the game was over as a contest with Felix Lock picking up 3 wickets towards the end of the innings as Sherborne tried to resurrect the impossible. Fine display, fine win – well done.

Canford – 203 for 7 (30 overs) Sherborne – 130 all out (29 overs)

U15Bs v Bryanston

Canford 172 for 4 20 overs

Bryanston 66 for 9 20 overs

Canford win by 106 runs

Both sides probably felt that there was ‘unfinished business’ after a rain affected game earlier in the season

Fred Blackburn as captain elected to bat and sent in Sam Armstrong with Bertie Aspinall to open our innings. Unfortunately, Sam, having cracked a beauty to the boundary, was then bowled off his pads, but ‘Bountiful’ Bertie made the most of his opportunities spanking a number of fours and 45 runs in quick order will have really helped to settle him back into the game. Skipper Fred helped himself to a quickfire dozen and Oscar Ingarfield hit a beautiful four but fell quickly after. Cometh the mid-order crisis, cometh Jacob Royle and Wilf Lupton. They put the Bryanston bowlers firmly back in their place and with 27 and 26 respectively we managed a very tidy 172 for four wickets. This was a total that we could defend with some confidence.

The Bryanston batters approached their task with some trepidation and with the originally agreed 25 over match now reduced to 20s, each of the bowlers was to be given just a ‘quad’ of overs. Will Bayer opened with a couple of wild wides, but then readjusted sights and then became a real handful; none of their batters looked comfortable against him. He thoroughly deserved his maiden and his brace of wickets; one clean bowled and the second forcing the hapless batter to spoon up a catch to a grateful Jacob. Meanwhile Alfie Cochrane delivered a parsimonious spell: two maidens and only four runs coming off the bat. Louis Smith and Jenkinson between them took the wickets of the bulk of the Bryanston middle order. A pair of wickets each for a total of twenty-five runs in eight overs was a fine return. Three clean bowled and one LBW. Willy Gulliford opened his account for the team with a trio of overs and grabbed his first wicket. Bryanston survived the full 120 balls, but managed only 66 runs, a big win for Canford.

U15Bs v Sherborne

Sherborne 152 for 3 25 overs

Canford 62 all out 21.1 overs

Sherborne win by 90 runs

Yet another sunny day, but quite ‘close’ and oppressive. Still, no sign of the threatened rain, and we got through the overs un-dampened. Sherborne elected to bat, and this turned out to be a good choice … for them. The runs initially came slowly, and Linc Jenkinson even managed to tempt one opener to spoon a catch to Louis Smith at short mid-off but as their confidence grew, the batters accelerated and managed to accumulate runs at about five per over for the whole innings. What was pleasing was that our bowlers never lost control; there was no stage at which the floodgates opened. Skipper Smith’s five overs were very much in this vein. Will Gulliford was a little expensive, but he did get a wicket when Annabel Reid took a fantastic catch. Annabel also stepped up to bowl, and was very tidy for her three overs; no wickets but just a single boundary. Likewise, Matilda Appleby Ingram, who kept the ball up to the bat and was pleasingly consistent with her line. Sam Armstrong took a couple of overs and applied a definite deceleration in the run rate. Meanwhile, Will B and Jenkinson came back to finish their spells without leaking too many. Sherborne, who undoubtedly had a few quite serious batters, were restricted to 152 for 3 from their allotted 25 overs

Unfortunately, a full and honest account requires a narrative on our batting. It was, shall we say, less than explosive. The Sherborne bowling was much better than everything we have faced this season It was pacey and accurate, No one could break free of the shackles, and eventually we had to accept a total of only 62 runs. However, I am very pleased to report that in spite of their superiority with the ball, we made Sherborne work hard for their wickets and it took them over twenty-one overs to skittle us out. Yes, we lost … but heads could be held high and pride and dignity were retained.

U14As v Sherborne

Canford began the game bowling in this county cup fixture. Brown and Goold opened the bowling on a batting pitch. The first wicket came after Inglis taking a catch at slip off Brown's bowling. With the next ball the bails went flying after Brown got 2 in 2. On a hat trick Brown storms in looking to hit the stumps, however the batter blocked the ball into the ground. Dempsey took the next wicket with the Sherborne score on 96. Goold bowled well at the death getting 2 wickets. Canford unfortunately bowled a lot of extras meaning the Sherborne total was 193 off 25 overs.

Canford began batting with Inglis and Palmer opening. With an opening partnership off 22 Palmer fell after getting caught when the ball popped off a crack. Punnett came in at 3 with the start of a solid partnership Inglis got ran out after a direct hit from the fielder. Hatherley missed his first ball unfortunately getting bowled. Brown came into partner Punnett. After a short cameo Brown departed. Hedges came and went until Punnett got caught. Goold occupied the crease for a while without troubling the score and was caught. Vrettos departed after trying to reach the end of the overs. McSheehy and Wilson batted well cautiously scoring until McSheehy was caught. Which meant Dempsey came in and hit his first run in the A team. Wilson after a massive one bounce 4 got stumped off the last ball. Canford finished 105 ao meaning a loss of 88 runs.

U14As v Bryanston

The U14s had their first away game of the season against a good Bryanston side.

The home side made a very good start despite Brown's and Vorobyev's best effort with the ball, the batters found themselves on top. The first wicket didn't fall until the score was on 141 as Hedges took a wicket after a good Wilson catch. Wilson also picked a wicket up before the end of the innings. Bryanston finished on 16. Inglis and Punnett opened the batting. With Inglis getting the better start Punnett found himself run out without scoring after an 18 run partnership. Palmer came in and found himself out after hitting 1 run. Brown came in and played well with Inglis a 52 run partnership lifted the run rate until Brown got caught on the boundary after already hitting 17 runs in the over. Inglis reached his 50 with Hatherley at the crease. Hatherley played well but got caught after hitting 10. Vorobyev then came in and scored quickly. But got bowled after trying to go big again. Vrettos came in for the last ball but missed. Inglis ended on 60* with the team total of 139, meaning a loss of 27 runs.

U14Bs v Sherborne

A tough day at the office for the U14Bs in coming up against a very strong and unbeaten Sherborne side.

Captain Toby Flegg won the toss and decided that we should have a bat. Was that a good decision, hard to say, but unfortunately our skipper was the first to fall as some impressive Sherborne bowlers whipped through most of the Canford top order. There was some resistance from Josh Sinclair and most notably Alice Laird who was the sole Canford batter to hit double figures as we scrambled to a season low of 48 all out.

That was always going to be hard to defend but our bowling and fielding was a big improvement on our batting and Sherborne eventually got there for the loss of 3 wickets. Captain Flegg in particular bowled well with 2 overs for 1 run with 1 wicket.

Lessons learned and the team regroups now for the next challenge against KES.

Tennis v Millfield and Milton Abbey

Girls’ 1st v Millfield 1st L 8-1

The girls headed off the bus in good spirits and ready for the matches, in the knowledge that they would be facing a strong side. As we got to the courts, the heads did start to drop as we faced an academy team who were well accomplished in all areas. After a very positive chat before we started the girls knew that the goal was to enjoy playing against top level players and use it as a learning exercise. As the pairs started to warm up, there were smiles as there was a realisation that it was going to be a good match win or lose. All afternoon, we fought. We were in all the games keeping close in terms of points and taking them to lots of deuces and some fantastic tennis. Maya Doubleday and Tara Hogan had some of the best rallies all afternoon with the opposition, and got close in some of the sets. Anouska Loveridge and Katie Clark played well, all over the net and hustling every point and managed to come away with a win against the 2nd pair! Bella Jenkins and debutant Ori Bowater got better and better all afternoon. Serving really started to make a difference and the confidence was growing.

Pair of the week – Anouska and Katie, from a performance perspective brilliant.

Girls: 2nd v Millfield 2nd W 8-1

We lined up as Isla Knatchbull / Lara Witter, Freya Barrington / Georgia Webb, Issy Balasubramaniam / Bea Woodward. Similar to the 1sts we arrived a little nervous with what was coming – after seeing a similar team warm up on the courts we were on. However, they disappeared and on came our opponents. Overall, we were just too strong for them. Our serves were more consistent, and we dominated at the net. All afternoon, we didn’t let up, we kept on fighting and wanted to win all the matches as quickly as we could. Very well played.

Pair of the week – Isla and Lara. Serving was amazing!

1st VI Boys v Millfield.

It was great to have such a mix of years playing in the 1st team this week. Selection was tricky with a long list of boys training and playing well.

The most significant aspect of the match was that it saw three Upper Sixth play in what could be their last major match. Will Pickard has played 1st team 1st pair since the Shells and has had a major influence on the sport at Canford for 5 years. Rupert Hutton and Tom Clarke have been members of the 1st team throughout the Sixth Form and it was great that they were able to play, at home, for the last time against a strong Millfield side. We also welcomed Hector Boyle for his 1st team debut playing with fellow Fourth former Hugo Svedberg and the now established 1st team player Ed Schuster Bruce made up the 6.

It was clear from the outset that this would be a tough fixture with Millfield playing three academy players. However, we competed at every level and worked hard to make sure they won points. It took a while to settled but once we did, it was highly competitive. It was impressive to see Hector and Hugo get back from 5-2 to challenge for the set against a higher pair which they narrowly lost. Rupert and Will won their first two sets and set up what proved to be a very high quality and entertaining 1st v 1st at the end. It was fiercely contested and with points to keep level coming up regularly, they stood a chance right until the end narrowly losing out 6-3. Ed and Tom were their stubborn selves and although not winning a set, it was clear to see how their doubles play has developed over the season.

It felt a little like the changing of the guard with some of the younger players pushing for senior players but this was very much a chance for the Upper Sixth to bow out.

A great fixture which was won by Millfield 7-2

U15A Boys 6-3

The U15 Boys hosted Millfield on Saturday in what was sure to be a tough fixture. A last minute change meant that Lewis came in to partner Seb D, playing very well in their first time as a pair but just not having enough to get over the line in two of their sets. Cam and Santi were paired for the first time too, after a brief stint together during the week. Both impressed with Cam’s tenacity and Santi’s consistency being real highlights. Finally, the pair of the day Tim and Luca won all 3 of their sets. Despite taking some stick from the opposition, the boys kept their cool and showed how good they are through their performance.

U15B Boys 5-4

What a comeback. After 5 sets, the boys were 4-1 down. They stuck at it and massively turned it around, winning the match 5-4. An Ollie S injury during set 1 meant that Sam R got on the court to play with Kunwho. Their final set went on the longest and with the match on the line, they delivered, winning the set and swinging the match in Canford’s favour. After a slow start from Sam F and Ollie L, they combined well in the final set, winning 6-3. The highlight of the day was Rhodri and Henry, winning every set they played in and only losing 4 games across the 3 sets. A well deserved win.

U15 Girls v Millfield

Players of the week: Kurumi Hotta & Connie Mowat, Jess Taylor & Ella Gildert

U15A’s 6-3 win

This match against Millfield was a thriller and our best performance of the season so far. In round one, Canford went 2-1 up with the results going according to the seedings. In round 2 Millfield regained ground to bring it back to 3-3. In this round the Millfield second pair, who on the day, were probably their better pair had a fantastic game with our first pair. The rallies were exciting to watch and contained some excellent ground strokes hitting. Kurumi Hotta was particularly good in this match pulling off some outrageous half volleys to keep her side in the point, however, it was the Millfield pair that were the victors for a second time (6-0 and 6-2). Going into the final round at 3-3 there was all to play for. Motivated, but a little daunted by the current run of scores, few could have predicted the results from the final round. Sienna and Rose put in a performance to win 6-0 against their opposite number seed having lost their first 2 matches – just what you want from the third pair! The other two Canford pairs could only manage 6-4 and 6-3 against them. Connie Mowat found a little more angle on the return of serve, and was moving her feet much better and combined with Kurumi’s excellent form to win 6-0 against their opposite number. Jess Taylor and Ella Gildert faced he undefeated Millfield second pair, but got off to a strong start in the set moving to 3-0 much to their delight with some excellent doubles play – strong ground strokes that produced a volley to be put away Ella’s volleys were unreturnable. 6-1 the final score having dismantled an in form pair. Brilliant stuff and very enjoyable to watch from the side of the courts. Well done! Bring on the return fixture against Bryanston next week.

U15B’s 8-1 win

The B team found themselves up against very mixed Millfield pairings but Canford were brilliant in their application and concentration. Tess and Poppy won their matches in record time winning 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0. Kate and Emily were equal in their efficiency wining 6-1, 6-1 and 6-0. Gigi and Tilly had closer games and were unfortunate to narrowly lose to their first pair 5-6. They were successful against the other two pairs winning 6-3 and 6-1. As ever the sportsmanship was exemplary from this team. Well done, ladies.

U15C Girls 1-8 Milton Abbey

The U15C’s bravely took on a slightly older and more experienced Milton Abbey team on Thursday. Battling hard, our first pair Hanna Exley and Anna Landale were able to overcome Milton Abbey's 3rd pair is a hotly contested match which finished 6/5 as time ran out for a tie-break. Flower and Elvin also came close to victory against this pair, narrowly missing out by two games, however they proved just a little too strong. Cara and Ella were full of surprises scoring the greatest number of games against their opponents 1st pair, just struggling to answer back to some very impressive serving. The 1-8 loss is our most successful to date so we are definitely heading in the right direction!

U14A Girls 8-1 v Millfield

This week the U14A/B travelled to Millfield to play tennis. With the odd movements in the squad the girls were ready to play. Willa B and Chloe were the first pair in the A’s they had a clean sweep winning every match 6-0. They used their experience playing as a pair and it paid off, scoring 3 wins. Willa K and Cata were a new pairing for this week but them had a fantastic day and quickly found their rhythm and played some great tennis winning their 3 matches as well. Lily and Phoebe kept fighting right up till the end and gave up a good fight against Millfield, gaining 2 convincing wins for the A’s.

U14B Girls 9-0 v Millfield

There were some very last minute movements in all the pairs in the B’s. But they stuck together and went out and played some of their best tennis. Alice and Annie were our first pair and they had a very successful day, using good communication to help them gain their 3 wins of the day. Jemima and Esme gave their own fight up against Millfield, managing to also get a full house of 3 wins for themselves. Emily and Ella were the third pair of the B’s. Ella was pulled up from the C’s last minute and came ready to win some matches. Together they gain another 3 wins for the B’s.

Girls U14C 2-7 v Milton Abbey

It was a fine and very warm afternoon for tennis, and the Girls' U14C’s turned up ready to go, unfazed by the fact that Milton Abbey were a mixed team made up of older players!

Ella and Tess started strongly, only narrowly losing the first game - with a bit of luck on their side for a couple of shots it would have been a different story! They played some very nice tennis, worked well together, and were competitive throughout the afternoon.

Also making a strong start were Leena and Eliza, who showed how valuable good communication is when playing doubles tennis. They played some excellent shots, particularly throughout their firsts two games, which they deservedly won!

Brooke, Lizzie and Bea put in a fighting display and the improvement in their all-round game and teamwork is obvious for all to see. This is a team getting into their stride and on the way up!

Rowing – House Regatta

Another brilliantly sunny day, and another successful Inter House Regatta on the River Stour. Over 100 pupils competed in 14 events featuring 90 races.

As ever, the coxed pairs and coxed four events provided some very close & keenly contested racing.

The senior single sculls also provided some tight races in the quarter final states, with Oli Stuart capsizing inches away from the finish line, but who had sufficient momentum to just keep ahead of his rival James Hornung. The Shell quadruple coxed sculls also provided some spirited and keenly contested races.

Kudos to Eliot Walter of Monteacute who raced his way to the final of the senior boys’ single sculls, providing worthy competition to the winner, Oli Stuart. Eliot also saw action in the coxed fours, & the coxed pairs events. All pupils raced once, most raced twice, some, like Eliot Walter, found themselves racing several times. Coxswains found themselves in particular demand, steering many a crew.

The event featured entertainment provided by the Poole Brass Band, a Pimm’s bar supported by the Friends of Canford Rowing, and an excellent afternoon tea provided by Canford School in-house catering. Highly informative and entertaining compering was provided by Messrs Moreland & Johnson, and the entire event was ‘live streamed’ courtesy of the excellent services provided by Kevin Wilkins and his team.

The interval featured a warm and heartfelt tribute to Sam Smith, OC and oarsman, who sadly recently passed away. Fitting and appropriate words were said, a plaque in Sam’s memory unveiled, followed by a solemn and dignified row past by the coxed four, dedicated to his lasting memory.

The results for the individual events are as follows:

Event 1 Girls: Senior Coxed Pairs: De Lacy (Sophia Whelan, Maddie Nichol, Imi Woodcock)

Event 2 Boys: Senior Coxed Pairs: Salisbury (Rex Batt, Oli Stewart, Mia Ulyett)

Event 3 Girls: Senior 1X: Salisbury (Mia Ulyett)

Event 4 Boys: Senior 1X: Salisbury (Oli Stuart)

Event 5 Shell Girls: Quad Sculls 4X+: Beaufort/De Lacy Composite

Event 6 4th Girls Single Sculls: Lancaster (Freya Coupe)

Event 7 Shell Boys: 4X+ : Monteacute

Event 8 4th Boys: Single Sculls 1X: Salisbury (Oli Walpole)

Event 9 Shell Girls: Single Sculls 1X: Salisbury (Darcey Webb)

Event 10 Shell Boys: Single Sculls 1X: Monteacute (Oliver Lowe)

Event 11 4th Girls: Coxed Fours: Lancaster

Event 12 4th Boys: Coxed Quads 4X+ Salisbury ‘A’

Event 13 Senior Girls: Coxed Fours: De Lacy

Event 14 Senior Boys: Coxed Fours: Lancaster ‘A’

The overall results by house were as follows:

Wimborne, Court & Franklin =7th with 2 points

Marriotts & School House = 6th with 4 points

Beaufort 5th with 6 points

Monteacute 4th with 11 points (including 2 wins)

Lancaster 3rd with 13 points (including 3 wins)

de Lacy 2nd with 16 points (including 3 wins)

Salisbury 1st with 26 points (including 6 wins)

Meaning Salisbury House is the 2023 overall winner of House Regatta 2023.

Golf v Milton Abbey

The Golf Team, made up of Lower Sixth and Fourth formers, had a very friendly match against Milton Abbey. Unaware that they had brought two players with handicaps below 10, our first pair of Max Williamson and Arthur Keen struggled to keep up with the consistency of their opponents in their fourball match. Although both Max and Arthur can hit the ball a country mile, they do need to sacrifice a bit of distance for accuracy. Sam Janaway and Zac Ashby-Rudd played a scramble format against their pair, and despite some outrageous long putts from Sam, lost narrowly. Our final pair of Guy Green and Hector Courtenay took control of their scramble match from the start and kept applying the pressure and won handsomely.

So, although the team lost, it was great to see players who have improved, with Mr Murray’s coaching, so much over the term and year, representing the school.

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