Easter Term 2023/24 - Week 10 Sports Report

Netball

1st vs St Swithun’s

The 1sts stepped onto court with high energy and determination. After losing to St Swithun’s earlier on in the term, we were really motivated to beat them this time around!

Throughout the game, we had Dom, Hettie and Sophia all rotating in defence. From the minute the whistle blew we were making interceptions and picking up loose balls. These balls were then transferred through Imi, Charlotte, Layla, Nookie and Bella in mid court, and we were successful in converting them into goals! Izzy and Isla were taking shots from all over the D, being fed high quality passes in from those mid court players. Score wise, in the beginning of the game it was pretty even, with almost every C pass being converted into a goal. At half time, the score was 20-20, and it could have gone either way. Canford stepped up in both intensity and communication, and consequently it allowed us to demonstrate that we were the stronger team. We managed to win this game 38-32, and what a rewarding last game of the season. The last game ever for some of us, but we were really excited to end on a high. The girls should be super happy with not only this result, but their performance as a team over the season. Until next year, over and out!

2nd vs St Swithun’s

For our final match the 2nd team came up against a tough St Swithun’s side. During the first quarter we managed to keep the score even and were very evenly matched against a tough side. Our defence were strong, with Allegra, Lara and Eliza making interceptions left and right. Especially Allegra who had to come up against a very skilled GS. The first quarter ended 13-11 with St Swithun’s just coming away with the lead. In the second quarter we kept our efforts high with Ruby, Kiera and Molly carrying the ball through the mid-court. Our shooters, Bella, Chloe and Melisa were incredibly popping in goals left and right against some extremely talented defenders. Unfortunately, at half time our stamina faltered, and we came into the third quarter slightly more tired than the first two. This allowed Swithun’s to run away with the lead although we were still battling to try to get it back. Finally, in the final quarter, we tried our hardest to bring the score back but unfortunately Swithun’s shooters rarely missed, causing the score to end at 45-15. Player of the match went to Molly. Well done everyone in our last match!

3rds vs St Swithun’s

Today we played against St Swithun’s school, which we won 27 to 13. Throughout the game everyone was engaged and eager to play. The shooters (Olive, Liv, Millie and Bea) were very coordinated and worked very well in the D, showing how they have carried out what we went over in our last training session. One thing I feel we need to work on as a team is to be able to have better communication on the court, in relation to not running into one another’s space and working more as a unit rather than an individual. The defence (Poppy, Ntemi and Maddie) got a lot of interceptions and were good at putting pressure on the opposing team. Overall, we were very effective today as a team and everyone was putting in their best efforts, which is shown through our win.

5th vs St Swithun’s

Saturday saw the final ever (and very emotional) game for 6 out of 7 players on the team. We began with a chaotic warm up which brought the team together for one last time allowing the opposition to hear the intimidation of our laughter and team spirit. After getting behind in the first quarter we made some switches, putting interception start Daisy P into GD and Evie L into WA, a position she wasn’t used to. By half time we had started to catch up with St. Swithun’s, scoring more goals in the quarter than them. With our newfound confidence we powered through the second half of the game with shooters Bea A and Marissa S shooting an incredible number of goals. With this, we ended the season as we started - with a draw, a lovely way to end the season. Special mention must also go to the teams “moment of the match” in which Evie successfully secured a slide line for us before promptly having to ask the opponent if her face was ok.

Players of the match - Marissa S and Daisy P

U15A vs St Swithun’s

In the U15A’s final match against St Swithun’s, the girls battled hard against a very strong opposition, with some of our defence and midcourt up against pathway players. We were unfortunately missing half of our team, but nonetheless, the girls just wanted to enjoy their last game of the year! We stayed positive and determined throughout the whole game, with the defence making some phenomenal turnovers across all quarters. The perseverance displayed during this game was amazing, and regardless to the result, we are very proud of them!

U15B vs St Swithun’s

11-27 L

U15C vs St Swithun’s

26 - 6 L

This week the mighty C's travelled to St Swithun’s for a fixture, with the loss of our super centre Millie B as she got a call up for the B's. In the first quarter we managed to keep the score close and worked really hard in the mid court both from an attacking perspective and defensively, but it was hard on the fitness! As we moved through the quarters their lead kept on extending and we couldn't quite keep up. We continued to fight and work to the best of our ability, but St Swithun’s proved too strong. My favourite part of the day was the attitude of the girls at the end. Nothing but smiles, having enjoyed their time play not just on that day but throughout the season. A member staff had even asked if we had won, as the girls seemed in good spirits at match tea. This group of girls have been a pleasure to work with, technically they have improved so much from the start of the season until now and have really grown as a group, trusting in each other as a team. Great work and I hope you keep playing and enjoying netball!

POM - Alice M

U14A vs St. Swithun’s School

In a flash and it’s the end of the netball season, where did the time go! This team has gone from strength to strength and the last fixture of the term did not disappoint. After the first quarter this match looked like it was going to be a tight competition where all was level at 2-2. But slowly the team got into their stride and by half time they pulled away 10-5. Rosie D worked exceptionally hard linking well with Zana S, Jossie H and Lexi B. Lexi B showed her versatility by playing both WA and GA. Amber B stuck to the centre court play, with Sinachi O, Tilda M, Mary B and Violet R making massive turnover of balls. The final score was a testament to their grit and determination. This team will certainly be one to watch for the future, they are eager to learn, support one another on and off the court and look like they are enjoying their time playing netball. Well done this term!

Score: Won 26-6

Players player: Amber B

U14B vs St Swithun’s

On Saturday, we played against the strong team St Swithun’s. In the first quarter it was very tight with both teams scoring goals one after another, leaving us up 5:4 by the end. After our team talk, the players on the mid court worked to get the ball down to the shooters, who then scored many goals. In the third quarter, the defenders, Georgie, Mimi, and Kitty stuck to their players and intercepted many of the passes. Maisy did some amazing passes to the shooters, Alexandra and Georgia who then worked together in the D to score goals. In the last quarter St Swithun’s stepped up but our players kept marking and we ended the game with the score 27:11.

4ths vs Winchester

On Thursday 14th March Canford IVth team played against Winchester College, resulting in an extraordinary win 44 to 17. Our second 15-minute quarter was the strongest scoring a total of 13 goals however the other quarters were fairly consistent with number of goals scored. Some outstanding goals were scored from Grace as well as some excellent defending from Alice and Emily. We kept possession of the ball very well and made some great turnovers. Our mid court was also very strong with Layla and Millie working together in the centre third. The positive energy on the court was kept throughout the match along with our fluid playing. Our players of the match were Lara and Lucy who played very well in multiples different positions constantly driving for the ball. Overall, it was a brilliant game.

Hockey

Last week saw the final matches of what has been a busy, particularly rainy, but successful hockey season for the Canford boys. Most teams played twice last week, against various opposition.

1st XI

Canford 3 – 5 Kingswood

The 1st XI hosted Kingswood in the QF of the EH U18 Tier 2 Cup, in front of a partisan crowd, now famous for their vociferous support. The start of the game was manic, with Massimo B being pinned by an attempted bullet style pass by their centre back, resulting in a broken thumb. Soon after, Kingswood took the lead, but we fought back and Leo V slotted in at the far post after excellent wizardry by Ed T in the approach play, when he left defenders in his wake. However, we were guilty of some individual errors during the match and conceded soon after we scored, as a misplaced pass was intercepted by their centre forward who smashed it in the top corner. A harshly adjudged early line break from a corner enabled Kingswood to make it 3-1, but unperturbed, we fought back from a corner of our own as Leo V grabbed his second of the match. However, having got ourselves back in the game, a freakish goal on the stroke of half time, which wasn’t actually touched by an attacker’s stick in our defensive D, made the deficit 2 goals once more at the break. The boys’ showed bags of resilience, so again pull it back to 4-3 as the irrepressible Leo V grabbed his hat-trick, but a deflected effort soon after made it 5-3 to the visitors. We threw everything at them, taking off our keeper and essentially playing a 3-4-4 formation in the last 5 minutes to try and force another goal chance or two, but Kingswood’s defence held firm for on balance, a deserved win. Though we were left to reflect on what might have been, the team played well and should be proud of their showing in a strong cup run.

Wellington College 1 – 5 Canford

The final chapter for the #BlueDragons Class of 2024, involved an away trip to Wellington College. Keen to end on a high and avenge the 3-4 defeat from 2023, the 1st XI started at a frantic pace, which the opposition simply could not deal with. Indeed, goals from Ed SB, Dill H (his 16th of the season in just 16 games) and Leo V meant we raced into a 3-0 lead inside 20 minutes. Tom B made a few smart saves though, as Wellington fought hard to get back in the game. Just before half time, their captain threw a 65m aerial from D to D, and their forward calmly slotted the ball into the corner to reduce the arrears to 3-1 at the break. Determined not to let Welly grab a foot hold in the game, however, the team was composed in the second half and scored twice more from corners (both from Leo V) who impressively had scored back-to-back hat-tricks to take his season tally to 13, to register a comfortable and consummate 5-1 victory. Special thanks to the U6 leavers, Dill H, Ed SB, Ed T, Olly P, Ant L and Guy M for their service to Canford Hockey.

At the Sports Dinner, the accomplishments of a talented group were celebrated, with the following season awards…

Colours: Dill H (reawarded), Ed SB (reawarded), Ed T (reawarded), Leo V, Sam W.

Honours Caps for outstanding contribution to Canford 1st XI Hockey 2021 – 24: Dill H, Ed SB, Ed T.

Most Improved Player: Guy M

Player of the Year: Ed SB

Captain and Players’ Player of the Year: Dill H

2nd XI

Canford 5 – 1 Clayesmore

In a match where the score seems to suggest a one-sided game, Canford managed to create plenty of goal scoring chances to win what that could have been a draw. We put into practice the passing drills that we have been working on for the last couple of weeks and consequently made the opposition run a lot and then we exploited the gaps as they got more and more tired. Well done to Xan who scored a hattrick, and to Hayden who scored one of the other goals. In the excitement of the win, no one could remember who scored the fifth goal, so we have awarded it to Isaac for his excellent play over the last few games!

Wellington College 3 – 3 Canford

The season ending game was a thriller, but for the wrong reasons. It was very exciting to see us throw away a commanding lead and then score our winning goal after time with a short corner, but we made far heavier work of the game than we should have done. Emotions got the better of us and at times we looked more like a rugby team than the finely tuned, clean passing group that we had been two days before. Xan scored two goals, as did Jack. Well done to the whole team for what has been a highly successful and enjoyable season with only one loss. (NRB/RHJH)

3rd XI

Canford 1 – 2 Clayesmore

The first match of the season for the mighty 3s saw us host Clayesmore. With only 10 players, we worked hard against a team with a large bench. Finn C and George R dominated in midfield, before the latter opened the scoring with a composed and neat lofted finish. Clayesmore grew into the game and equalised before the break. The second half saw us tire slightly, but Christian F was unlucky to have a goal disallowed, whilst George (the Grill) F was outstanding in goal throughout. Wakely I was solid at centre back, but the opposition nicked a winner, and we suffered a narrow defeat.

Canford 0 – 3 Bryanston

The final match of the season for the mighty 3s ended in a 3-0 loss to Bryanston 2nds. In some cold and wet conditions both teams struggled to move the ball around. However, when we were in control of the ball for a long period we gave ourselves some really good chances. Unfortunately, our finishing let us down and we could not find the back of the net. The Bryanston keeper was in some good form as well and made some crucial saves. Wakely I and Sam F going all out at the back and making some solid tackles throughout the match. Lincoln J and Finn C doing their utmost best to control the middle of the field with George R and Frederick B making some excellent leads up front. A good team effort to finish off. Well done to all involved. (GJD)

U16A

Abingdon 4 – 3 Canford

The U16s travelled to Abingdon for the quarter final of the EH U16s Plate. After a long coach journey, the team started the game a little off the pace and conceded an early goal. However, as the half wore on, Canford became the dominant team and controlled the game. We scored 2 goals, the second of which was a tremendous strike from the top of the D by Yakov V. This sparked Abingdon back into life and they scored in the final moments of the half. 2-2 at half-time was a fair result. The second half was another very even contest. However, three minutes that the defenders would regret, lead to Abingdon going 4-2 up. As Oscar Wilde would have written, if he were doing the match report, “To lose one defender from a penalty corner may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two at the same penalty corner looks like carelessness”. With 10 or so minutes left, and playing with 10 players for most of this, we threw everything at the opposition. Yakov V scored another great goal with a second powerful strike, and we felt hard done by not to be awarded a stroke after a poor tackle from behind with just the keeper to beat. Overall, though Abingdon played, slightly, better hockey although we created the clearer chances to score. The whole squad should be congratulated on reaching the QF, and for playing a much better style of hockey and with more team cohesion than in the first few matches of the competition. (GRS/RMBS)

Bryanston 1st XI 9 – 2 Canford

This game was a game of two halves – we lost both. Unfortunately, the mismatch was clear from the start and the Canford boys found it difficult to rise to the challenge, proving unable to cope with the pace or skill level of our opponents. At this level poor first touch and lack of vision is severely punished and Bryanston took their chances with relish. However, our two goals did indicate a glimmer of light and a number of the team battled to the end. Perhaps this was not the end to the recently encouraging season which we had hoped, but the smoked Salmon sandwiches and the cream topped carrot cake afterwards were delicious. (RMBS/GRS)

U15A

Canford 1 – 2 Clayesmore

The 15A's continued to improve despite a narrow defeat to Clayesmore. We dominated large part of the game and were very effective with the high press. Sadly we were not clinical enough up front and despite a controversial disallowed goal in the late play of the game we succumbed to defeat. Lex V was the man of the match for a very fine all-round display.

Canford 0 – 4 Wellington College

A hard season came to an end at home v Wellington College, despite the boys’ best efforts to get a win on the board. Thery have learnt much this term and should take confidence from the improvements they have made, individually and collectively, despite a tough set of match results. (JEA)

U15B

Clayesmore 1 – 6 Canford

It was great to finish the season with a win! Canford started well and were soon using their superior individual skills to dominate possession and territory. Jacab v W opened the scoring and quickly follow up with a second goal after about 15 minutes. Playing 3-4-3, meant Canford had more attacking options up front that previously (4-4-2) and this proved to very effective. James M was well positioned on the left wing and was unlucky to miss a couple of scoring opportunities. Felix I was also getting forward as left half and was creating opportunities when bringing the ball inside the defender. At half time Canford 3-0 up with the third goal coming from Seb C. The team were using the space well and using the long ball through to the available wingers very effectively leading to further goals from Gil S and two goals from Guy P, who was playing up front from for the first time this season. Clayesmore are to be commended for their consolation goal towards the end of the match, which came from an excellent hit from the top of the D. The Canford team conducted themselves admirably too. Well played everyone. Players of the Match: Jacob v W and Guy P. for getting 2 goals each. (CHJ)

U14A

Clayesmore 1 – 3 Canford

The U14A Boys travelled to Clayesmore for a mid-week fixture. In some very chilly wet and windy conditions that were not conducive for hockey, the boys started slowly and even though they dominated the opening 10 minutes found themselves 1-0 down after a breakaway goal. The Canford boys then continued to push hard and eventually found the equaliser through Max H with a good finish. Teams going into the break level at 1-1. The 2nd half began with Canford scoring early through Toby R and the boys really controlling the game well. The passing improved and we adjusted extremely well in the conditions. The boys have improved so much this season and it really showed with a great team goal that was finally put in the goals by Toby R. This team has grown from strength to strength and can be proud of their performances. Stand out players were Max H, Toby R and George S. (GJD)

Canford 5 – 1 Wellington College

Our final fixture for the season and by far the best performance of the season. The boys played some really good hockey and moved the ball across the field well. We had plenty of chances and dominated the match. After some really good inter play we scored the 1st goal through a neatly deflected touch by Hector W. The boys continued to push for more and were rewarded with goals from Max H, Tommy G and probably the best goal of the season after another great build up of play and with the ball been moved across the astro with great speed and some awesome touches leading to Max H finding the back of the net to make the half time score 4-0 to Canford. The 2nd half was another good one for Canford and although we only were able to score one goal through another great deflection finish by Hector W making it 5-0 the team showed all of their skills for those watching. Their keeper kept them in the match and was by far their best player and as much as Canford tried to score more goals he was up to the task. With us pushing for more goals we were caught on the counter allowing Wellington to score making the final score 5-1 to Canford. A truly fantastic team performance and what an awesome way to end the season and their U14 careers at Canford. Thank you all for a superb season. Max H, Hector W and Harry R making some notable impacts on the match. (GJD)

U14B

Clayesmore 0 – 1 Canford

Canford put in a determined performance in difficult weather conditions away at Clayesmore and came away with a deserved 1 - 0 win. Canford controlled most of the match limiting their opponents to few chances - although Oscar in the Canford goal produced one outstanding save midway through the first half during a rare Clayesmore attack to keep the score at 0 - 0. A high press from Canford resulted in numerous chances and a mixture of good goalkeeping, poor finishing and pure luck meant the game remained 0 - 0 until late in the game. Canford kept going and their efforts were finally rewarded with an excellent goal from Hamish who neatly fired into the corner after good play from Luca and Freddie. More chances came but Canford had to settle for the 1 - 0 win. The clean sheet was excellent reward for the defensive unit with Otto making a player of the match performance in the central defensive role. A really impressive squad performance. (HD)

Bryanston U14A 3 – 2 Canford

Playing away for their final game of the season Canford U14Bs travelled to Bryanston to play their A team. In an entertaining and exciting game, they just narrowly missed out on a draw with the home side winning 3 - 2. In a very even game Bryanston took a 2 goal lead at halftime with two well taken goals. Canford came back quickly after the restart with an excellent goal from Luke. They had opportunities to draw level and only high-quality goalkeeping from the Bryanston gk stopped this. Chances also came at the Canford end with one placed high into the net by Bryanston’s outstanding central midfielder. Canford kept their heads and tried to get back into the game. They got their second at a penalty corner with an excellent strike from Hamish hitting the backboard. Sadly, the time ticked down with Canford still pressing for a third. Credit to the whole squad with Luke being named player of the match for an all-round impressive performance upfront. All in all another excellent display from the Bs who have had a very strong season. They should be very proud of their season and how they have developed as a squad and individual players. They have been a pleasure to coach. (HD)

Well done to all players, coaches and parents for their skills, efforts, and support throughout the term. Happy Easter. Eat lots of chocolate eggs.

Girls Indoor Cricket

County Semi Final

Clayesmore

39-6

Canford

43-1

Our semifinal match was against Clayesmore.

Caitlin W’s first job as captain was to win the toss and bowl first , which she succeeded in doing. Our goal was to keep wides down and aim for at least 1 run out. A brilliant all round bowling performance kept Clayesmore down to 39 for 6 wkts off the 8 overs with 2 run outs and only 2 wides.

Mention must go to Lexi B who was on a hat trick and returned figures of 2 wkts for 9 runs. Celyn H and Tilda M chased down the small target in 4 overs with 13 and 10 not out respectfully.

County Final

Canford

78-4

Bournemouth School for girls

75-8

Losing the toss for the first time, BSG put us in to bat knowing they had a strong bowling attack and looked at putting us under pressure from the start.

Ruby H and Tilda M saw off the opening bowlers and built a partnership that allowed the likes of Maria J (retired) and a quick fire 14 from Alice L to post a total of 78 off our 8 overs. A score about par on the day. BSG started positively scoring 17 off the 1st over and then the advantage proceeded to go back and forth between the sides. A good over by us was followed by a well struck couple of boundaries by a returning batter. It came down to the captain taking responsibility to bowl the last over with BSG needing 11 to win, Caitlin held her nerve brilliantly to bowl an over (with no wides) that only went for 8 runs and giving us victory by 3 runs.

Some excellent bowling in the middle overs by Lexi and Maria was the deciding factor along with exceptional fielding (4 run outs!)

Player of the match must be Maria J who retired when batting and recorded figures of 2 overs 5 wkts for 12 runs.

This was a real team performance shown by the 6 run outs on the day and they came together as the games got tighter. This bodes very well for the summer season!

Next stop in this competition is the regional finals day that will be held in the summer term.

Congratulations to all the girls:

Caitlin W, Maria J, Alice L, Ruby H, Tilda M, Lexi B, Celyn H, Sophie M, Mary B.

Rowing

Rowing Schools Head

London: With a massive entry of schools and clubs, Canfordians took to the Championship course in London and raced the 5 kilometres from Mortlake to Putney. With ideal conditions, 240 crews in different boats took to the water.

Canford boy’s 1st VIII finished 5th in 1st VIII’s category. Great effort from the boys who were only 33 seconds behind winners Norwich school.

Canford girl’s 1st VIII with a substitute from Winchester college had a reasonable result and finished 16th. Godolphin & Latymer the eventual winners.

Canford girls J16 with a first-time experience on the Thames River had a great result and finished 5th. St Pauls girls school winners.

Impressive set of results from our Canford crews but a more importantly as a coeducational rowing school an impressive turn out!

Eton Dorney J15’s

Two crews were unable to race in London due to the Port of London restriction that deemed the river conditions too volatile. However, Eton College came to the fore and organised a J15 event. Held on the rowing course used to host the London Olympic regatta. In VIII’s Canford boys finished 7th behind Pangbourne and Canford girls finished 4th. A great experience for the youngsters and one to take home having raced on the Olympic venue.

The Scullery.

Canford boated three coxed quads at J14 and 15. Boys and girls. Great conditions allowed a fair race held at Eton Dorney with Canfordians finishing amongst the best in the country.

Football

Oaks 0-4 Winchester

The last couple of games for the Oaks last week, with injuries throughout the group took on a strong Winchester XI and performed very well, despite the scoreline. For the first 35 minutes, the Oaks were the stronger side, playing some lovely football and making some half chances, but were unable to put the ball into the back of the net. Chances fell to Max W but he was unable to give Canford the lead. With 5 minutes to go a long ball from Winchester was flicked on and finished into the bottom left-hand corner. Going into half time, the Oaks were very positive, knowing they had played some great football.

However, a slow start to the second half meant that Winchester doubled their lead early. And with first team stalwarts Gian C and Will B being forced off with injuries, the game became even harder. Despite that, the Oaks continued to create a series of chances, but were unable to finish any of them off, the story of the last couple of games. Up the other end, Winchester were ruthless, scoring a third and then later on a fourth as Canford went down to 10 players with their injuries.

Acorns 1-2 Winchester

On Thursday, the mighty corns really played their best against Winchester. The match kicked off and the opposition retained possession for a fair bit of time. The ball mainly stayed in our back left and right corners, as we kept failing to clear it (strong wind could be to blame). This was pretty constant throughout the whole game, Winchester held the ball in our quarter well, but failed to score all of their shots. Jack S with some absolutely wonderful saves, they definitely would have scored a whole lot more if he wasn’t playing like he was. Although Winchester maintained possession for the majority of the game, when the Corns had the ball, some absolutely phenomenal plays were made, some cracking through balls, up and across the pitch over to Finn HS who repeatedly outgassed their whole team many times. Luckily for Finn, he managed to pot an absolute screamer at one point. Winchester did end up putting a few more goals on the mighty corns than we did them. Apart from losing, the game was exhilarating, the atmosphere was incredible, everyone’s heads were high. We as a team played some of the best football the corns have seen this season. What a game to finish on!

POTM : Jack S & Finn HS

Canford 3-4 Old Canfordians

Goals: Jago H, Will B, Thomas S

We hosted the OC’s for the second time this school year on Saturday. The game, which is a great event for those OC’s who come back and those in the Upper Sixth who will hopefully make connections for when they come back in years to come.

The OC’s started quickly, and within the first 10 minutes were 2-0 up. Canford came back though, with a Ciaran A pass over the top to Jago H who chipped the OC’s keeper to half the deficit. A long throw in for the OC’s failed to be cleared. A shot was tipped brilliantly by Ciaran A onto the post but the ball bounced back and off Ciaran into the back of the net. This was unfortunate for somebody who has come so far over the Easter term, but there was nothing he could have done. Canford fired back quickly, a low free kick from the left-hand side from Will B rolled into the bottom right corner. The deficit was back to 2 soon after, another missed clearance by Canford was ruthlessly finished by the OCs.

In a second half where the OCs began to tire, Canford stepped up a gear. Creating chance after chance in the final third but were unable to capitalise. The OCs GK stood tall making, two or three top quality saves from point blank range. With 10 minutes to go, Canford finally got past the wall with Thomas S firing home into the bottom corner. Despite pushing, an equaliser never came, and the OCs came out 4-3 winners.

A great day, and a great game for some of our upper sixth to bow out in, with Will B, Zac O, Isaac G, Sam S, Oscar LB, Kerry G, Thomas S and Luca F pulling on the Canford shirt for one last time. Player of the match was Julie A-K.

Cross Country

Canford Senior Relays 2024

On Thursday the cross-country season came to a close with the final event of the year held on home turf at the Canford Park. We welcomed ten other schools to take part in a team relay event where runners are in groups of four and each run a two-mile course around site. The grounds staff did a superb job in finding all the wet and muddy areas of school and threaded the course through those parts. Runners left the pavilion cheered on by their teammates and returned to hand over the baton whilst covered in mud, and for one particular pupil also holding their shoe in their hand! Canford entered teams into all four categories and two teams into the Inter Boys race, where we have real strength in depth. With the rain holding off right until the presentation ceremony, it was the perfect afternoon to end the season. All our runners can be proud of their efforts during the races and how they cheered on and supported each other. We are delighted to come away with four medals over the various races and came close to a team win; and a fitting end to an excellent season. That’s a wrap until September!

Results:

Inter Girls: Iris J had the 2nd fastest lap and the team came 5th

Inter Boys: Tito B had the 2nd fastest lap and Santi the 3rd fastest lap, and the two teams came 2nd and 6th.

Senior Girls: Jemima C had the 2nd fastest lap Abi C the 4th fastest lap and the team came 3rd.

Senior Boys: Tom H had the 13th fastest lap and the team came 6th.

Basketball

Thursday 14th saw the return fixture v Sherborne after a dramatic victory at home earlier this term. With a slightly different look to the squad after injuries to key players we set out on the short trip to North Dorset. One hour forty later and 10 minutes after the scheduled start we arrived after a roundabout trip including several road closures and fuel issues, not ideal preparation!

The boys however shook this off and pulled together a strong 1st quarter led by Adomas B who without the support of his younger brother ran the floor despite some challenges with a very narrow court. The Towers led 11-9 at quarter time but found the 2nd quarter a tougher prospect as Sherborne’s bench strength showed its quality despite the feverish defence of Ollie OB. The home team had pulled out a 12-point lead at half time (28-16) and despite the best efforts of the Towers boys we could not cut that down and the gap grew by 1 in the 3rd stanza. It was not to be a grandstand finish and Sherborne pulled away to a deserved home court victory despite a battling effort from Canford.

A tough finish to an excellent season and particular thanks to Henry L and Hendrick C who stepped in to play at the last minute. Well done to all and particular thanks to Coach Luca for his work with the group. Plenty more to come!!

Squash

Squash match vs. Sherborne (Home) – Thursday 14th March.

We had Justin W, Josh S, George M, Shay G and Teddy M involved in this tough final match of the term against Sherborne. Unfortunately, they were only able to bring three players, so we switched to a first to 15, best of three games format. All the matches were played in great spirit and there were some amazing rallies, but the older opponents just proved that little bit stronger throughout, taking victory in all the matches.

Player of the day goes to Shay, the only player to take a game and then getting back on court again for a second, superb effort!

Senior Girls House Squash Champions… Beaufort!

Beaufort took the junior title last week and now they have completed the double. Marriotts came in second and De Lacy third.

Thanks to all the players… and the music!

Golf

Canford School hosted Winchester College in the HMC Foursomes on Thursday the 14th of March.

Canford 0-1 Winchester College

Out first for Canford were Suzy C and Michael C. They both started the game very solid not giving anything away to their opponents. As the game went on the Winchester duo did start to raise their game with long straight drives over 300 yards, and lovely finesse shots around the greens. Even with the Canford pairs best efforts on the day they came up just short.

Canford 0-2 Winchester College

Next up for Canford were Joe S and Oscar B. The Canford students relished the challenge in facing such tough opposition, with some fantastic golf being seen. However, the class from the Winchester pair was a little too much to handle, leaving Canford 2-0 down.

Canford 0-3 Winchester College

The Anchor pair for Canford were good friends Hector C and Nate S. They gave absolutely everything against their Winchester opponents with handicaps of +2 and 2, staying A/S around the turn. Hector's driving was on point, Nate's irons were working great, and they were gelling as a team perfectly. Only after some fantastic shot making from the Winchester team did the Canford students finally succumb to the pressure, losing out with a just a couple of holes remaining.

A valiant effort from the Canford School golf team against a top side.

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