Third Time Lucky at the Boundary Oak Seven’s Tournament:
Having been the losing finalists for the last two years against Portsmouth Grammar School, this year finally HW’s 1st V11narrowly beat this difficult opposition in a hard fought contest in the final, 7-0, courtesy of a George Grisley converted try. From the start of the Tournament, the 1st V11 played some exhilarating rugby in the group stages, winning all four of their games comfortably. They then went on to beat Mayville in the semi final 14-0 to earn a repeat of the last two years ‘final. In this match, the whole team played with real heart, working hard for each other and they defended like Trojans against a physically very strong PGS team to run out deserved winners.
Not to be outdone, the 2nd V11 won their first match against the Boundary Oak All Stars, however from then on they found the going a little tough, losing their next three matches against stronger opposition but they held their heads up high and kept going to the very end and gained some valuable experience as a result.
It was a tremendous day out and the 1st V11 thoroughly deserved their success, especially since their defense was so strong that they did not concede a try throughout the day. They were awarded their medals by the Mayor of Fareham and we eagerly await the trophy from PGS.
Next stop for both teams is a Triangular Tournament against Ballard and Durlston Court, before competing in the National Tournament at Rosslyn Park in March.
Ist VII Squad: Ben Sykes*, George Grisley, Finn Ambrose, Alex Golooba-Mutebi , Max Green, Jake Berry, Freddie Marshall, Jasper Toor
2nd VII Squad: Tom Eaton*, Oliver Potter, Alfonso Suances, Henry Beal, Tashyro Morrison, Zak Kary, Harley Cairnes, Billy Chapman
MJHS
1st XV Rugby V F.S.M
Nearly but not Quite
HW 10 F.S.M 24
After a week of good preparation, the 1ST XV played their first match of the season against F.S.M. We hit the ground running and dominated the first ten minutes and were rewarded with a well worked try by Jasper Toor to put us 5-0 up. However, F.S.M rallied and they began to put our forwards under pressure. With their heads low in the rucks, F.S.M were able to recycle the ball faster and more efficiently and eventually this pressure told as they scored two quick tries before half time. At the break the score was 12-5 to F.S.M.
The first ten minutes of the second half again belonged to HW and the backs in particular came into their own, running hard and breaking the opposition line time and again and eventually, Alex Golooba-Mutebi was able to wriggle free of F.S.M’s tight defence and he scored in the corner, repeating the try that he scored in the same fixture last year. We just missed the conversion, and it was game on at 12-10 to F.S.M. We needed to score next, but unfortunately tiredness began to set in and mistakes crept into our game and so it was F.S.M who scored the next try, now leading 19-10. As we looked to keep possession and find a way into F.S.M territory, we succumbed to another turn over and F.S.M scored a final try in the last minute, which slightly flattered the final score line.
For the first match of the season, there were plenty of positives to take away from this performance and also areas to work on. There was no lack of commitment and determination from every member of the team and the team rallied behind the captain, George Vasey. Our defence, for the most part was good, the backs worked well as a unit and the scrum looked solid, however, we need to cut out unnecessary handling errors and improve our body positions in the rucks so that we can secure quicker ball. If we can put these recommendations into action, then we can put this disappointing result behind us and obtain a better result against West Hill Park on Wednesday.
MJHS
Bryanston Hockey Tournament 2011
The U13 girls’ 1st VII hockey team travelled to Bryanston this week for the annual Prep School Tournament. After a long journey HW were slow to get going and could not find their true form in the first two matches, losing to Millfield and F.S.M. The next match, against Clayesmore, saw an awakening, with faster, slicker play and some text book set pieces from which the girls were very unlucky not to score. With renewed belief in themselves they went into the final match of the section, against Truro, with great determination and fire. A superb display of hockey followed and a very deserved 2-0 win for HW.
Having been placed third in their section the next round was in the ‘Bowl Competition’ meeting Dumpton for a very exciting match in the semi finals. HW kept their momentum going and battled hard, however a crack in the defence allowed Dumpton to score. After half time HW came back even stronger. They spent considerable time in the Dumpton ‘D’ applying plenty of pressure, taking several opportunities to shoot and narrowly missing. Dumpton were rattled but sadly HW goals were elusive and with the full time score remaining the same Dumpton were through to the final which they also won. Despite being knocked out HW’s hockey had developed as the day progressed and all had thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
U13 Football Tournament at HWS
Unfortunately some schools were unable to bring a team to our tournament this year, mainly due to the date clashing with their exeat weekends. However this did not detract from the competition or the quality of football. With only six schools entered, we all played each other and the teams finishing in the top two places played in the final. The other huge factor that we all had to endure was the blistering heat; no one could have predicted that the 1st October would bring soaring temperatures which we would have dearly loved to have seen in August.
We got off to a super start with a comfortable 3-1 over Castle Court and the boys passed the ball around accurately and Mateo, Harry and Jasper all took their opportunities well. Our second game against Dumpton was a very tough match as they passed and moved the ball brilliantly. Ben in goal had to make some excellent saves and it was a shame that Dumpton’s first goal was a soft goal to concede, but their second and third goals were brilliantly taken. Despite having most of the possession and chances against Durlston Court, the match was tied which meant that we had to beat Ballard to stand a chance of qualifying, thanks to Dumpton beating Twyford in their match.
We really raised our game against Ballard and a very quick move from the goal kick caught Ballard out and Mateo slotted the ball home to put us in the lead. We did not rest on our laurels and all the boys worked hard to created opportunities to put the game out of Ballard’s reach. We eventually scored our 2nd goal through an excellent passing move and Harry scoring. During this game particularly, but throughout the matches our midfield players led by George covered a lot of ground supporting the attack and getting back to defend.
Our win against Ballard meant that a win against Twyford would put us in the final. We started well with Finn, Freddie and Henry working hard to close the ball down and prevent Twyford from playing. While we did not create many chances we were playing some excellent football. Twyford had some superb footballers and always looked dangerous when in possession. Unfortunately we could not keep Twyford out and they scored two goals in the 2nd half. The goals were of the highest quality and despite trying hard they were just a little better than we were. I was delighted with how the boys played and worked for each other and to finish 3rd behind two excellent teams is a great achievement.
The Final saw Twyford and Dumpton meet again, and the final was played in a tremendous spirit and the quality of football was outstanding. With extra time beckoning, Twyford put together a wonderful series of passing for their Captain, (who I felt was by far the player of the tournament) to slot home with the final kick of the game. Dumpton who came so very close were gallant runners up and Twyford won the tournament for the second time showed grace and dignity in their victory.
Squad: George Grisley (Capt), Finn Ambrose, Ben Sykes, Freddie Marshall, Henry Beal, Harry Vaughan, Jasper Toor, Mateo Campins.
In action against Dumpton.
West Hill Park Tournament
The U13 girls’ 1st VII played in a heat wave at the West Hill Park Tournament this year. With matches being both indoors and on astro the squad had to adapt to the different techniques and rules. They got off to a reasonable start holding KES to a 0-0 draw indoors. Outside saw wins against West Hill Park ‘A’ (2-1), Twyford (1-0), but a determined Ballard got the better of us this time winning 2-1. The final game of the section was indoors against Durlston with HW winning 1-0. This put HW second in their section behind KES and into the playoffs for 3rd and 4th place playing agains Portsmouth Grammer School. A very early goal by HW shook PGS who fought back hard and managed to equalise. Unfortunately, despite further strong attacks by HW, they could not secure a second goal and when PGS scored again there was little time to redress the balance finishing 4th out of 12 teams overall.
1st KES
2nd Westbourne House
3rd PGS
4th Hordle Walhampton
Dumpton, WHP A, Durlston, Castle Court, Ballard, Farleigh, Twyford, WHP B.
Canford Tournament
Nine members of the 1st VII hockey squad played at the Canford Tournament this week. Early in the season this is an excellent opportunity for teams to work on playing positions, formations and strategies whilst also testing fitness. HW was drawn in a strong section and with 4 out of the 5 games being consecutive their fitness was certainly put to the test. The matches were demanding but saw HW making good attacking runs with solid defence when needed. Results were very close with 1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses but each by only one goal. This put them into the Plate Competition play offs. An exciting match against Mount House followed. At full time, with the score even, each team had to select 3 players to go, in turn, 1 on 1 with the GK. We managed to score twice and with Emilia Hancock saving 2 of the opposition’s attempts this put us into the final against Westbourne House, who we had drawn with in the morning. Despite a valiant effort tired legs got the better of the girls who had to settle for the runners up medals and trophy
