Category: Sport
Woodbridge School Rifle Club recently returned to the Lord Roberts Shooting Centre at Bisley to compete in the BSSRA Winter Open. Seven pupils represented us there amongst the 228 individuals from 24 other competing schools. Many congratulations to our team of Luke, Henry, Noah, Charlie, Leon, Alfie and Natasha on their fine shooting, and in particular to Luke for gaining one of the coveted BSSRA Top Shot badges.
Last Saturday seven Woodbridge School athletes were in Oxford to compete in an annual Southern Inter County cross country championship against the fourteen counties that make up the might of the South of England in running terms.
We are delighted to report that young Ruby Vinton brilliantly defended the title she won last year, retaining the South of England Inter County U13 Girls’ title.
Recovering from a head cold, Ruby made a steady albeit out of character start, before powering away from the best athletes in the South to win by a clear 10 seconds. This was a truly amazing performance, and Roby has an exciting few months ahead in the build-up to the National championships.
Other exceptional performances on the day came from Kit Evans Lombe who was 16th in the U15 boys (just 46 seconds from the lead after 4km of tough cross country) and Nathan Goddard who was 21st in the U17 men (Also just 46 seconds from the lead this time after 5km of cross country).
All of our other athletes representing Suffolk on the day finished in the top 100. April Hill and Amy Goddard in the U15 girls (who also happened to be first and second Suffolk finishers), Charlie Turner in the U15 Boys and Alex Evans Lombe in the U17 Men.
Congratulations to all of the athletes who now enjoy a well-earned break from racing.
The last game of the season was upon us… that, and a long journey to Ely. The boys were in good spirits looking to add another scalp to their successful season, but things didn’t quite go to plan as missed tackles gave King’s the early lead. The second half effort was greatly improved with more bite to the Woodbridge defence and some quick hands in attack, Sam B and Toby N scoring the Woodbridge tries. Unfortunately the side left themselves too much to do from the first half and ended up defeated. Well done to Alfie G for a man of the match performance.
A chance to finish the season with a bang was given to the U13 A team on a freezing cold Wednesday afternoon. Woodbridge played a mixed game with some moments of magic and some rather more scrappy rugby but were comfortably good enough to win. George N produced a superb dummy and run to score a try; Fazil ran in another hat trick to add to his impressive tally for the season; Erwan scored a try but most impressively made numerous try saving tackles all game; and Theo used his impressive side-step to get himself over the line for a try. The squad finished off the season with a 30-10 win and are looking forward to a restful Christmas break. The team expressed their wishes to thank Mr Boyle for his hard work with his help this season.
The Junior 1st team finished their season on a high with a third consecutive win. The last match of the season was against Langley, and provided many reasons to celebrate. Frustrated by illness, regular GK Ruby was not available, and Lily stepped up to be rewarded for some good displays of goalkeeping, particularly over the last few weeks. Maggie and Charlotte also got their call ups from the second team after some consistently good performances in matches and trainings. A somewhat new look team didn’t take long to settle and played flowing passing hockey.
Maddy put the team ahead with a sharp finish after the goalkeeper made the initial save, and then quickly scored a second, before Georgie added a third. Meanwhile in defence Ada and Isabel were up to any challenge, showing great vigilance over any counterattacks.
Early in the second half, Lexie scored one of the goals of the season. Maddy drew the Langley defence to her, and with a sharp move beat one player and quickly played an excellent reverse stick shot towards the goal. Lexie at far post didn’t stand around and wait for the ball to arrive, but moved forward like any good forward to meet the ball early and do a perfect deflection past the unsuspecting goalkeeper. It was just brilliant! Then Libbie and Lexie scored one more goal each to make the final score 6-1: the perfect end to the season for this talented and committed group. As ever, picking a single player of the match was hard. A four way tie was the result of the team vote: Maggie, Maddy, Georgie and Ada sharing the honour.
Well done to every player for their efforts this term. Thanks to parents for their support. And well done to Steph and Maddy who were brilliant co-captains for the team.
The best of endings…
The Hockey first team put out a performance to remember in what was the last competitive hockey match of the girls’ hockey season. The match was special not only for a great 5-2 win over rivals from RHS, but because it was the last match for six of our Y13 students, who have contributed so much to the first team over the past 2-3 seasons.
Woodbridge started strongly and it looked like they would get on the scoreboard early. However a number of near chances went begging and it was RHS who opened the scoring in the 6th minute, against the run of play. Woodbridge bounced back through Ianthe who scored from a goalmouth scramble during a penalty corner. In the 20th minute it was Ianthe who put Woodbridge ahead with a good drag at another penalty corner. This joy was short lived as RHS came back a minute later to make it 2-2 going into half time.
At the half time, not many words had to be said. Woodbridge looked the stronger, more skilful and fitter side… The team knew the next goal would be crucial and put the scoring team in good stead for the rest of the match. Woodbridge did not have to wait long for this chance to go ahead, and it came along in the 3rd minute. They say fortune favours the brave. Woodbridge capitalised on a bit of good fortune when RHS players hesitated for a second expecting the whistle to go, but none was forthcoming. Woodbridge, reacting quickest, saw the ball end up in the back of the net from the stick of Sophie G. The very next minute Harriet scored a sharp chance to give Woodbridge some breathing space, taking full advantage of a now somewhat flustered RHS side. Woodbridge aimed to control the rest of the match but it was end to end. Joanne played a fantastic match at left back, and Eleanor was a solid as ever in defence, to add to her cracking runs up the right. Sophie L in goal had to make some important saves to make sure RHS don’t get a way back into the match. Mollie managed the centre of the pitch in professional style, always being in the way to stop anything RHS tried to put through the middle. Ianthe was in impressive form in any one-on-one and the opposition would have been best advised to avoid her area of the pitch. The forwards, led by co-captain Georgia did a sterling job in their press, varying their depth and dealing very well with one of RHS’s key players and floating centre back. Poppy, Kiya, Victoria, Harriet and Sophie G were outstanding in their attacking link ups in the second half and any number of goals could have been scored. Kiya and Georgia were denied numerous times in the match by great goalkeeping, and the goal post.
Ten minutes from the final whistle Harriet put the game out of reach for RHS, her goal taking the score to 5-2, the win making the perfect ending to a near perfect season for a great group of players.
Much more can be written about this memorable match in which Woodbridge were dominant, players showed off their skill and the team showed exactly what it means to be a team, with every player contributing to the positive outcome, but more importantly a great performance.
Well done to each player, and especially the Y13 leavers who played their last match. Chloe, Eleanor, Flora, Georgia, Mollie and Sophie L will be missed but they leave many memories with the team, and a legacy of growing the team and pushing it forward – through commitment, hard word, passion and pride. Well done and thank you to each of these players. They did what they set out to do!
The Girls’ First team continued their good run of form against Culford, delivering a very entertaining display to win 5-0.
Having weathered the early Culford storm well, Woodbridge started to build momentum, and it wasn’t long before they took the lead: a clinical finish at the far post by Victoria, perfectly set up by Georgia. A little later, Ianthe made it 2-0 from a penalty corner to give Woodbridge a good cushion at half time. This can be a dangerous score in sport and Woodbridge were determined to be the first team to score in the second half. A series of attacks resulted in a penalty corner and a great move was put away by a deflection from Harriet, who then doubled her tally five minutes later in similar fashion. Woodbridge played with flair, moving the ball around through the defenders and midfield and really working on maintaining possession, choosing the right time to go forward. The team played with speed and passion and deservedly ended on a high, a string of penalty corners on the final whistle seeing the whole team involved in trying to get one more goal, achieved at last by Sophie G.
Well done to each player on a near-perfect performance and good game by everyone. Player of the match went to two-time scorer, Harriet.
The Girls’ First team hosted Langley in a much anticipated “rematch”, after Langley’s last-minute equaliser last season. It couldn’t have started better: Ianthe scored a drag flick from the first corner of the match in the 7th minute; and Martha, making her first team debut in goal, defended Langley’s goal scoring chance and subsequent penalty corner early on. Thereafter Eleanor, Maud, Joanne and Annabel defended brilliantly allowing the rest of the team to press forward with confidence, with Eleanor also using her strength and speed brilliantly to attack up the right. Flora P added to this to make it very difficult for Langley to keep Woodbridge attacks under control. Annabel played a great match whether as defender or in midfield, tackling and distributing well and getting the better of her opposite number. As we have now come to expect, Ianthe and Mollie were towers of strength in midfield. With a smaller than usual squad due to mock exams and illness, the forwards led by Georgia had to work extra hard. Poppy was again instrumental in her work in the press to win possession and Kiya and Victoria’s movement up front made it easy for the midfield to find them. With the players riding the wave of support from the touchline a second goal seemed always on the cards, but it was not to be… and then… close to the end Langley contrived a “one-on-one”… not again?? Not if Martha had anything to do with it! Her match-winning save was quickly followed by the final whistle and the celebrations of a very happy team. This was a very well deserved and hard fought 1-0 victory. Well done to Annabel and Eleanor who were voted joint players of the match.
Thanks to some U13 players and girls that don’t normally play we went to RHS on a rainy Saturday afternoon with a full compliment and it was worth it! We were under pressure for so much of the game but valiant goal keeping by Evie and defending by Asmee and Lucy H and Lucy C we held on to a draw. We had a few chances and there was some great play by Alexandra and Elizabeth attacking. Lily played really well in midfield as did Lara (Year 8) and Sophie (Year 8) who had not played on a full pitch before. An excellent end to the season and thanks to all the girls who have played, and I am pleased that some have enjoyed it more than they thought they would! Very well done.
This was a great match to watch and a real nail biter as there were goals galore and the ball was moving up and down the pitch all game! We knew Finborough would be quite strong but we got on that pitch and gave our all. They went 1-0 up in the first 10 minutes but we held it together, kept the ball wide and there were some great attacking runs from Iris, Annabel and Sophia. Iris then put one in the back of the net and we were on level pegging. We went into half time with some excellent hockey being played and Asmee and Elise holding it all together at the back. We went out determined to bring a win home but unfortunately went 2-1 down with a strong strike from Finborough. And then another went in our net shortly afterwards and we then had to really dig in. There were some fantastic through balls played from the defence and Sophia popped up in the goal and scored to bring us to 3-2. How exciting! We had some sound play from Gabrielle, Charlotte G and Lily and on a break into the circle and after some amazing goal keeping from them, Maddy finally put it in the net to bring us to 3-3. What an ending and such a brilliant and exciting game to watch. Well done!