Category: Sport
Spirits were high ahead of this match, our last fixture before the Christmas break. Despite the damp and sticky conditions Woodbridge were the first to find their passing game and even though we fluffed our early chances it was clear that the game was for the taking. We took a 2 – 0 lead into the half time interval, the goals coming from close range finishes from Seb and Will. An organisational change gave us even more attacking opportunities after the break and Jake completed a second-half hat trick with some assured attacking play. Seb added to his personal tally and our tireless Captain Joe fired in one of his own too. The two Danny’s were strong at the back for us but RHS did get a late consolation. A special mention goes to the RHS ‘keeper who performed heroics in goal and kept the score vaguely respectable. This romp was a great way to end this term’s football and the team can return in the new year feeling very positive.
The U15A team put up a great fight and comeback against RHS on Saturday. It was an extraordinary effort by the players, especially those who doubled up on the day: Jess and Ashleigh who had already run cross country very successfully in the morning; Year 9’s who gave their all in the U14 match before and still shone in the next match (Ella P, Ella S and Maddy M); players who performed well for club before (Molly and Ella W) and those players who also helped out the team after (Julia and Myla). It was a big Woodbridge effort to make all the fixtures possible.
The U15As started the match well and looked to dominate at the start. However after the initial exchanges it was RHS who scored half way through the first half. Woodbridge came back strong and it was good penalty corner defence that denied them getting back on level terms. The Woodbridge players showed excellent discipline, resilience and sportsmanship throughout the match, coping well with frustrating situations, including RHS scoring a second goal just before half time.
Worse followed as early in the second half RHS scored the dreaded third goal: now with nothing to lose Woodbridge really pushed forward. This worked well, and Ella W scored a great team goal in the 10th minute, followed five minutes later by a goal from Molly. Woodbridge were rampant; RHS desperate in defence… but some sharp saves by the goalkeeper made sure RHS kept their lead at 3-2. Despite the loss, this was a gutsy performance from the U15A team, showing how well they have developed both as individuals and as leaders. Well done to Mr Wright and the team.
Molly takes up the story: As our last game of the season we decided to try lots of new things that we had practised in our games sessions and hockey practices. We started slow lowering ourselves to their level and not playing our usual fluid style. However, after winning a flurry of short corners we eventually put one away with Clara injecting to Molly who passed it out to the right to Ella who passed it back to Molly who put it away from the penalty spot. After this our game play improved as we set the press better and won the ball higher up giving us lots of attacking chances. Another goal followed as Ella shot from the top of the D and Clara deflected it in from close range.
We continued in attacking form from half time winning a short corner quickly after the restart. Clara injected it out to Molly who passed to Ella who was free on the left who slapped (yeeted) it into the bottom right hand corner. We then reverted to an attacking half court press which meant Ipswich High could barely enter our half which led to more attacking chances: Clara and Ella had some beautiful play up the right with lots of 1-2s which eventually resulting in Ella flicking it into the back of the net to make it 4-0. We then subbed our goalie Lakisha off to have a kicking back as an experiment which allowed us to retain the ball better and have more players to pass and transfer between the defenders Myla, Olivia and Ariane. This allowed us to work our way up the pitch and win a long corner which was quickly taken by Molly catching them off guard who eventually slotted it into the bottom corner. This meant we finished the season on a high with a 5-0 win to cap off a brilliant and enjoyable season.
On Saturday 1 December, over thirty Woodbridge School athletes competed at Ipswich High in the second Suffolk Schools Cross Country trial, having qualified through the first trial in October. And they produced an outstanding set of results despite the constant rain. In summary:
Four individual medals: golds to Amy and April, silver to Nathan and bronze to George.
12 top 8 positions (the Suffolk Team comprises 8 in each age group to compete at England Schools in March).
15 top 16 positions (a wider Suffolk Team is selected to compete at Anglian Schools in February).
24 athletes qualify by right to compete in the final Suffolk trial to be hosted by Woodbridge School on 10 January (Top 40 finish).
These numbers exclude two of our superstars who were ill or injured and who, together with a few other runners close to qualifying, will be granted byes to the final trial.
Congratulations to every athlete that represented Woodbridge School so well in difficult conditions. The results are just rewards for all the hard work you are putting in and everyone should be extremely proud of their performance.
Full results as follows (with apologies for one or two missing placings):
Minor Girls:
8 Eloise
10 Rose
17 Lara
And close behind, Millie and Sasha
Minor Boys:
5 Ethan
15 James
35 Jack
46 Arthur
And close behind, John and Will
Junior Girls:
1 Amy
21 Anna
27 Isobel
Junior Boys:
7 Henry
19 Edward
23 Jonny
48 Fazil
Inter Girls:
1 April
5 Jess
10 Bea
22 Ella
27 Ashleigh
Inter Boys:
3 George
4 Charlie
6 Kit
28 Tom
Senior Girls:
6 Sarah
Senior Boys:
2 Nathan
5 Alex
The 1st Hockey team just missed out on a spot in the fourth round of the England Hockey U18 Plate Competition by going out on penalty strokes against New Hall.
The much anticipated third round match was played at an excellent tempo on a cold and rainy afternoon at New Hall School. Woodbridge relied on good team play and passing, defending their deep areas against two particularly talented opponents and making good tackles and clearances in the D. A highlight was Sophie’s play in goal, penalty corner defence and the sheer guts and determination shown by the players, with Eleanor and Annabel outstanding. Meanwhile at the other end, Woodbridge had a few scoring chances of their own rebuffed by an equally in-form goalie.
Woodbridge tweaked the formation very effectively for the second half, and despite conceding an early goal looked increasingly dominant: Joanne and Flora P injected pace on the right; Flora J was dictating play on the left; and now Woodbridge really opened up the match. Penalty corners…. Ianthe’s drag flicks well saved; a post hit; and at last the pressure told as Ianthe flicked the ball over the GK. With time running out Woodbridge kept pushing, and Poppy and Sophie both offered constant threat, but New Hall held strong.
The match ended 1-1 and it was up to a penalty stroke competition: New Hall was absolutely clinical in theirs, and although Ianthe scored for us it was not enough as New Hall won it 3-1. We wish New Hall well in the next round.
Woodbridge had some very strong performances. Mollie led from the front, Ianthe was pivotal in midfield, Flora J again had a very solid match, Annabel was influential, Eleanor stepped in front of her player to win the ball every time, and Flora P impacted the match very well in the second half. But ultimately Sophie L’s saves kept us in the game from the start to earn a very well-deserved player of the match.
Norwich have a strong reputation for school football within the region and so the early formation and game-plan was to see to our defensive duties first and foremost and hopefully score on the break. This tactic worked well as we soaked up the early pressure and our opponents became increasingly frustrated by our resolute back-four of Matty, Louis, Danny and Gonzalo. Ali and Tom, playing in front of them as two holding midfielders, were sharp and strong in the challenge and Charles and Jake on the wings both had industrious performances. We sneaked a goal but then the cardinal error was not to see the lead out to half-time and we found ourselves heading into the break 2 – 1 down. Norwich really grew into the game at this point and extended their lead; many teams would have capitulated further at this point but Woodbridge showed grit and determination to mount a comeback. Seb nicked one back for us before adding to our tally, getting on the end of a sumptuous move begun by the ever-skilful Joe. At 3 – 3 both sides had excellent chances to take the win; Norwich found Harry on top form between the Woodbridge posts and the Norwich ‘keeper was equal to everything we threw at him. An excellent game played in a combative spirit was enjoyed by everyone.
Friday 23rd November
We had a great day with nine children competing in the NSEA pop-up dressage competition. For many of the team it was their first time ever competing in dressage, and team manager and trainer Miss Lucas was very proud of how well they all presented, and represented the school. The tests were recorded at Newton Hall and will be sent via YouTube to be judged.
Photo: left- right
Lottie, Miss Lucas, Maddy
Saturday 24th November
We had a fantastic show at Forest Edge with the jumping team of Alex, Haydn, Perdi and Ada. All went clear in the 80-90cm to achieve a very good second place overall. They then competed in the 90-95cm Windsor Q in which they came fourth, with Perdi placed fourth individually as well.
Photo : left to right
Haydn, Perdi, Alex, Ada
Sunday 25th November
To complete a hugely impressive three days, the team then competed brilliantly at Topthorn EC in the NSEA grass routes and RPL league, an event proudly and expertly hosted jointly in association with Woodbridge School. It was great to have all levelled riders competing at this show from 40cm- 90cm. Everyone rode fantastically and looked very smart. Well done to Eve (second individually in the 70cm RPL) and the team of Eve, Oli, Nancy and Lily who finished third overall.
Photo: Left – Right
Eve, Lily, Oli.
Woodbridge School riders Thea, Eloise, Haydn, Alex, Perdi, Lily, Ada and Eve all competed at the NSEA Plate Championships on 17/18 November 2018, some as individuals and others as part of our team. Better still they were all there as competitors in the National Points League Championship, as Woodbridge had already won the regional points league. This requires a team of 8 riders; with two riders competing at each height and the best six scores to count. The younger riders were joined by Eloise and Thea to ride in the top height round. And in a remarkable performance our riders finished on a combined team score of only 4 to take third place in this prestigious National School League Championship.
The School also had excellent results in both team and individual competitions: most notably the 75cms Show Jumping Team took 2nd place with Eve (Year 6 at the Abbey) being the youngest member scoring a very fast clear alongside her team mates of Alex, Perdi and Lily. In the individual events the top results went to Alex and Perdi who gained individual placings in two different height classes of Jumping with Style.
Results:-
75cms Show Jumping Plate Champs
Team of Eve, Alex, Perdi & Lily were second
75cms Jumping with Style
Alex qualified as an individual and was placed fifth in the final
85cms Jumping with Style
Perdi qualified as an individual and was placed sixth in the final
85cms Show Jumping Plate Champs
Ada qualified as an individual and completed with a fine double clear to be placed in the top fifteen.
Regional Points League National Championships
Team of Thea, Eloise, Haydn, Alex, Ada, Perdi, Lily and Eve completed on a score of 4 to take third place.
On Saturday 24 November, Woodbridge School hosted the 38th Final of the England Schools Athletic Association Cross Country Cup. This was the first time in the history of the competition that the final had been hosted in Suffolk.
The Cross Country Cup is a team competition open to athletes in Years 7 to 10 across all schools in England. To reach any of the four races at the final, each of the 27 teams have had to qualify by finishing in the top three of their County Round and then in the top three in one of nine Regional events. Years 7 and 8 compete in the Junior Category with Years 9 and 10 as Inters. With six athletes representing each school and the first four across the line scoring, each race featured 162 of the best young cross country athletes in England. And Woodbridge School qualified for the finals for the third year in succession, this time with both the Inter Girls and the Inter Boys vying for honours on their home course.
The weather, course and enthusiastic helpers and local crowd made for a spectacular day: Woodbridge Inter Girls were in the first race and our athletes ran well above expectation to finish a magnificent 13th, up from 23rd last year and 19th in 2016. In particular, April ran a brilliant race amongst the lead pack to finish an exceptional fifth. Our Inter Boys were in the fourth and final race, a race which started at a ferocious pace. As the miles unfolded it was obvious that Kit was moving through the pack, running the race of his young life and Charlie and George were fighting their way impressively into the top 20. Kit continued to progress, powering into the individual medal positions on the hills to finish an unbelievable second. With Charlie 12th, George 15th and Henry giving his all to close the team out in 67th, everyone wondered whether a podium was possible…
The final result: Woodbridge School finished an astonishing third to stand on the podium for the second time in three years. This was an outstanding achievement at a National level for this group of young athletes.
None of this is achieved without the support of a wider group of Woodbridge School athletes, as well as staff and parents, so we offer an enormous vote of thanks, and congratulations, to everyone who contributed to such a memorable day.
Full results on the day were :
Inter Girls :
April 5th
Amy 64th
Molly 74th
Jess 76th
Bea 101st
Anna 122nd
Inter Boys:
Kit 2nd
Charlie 12th
George 15th
Henry 67th
Edward 132nd
Tom 141st
One of our sixth formers, Ali, is a qualified youth football referee and has had the great courage not only to undertake this often thankless task in order to allow many youngsters the opportunity to enjoy ‘the beautiful game’, but also to stand up against the abuse and unpleasantness that can be directed against him and his fellow officials. Do read this article in which he features at the end. He is to be interviewed for BBC news as part of an exposee due for release on the 6pm and 10pm national news in the near future. He hopes to talk about experiences of abuse as a referee in youth football, and how important it is for there to be respect for referees in grassroots football. We very much hope his voice will be heard.
Being an amateur referee: your stories of threats and attacks, but a love of the game
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46208857