Category: Sport
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
The Woodbridge team was up and running from the word go, putting pressure on the ball right from the push back to win a short corner in the first few minutes. Clara injected the ball to Molly who drag flicked it into the bottom left hand corner: what a start! The play went on nicely with Woodbridge passing the ball round the back three of Ariane, Eleanor and Olivia B, waiting for a gap to appear. We eventually attacked down the right-hand channel with Cecily cutting inside to win a short corner which she herself converted through the goalie’s legs. The forwards of Emily W, Emily O, Julia and Ashleigh made some beautiful arching leads for the midfield to target, and soon earned another penalty corner. Clara to Molly as before, but this time she slipped it to Ella to score. But New Hall riposted with two quick goals from breakaways…. all still to play for.
The second half started with a new-found energy: the midfield of Clara, Cecily, Ruby and Molly used width brilliantly to create a gap for Clara to drive into the D: 4-2! The defenders held firm, and, with confidence growing, the team tried the new half court press we’d practised at training. We won another penalty corner and Molly Mscored again from the top of the C. Thanks also to the Year 9s of Ella S, Ella P and Maddy who played extremely well a year up. The nominations for man of the match were Eleanor, Molly, Clara and Cecily and it was narrowly won by Molly. It was fantastic game that showcased our whole team’s talents.
What a thriller! Desperate defence from our team of stalwarts… and two forays into the opposition 22… and the one goal to be scored was ours!
Our girls defended like heroes against numerous short corners and Lucy, Elise and Asmee had fantastic games. Sophia held the middle of the pitch together and there were some great attacking runs from Maddy and Alex. The highlight of the game was Charlie’s goal: she sprinted almost the length of the pitch only to be checked by the goalkeeper… but resilient to the last, she stood up and popped the ball in the back of the net. And then it was back with all hands to the defensive ramparts; gloriously done!
The U14A girls’ hockey team had a great game at home against Ipswich School. Missing some influential players, Bea away ill and Katie having to step out after the first half, the team pulled together well to play some fine passing hockey. The opposition had quite a few short corners and it was the first one, in the first half of the game that caught us out. Thereafter, Woodbridge had the majority of the possession but could not convert the pressure into a goal and the final score remained 0-1. Maddy, playing centre midfield, was voted player of the match; and both Ellas also played very well alongside Lucy at centre back.
With a squad of 12 for the 7-a-side game against RHS all the J4 girls experienced some game play. Caitlyn was voted player of the match in goal, making several super saves, while Lucia, coming up from J5, played exceptionally well, proving her promotion was well deserved. Captain Eloise worked hard in left midfield for her team, while Sophia made some dangerous attacking runs. Indeed, everyone made valuable contributions to the game; well done girls, despite the narrow defeat!