Category: Sport
King’s Ely have proven footballing credentials on the independent schools circuit; it was a wise choice all round for our firsts to play their seconds, and our seconds to play their thirds, and two cracking games ensued. The first team match began in febrile fashion which curtailed the quality of the football on display. Regular defender Nathan Lloyd and “stand-in” Olly Whiting had to be on sharp form to intercept a number of possible through balls as King’s made the early running. Nil-nil at half-time meant the game was on a knife-edge. Joe Farrall asserted greater influence and control in the second-half and there was better use of width; Will Clarke whipped in a cross that was missed by our first attacker but Seb Lamb was on hand to slot the ball home. A second Woodbridge goal came from a well-flighted set-piece delivery from Joe Farrall that was met with a towering header from Olly Whiting. There was a nervy end to the game with King’s pushing hard; Frank “Franky” Norman was on top form in goal and kept a well-earned clean sheet in his last appearance in a Woodbridge jersey. The game ended 2-0 to Woodbridge and the only sour note was an unfortunate knee injury to one of the visiting players; we wish him a full and speedy recovery. Over the season as a whole the 1st XI have made real progress; since Michaelmas Term we have played twelve competitive fixtures, winning six and losing six. A massive thank-you to all the boys involved for making it such an entertaining season.
This was an eagerly anticipated fixture; the same game last season produced a crushing 10 – 2 win in favour of St Felix and so we were keen to give a better account of ourselves this year. That said, a number of key players were rested to enable the coach to get a better view of the talent base in advance of next season.
It was therefore somewhat frustrating to arrive with a large development squad and yet only face a bare seven St Felix players. The solution was to switch to a small-sided pitch and play 7-a-side with plenty of rotation. St Felix set the early pace and took the lead with a well-taken goal; it would have been more of an advantage had Will Jennings not made a string of reaction saves at close range to keep us in the game. Steadily we fought our way back and after a string of good chances we eventually drew level and then went into the lead with two very accomplished finishes from budding young striker Harry Field.
In the second half we were determined to play a shorter brand of football than either side had managed in the first half; it paid handsome dividends. Goals from Henry Bange, Joe Farrall, Seb Lamb and two from the imposing Chisom Oguamanam secured a convincing second half performance and an overall 7–2 victory. The boys on show will make up the heart of the first team for next year and things are really looking up for Woodbridge football.
On Saturday 17 March, six of our top athletes competed for Suffolk at the England Schools’ Cross Country Championship in Leeds.
All 44 counties entered their top 8 athletes, so 352 elite cross country athletes competed in each race in the sleet and icy wind.
In the Junior Girls’ Race April Hill had the race of her season finishing in 12th place and just missing selection for the England Team (top 8) by 3 seconds after two miles in the mud. This was a quite fantastic effort at the highest level, an amazing return to form for April after a few years of injury disruption, and a very proud day for the Hill family.
Bea Thomas was immensely proud to earn her second England Schools’ badge (still aged only 13) and she once again competed very well against the best in England finishing in the 200’s.
In the Junior Boys’ Race Charlie Turner had his best ever result on the National stage finishing strongly in 23rd place. A top 25 at England Schools’ is an outstanding national level achievement. Charlie was only 45 seconds behind the winner.
Not to be outdone, Kit Evans Lombe had his best ever result at Nationals, finishing 101st. To give the result some context, after 4.1 km in the mud there were only 5 seconds between Kit and 82nd place.
In the Inter Boys’ Nathan Goddard was unlucky to pick up a midweek head cold but still travelled to compete for the Suffolk Team. Fighting hard all the way Nathan once again recorded a top 100 finish in 66th place. His Suffolk teammate, with whom he had run all year, finished 31st giving Nathan a pointer as to what might have been.
For Alex Evans Lombe, this was a debut England Schools’ performance and he competed exceptionally well to finish in the 200’s. Alex only started to take cross country seriously 18 months ago, and this winter he qualified for three County teams which is a testament to his work ethic and commitment.
Saving the best for last, the Junior Boys’ Suffolk Team unbelievably finished second overall in the team standings which is quite incredible when you consider the size of the County compared to the might of some of the other 43.
In fact, there were further Inter County Competitions on the day in which each county was classified according to population. Suffolk is a ‘C’ County and in that category Suffolk won the overall boys’ and were second in the girls’. A fantastic result!
Well done to all the Woodbridge School athletes for their contribution. A well-deserved rest lies ahead, before we switch to track and a long-awaited summer!
Please click here to find the running times for the equestrian One Day event taking place at Poplar Park on Sunday 18 March 2018
Last Saturday a number of our cross country athletes competed for Suffolk at the UK Inter County Cross Country in Loughborough.
Ruby Vinton was the outstanding performance for Suffolk on the day, finishing in 8th place in the U13 Girls’ race. To give this achievement some context: in March 2019 Ruby will be old enough to compete at England Schools’ Cross Country for the first time and 8th place in that event would earn an England Vest. This was an outstanding performance to round off an incredible first winter for Ruby at this level.
Overall Woodbridge School had eight athletes competing at the Inter Counties, which is an achievement in itself. For most, it was more an adventure than a race, with the muddiest conditions our young athletes had ever seen. Kit Evans Lombe was tripped face first into the mud early on in his race and by the time he stood up he was in last place. He made excellent progress which in an event where each of the 44 counties only enter their top eight athletes, is no mean feat.
Charlie Turner lost a spike (shoe) early on and the shoe was never seen again. Try running 4.5K in mud with one shoe. April Hill slid down a muddy bank and into a stream. It was so steep and slippery that it took forever to get out and a cold and wet April had little option other than to call it a day, living to tell the tale with a smile once warm. In terms of results, Charlie Turner (U15B) and Nathan Goddard (U17M) were on or around the top third, with Amy Goddard (U13G), Bea Thomas (U15G), Kit Evans Lombe (U15B) and Alex Evans Lombe (U17B) on or around the two third mark in their races.
This was a great experience at the highest level for these athletes, and one they will long remember!
At the weekend, Woodbridge riders were in the placings at the local British Eventing Competitions (Poplar Park Horse Trials).
Despite horrible conditions under foot the event was able to run.
Woodbridge riders proved their metal to take placings in several classes. Ada Marson (only 12 years old) was placed 4th in her first competition on her new ride in the BE80 section and Olivia Brown (13 years old Year 8) was placed 9th in the other BE80 section also on a new ride.
Gussie Terry was 10th in the Under 18 Novice section (competing at a height of 1.10m) and Tess Walker also completed with a double clear in the BE80 but she was competing HC as her pony.
On Monday 5 March we competed at one of the ten IAPS regional galas.
We took six swimmers to the gala at Bishop’s Stortford College who all swam in individual events. All of our swimmers performed very well in a highly competitive event and posted very pleasing times. We are now waiting with our fingers crossed that some of the times are in the Top 20 across all of the other galas. This would mean that the swimmer will have qualified for the National Finals, which is being hosted at the London Aquatics Centre in June.
Our team was comprised of E Carter, C Hattan, G Phillips, G Pommier, M Pommier and L Zie.
On Wednesday 7 March the U11 C team had a tough but terrific match against Orwell Park.
In our first quarter J Richardson scored a great goal and G Pommier managed to slip in two more great goals. Orwell Park came back and scored two cracking goals. In the next quarter Orwell Park scored another goal. Luckily, G Pommier scored two more magnificent goals. Taking the score up to 7 – 3 to us. It was a nail-biting match but we managed to get our win!
After all the snow, Woodbridge School was finally able to host The Skinners’ School in the second round of the National U18 Plate Competition. Woodbridge dominated the opening minutes but could not capitalise in creating a clear cut chance. Momentum slowly started to shift as Skinners’ grew in confidence, but player of the match, Joshua Graves came into his own leading the defence as Dom Ellice-Freeman, Toby McNally, James Martin and captain James Meakin all tackled well outside the D and dealt with scrambles within it to clear the danger. Meanwhile at the other end a Woodbridge attack led to a penalty corner and Alex Weir-Simmons put his drag flick on target, forcing a double save from the goalkeeper only for Oliver Buchanan to pounce on the rebound and score.
The second half saw Woodbridge much more dominant as they moved the ball to all corners of the pitch to great effect. Hugo Kelleway, Alex Weir-Simmons, Oliver Bacon and Patrick Frebel worked tirelessly and the forwards led, rotated, pressed and worked back zealously. Chances flowed and nine minutes into the second half James Phelan was rewarded for all his hard work with a very good goal, and shortly after Charlie Mayhew scored the first of his two. With a healthy cushion Woodbridge continue to grow in confidence and play with freedom. The Skinners’ goalkeeper played very well but couldn’t stop Alex taking our tally to 5-0.
This was a very good team performance in which each player can be very proud of their own play and contribution to the positive outcome. Gutsy defending gave the attackers confidence and the team must be commended for keeping a clean sheet in this end to end, physical game.
Many congratulations to Eleanore Fitzgerald, Annie Nicholass and Alice Sharratt who have all been successful in the recent auditions from a large field of dancers from across the region for the English Youth Ballet’s production of Cinderella In Hollywood (Theatre Royal Norwich 25-26 May).
They are all pupils of Sandra Hartley at the Saxtead School of Dance.
This promises to be a dazzling production with stunningly striking costumes and wonderful dancing, with international principals in the leading roles. Celebrating its 20th anniversary year, English Youth Ballet’s policy is to perform full length ballets outside London, and to give young dancers the chance to perform in a professional setting.
For more information visit https://secure.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk/Online/default.asp.