Category: Sport

Well done to the 55 runners who competed in the South Suffolk Cross Country championships at RHS on Thursday 12 October. With unsurprisingly warm temperatures and a slight breeze, these were some of the best conditions this race has ever seen, and ideal for those running this course for the first time.

Our team performed magnificently across all categories and against hundreds of other runners: the minors in particular had around 200 competitors (if not more) in their race. It was great to see so many participate and a special mention to the 39 athletes who made it through to the County round on Saturday 2nd December at Culford. A superb effort – well done!

Congratulations to Ruby Vinton, Charlie Turner and Nathan Goddard who gained 1st place and April Hill 2nd and Kit Evans Lombe 3rd. An astonishing nine runners gained a top 10 place, and well done to the Inter girls’ team who all came in the top 30. Overall results meant that amongst Mid-Suffolk schools we came first in Inter Boys, Junior Girls and Junior Boys, and second in Inter Girls and Minor Boys: amazing!

Thank you to all the parents for their continued support and Mark Goddard for his excellent leadership and coaching of the runners both in their preparation and on the day.

Results:

• Minor girls: Ruby Vinton 1st, Esme Ball 29th, Ada Marson 59th, Libbie Brightey 113th & Kitty Frith 114th.
• Minor boys: Edward Buckingham 10th, Moses McBride 20th, George Na Nakhorn 25th, Tommy Burrow 35th, Jonny Evans Lombe 47th, Erwan Gouedo 66th, Albie Smith 105th & Thomas Blackmore 168th.
• Junior girls: April Hill 2nd, Amy Goddard 4th, Isabelle Eaton 16th, Emily Whyte 18th, Jess Elmer 22nd, Cecily Royal-Dawson 23rd, Anna Jackson 28th, Ashleigh Wildbore 34th, Willa Cole 55th, Ella Pitt 65th, Ella Reynard 66th, Iris Morton 69th , Isabella Hyde 88th, & Charlotte Gibbon 116th.
• Junior boys: Charlie Turner 1st, Kit Evans Lombe 3rd, George Wharam 10th, Edward Rufford 20th, Mauricio Corfe 26th, Ruben Kill 38th, Tom Turner 39th, Tom Harper 49th, Archie Sjoberg 54th & Tom Martin 83rd.
• Inter girls: Sarah Barker 4th, Sophie Graham 16th, Milly Buckingham 17th, Victoria Burrows 23rd, Poppy Fletcher 27th & Grace Childs 29th.
• Inter boys: Nathan Goddard 1st, Alex Evans Lombe 4th, Daniel Davies 11th, George Rufford 17th, Nathaniel Gunn 19th, Hal Ottley 50th, Hugo Thomas 51st & Miles Fry 55th.
• Seniors: Olly Wroe 21st, Georgina Fulcher 23rd & Rachel Prowse 35th.

In their third game, the Junior 3s were back on attacking form, with Tess Walker leading her team to a 7-1 victory. Coping brilliantly with the different surface (a grass pitch!), the girls put the opposition under a great deal of pressure, attacking well, riding the tackles and taking on advice to shoot as soon as they entered the D – to great effect. The second half offered an opportunity for the girls to try some unfamiliar positions and the defenders showed as much skill and determination in attack as their peers had in the first half! A highlight was Sophia’s run from defence, down the right wing, looking up, passing the ball into the D to Chloe on the P spot, with only a heroic save from the keeper denying the perfect ending. Well done, girls! Goals came from Tess, Libbie, Kat and Iris.

Their second match was a much tougher affair, the girls having to show how well and for how long they could defend. Despite defeat some excellent covering by Elise and Lucy kept the score relatively close. Our goal, scored by Kat, showed great determination, pushing through the midfield and forcing her way into the opposition D. 1-1 at half time was promising but Norwich came out firing in the second half and the Junior 3s couldn’t quite sustain the necessary intensity in defence. Much was learnt from the 1-4 defeat; a particular plus was the brilliant goal keeping by Lily Yallop.

The Junior 3s had a wonderful start to the season with a comprehensive 8-0 win against Langley. The girls showed great teamwork to work the ball out of defence, passing it around cleverly to make openings for goals by Kat, Iris, Chloe and Libbie. Although the match was not a true test of their ability to play under pressure, the girls were strong in their tackling and were fiercely competitive, regardless of the score. Even playing out of position, they attacked and defended well together. A great start!

The U14A team travelled to King’s Ely on Saturday with a small squad due to various other commitments, but nonetheless started in their trademark dominant fashion. The first goal came from a drag flick by captain Molly Marshall in a short corner routine. Later Molly was to score again, fine reward for the constant pressure she put on the opposition. Others to make notable contributions were: Olivia Bedford who made some great driving runs down the right side and supplied many accurate early balls; and Ella Walker and Clara Simpson also worked very hard to win the ball back and feed our team with some super balls. In their desire and enthusiasm to score a third the girls did concede a late goal on the break, but the win was secured. Final score 2-1 with some really good play and a well-exercised King’s Ely goal keeper to show for it!

The Woodbridge under twelves travelled to East Bergholt High School keen to continue where they had left off in their win over Orwell Park. No sooner said than done: immediate pressure on the EBHS line allowed Alex Barker to score; soon after man of the match Theo Howard made the most of a poor clearance kick to pounce and score; next Henry Tetley sidestepped, skipped and twisted out of tackle after tackle to make huge gains; Josh Barstow ran hard and straight from a close-range penalty to score; Erwan Gouedo went over in the corner after great passing by Theo, Tommy Burrows and Rob Stewart; Tommy then scored himself after a clever interception; Fazil Akyol gathered a clearance kick and cleverly sent Erwan on his way to a second try; Jonny Evans Lombe kept up a constant stream of good ball from scrum half; next Theo completed his star performance, darting through the beleaguered defence, dummying magically to scoot over and complete the first-half whitewash.

Half time brought some changes to try to even things up a little but Woodbridge continued to dominate in a new formation: first Henry scored from an opening created by Rob, and then captain George Na Nakhorn wrapped up the game after Akyol ripped the ball free and offloaded. Exhausted? You, the reader, might be – as for the boys? Not a bit! This was a good solid team performance with excellent lessons learned: Woodbridge 9 EBHS 0

Our under thirteens travelled to East Bergholt and were perhaps still ‘on the bus’ when the hosts ran in the first try after only one minute… It could have unsettled the visitors… Nothing of the sort! Woodbridge kicked the restart for territory and pinned their hosts back, but after a lengthy stint in their own half, a little rub of the green and a missed tackle, East Bergholt had doubled their lead. At half time confidence was high following a try by Tom Martin and the talk was all about how to take advantage of every opportunity. Pressure was ruthlessly applied to the home side and Woodbridge seemed almost certain to score, only to concede on the break. East Bergholt then made try saving tackle after try saving tackle to hang on for a deserved victory.

Match won by 43 – 26.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a very open and entertaining game of rugby played on a large pitch; both teams were eager to make the most of free running rugby. Woodbridge decided to do the hard work up the slope in the first half; Bergholt had three strong, athletic runners and took an early lead. However, as the game wore on it was clear that Woodbridge had the stronger all-round team and by half time we found ourselves with a seven point lead. Wise old heads reckon that with intelligent play the slope on Tollers is worth 10 points. Bergholt seemed to run out of gas and eventually space opened up enabling John Hendry to open his legs scoring 4 of our 7 tries. That said this was a much-needed morale-boosting team victory; yes, we still have work to do to be at our best but now we feel our season has truly started. Well done to everyone involved.

The U14A team continued their unbeaten run of fixtures with a 5-0 win over Ipswich High away on Thursday. A squad of sixteen payers all contributed to the success with five already having run the cross country at RHS in the morning! An early goal in the first five minutes by a drag flick on a short corner by Molly Marshall was followed by a second duplicated move half way through the first half. Julia Long was to score the third on the left post. In the second half Emily Whyte scored first and then Molly completed her hat trick, executing another drag flick this time in open play. The girls nominated Molly player of the match and Julia also received several votes. Cecily Royal-Dawson worked hard up the right side of the pitch making good crosses, while Katie Bellhouse created lots of space for the team. As usual the central midfield players Clara Simpson and Ella Walker worked skilfully and tirelessly to support the team. Ariane Bilgen, Olivia Bedford, Jess Elmer and Eleanor Wright were secure at the back with Issy Eaton in total control in goal. Jo Dunmore, Ashleigh Wildbore and Lottie Edmunds worked hard in midfield to create opportunities for the team. A great squad effort well done to all!

The Girls’ 1st team topped off a good first half of the season with a great win over King’s Ely.  Woodbridge started strongly with India Lawson scoring the opening goal five minutes into the match thanks to Georgia Harrold’s skilful feed.  But the early goal led to a slightly unguarded relaxation which allowed King’s Ely a scent of a chance which they took, punishing Woodbridge with two goals in return – once from open play and once from a penalty corner.

Half time gave Woodbridge a chance to regroup: plans were made how to deal with King’s main play maker; the press was fine-tuned; and a much more determined Woodbridge team took the field.  The forwards worked incredibly well together and linked up perfectly, in particular India, Georgia and Victoria Williams. Kiya Smith showed good positional play and decision making; and Poppy Fletcher can be very proud of excellent play on debut. Woodbridge equalised early, with Victoria deflecting the ball into goal, after good play again by India and Georgia, herself on the score sheet soon after.  At the other end of the pitch Woodbridge did very well to break down play, make last ditch tackles, save and clear away chances for King’s, with Joanne Garnett, Chloe Outen, Eleanor Berridge, Sophie Little and Mollie Biddle all making crucial interventions.  Meanwhile in midfield Georgina Warren and Mollie Biddle were impressively influential, distributing the ball well.

With the defence secure, and with the team growing in confidence, Woodbridge killed the game off when India scored the fourth goal and Victoria followed with a fifth after a great solo effort 6 minutes from the end: a perfect pass cut through the King’s defence to find Victoria on the half way line; she wove her way past two defenders and finished with a perfectly timed strike rocketed into the back board.

The team reflected on a great win: in particular Georgia Harrold worked very hard, played an excellent match in different positions and had a hand in almost every goal; Poppy Fletcher deserves a mention for playing so well on debut, seemingly showing no nerves; Victoria Williams had an outstanding game; but it was India Lawson who was voted player of the match for a magnificent performance.