Category: Sport
Score: lost 5-22
Woodbridge 1st XV took on Old Swinford Hospital in the semi-final of the national cup on Wednesday, 8 March 2017. From the kick-off, OSH were deep into Woodbridge half of the field. Woodbridge quickly took the ball and made some good half breaks to gain yards through Hugo Kelleway and James Bellhouse, however the breaks were short lived as the big and physical OSH team added more and more pressure on to Woodbridge line. Throughout the first half, Woodbridge lived off scraps of possession as the OSH pack started to dominate the game, however outstanding defence from William Wells, James Bellhouse and James Brown ensured that we were only 15 points down at half time.
The half time team talk focussed on open space, playing quicker, trying to catch OSH out in the wide channels, and going faster and faster, making sure we played away from their big pack, away from contact. The boys increased the tempo and the intensity, and throughout the second half spent most of the time in the OSH half, pressing and pressing. Unfortunately halfway through the second half, OSH scored again, bringing the score to 22-0. However this did not deter Woodbridge, who came back more physical and more passionate than ever.
With the crowd roaring us on, Hugo Kelleway and Tom Innes started to pull the strings. James Bellhouse, James Brown, Kieran Saxton and Tristan Hilger were now running hard into space; the crowd started to feel that Woodbridge might just turn it around, and Hugo squeezed in for a try making the score 22-5.
In the last 10 minutes we pressed and pressed, but unfortunately couldn’t break through again, to leave the final score 22-5. The Woodbridge players were fantastic; dedicated, passionate and committed throughout the game.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the parents that have watched throughout the cup run; supporting so passionately from the touchline, and also Wednesday’s crowd which was fantastic and gave the players such a boost, and pride, in their performance.
Lastly thank you to the boys who have trained, worked and played so hard to represent the School throughout the year. To reach the semi-final of the National Cup is an astonishing achievement and they deserve all the plaudits.
Please find details of the running times for the event here
The programme is available here
Score: Won 3-0
The first team travelled away to Saint Felix on Tuesday 7 March. Our players put in some excellent play in defence, and some direct running up front enabled Chris Henry to break through, after a strong tackle on the goalkeeper, to score the opening fantastic goal.
At half time the score was 1-0, but it didn’t reflect the dominance of Woodbridge in the match so far. During the second half, with a slight change of system, we were able to change the game and pushed forward with goal number two, and then a third in quick succession from Seb Lamb and Freeman Lok.
All 14 boys represented the first team extremely well on the day, and never stopped working hard to secure the School its first football victory in over 25 years! Very well done to the team, and we look forward to our first and second teams playing Royal Hospital school next week.
10 am, slipping and sliding alongside thousands of others under a heavy sky in the rolling Leicestershire countryside… and that was just walking the course at the UK Inter Counties Cross Country championships! As usual Mark Goddard and Dr Wharam were assisted by an absolutely superb parental support team and it was fantastic to see the Woodbridge runners making up such a sizeable proportion of a Suffolk team who were looking to punch well above their weight.
The UK Inter Counties is an elite competition between the very best in Britain with 44 counties (Wales, Scotland and N Ireland are divided into larger districts) fielding their best 8 runners in each age category.
First up the U13 boys. Following the mudfest of the Nationals at Nottingham, and then the excitement of taking the first three places at the East Anglian Prep Schools Finals, this was their third demanding weekend in a row. Did George Wharam, Charlie Turner, and Kit Evans Lombe still have anything left in the tank? And how would Edward Rufford, as a Year 7 running ‘a year up’, cope in such a big and talented field?
Charlie and George worked together moving steadily past their competitors, up and down the hills through the gooey mud; 60th, 50th, 40th, 30th, and still they pushed on pacing it brilliantly … 22nd for George Wharam, 27th for Charlie Turner. Kit Evans Lombe was 94th and Edward Rufford came an excellent 262nd that bodes well for the future. Suffolk just missed out on the medals with 4th place, an incredible achievement for such a small county. What a start for Woodbridge!
Next the U15 boys. Two weeks ago at the Nationals, Nathan Goddard edged into the top 20 for the first time with a brilliant 18th but the UK Inter Counties would be harder with some very good Welsh and Scottish runners expected to push him further down the order. With an impressive 29th Nathan was first back for Suffolk continuing his excellent run of form. George Rufford coped well with the mud and hills to finish 240th.
Inspired by the success of the boys it was now the turn of the U13 girls. Bea Thomas was second back for Suffolk in 152nd. Amy Goddard in Year 7, competing ‘a year up’, ran with maturity and intelligence to finish an excellent 177th.
The U15 girls were determined not to be outdone. Sarah Barker led the way for Suffolk in 48th, another National top 50 on what she described as one of her hardest ever courses. Amy Graham dug in to come a well-deserved 158th whilst Milly Buckingham paced it well and finished an encouraging 251st. To give you an idea of how fast the runners come through, Amy Graham, at 158th was just 27 seconds from breaking into the top 100!
So, yet another exceptional day for Woodbridge’s endurance runners! Eleven pupils ran for Suffolk against the very best in Britain, with four in the top fifty. Already being talked about as a national centre of excellence for endurance running the school has plans to develop this further.
Next weekend is the English Schools, the last race of the cross country season. A tough one as nearly all our runners will be a year young for their age category but confidence is high and rightly so.
When we arrived at Framlingham College we were very excited. Our first match was against Langley Prep. The final score was 1 -1. It was a very exciting match as we were 1 – 0 down when the whistle blew, but luckily were awarded a short corner just as the whistle blew and had to take it. We scored to draw the match.
Our next match was against Beeston Hall. Although we lost 2 – 0 the whole team worked extremely hard and we felt that we were unlucky not to have got more from the game.
Our third match was against South Lee. We needed to beat them to have a chance of making it into the final of the tournament, but unfortunately after a very close match we lost 1 – 0.
Although we knew we couldn’t get into the final, we were determined to give a good performance in our final match, against Ipswich High School. With everybody working really hard, we came away with a 2 – 0 victory. It was a great way to end the tournament.
The whole team really enjoyed the experience and learned lots for the matches ahead.
By Charlotte Hattan
Our cross country athletes close the season with three National Cross Country Fixtures – Competition at the highest level.
The Saucony English National Cross Country Championship – Entry through your club and the largest event with over 8000 athletes competing in 10 Age Group races.
British Athletics Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships where our students selected will represent Suffolk County ( Loughborough on Saturday 11 March)
New Balance English Schools Cross Country Championships where our students selected will represent Suffolk Schools (Norwich on Saturday 18 March)
Last weekend, Saturday 25 February, a group of seven travelled to Nottingham to compete for Ipswich Harriers in the first of the three Nationals with some fantastic performances.
To give the results some context, junior races typically have 400 to 500 of the fastest cross country athletes in England competing. If you consider that in team sports an England Squad is typically around 30 strong before the final match day side is selected, in cross country it is widely recognised that top 100 takes some doing and top 50 is knocking on the door of National Standard.
Our individual results were as follows:
U13 Boys –
Charlie Turner – 38th – a fantastic second half saw Charlie storm his way into the top 50 pacing his race perfectly
George Wharam – 58th – again a powerful finish saw George closing in on that top 50
Kit Evans-Lombe – 118th – A first National event for Kit and not far away from that top 100. Such is the level of competition in fact that Kit was only 6 seconds behind 100th.
The boys helped Ipswich Harriers to 6th place in the team competition against the very best clubs from around England.
U13 Girls –
Amy Goddard – 215th from 467 finishers. A first National for Amy and she was our only athlete on the day running a year up. 48 seconds between 100th and 215th shows the depth.
U15 Girls –
Sarah Barker – 42nd – an outstanding run saw Sarah power through to finish first for her club as well as break into that top 50 on a National stage for the first time.
Amy Graham – 136th – closing in on that elusive top 100, just 15 seconds ahead. A good return to form for Amy.
Amy and Sarah helped Ipswich Harriers to an incredible 4th place at the Nationals. The Clubs best result of the day!
U15 Boys –
Nathan Goddard – 18th – A top 20 finish at Nationals !
Nathan’s highest ever finish at a National Cross Country fixture and just a tantalising 9 seconds from top 10. Another mature performance moving from 26th to 18th in the final 500 metres.
Congratulations to everyone that competed and we wish you well for the remaining fixtures.
We are delighted to be able to welcome so many schools to Woodbridge for the East Anglian Prep Schools Cross Country Championships on Sunday 5 March. We hope you enjoy the day and best of luck to all of those participating in the event.
Registration opens at 10.30am, with the first race starting at 11.30am
Refreshments will be available all day, and at 2.15pm there will be a tea followed by the awards presentation.
Score: Won 28-5
The Under 15B team travelled to Ipswich High keen to impress after some close recent games.
Nancy Keitley-Webb, Maddie Walmsley and Kiya Smith were added to the squad after strong performances with the C team. Their selection was certainly a positive one as each of the girls had great games for the B’s. The squad knew what they wanted to achieve and started quickly out of the blocks to take a 1-7 lead after the first quarter. Izzie Cullen’s goal shooting proved to be on form and Kiya Smith supported well as they combined well in attack. The second quarter saw Woodbridge blitz ahead and take a 2-18 lead at the half way stage. Once again Izzie Cullen impressed with her shooting, Captain Millie Buchanan and Poppy Fletcher dominated the midfield. Natasha Doole and Flo Scott cut out so many of Ipswich’s attacks that their score line and chances on goal were very limited. At the end of the third quarter Woodbridge stretched their lead to 4-23 and afforded themselves to coast through the final quarter and take a 5-28 lead and victory. A fantastic effort by the whole squad and much deserved win.
Score: Won 29-14
Right from the off, Woodbridge started to attack from their own 22, but after a lineout error Wycliffe won a free ruck and a drop goal was scored. Woodbridge were unfazed and Wycliffe’s defence was tested after runs from James Brown and James Bellhouse. Woodbridge improved their attacking depth and pulled in their defence. Hugo Kelleway found a gap and beat the full back and winger to score. Tom Innes converted for a 7-3 lead.
Wycliffe made a long range penalty attempt but missed. Rupert Clogg caught a high testing ball and set up a Woodbridge attack. Hugo Kelleway kicked ahead, and Clogg made a great tackle on their full back putting Woodbridge in a good position. Tristan Hilger caught another high ball and drove inroads into the Wycliffe defence, before a lost ball allowed Wycliffe to press hard in attack and put Woodbridge under pressure on their line. The Woodbridge defence held defiantly.
The action was unrelenting; Tom Lomas chased down a Wycliffe attack, but a yellow card ensued after a high tackle. Woodbridge were now with 14 men and were camped on their try line. Wycliffe darted blind and their hooker squeezed over to score in the corner and take a 7-8 lead.
With a man down, Woodbridge rallied and attacked from deep. From a scrum the ball switched right, then left, before Captain James Bellhouse rampaged over to score out wide and gain a 12-8 lead for Woodbridge.
Soon thereafter Kieron Saxton caught a ball out wide, but after his scintillating run he was isolated and the ball was lost. A Penalty was given and Woodbridge had a narrow 12-11 lead at half time.
The second half did not start as planned, and after discipline at the breakdown and a further penalty, Wycliffe took a 12-14 lead. Midfield battles ensued, and both teams had their fair share of attacking and defending to do. A very high tackle on Rupert Clogg broke the deadlock, and Wycliffe’s talented centre was yellow-carded. Hugo Kelleway made a great jinking run, and Wycliffe were put onto the back foot. Woodbridge spun the ball wide and Rupert Clogg scored a well-deserved try in the corner for Woodbridge to take a 17-14 lead. Woodbridge continued to press and after a cross field kick from Hugo Kelleway, Wycliffe were under immense pressure on their line. A quickly taken penalty and lightening quick hands put Will Pilkington into space where he expertly squeezed over into the corner. Woodbridge had taken a 22-14 lead and were now looking very dominant. Further pressure was applied to Wycliffe’s cracking defence which allowed man of the match Hugo Kelleway to spot a gap and go through to score under the posts. Tom Innes converted and Woodbridge were ahead and victors 29-14.
A great team performance but special mention to Hugo Kelleway orchestrating at fly half.
Class 1 – 50cm
The Woodbridge Blue Team came a very well-deserved Second Place overall with 4 excellent clear rounds for this very novice team, including Fran Jackson riding 2 different ponies – Minnie the Minx and Kingsettle Thrysma, who had never competed prior to Saturday’s event, plus a good steady clear from Rosie Hunter Blair on Jimbo, and a fabulous clear round from Sasha Reid, jumping 50cm for the first time!! Fran also managed to bag Second Place individually with a very fast round from Minnie the Minx!
Class 2 – 60cm
Another excellent result with 4 clear rounds from The Woodbridge Red Team, including Lily Waterer on Annabel, Sophia Waterer on Amber, Rosie Hunter Blair on Jimbo, and Fran Jackson on Minnie the Minx. Woodbridge Red Team were very proudly presented with individual results in this class too – Rosie Hunter Blair was given The Style Award for the most beautiful, steady and controlled clear round, Fran Jackson took Second Place with Lily following up in 5th Place for the fastest clear rounds! Fran also went clear once again on Thrysma – a great result for them both.
Class 3 – 70cm
Due to a few last minute changes we now had 2 individual riders and only a team of 3 representing Woodbridge. Sophia Waterer on Amber was the first to go, and although losing her whip half way round, Sophia found the strength in her legs to encourage a rather reluctant Amber to jump very well. Lily Waterer followed on Annabel, and her sheer determination ensured a good clear round from them both.
Now it was the turn of the team – the pressure was on the young riders to all jump clear against a strong field in order to be in with a chance of success and keep up with the earlier success of the previous teams! With Olivia Lubbock on Gwen, Alex Ryder-Davis on Faith, and Oliver Reid on Twix, they all jumped fabulous clear rounds, and into Second Place with Olivia and Gwen taking 5th individually, even though they went the long way round!
Class 4 – 80cm
Again with only a team of three and some rather large fences and spreads to face, not to mention some very sharp twists and turns in the course, the Woodbridge White Team stepped up to the challenge. Olivia Lubbock and Gwen went first – a hair raising round by anyone’s standards. After crashing through fence four, and almost totally losing their balance, pony and rider managed to carry on and complete the rest of the course at speed and with only one stirrup! Oliver Reid followed on Twix, and produced a deceptively fast clear round. It was now down to Alex Ryder-Davis and Faith – “No pressure….just enjoy it!” we all said. And they did! A fabulous clear round with some excellent sharp turns and plenty of pace! The Woodbridge White Team came 1st, with Ollie coming 2nd, Alex 3rd and Olivia 6th as individuals.
A fantastic result and great way to end a very successful day for all of the Woodbridge Team riders!!
Thank you to all the Mums and Dads for their support and encouragement which went such a long way to making it a very enjoyable day! Photos to follow