Category: Sport

This first game of the season was a skilful and exciting one. Home side Langley was well prepared with a strong squad; Woodbridge travelled with a relatively young squad ready to challenge hard. And challenge they did as our boys held the lead into the second quarter thanks to exciting quick breaks by Chisom Oguamanam and superb defence by Olly Wroe. The middle sector of the game however, was dominated by Langley and their outstanding ball carrier whose pace and athleticism was difficult to handle. The strength of “the bench” and the physicality of the home side in the end proved to be the deciding factor in the result as Langley won by 39-27.

The Junior 1st Hockey team finished a very impressive fourth out of twelve at the U13 County Cup. The team produced their best hockey of the term, with some great team play and very impressive individual performances. The afternoon started with two solid 0-0 draws against OBH and Finborough, Woodbridge dominating most of the play in these matches, and defending so very well. Woodbridge turned their dominant play into a 1-0 win against South Lee: first, captain Katie Norman, Annie Nicholass and Chloe Macmillan all being influential in forcing a rebound, for Beau Barrington-Hibbert to put away the goal – a perfect example of teamwork; later on, Katie was unlucky to have a goal disallowed, which would have been the icing on the cake for a near perfect game from her; and Ruby Vinton made an excellent last minute save to secure the win. Next up was the tough team from Orwell Park, who had been doing well all afternoon. Woodbridge can be very proud of their play: going 1-0 down, the girls strove for an equaliser which just wouldn’t come, only for Orwell Park to score a counter attack goal which was always the risk. 0-2 was a very respective losing margin to a team which put more than 5 past every other opponent. The last pool match was against Ipswich School, and was a must-win for Woodbridge to progress. Ella Smith scored the winning goal, pouncing on a rebound at a short corner, a just rewarded for an afternoon of top play by her. Annie Nicholass also excelled during the pool stages of the competition.

Woodbridge made it through to the semi-final to face Framlingham Prep, the eventual winners. It was another gutsy performance but the win was not to be. Having already put everything in, the last match of the day against Barnadiston was a tough affair. Tired legs and minds resulted in Woodbridge losing their structure and discipline in the press and Barnadiston took advantage of this to win 1-0.

Well done to the team for superb hockey, especially in the pool stages. In particular Ella Pitt was voted the player of the tournament, and was very impressive in defence and midfield; Ella Smith was excellent too, also showing how much she has learnt so far this term; Katie Norman was consistently good as we have now become used to; and Ruby Vinton was praised by everyone at the event for her goalkeeping. Woodbridge School is very proud of how the team represented the school: they were great ambassadors for young sportswomen.

On Wednesday the year 6 A team travelled to Fram Prep to play a match. The A team arrived with an exited and a confident vibe. We started the first half of the match very well and Georgie scored one amazing goal. We had a few short corners but unfortunately we didn’t score a goal on any of them. The whistle went and we had a little pep talk about our play and went back on the pitch feeling confident.

The second half started off well. We managed to get the ball into the D very quickly. Frustratingly they managed to get the ball down and score a good goal. Sadly we didn’t have our usual goalie, but still did well and fought through. At the end of the match we drew, the score was 1 – 1. We did well because they were a very tough team to beat.

This was our best match so far in the season because we tried our hardest.

By Issy Deacon

On Wednesday The Abbey Y5 girls had a wonderful afternoon playing hockey with the girls from Old School Hensted. We mixed up the girls to create four teams and played a tournament which was very competitive. The results were close; two teams finished on the same points for second and third with the Green team the overall winners. The girls had great fun, made new friends and improved their hockey without really realising it.

The Sports Leaders had a diverse day which was interesting, informative and fun. Safeguarding and dementia talks, planning and running a Y7 tournament and skill session and a Circus Skills workshop.

Woodbridge Under 16s led by captain George Barker travelled to Finborough keen to impress, and wasted little time proving as much, as Alex Evans Lombe immediately created quick ball for centre Charlie Mayhew to score in the corner. Jonny Max converted for a 7-0 lead, and almost from the restart Tom Harrington nipped over in the corner to extend the lead to 12-0.

More followed: Gabe Newland bulldozed over from close range; Leo Brooks converted; Theo Wright cantered in for another which he converted himself; Gabe completed his brace after another crashing run in at the corner. 31-0 at half time!

Woodbridge took the opportunity at the interval to make a number of changes and, after a period of adjustment and with Josh Holland and James Moss starring at half back, the points began to flow again: first Alex pounced on loose ball to score his second, then Henry Bull finished off a driving maul, and finally Theo rampaged through the Finborough defence to round things off at a very satisfactory 46-0. Man of the match Gabriel Newland.

Many congratulations to the U14B girls’ hockey team for their very impressive 4-0 victory over Norwich. It was a beautiful but hot afternoon at Harleston, and our girls had a match plan as clear as the sky was blue, especially from those crucial set plays. From the off the girls chased the ball down, passed with measured effectiveness, and pushed up field menacingly. Indeed, in the first half play was mostly in Norwich’s final quarter of the pitch. Maisy Webster opened the scoring with a very nice powerful shot from 3m out; and a few minutes later the Woodbridge girls intercepted the ball and with more confidence worked to convert another cross into the goal, Cecily Royal-Dawson flicking the ball confidently past the goalkeeper. Meanwhile Ashleigh Wildbore was terrorising the Norwich girls with her ball speed down the right wing and she was the third player to score after an excellent run down the wing thanks to Talia Fawcett’s support. Emily Outen then rounded off the scoring in fine style as she slapped the ball from the left post across the keeper and into the goal – a textbook finish!

The whole team should be pleased with their performance. It was a joy to watch.

An early trip down to London with the normal busy traffic wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of our four girls vying to become regional champions. We arrived at the venue in the nick of time and got straight on with our warm up. Our semi-final fixture against Westcliff High School was a tough affair with Woodbridge 3-1 down going into the doubles. Some spirited displays followed but we couldn’t get the victory and we had to settle for a place in the 3rd and 4th place playoff against Bungay High School. This is when the girls came into their own, winning 4-2 with some great individual and doubles tennis being played. A great day out and the 3rd place to keep the smiles on the faces of the girls. Well done to Victoria Burrows, Sophie Graham, Saffron Holliday and Annabel Yates.

Woodbridge Under 17s started the game just as they would have wished in their opening fixture: after early exchanges an interception on the Wymondham 22 allowed centre Oli Waldron to coast over with Saxon Gallo converting for a 7-0 lead.  However, Wymondham rallied strongly, and after a lengthy spell of balanced play, exerted enough pressure to create the opening for an equalising try, quickly followed by another thanks to an inspired 80m breakaway by their talented fly half.  7-12 and all to play for.  On came Chisom Oguamanam, and immediately he was running wide to create the opening taken on by James Owens to Alex Evans Lombe and Oli Bacon before Dominic Ellice-Freeman put Chisom away into the corner.  12-12!

The balance swung again almost immediately: Wymondham capitalised on a loose ball, and scored under the posts… 12-19; Woodbridge fought back with equal promptness and tenacity: and Oli Waldron broke free to feed Harry Hobday’s touchdown, Saxon Gallo converting for 19-19.

In a breathless finale Woodbridge were unlucky not to secure the win, in the end settling for a draw which reflected well on both teams. However there was much to be proud of in many aspects of the game. Man of the match was Oli Waldron, and special mention goes to Chisom Oguamanam for scoring on his debut.

Meanwhile the under fifteens came back strongly to win their second half against Wymondham with two unopposed tries, although our boys had to concede defeat overall.

Report by Will Clarke, Captain

The 1st XI took on RHS this week, recording an historic victory – the first victory for a Woodbridge School football first team for more than 25 years, so we were told! A lively first half peaked with our first goal, Seb Lamb scoring a free header. However, Seb was frustrated by the post in his attempt to double our lead from the penalty spot after he drew a foul from the keeper. Throughout the first half, our back line of Nathan and Alistar Lloyd, Alp Arioglu, and Matt Gerry, was sterling in defence, denying RHS many sights of goal, and the occasional chances RHS did create were met superbly by our goalkeeper Francis Norman.

The second half saw an increasingly dominant performance from Woodbridge, with chances created throughout. Seb Lamb completed his hat trick with two good finishes after concerted pressure, with Will Clarke, skipper for the day, striking the post, Izaac Chan having a goal disallowed for a narrow offside decision and Alp Arioglu denied a firm header by a tremendous save from the RHS keeper. As we began to tire, RHS were able to grab a consolation goal, which only gave us an added impetus, and Seb Lamb grabbed his fourth of the match in the last minutes, leaving the final score at 4-1. A resounding victory for Woodbridge.

Man of the match goes to Alp Arioglu, for a stunningly resolute performance in defence, denying RHS many chances. Special mentions to Jake Jay, for tireless running in the final third, and Matt Carter and Joe Farrall for composed play in the centre of the park.