Category: Sport
Oliver Juzst was one of two goalkeepers selected to attend the England U16 hockey International matches this last weekend ( Saturday 29 April – Monday 1 May) at Lillieshall, Shropshire. The England U16 team were up against Ulster U17 boys.
The first match was played by the older goalkeeper James Mazzerello on Saturday 29 April and resulted in a win to England 2-1. Ollie’s turn came on the Sunday, after a full day of training and waiting, and with the Ulster boys looking for a win. It was a tight game and ended in a 2-2 draw. Penalty shuffles took place after the final whistle and Ollie made 4 out of the 5 saves with the Ulster keeping letting in several shots, although these do not count and were played for experience leaving the final result a draw.
On the final day, Ollie and James shared the game with James playing the first half, Oliver the second. Both our keepers conceded two goals in the game and the final score was 4-3 to Ulster in another tight game.
All-in-all a respectable result considering the England team were playing up a year and we were missing some of our outfield players to club finals commitments.
Congratulations to Oliver on a fantastic debut with the England Team.
Many congratulations to Zara Lye, who, with her mare, contested her first GB Junior Trial at Belton in Lincolnshire on the last day of term in March, and finished a brilliant 6th in the Open Intermediate under 21 age category and 3rd best Junior. They went on to compete for GB at the Ballindenisk International Three Day Event in Ireland last week, and finished a fantastic 10th. This was Zara’s first trip abroad to compete, and it was a long journey across the Irish Sea by ferry but well worth it and an amazing experience.
Over the Easter holidays a team of Woodbridge riders competed at the NSEA County Dressage Championships at Addington Manor in Buckinghamshire. The team of Caragh Paul, Rowena Wilson-Smith, Tabitha Wilson-Smith and Oliver Reid were Suffolk County Champions at a competition at Easton College earlier this year. There were 19 counties from all over the country competing, with four riders in each team, so this was a big event involving an overnight stay for most, for horses and riders. The team finished 9th overall with a very competitive aggregate score of 68.01, with all four riders achieving scores in the 60s. Several teams finished with an aggregate score of 68 and a fraction more, so the team were unlucky not to finish in the top placings. However Rowena Wilson-Smith won the warm up class and had the highest score in her arena, whilst Caragh Paul had the highest overall score in the team. All riders rode extremely well and remembered their test perfectly. This is no mean feat, particularly as the atmosphere at these big competition venues, with so many horses, is electric and the horses (and riders!) naturally respond to this. All four riders in a team ride in adjacent arenas at the same time so the riders really do have to have a high degree of focus, as well as control and accuracy. Oliver, at 12, was the youngest rider but held his own magnificently. The team were turned out beautifully, with horses neatly plaited and riders immaculate. All the riders were supportive of one another and conducted themselves very professionally so the whole event was enjoyable and the riders should be very proud of themselves; they were a great credit to the School.
Hugo was fortunate to have the opportunity to represent Germany at the recent European U18 Rugby Championships in Brittany.
The first fixture was against Luxembourg, who Germany despatched 67-5 with Hugo scoring two tries. The first 24 seconds in to the game! A great way to open your international try count!
The second fixture was against a big and proficient Netherlands team who were kept within one score until the final 10 minutes when the Netherlands managed to put some distance between themselves and the German team. The final score was 29-15. Despite this disappointment, Hugo gave a very good account of himself and was the German “Man of the Match”.
The final fixture against Romania was looking like a German win with a minute to go and the score 14-11 in Germany’s favour. Unfortunately a controversial penalty given away in a scrum 5 metres in front of their own posts by the Germans had the Romanians opting for a scum rather than take the easy points and a draw. Regrettably it was the right choice for them, and they came away the winners 18-14. Hugo had another cracking game, having earlier added another classic scrum half, blind side try to his tally.
A great experience for Hugo playing against such varied opposition and having the chance to see others such as Russia, Ukraine, Poland and the Czechs in action.
The last game of the hockey season was upon us on a gloriously sunny day. The U14 hockey team were looking to finish their season on a high after some fabulous results so far. Play got under way and both teams played some good hockey early on to the delight of the spectators who knew they were there to witness a quality game of hockey. Woodbridge managed to score two unanswered goals in the first half from Jack Leith and Sam Betteridge. Hugo Thomas was up to his usual tricks of commanding the defensive line and then creating attacking opportunities when deciding to bomb forward. Daniel Norman played superbly in the centre of the park breaking up RHS attacks and then also starting attacks of our own. Early in the second half RHS scored to close the score line. Woodbridge responded in typical fashion of this young side and kept their composure and work rate remained high. Another goal apiece from Jack Leith and Sam Betteridge secured the victory and the end to a tremendous season for the U14 Hockey team which included 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. The team should be incredibly proud of what they have achieved this season.
The cross country season ended on a high for Woodbridge pupils at the weekend with the English Schools championships in Norwich. An astonishing seven Woodbridgians were running for Suffolk, all of them a year young for their age category.
The course was dry, flat, and frankly rather boring but the event was impeccably organised and the many thousands of spectators were very well entertained. The English Schools is incredibly competitive and just 10 seconds at the end of a long race can be a difference of over 50 places.
On a day of superb Woodbridge results the standout performance belonged to Nathan Goddard. Running a year young for the Inter Boys he was first back for Suffolk in 68th. Top 15 at next year’s English schools is looking a realistic target for him!
Most gutsy performance of the day probably belonged to Kit Evans Lombe. The runner in front of him fell over in the Suffolk ‘pen’ at the start of the race. Kit was left 3rd from last after the first 300 metres but he had overtaken nearly 100 of the best runners in England before the finish!
Suffolk has a small population so is graded as a category C county for the English Schools. The excellent results from Charlie Turner, George Wharam, Kit Evans Lombe, Bea Thomas, Nathan Goddard, Sarah Barker and Amy Graham made a big difference to Suffolk’s standing in the category C team competition. 2nd in the girls and 2nd in the boys, a fantastic result for Suffolk and a phenomenal end to a fantastic season for Woodbridge.
This was a great display of both the A and B team playing in a number of different positions, and with different team members, but always being in control of the game. There was some fantastic shooting by Eliza Kilburn, Maddie Felton, Katy Garnett and Jemima Hill. Fond farewells to Mia King and Louise Farthing who have now played their last game for the school L, and thank you for all your hard work. Mollie Biddle, Louise, Eleanor Berridge and Flora Johnston played well in defence and Chloe Outen, Georgia Harrold and Jess Bowers put some great balls into the circle. Well done girls and thanks for all working so hard and for some great results!
Putting together a string of impeccable performances, Zara Lye won the under 18 Novice at Poplar Park at the Horse Trials on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March with a best dressage score of 24.5 (75.5%), and clear Show Jumping and Cross Country rounds. She also won the prize for best Suffolk U18 rider by winning the class. Next stop is Belton International on Friday 31 March for her first GB Junior Trial. Many congratulations to Zara on her outstanding achievement.
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