Category: Sport
After an hour long bus journey we arrived at New Hall knowing how hard we would have to work, given New Hall’s tough reputation on the hockey field. We quickly got our heads in the game, managing to keep possession and ensuring that the ball rarely left our attacking half. This resulted in an impressive goal through a series of intelligent passes in the D with Rowena Wilson-Smith finishing it off – bringing us an advantage. The New Hall side quickly fought back with a sense of urgency to equalise, but there was nothing they could do to get through our strong defensive players, especially Eleanor Berridge, who managed to hold off their attacks, even with two short corners against us. Half time approached and the weather turned. Back on the pitch for our second half the rain was torrential but it failed to dampen our team spirit. The second half ended with Woodbridge 2nd XI triumphant. Both teams played with power and determination but ultimately we had the upper hand.
The team got off to a shaky start having arrived late for the game, but the girls turned this around quickly with a really professional attitude, and after the warm up the girls were ready to play.
The team started off well with some great play between the midfield and defence, and keeping the majority of the possession. But St Joseph’s weren’t going to make it easy for us, their players making it had for us to break through to the other side of the pitch.
After a team talk, the team knew what needed to be done to gain the upper hand, and did so extremely well. The forwards moved higher up the pitch creating more space in the midfield, allowing the midfield players more time and space to play the ball and pick passes. Once into their stride, the Woodbridge players played some excellent hockey, with Millie and Tess scoring to finish off the game.
It was a fantastic team performance, resulting in a 2-0 win for Woodbridge.
The U14A girls’ hockey squad came away with an impressive 5-0 victory against Culford on Saturday. Issy Stewart and Tori McCarroll scored a goal each, and a hard shot from the top of the circle from Verity Hobday resulted in another, all after Saffron Holliday opened the scoring with a brace of well-taken goals which owed much to her tenacity in the circle. Flora Pitt came up to play centre half, orchestrating another dominant game; and special mention also goes to Grace Childs who played her first game this season for the A team and then played for the U15s in their second half, helping them to a 3-0 victory, and being instrumental in setting up at least one of the goals to earn lots of praise from Mr Wright.
A great game and some great goals, hurray! We played really well, put some good defending with some great attacking play and Iris Morton put us ahead in the first half after lots of near misses! The second half saw a great goal in the corner by Emily Outen and another one by Anna Jackson – tremendous! Final score 3-0 to Woodbridge.
Well done all and player of the game was Anna Jackson.
The Junior first team produced a dominating performance against RHS, winning 6-1. It was a physical match from the start with some pushing and shoving but the Woodbridge girls managed to stand their own. Olivia Buchanan was outstanding and made her mark on the match within minutes. RHS could not cope with her power and speed on the ball. Olivia put the Woodbridge team ahead with a great strike at a short corner. Unfortunately the celebration was short lived as RHS took advantage of Woodbridge’s lapse in concentration and defensive disciplines and scored their own goal a minute later. After this Molly Marshall and Ella Walker never gave them another sniff in defence. With outstanding marking, confident stepping up, good tackling and accurate distribution they set the tone for the rest of the match. Woodbridge played great passing hockey as a team and produce excellent hockey to watch. Positional play and decision making were at a very high level. Bea Thomas was brilliant in her work in the press and putting RHS under pressure and then leading well again to attack. Woodbridge peppered the RHS goal with shots and penalty corners, bringing the best out of RHS’ very good goalkeeper.
Olivia scored another goal before half time. This was followed by Clara Simpson scoring from a well-executed penalty corner variation. After a deserved rest at half time, Woodbridge continued their fine form and passing play. Olivia Buchanan scored another 2 goals before Ella Walker scored the final goal after every player having a part to play, transferring and passing well. Clara Simpson received the ball in the D, having assessed her options well, and swiftly moved the ball to Ella at left midfield, who slotted a perfect effort into the far post. Perfection!
Well done to every player: Molly Marshall, Ella Walker, Annabel Nicholass, Jessica Elmer, Olivia Buchanan, Issy Eaton, Katie Norman, Clara Simpson, Bea Thomas and Emily Whyte. Player of the match went to the unstoppable goal scorer of the day, Olivia Buchanan. Thanks to all the parents and staff who supported the match.
It may have been a damp November day but somehow the cross country athletes from Woodbridge School brushed that aside with considerable ease. Spirits were high, with all four teams competing following their wins in the Suffolk leg. Anything seemed possible. We were up against seven counties including the might of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.
The fact that Woodbridge School had never had a Team qualify for the National Finals gave the task ahead some context. 21 Teams (top three from each of the seven counties) would be reduced to three for Nationals in each of the four races.
First race of the day was the Junior Girls (u14) and although the team had worked hard and were likely to finish as a fairly compact unit, we were not expecting this young group to qualify.
How wrong we were!
Bea Thomas ran an exceptional race and every athlete raced for the line making every position count. The result – A Trip to Nationals by finishing third, beating 4th by just two points.
Individual results were Bea Thomas 5th, Molly Marshall 15th, Amy Goddard 20th, Issy Eaton 34th, Cecily Royal-Dawson 35th, Anna Jackson 66th.
Congratulations Junior Girls!
Second race was the Junior boys (u14), our strongest team and the one where we genuinely felt we had our first chance of qualification. We were not disappointed as the Woodbridge vests soon made their way to the front of the race and the boys finished second, a single point behind the school that won.
Charlie Turner was the star performer running an exceptionally well judged race to close in on the lead pack and then power home for second place.
Individual results were Charlie Turner 2nd, Kit Evans-Lombe 7th, Henry Dinwiddy 15th, Will Franklin 22nd, Edward Rufford 32nd, Tom Turner 47th.
Congratulations Junior Boys!
Next up were the Inter Girls (u16). Perhaps an outside chance we thought. Better than that the girls qualified for Nationals in a strong second place. Sarah Barker and Amy Graham worked their way through the field and were full of running in the closing stages to claim 3rd and 4th respectively. Special mention should also go to Charlotte Dinwiddy who ran a brave attacking race to finish 23rd.
Individual results were Sarah Barker 3rd, Amy Graham 4th, Charlotte Dinwiddy 23rd, Milly Buckingham 31st, Sophie Graham 38th, Victoria Burrows 40th.
Congratulations Inter Girls!
Final race of the day saw the Inter Boys (u16) line up. Whilst the Team realistically knew qualification was unlikely, the boys had trained well and were keen to improve on last years 7th place.
With Nathan Goddard leading from the front with another of his powerful displays for 2nd place, the boys packed well for the team to come home in 5th place.
Individual results were Nathan Goddard 2nd, George Rufford 19th, Daniel Davies 28th, Alex Evans Lombe 29th, Tom Harrington 35th, Nathaniel Gunn 42nd.
With that effort is has to be – Congratulations Inter Boys!
So off to Nationals we go. Formby, Lancashire on Saturday 3rd December.
With some 4000 secondary schools in England only 25 make it through to the Nationals and Woodbridge School will be in three of the four races.
We are one of only three schools in England to qualify more than two teams – Now that is something!
Oliver Juszt of Year 10 is one step closer to achieving every sportsperson’s dream – representing your county. Oliver represented the Saxon Tigers U16 at the recent England Hockey HiPAC (High Performance Assessment Camp). HiPAC is a residential three-day camp which forms part of the Junior Regional Performance Centre Tier 2 Activity. Apart from being a wonderful experience and learning opportunity, Oliver also impressed the coaches and national selectors.
England Hockey recently announced the National Age Group Training Squads, and Oliver has been selected in the England Boys’ U16 squad. Oliver is therefore one of 31 players who will now attend a series of training weekends, training days and NAGS Academy sessions. The first of these will be a Training weekend on 12 – 13 November at Lilleshall National Sports Centre. We wish Oliver the very best for this, and for the training and assessments which are to follow. Meanwhile, many, many congratulations, Oliver, on what you have already achieved.
On Thursday 13 October the Woodbridge School Cross Country Team competed at the first round of the Suffolk Schools Cross Country Trials hosted by RHS.
An exceptional team performance with 6 medals, 10 top 10 positions and 29 qualifying by right to compete in round two at Culford on Saturday 3rd December.
With no seniors we only competed in 6 of the 8 races, and in 5 of the 6, Woodbridge School finished in the top three teams. Inter girls only had three runners and therefore an incomplete team.
Individual results were as follows:
Medalists:
Gold – Amy Graham – Inter Girls
Gold – Nathan Goddard – Inter Boys
Silver – Amy Goddard – Minor Girls
Silver – Henry Dinwiddy – Minor Boys
Silver – Charlie Turner – Junior Boys
Silver – Sarah Barker – Inter Girls
Four of the 6 above will be racing in the same age group next year!
Other top 10 finishers:
4th – Kit Evans Lombe – Junior Boys
8th – Edward Rufford – Minor Boys
9th – Molly Marshall – Junior Girls
10th – Issy Eaton – Junior Girls
19 other athletes qualifying by finishing in the top 50 : (age group and position in brackets):
Sophie Graham (JG11), Bea Thomas (JG13), George Rufford (IB14), Anna Jackson (MG15), Victoria Burrows (JG16), Ella Pitt (MG17), Emily White (JG20), Charlotte Dinwiddy (JG21), Nathaniel Gunn (JB23), Thomas Harrington (IB23), Will Franklin (JB24), Joanne Garnett (IG25), Mauricio Corfe (JB28), Tom Martin (MB29), James McCarroll (MB30), Jess Elmer (JG33), Billy Zhu (JB40), Katie Norman (MG43), Iris Morton (MG49).
Congratulations to all athletes taking part, not just the qualifiers, and thank you to staff and parents that supported on the day.
Good luck to everyone taking part in round two!
7 Woodbridge school riders qualified for the NSEA Championships, including two individuals and two teams. The age range of riders was from 10 to 18 years old.
The first day saw the youngest team member, Ada Marson age 10, take part in the JwS 70cms Final. This was her first time competing at the Finals, and she produced a confident clear round, taking all the short routes. She scored 3rd highest on Style marks, but finished 11th overall out of 55 individuals competing. She was the youngest in the top 12 riders.
The second day saw the most action for the Woodbridge Teams with the Dressage Team of James Brown, Tabitha Wilson-Smith, Lydia Sida-Page and Francesca Aitchison competing as well as the 80cms showjumping team of Rowena Wilson-Smith, Tabitha Wilson-Smith, Francesca Aitchison and Fleur Ludgrove.
The day started with the Showjumping team. The course was in the outdoor International Arena and consisted of a relatively straight forward first part, with a jump off course offering the option to take tight lines and go for a fast time. With 50 Teams contesting, it was all or nothing to have a chance of a place. Sadly, other than Fleur Ludgrove who produced a good clear and a fast jump off time, the rest of the team had a fence down resulting on a team score of 8 penalties and no placing.
The Dressage team however had a truly successful day. Two riders took their tests in the morning; Tabitha and Lydia rode Prelim tests and scored individual placings of 2nd and 8th places respectively, leaving the team in 2nd place after the first round. Then the final two riders, James and Francesca, took Novice tests in the afternoon to produce the final scores for the results.
James performed exceptionally well and took 1st place in his arena, whilst Francesca was also placed 8th in her arena.
This resulted in a fantastic result of the Team taking 2nd Place at the Championships.
The final day saw James Brown contesting his individual qualification in the JwS 1.10m competition.
He produced a good round with one fence down; but with only one clear round out of 22 competitors this was a superb result. He finished up taking an individual 7th Place in this Championship – another good result for James.
Woodbridge School also was awarded a Training Voucher for coming 2nd in the Regional Points League 2015-2016
The school had a range of riders from Grass Roots rider Eve Marson (8yrs, Yr 4) to Senior Dressage Team riders present to collect the Award, representing all those that have gained points in Regional Points accumulating competitions against other schools in the Eastern Region (Suffolk, Essex, Cambs, Norfolk). This is based on Team points won and includes Grass Roots through to Open classes.
A great team spirit existed across all the ages with everyone supporting each other.
Team members:-
James Brown riding iL Darco G – 2nd Team Dressage , 7th JwS Individual 1.10m
Rowena Wilson-Smith riding Autumn Gold – Team 80cms SJ
Lydia Sida-Page riding OK Mister – 2nd Team Dressage
Tabitha Wilson-Smith riding Ruby Queen of Diamonds – 2nd Team Dressage & Team 80cms SJFrancesca Aitchison riding Wix Spring Realm – 2nd Team Dressage, 8th individual Dressage & Team 80cms SJ
Fleur Ludgrove riding Otter – Team 80cms JS
Ada Marson riding Rolly Rascal – 11th JwS Individual 70cms
An article in the EADT on Thursday 20 October about Oliver Juszt who has been selected to play at the HiPAC after an impressive performance at a regional tournament.