It has been a very encouraging start to the year for all teams involved in sports fixtures. A successful pre-season for senior rugby has been followed up by a good start to competitive fixtures. The 1st XV, after a tough opener, has followed up one narrow loss with two fighting victories against Prior Park and Ryde, the latter an enthralling 29-26 triumph. The U16 XV have learnt quickly from their first two games. Having come up against, in particular, a very good Prior Park team, they cruised to a magnificent 31-0 win in their last match.
Middle School rugby has seen an emphatic beginning to the season, coming out the victors in every match. Clean sweeps for the U15A, B and U14A against Monkton Combe, King’s Bruton and Ryde have been very pleasing. More encouraging than just the final scores, the performances have been excellent, with a combination of fine individual play and strong team performances.
It has been fantastic to be able to put out four XVs for Under 13s rugby. The Under 13s had a difficult first trip away to Millfield Prep School where, despite the final score lines, creditable performances were seen in all teams. Millfield had the advantage of having had their teams playing together for a few years, but no team was by any means disgraced. A positive, ‘never give up’ attitude was shared across the teams, with the U13B team being the stronger team in an enthralling 0-0 draw.
It has been a mixed start for girls’ hockey. Having no pre-season and therefore going straight into the season against strong opposition, the girls have had a difficult start. The 1st XI performed well in their first three matches, beating King’s Bruton and narrowly missing out against Prior Park and Bruton School for Girls. All were closely fought games which either team could have won, especially the match against Prior Park, when Prior Park’s winner came in the last 30 seconds. The 2nd XI played their first game on the weekend and made a promising start with a good performance, despite losing 1-3 to Bruton School for Girls.
The U15A XI have had perhaps the best start to the season, performing extremely well in all three of their games, winning two and again narrowly losing out to Prior Park. Good attitude, hard work, skills and team play have brought about the deserved rewards. The Under 15B XI managed to put their early defeats behind them to win 2-0 this weekend. Lessons were learnt from the losses, and solutions implemented to bring about this fine victory.
U13 and 12 XIs have had a hard start to the season. Very good Prior Park teams inflicted heavy defeats in the first round of matches. However, there were some good individual performances and encouraging enthusiasm from all involved. Since then the girls have been working on their skills, which showed in much improved performances against Bruton School for Girls. The Under 12A XI securing a 1-1 draw, while the Under 13A and 12B XIs took many positives from their losses.
Although the focus has been on rugby for boys and hockey for girls, the boys’ senior football team have had a brilliant start to the year. An emphatic 8-1 victory in their opening match was followed up by winning a 7-a-side tournament. Warminster School beat QEH 4-1, Millfield 4-0, Downside 3-1 and Wells 3-1, to maintain a 100% start to the season. This Wednesday they are looking to continue their fine start to the season when they face Wiltshire College, Salisbury in the first round of the County Cup. Last year, of course, they reached the semi-final. Good luck, boys!
