Sports round-up – 25th April 2015
After three weeks of uninterrupted sun the grounds looked in fantastic order for the School’s second Open Day of the year.
In the morning, the U15 boys’ tennis team, on the back of an excellent win against Dauntsey’s the week before, knew that Bristol Cathedral School would be strong opponents. And so it was, with all the matches very close. A 5-4 win was eventually achieved.
At the Prep School, the boys’ cricket U8 and U9 teams faced Hazlegrove. For some players this was their first ever cricket match. Well done to Callum Southall for the shot of the day and Barnaby Craven-Smith for hitting some fours. Unfortunately, the team lost too many wickets, penalised by five runs each time, and narrowly lost. The girls’ U10 and U11 cricket teams faced their first matches of the season versus All Hallows School. The U11s showed great promise in their bowling, particularly Olivia Carpenter, India Morgan-Nash, and Megan Galpin, whilst in the U10s the stand-out pairing was Lottie Craven-Smith and Lucy Rodgerson. Evie Kennett bowled beautifully straight.
Earlier in the week U8/9 rounders team faced Leadenhall and Salisbury Cathedral School in a triangular fixture. Anna Galpin bowled brilliantly in her first ever rounders match. Maddy Burdess was consistent and accurate at backstop. Ella Morgan-Nash connected with the ball most goes she had. Niamh Crinion scored the first rounder of the year.
The Prep School also travelled to Millfield Prep for an athletics meeting. Four girls and boys were taken from Years 3 to 6. There were some excellent performances and wins for William Candy (ball throw), Harry Butterworth (long jump) and Megan Galpin (javelin and 800m).
The 1st XI cricket team welcomed the Old Verlucians back to school and had to rally hard to muster 89-6 off 25 overs, losing two wickets in the first three balls of the game. George Elliott once again steadied the ship with a solid 40 runs. OV’s Ed Reed and head groundsman Graham Kitley took the game away from the pupils, eventually winning by eight wickets.
The U15s travelled to a hastily arranged game at Bristol Grammar School having had their game with Rendcomb College called off earlier in the week. Despite having the opposition 23-3, a combination of dropped catches and poor fielding allowed BGS to reach 199-6 off their 25 overs. Warminster had to go at eight an over, but lost wickets regularly and ended up with 120-8. Rory Lomas was left 25 not out.
The U14s played their first game of the season against Rendcomb College. Sean Bailey led the way with 83 not out in a substantial total of 156-2. In reply, Rendcomb struggled with Warminster’s disciplined bowling and eventually ended up with 83-8.
The U13As once again looked a formidable side. With the game reduced to 20 overs, Warminster asked Rendcomb to bat first. Outstanding bowling from Sean Montgomery (4-19) and disciplined tight lines from Alfie Dackombe (1-6) made it very difficult for the Rendcomb batsmen to get the ball off the square. They eventually made 75-7 off their allocated overs. In reply, David Aspray and Ed Vickery enjoyed a formidable opening stand, with Alfie Dackombe coming into finish the game. Warminster won by nine wickets.
The U13Bs are also showing some great promise. Warminster batted first and captain Charlie Whelan led the way with an unbeaten 50 not out. Ben Cook also battled away whilst Jasper Spandler played some extravagant shots. Warminster ended up with 145-1 off their 20 overs. With rain threatening and their innings reduced to 16 overs, Rendcomb required 117. However, they found the accurate bowling of Warminster hard to get away and struggled to 45-5 off their allocated overs. This was a great start for the U13B team.
The girls’ tennis teams faced a tough weekend against Dauntsey’s. The U12s lost heavily against a strong Dauntsey’s side whilst the U13s match could have gone either way. Maisie Craven-Smith enjoyed success in her singles match and also teamed up well in the doubles with Alice Robinson.
In the U14s the stand out performance of the afternoon came from the 1st pairing of Millie Dyke (captain) and Lydia Kington. They produced some excellent winning shots and were convincing in their service games, winning all three matches comfortably. Despite this, the team went down 3-6. The main areas to focus on in the coming weeks is assertive play and finishing the points with confidence.
The U15As lost their opening Aegon match of the season although particular praise must go to Olivia Pratt and Emma McCraith whose games nearly all went to deuce. The senior girls also went down to Dauntsey’s and will be looking to bounce back from this with some hard training and effort this week.
Christopher Knight
Director of Sport