A sports round-up from Saturday 9^th February.

Hockey vs Downside

On Saturday afternoon, the boys’ hockey teams played Downside. The 1^st XI had a physical encounter with their opponents as they won 8-0, although some of the outstanding hockey on display was marred by some of the things happening off the ball. However, a hat-trick from player of the match Theo, a brace of goals from Leonard and one goal apiece for Sam, Gabriel and Jan was enough to secure a comprehensive victory. The highlight of the match was a Theo deflected goal after an incredible team move. The 2^nd XI continued their winning start to the season with a 3-2 victory over Downside. After a poor first half of hockey, King’s began to take control of the game, with Aidan scoring 2 quick fire goals. The match then became increasingly scrappy and Downside got themselves back into it, only for King’s to hold onto the win with a final goal from Jacob. Player of the match was Ben.

U15As played against a physical team and had many chances which were not taken. With 95% of the game was held in Downside’s half, the game ended in a 1-1 draw, with a goal coming from James with the final touch of the game from a short corner. Player of the match was Oscar, for his hard work and determination to play.

The U15Bs recorded their first win of the season by a margin of 3 - 2. Fighting against a bigger and more athletic team, when King’s moved the ball wide they created plenty of chances. Ed scored the first two goals, the first of which was particularly well taken. Isaac scored the third with a straight strike from a penalty corner. Felix made some fine saves however Player of the Match was Elih.

The U14As started slowly and did not match the physicality and competitiveness of Downside who scored a goal coming straight from a ball played through a lazy press. After a serious talking to at half-time, the boys came out with a huge amount of fighting spirit and showed how much they cared, and how desperate they were to win. They dominated the 2^nd half completely and made some great efforts on goal, however the Downside goal keeper was fantastic and King’s couldn’t quite convert. The game ended 1-0 to Downside, who won the game by showing sheer grit and determination. Some valuable lessons can be learned from their competitive approach to the game. Player of the Match was Sam with special mentions to Will, Hugo, Will and Jay.

The U14Bs won 3-1 courtesy of goals from Algy, Tommy and Archie. This was a good game overall from the U14Bs. They had moments of total hockey resulting in three well taken goals, and they were unlucky on two other occasions with the Downside goalie making two great saves. Despite the victory, there are still areas to work on over the next week, which are retaining possession and working hard in defence. Players of the Match were Ned and Tommy.

Henry Eriksson - Director of Hockey

Netball vs Sherborne Girls

On Saturday, we played Sherborne Girls School in our block netball fixture. The 1^st team came across a very physical Sherborne team and unfortunately lost 47 goals to 29 with Lauren selected as Player of the Match. However the 2^nd and 3^rd teams both came home with huge convincing wins. The 2^nd team with 32 goals to 6 and the 3^rd team with 36 goals to 7. Jasmine and Amy were Players of the Match for their teams respectively.

It was a great day for our juniors teams with every single junior girl in school playing in one of our 6 junior teams. The U15B team won 17-14, with Emily as Player of the Match.

The U15C team just lost with Rosie as Player of the Match and the U15D team lost 12 goals to 7 with Alexia chosen as Player of the Match.

The U14As took a big comfortable win - 24 to 8, with Georgia as Player of the Match. The U14Bs also finished with a good win of 11 goals to 7, with Grace selected as Player of the Match and finally the U14Cs had a narrow loss and named Erin and Lucy as joint Players of the Match.

All in all a very successful final Saturday before half term.

Bethany Griffiths - Netball Coach

Photographs from the Inter-House Football Tournament