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The Grove Cross Country – Autumn Term 1
2020 has been a different year to say the least, so much so that it is changing the way we do things in everyday life. For many people The Cross Country at school holds a real mix of emotions and so the emphasis has really been on preparing the competitors as best as we can and try to keep a positive mentality towards taking part. This year due to the circumstances, The Cross Country was run across three days to ensure age groups could stay within their individual bubbles. This way we could open the doors to parents in an outdoor environment and there wouldn’t be too much of a social gathering!
Up first were the U10/11’s. The conditions were fair, being overcast and underfoot the grassy areas where firm. All-round some good conditions for long distance running. As mentioned, The Cross Country really does cater for all. Some individuals will really look to push themselves from a time perspective and look to finish in the best placed position they can, and others are looking to push themselves as hard as they can with an aim to finish the race. The U10/11s set off at a good pace with the usual suspects leading from the front. Once the runners got into their rhythm and second wind the field started to spread into these two categories. Tomas Garcia, Oliver Whittam and Emily Foster really starting to stretch their legs over the 1st kilometre. Tomas all in all was able to pull away from the rest of the group and finish in a respectable time of 15:30.03. All the staff that where strategically placed around the 3km course were extremely pleased to see the determination and positivity the competitors had to complete the race. Special mention must go to Oyin Omotosho who really embraced this and pushed herself extremely hard.
For the first time in The Grove Cross Country’s history, the Juniors on the following day had a pace setter. Mr Thorne braved the elements and as a pace setter ran the record time which stands at 07:05s for the boys. A Record that has stood since c.2011. The aim was for Mr Thorne to show the competitors the importance of pacing and for those competitors at the front, just how hard they need to push themselves to hit that record time. It is very easy to be happy with where you see yourself when comparing yourself amongst your peers and so Mr Thorne was hopefully going to provide that further motivation. The excitement however got the better of a few and for a period of time where running ahead of Mr Thorne, something they would later regret! Matthew Coomber and Matilda Bradban put in a fantastic effort to win for the Boys & Girls. With Matthew running an impressive time of 07:29:86 It was extremely pleasing to see the effort all the juniors put in. With all of them completing the race.
The Seniors went into The Cross Country with a greater weight of expectation placed upon them with the minimum expectation for them to all finish and push themselves as hard as they could. They didn’t disappoint with a reduction of 10 minutes in their range of times as opposed to the U10/11’s range. Some strong efforts from Jensen Sharpe, Ahad Abdul Qureshi and Alice Alder with the remainder of the pack pushing themselves over the now wet 3km course. It was really pleasing to see the maturity that the Seniors took towards their preparation and mental application during the race. Something that I hope they can pass down to the years below them.
At the end of a busy week The Cross Country has provided all competitors with a goal to aim for. Fitness will always remain an integral part of the world of The Grove and the Sport & PE department would love to see all the competitors beat their times at the next event. Let's take this opportunity to learn and improve on areas we need to develop and remember The Cross Country is just as much a mental battle as it is a physical one. You can do it.
Mr Strong
The Grove U8
The Grove 'A': 0
Ashfold School 'A': 6
Man of the Match: Jacob Okwuadigbo
The Grove U8/9A. Chawla (2)
Ashfold School 'B': 0
Man of the Match: Arjun Chawla
After a very heavy rain storm the sun come out just in time for the start of the match. We agreed two 20 min halves with eight a side and no off sides, so was going to be an open flowing game. Swanbourne House got off to a cracking start with three goals in the first 5 mins. We managed to stem the flow for a bit with Kanye making some good saves in goal. Although we were three down our heads didn’t drop, we held our positions and kept trying to pass the ball, however by the end of the first half the score was unfortunately 6-0. With a good encouraging team talk at half time we held our own in the second half with Elijah scoring a cracking goal from outside the box. The final score was 7-1 so a great second half performance with great team spirit and effort from every player. Very well done despite the result as its not always about winning.
The Grove: 1
E. Martey
Swanbourne House: 7
Man of the Match: Elijah Martey
On a busy fixture afternoon for the girls, with teams A, B and C all taking part in Netball Fixtures the A team were keen to set the bar high. We got off to a very strong start dominating much of the play and keeping the ball in our attacking circle. Quick passing and movement from our shooters with great support from our attackers meant we were able to take a number of shots at goal, scoring 6 goals in the first half and taking a strong lead. The girls adapted well to playing in a variety of positions throughout and I was delighted to see them rise to the occasion. Swanbourne were able to score a few goals and close the lead slightly but strong defending continued to push the ball to our attacking circle. When the final whistle went the girls were deservedly rewarded with the win and a final score of 8-4 to us. Well done girls you were a pleasure to watch!
The Grove 'A': 8
A. Vieceli Fitch (4), A O'Kane (4)
Swanbourne House 'A': 4
Man of the Match: Erioluwa Ojemuyima
We won the first centre pass and started strongly. Both teams working hard on getting the ball to their relative end but the goals were lacking. The 1st quarter ended 1 v 1. 2nd quarter The Grove lost concentration and were pulled up for contact and being too close when marking (something we all agreed we need to work on.) Akeley Wood put in a further 4 goals and we managed 1. 3rd quarter The Grove started with a strong determination and defence to pull back 3 goals with good movement into the shooting D, Akeley Wood scoring 1. Final quarter and the game could go either way. Both teams managed a further 2 goals each. Final score The Grove 7 v Akeley Wood 8.
The Grove: 7
E. Adekanmbi (4), H. Siddall (3)
Akeley Wood: 8
Player of the Match: Ewa Adekanmbi
Without a game strategy the boys had to rely on the few skills they had picked up and their general ability to play invasive sport. We were able to pass the ball a lot better and spread out, but it took a while before the game started to flow and yield signs of connecting passes and attack. We had good control of territory and were looking more likely to score but a draw was a fair result.
The Grove: 0
Swanbourne House: 0
Man of the Match: Frederick Lancaster
After a half time chat about positioning and how to effectively move the ball in attack we were able to string together some actual play that gave them something to have concern about. Zayne secured our only goal, which gave us the confidence we needed to keep pushing forward. Oliver was also unlucky when his goal didn’t count because it was hit from outside the area, however it never really looked like they had enough to break through and we continued to be a threat in attack. I felt we stayed mostly in their half, although it was still quite messy in front of the goals and the game ended after Matthew had a goal disallowed after a scramble on the goal line ricocheted off his hand when he dived for it.
The Grove: 1
Z. Quinton
Swanbourne House: 0
Man of the Match: Zayne Quinton
The under 8’s were keen to follow on from their previous success in their 2nd match of the Netball season. Swanbourne got off to an early lead with 3 goals in quick succession. The girls tried hard to work the ball towards their attacking goal and were rewarded with a goal by Lilian Goodman shortly before the end of first half. After a team talk the girls went back to the game with a focus on trying to move in front of the Swanbourne players to receive the ball. We made some excellent interceptions and I was delighted to see the girls moving into excellent spaces but sadly were unable to make up the deficit from the early part of the game leaving the final result 3-1 to Swanbourne.L. Goodman
Swanbourne House: 3
Player of the Match: Davida Okesola
S. Patel, L. Goodman
Broughton Manor 'A': 1
Player of the Match: Clare Hubbard
E. Craig, L. Goodman
Broughton Manor 'B': 1
Player of the Match: Clare Hubbard
The Under 10/11 'A' Team knew they had a tough game ahead with a number of their team mates supporting the U13's at an ISA tournament but approached the game with great focus nonetheless. Northampton High steadily poured on the pressure and despite some superb interceptions and some great opportunities to shoot we were able to secure a goal. We fought hard to maintain possession and it is to the girls credit that they prevented Northampton from scoring any goals in the final quarter. A noteworthy performance came from Arianna Vieceli-Fitch's whose movement throughout was outstanding. Despite much improved flow throughout the game the final score was left 5-0 to Northampton.
The Grove 'A': 0
Northampton High 'A': 5
Player of the Match: Erioluwa Ojemuyima
The 'B' Team represented the school well with good game play and sportsmanship. The 1st quarter Northampton Girls looked as if they were going to run away with the game. 2nd quarter The Grove pulled back through some good interception and quick ball. Northampton were also good in defence which made for a good flowing match. Northampton girls managed to convert their possession into goals and unfortunately The Grove ran out of time to draw level. The match ending Northampton Girls 4, The Grove 3.
The Grove 'B': 3
Northampton High 'B': 4
Player of the Match: Reni Adeleye
This was the girls first ever ISA netball event. We travelled down to Redbridge Sports Centre in thick fog! However, when we got to the sports Centre, we had bright sunshine. The girls first match was against St James School who started off quickly by scoring a quick couple of goals by moving the ball quickly around. The girls started to grow into the game in the second half and missed a couple of chances to get back into the game, however St James went on to win 11 – 0.
Our next game was against King Alfred School who proved to be by far the best team we had faced that day! The girls did well to keep the score down to 4-0 at half time. King Alfred came out second half and score another 3 goals, however the girls did not give up and kept attacking. Final score Grove 0 – 7 King Alfred.
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The boys started their first Hockey fixture, this term, well; showing excitement for the match. Early on the boys were caught out with an early goal from Winchester House. The boys fought on with some superb tackles being made. In the first half the boys were down by two goals and realised that it was their passing that was causing them to struggle. They tried even harder in the second half but were unsuccessful against Winchester's strong defence. The boys lost 0-3 but remain enthusiastic for the next match. Throughout the entire game the boys were helped by man of the match Jacob Milburn, who pulled of some superb saves, at one point diving head first to stop the ball. The boys had a great game and look forward to the next.
The Grove 'A': 0
Winchester House 'A': 3
Man of the Match: Jacob Milburn
Everything that we had learnt in practice was used by the boys and considering that they were not as skilful as their opponents, I felt that they represented themselves admirably. Unfortunately, we had not done enough on hitting or spreading wide which meant that we hardly got out of our half. We also tended to cluster around the ball and not complete passes, so Winchester Hse didn’t really have difficulty keeping us in check. They managed to break free a couple of times and get some passes in as they attacked the goal, which at the start of the match was something Koseunti wasn’t able to block as goalkeeper.
The Grove 'B/C': 0
Winchester House 'B': 3
Man of the Match: Bhavish Rao
Although Winchester Hse put on a different team for this match we continued to shuffle players and make substitutions to give all those playing as much game time as possible. Koseunti stayed in goal throughout and once we had helped him be comfortable in the padding, he was able to manoeuvre himself more freely and became increasingly effective saving a load of shots and proving himself to be quite a presence in goal. Dimitri probably had the most open runs in space and we did get down into their D at least 3 times; although we didn’t have enough time on the ball to make any use of it. It would be wrong to say that we were organised and match ready, but I was pleased with the way the boys made use of the opportunity to play and it clearly enhanced our experience as well as interest.
The Grove 'B/C': 0
Winchetser House 'C': 2
Man of the Match: Frederick Lancaster
For our third netball match of the season we travelled to Swanbourn House. The team were upbeat following two good wins. The match started and within the first minuet Summer O’Kane scored a stunning long range goal however by the end of the first quarter Swanbourn were 2-1 up. With some strong defending from Autumn Pim and Lily Gibbin we managed to keep the score close however at half time we were 3-1 down. Swanbourn kept the pressure on the whole time with some excellent play, Emily Foster managed to score two goals but after playing really well we were up against tough oppersition and the final score ended up Swanbourn 7 Grove 3.
The Grove 'A': 3
E. Foster (2), S O'Kane
Swanbourne House 'A': 7
Player of the Match:
The Under 9 'B' team were excited to play in their third match of the netball season and despite the chilly conditions were keen to get the match underway. We got off to a steady start with much of the play in Swanbourne's attacking third. Despite numerous attempts on goal Swanbourne were unable to secure a goal until the second quarter thanks to great defending from Diya Karwal and Lacey Weatherley. The girls grew in confidence throughout the game with excellent movement from Avni Madan and great attmepts on goal from our shooters. Despite the girls best attempts we were unable to secure a goal against Swanbourne leaving the final score 1-0.
The Grove 'B': 1
Swanbourne House 'B': 0
Player of the Match:
The Grove U12/13 Netball vs Wellingborough School
Written by JCRandall
The first match was extremely fast paced and it took the girls a little time to settle into the game which Wellingborough were able to capitalise on and scored a number of goals in quick succession. We fought hard to maintain possession but lost it on a number of occasions by rushing to make the pass. The quick goals scored in the early part of the game meant that Wellingborough had opened a strong lead which despite the girl’s best efforts to defend and maintain possession they were unable to close the gap leaving the final score 15-3 to Wellingborough.C. Diniz Fernandez-Lomana (2), A. O'Kane
Wellingborough School 'A': 15
Player of the Match: Esther Williams
A. O'Kane (2), H. Siddall
Wellingborough School 'B': 6
Player of the Match: Alexa O'Kane
The boys were against Akeley Wood school. The boys started the first match well, attacking the other teams' goal and having some great attempts to score. In the first half the boys went down by two goals despite their determination to win. In the second half the ball was moved repeatedly up field to the opposition but due to an unfortunate own goal the boys lost the match three nil.Akeley Wood 'A': 3
Man of the Match: Jacob Millburn
T. Garcia (3), O. Payton
Man of the Match: Jacob Millburn
