S
lick passing saw us take control of
our opening game of the season
against Wellington, with Ben
Shapland, Will Murray and James
Winsey looking assured in defence,
and the midfield showing a healthy
appetite for work. Our goals came from Tristan
Drew (2), Jake Fleming, Alex Grace and Will
James.
At Sherborne we got off to a good start with
Kelvin Choi slotting home an early goal. But
this served merely to galvanise Sherborne into
action, and after that it was one-way traffic
rather. Depleted by injury and illness the
following Saturday, we went down to a very
well-organised Canford team. We dug deep
though, and did well to keep the match
goalless for the last twenty minutes - Will
James was man of the match.
Early pressure against Taunton School was
rewarded with a goal for Jake Fleming, but we
looked lacklustre, and Taunton went 2-1 up.
We allowed them a further goal early in the
second half, before Will Murray and Will James
decided something needed to be done, and
their slick stick skills led to effective moves and
a goal for each, as we drew the match 3-3.
After the dizzy excitements of the County Cup
and Regional Finals, where we were runners-up
and semi-finalists respectively, the season
petered out a little as we lost quite comfortably
to a much slicker-looking Millfield side.
Defensive errors meant we were 3-0 down by
half-time, and things didn't get much better in
the second half, despite the efforts of Corbett
Sykes-Moore in goal. But in the parlance of
professional sport, there were many positives
to take from our season.
T
he season started well for the
Bs with an early goal at
Queen's by quick-thinking
William Bayless in a crowd of
players. Queen's stepped up
their effort, but further goals
by Tristan Drew and William Bayless saw us
3-1 up at half-time. The opposition's few
second-half chances were efficiently dealt with
by stand-in keeper Will James, and we added
another goal thanks to Alex Grace before Will
Bayless completed his well-deserved hat-trick.
At Sherborne we had to come back from a 4-1
deficit to score four goals in five minutes! Alex
Grace scored twice, and Corbett Sykes-Moore,
unusually appearing as an outfield player,
completed his hat-trick to seal an epic 5-4 win.
Although we opened the scoring against
Canford - a route one move finished off by
Harry Catton - the opposition showed greater
speed and skills to score four unanswered
goals. We rallied though with an excellent
second-half goal through Alex Grace.
The Taunton School fixture saw us move the ball
around intelligently, but a lack of finishing was
the feature of what was otherwise a good game
of hockey. Playing against Clifton's 4ths, we
enjoyed much of the possession in a closely
fought game. We fell behind to a deflected finish
just before half-time, and somehow we didn't
manage to find the equaliser in the second half.
Against Millfield we took an early lead through
Henry Robinson, but despite four or five open
goal chances, the second goal just wouldn't
come. Millfield scored from a short corner with
three minutes to go, as we finished our season
honours even.
Aluredian
76
Will James fights for the
ball during the 3-3 draw
against Taunton School
Boys'
Hockey
Senior
Colts