As the hockey and rugby seasons begin to draw to a close, attention turns to rugby 7's and various hockey tournaments, it certainly has been a busy time for sport.
Early in the week our Year 8 netball players had a match against Kirkham. The A team played well in parts but we gave possession away too easily in the attacking third and the tall opposition took advantage and forged ahead in the first half, eventually winning 3-14. The B team set out to reverse the defeat of the A team and they started confidently with excellent play from Tilly Goss and Ellie Webb. Good shooting from Eloise Evans put us into an early lead and we grew in confidence and kept the ball well which resulted in a good 12-5 win.
On Thursday our U15 girls competed in the Lancashire U15 tournament at Stanley Park.
Theystarted with a superb performance against Arnold in the first game and it was only one penalty corner goal that was the difference between the teams. They then defeated Baines 3-1 and followed this with a good draw against Kirkham.The next game against Rossall saw the team start slowly and they went behind in the first 5 minutes. Although they got back on terms thanks to a goal from Rachael Harrison, Sophia Crawshay sustained an injury that would keep her out of the rest of the tournament. Things got worse when Rossall went ahead late in the game. Two more wins against Stonyhurst and Lancaster saw us take a creditable 4th place in the county.
On Friday afternoon, the U12 Rugby team travelled to local rivals Arnold. The side showed some great determination in keeping the powerful Arnold back row at bay and Matthew Worsnip was outstanding throughout with fearless defence. The Arnold backline came more into the game in the second half as the team struggled to come to terms with their opponents and the conditions. Shay O'Hanlon was instrumental for the team, running some dynamic and aggressive lines. Despite all of this, Arnold proved too strong and eventually ran out 41 - 0 winners.
Meanwhile, the Arnold U12 hockey players had come to KEQMS. Both our teams were guilty of giving our local rivals too much respect and Arnold capitalised when we failed to clear the ball out of our circle, despite winning it on two occasions, and forced the ball home to go into the break ahead. In the second half Arnold went further ahead with a well struck shot but we got back into the game when Emily Grey scored. Arnold used their superior hitting power to score two more before the final whistle, final result 1-4.
The B team game saw us struggle to get the ball away from our defensive circle and a lack of width limited the spaces available for our passes to go though and it was who Arnold scored in the first half despite good defending by POM Ella Morris. We had some chances of our own in the second half but it was a great save from keeper Nicole Heath that kept the score down early on but Arnold did score again before the final whistle.
Also on Friday in atrocious conditions our Junior School girls played in the AJIS Hockey tournament. They started well with a solid team performance beating Kings Macclesfield 1-0 and drew with Liverpool College 1-1, but then things began to slip with a 1-0 loss to Stockport GS and a 0-0 draw with Cheadle Hulme B. They then lost 0-1 to Kings Chester and Kirkham before ending with a good 1-0 win over Cheadle Hulme A. Overall they ended in 6th place.
On Saturday there was hockey galore as we had the girls' teams playing away at Rossall and the boys playing Rossall at KEQMS.
The senior girls side set the standards with some superb play and fantastic goals. The tone of the game was set in the first two minutes when a great move down the right involving Lottie Owen and Natasha Singleton led to Mel Bentley bringing a good save from the Rossall keeper. We continued to dominate and deservedly went ahead when Catherine Latham slotted home a pass from Sophie Owen in the 11th minute. The rest of the half saw us pass the ball well and cause problems for the Rossall defence but at the break the score was still 1-0. Two goals in two minutes from Mel Bentley after the break secured the win.
With the U13A team playing in the Lancashire U13 tournament the B & C teams played Rossall's top teams and performed really well. The B team had a close game against Rossall's A team which we could have drawn if we had converted any of our corners. Rossall went ahead in the first half with a good shot from the top of the circle and went further ahead early in the second. Emily Grey scored from an unstoppable shot late in the game but we could not get the equaliser before the final whistle. The B team game was an exciting one with the lead changing hands several times. We deservedly went ahead in the first half when Grace Woodsford scored after some good attacking play. After the break Rossall scored twice to go ahead but two more goals from Grace Woodsford resulted in a good 3-2 win.
The U15 side also came out on top thanks to two goals from Captain Sophia Crawshay. After playing well in the Lancashire Tournament the team were keen to come away with a win and the result could have been greater if the game had not been shortened.
The boys' teams did not fair quite so well against Rossall. For many of the players it was the first time that they had played in a fixture and at times they found it difficult to adjust to the pace of the game. The U12 team lost 1-8 and the U13 0-4.
The senior team enjoyed a good match against Rossall 2nd XI and despite only being 0-1 down at half time the greater stick skill of the Rossall players proved their undoing as the opposition scored three more in the second half. Despite the 0-4 score line they played some very good hockey and will certainly have learnt a lot from this game.
The U13 girls were playing in the Lancashire round of the National Mini Hockey Tournament. They started well with wins over Heysham (2-1) and Arnold B (2-0) but then had a lesson in clinical finishing in front of goal from Arnold A who beat them 7-0. They then made some silly mistakes to gift Kirkham A a 3-0 win. Their final match against Liverpool College ended in a 1-1 draw but missed opportunities meant that this really should have been a win. They eventually achieved 4th place and certainly improved as the tournament progressed.
The Junior school boys were also playing hockey in the Lancashire round of the National Mini Hockey Tournament. There opening game was against a good Arnold side that were quite skilful on the ball. However, this was countered by our greater pace, but missed chances on both sides resulted in a 0-0 draw. The second game against Kirkham A was always going to be difficult as it is a sport that they play on a regular basis. We lost 3-0 but the game was not as one sided as the score might suggest. The final game against was far better and after a slight change of formation there were far more scoring opportunities. The final score of 2-1 should have been far greater and unfortunately this would prove to be our undoing as we failed to progress through to the next round on goal difference.
On Sunday, the School hosted the annual Nora Lipscombe Memorial Trophy for the U13 Rugby Sevens Tournament. Schools from all over the North of England attended and competition was fierce. The KEQMS squad came up against Arnold in the first game and managed a thrilling win with only seconds to go thanks to a breakaway try from skipper Sam Lavelle. The other games in the pool saw the side come up against Bolton School, Cheadle Hulme Grammar School and Hutton Grammar School. Unfortunately no more wins were registered which meant that the side qualified as 4th in the pool to set up a semi-final against Wirral Grammar School in the Plate competition.
Having qualified 3rd in Pool A, Wirral were always going to be tough competitors. In another tense finale the side found themselves one score down with seconds remaining but salvaged the victory in the final stages winning 17-15. With a place in the Plate final assured the winners of the other semi-final saw a rematch of the first game of the tournament, against Arnold School. Although fatigue was setting in, the side played some of their best rugby of the day, but were unable to repeat their earlier result as a couple of basic errors cost the team dearly with Arnold running out 19 - 10 victors.
Sam Lavelle led the side superbly throughout the tournament and finished with a staggering 9 tries on the day. Other notable performances came from Cameron McKenzie, who scored two tries in the knock-out stages and Alex Stanier worked tirelessly throughout and provided staunch defence which opposition sides found difficult to cope with. All the boys deserve a lot of credit for their effort, commitment and conduct throughout the day ending as Plate finalists.
The winners of the main competition were Lancaster Royal Grammar School and Birkenhead School secured victory in the Bowl competition.
