Match Reports: Wednesday 22 November 2017

U12/13B Rugby v Edgeborough
Score: 12-5
The Amesbury boys U13 and 12 came together to make up a team with a wide range of skills. In the first half it was clear from the first whistle that some boys possessed some dancing shoes while others practised the Maori sidestep. Strong offloads and support play helped Amesbury to a 7-2 lead. The second half focus was defence. The defensive captain coordinated a better defensive press and we quickly reaped the rewards. On numerous occasions getting the turnover for 6 tackles or forcing errors. The game finished 12-5. Great team performance and a joy to watch.
Report by: Mr O’Reilly

U11A Netball v Ripley Court
Won 10-6
Lady of the match: Lucy C
A fantastic match today for the U11A team against Ripley Court U13’s. The match was extremely close during the first quarter, with goals scored end to end. By the end of the first quarter the score sat at 2 -2. Sienna and Katie worked superbly together, marking tightly and turning over possession with speed and agility. The centre court players (Charlotte, Jazzy and Lyla) were made to work really hard against some really tall players, however they rose to the challenge and modified their play utilising their chest and bounce passes. The shooters Laura and Lucy worked the circle incredibly well, they dodged and ‘rolled’ into space and scored some incredible shots. Going into the last quarter, the score sat at 8-4 with Amesbury dominating. Jazzy and Lyla maintained the pressure throughout and ran circles around their opponents. Lucy C should also be commended here for her fantastic shots; she managed to pop in 5 outstanding goals in the second half to give us an impressive 10-6 win.
Not a bad result girls against a mixed Year 7 and 8 team.

Mrs Dover

Amesbury U10B v Edgeborough U10B Rugby

Score: 7-7

With two evenly matched sides, it was inevitable that the game would be a close run affair. However no one could quite have predicted how close it would actually turn out to be.

From the first whistle, there was some end to end rugby. Boys were putting in thumping tackles and offloading brilliantly in contact. In the first half, both teams managed to score four trys and so went into half time with the scores level and all to play for.

The second half was even closer than the first with some superb defensive play from both teams, making scoring very difficult. After some superb passages of play Amesbury scored followed soon after by Edgeborough. Each time one team scored the other drew level until with only minutes left on the clock, a try line scramble almost saw Amesbury emerge victorious. Alas, some excellent defending from Edgeborough force a mistake from Amesbury and game ended in a draw.

An absolutely fantastic game of rugby to watch, referee and I’m sure, play in. All the Amesbury boys did the school proud with their commitment to the game and each other.

Report by: Mr Balcombe

1st Netball V Yateley Manor
Lost 23-12
Lady of the match: Georgie
Players Player: Libby

A wild and windy afternoon for the senior netball fixtures against Yateley Manor. The girls went out strong and very determined to show Yateley what they were made of. The first quarter started goal for goal which had the girls really hungry for the ball. Emily had a great quarter scoring 5 goals for Amesbury. The team played well together but soon realised they had to communicate more as a team in order to get the ball down the attacking end. Libby and Dora worked brilliantly together as always with fantastic movement down the court and strong and accurate passing between them. Throughout the game the girls really picked up their marking and made some strong interceptions. Lara, Betty and Bo worked hard in defence with strong passing and determination. Georgie had a super game showing commitment and a constant hunger for the ball. She passed the ball powerfully to the girls in centre court. In the last quarter the girls were asked to simply close the gap on the score, to which they did. Emily and Gracie had a tough time in the attacking D as Yateley were marking hard. Between them they worked hard and scored another 5 goals compared to Yateley scoring 4 goals. A really tough game for the girls, however the score does not reflect how hard the girls worked and contoured to work to the final whistle. Well played 1st team.

Mrs Williams

U11C Netball v Ripley Court
Score: 6-1
Players Player: Clara & Anna
Lady of the Match: Mia

What a performance from the U11c’s this afternoon! Despite being a player short, the girls started the match with all guns blazing. The team worked well together, linking strong and accurate passes, and together with some superb dodging Amesbury were able to move the ball quickly down the court to the two shooters. Both shooters shot with great confidence, however special mention must go to Mia, who, despite having never player shooter before managed to score 5/6 goals for the team! The U11c’s defence has vastly improved as the netball season has progressed, this was seen today, especially in defensive positions who demonstrated some well time interceptions. This resulted in Amesbury gaining the majority of position throughout the match. However Ripley Court did not give the match away without a fight in the last quarter, but the girls should be very proud of how they continued to work hard right up to the last seconds of the game. Well done girls, an outstanding performance.

Miss Donaldson

U11 Rugby v Edgeborough

The Under 11B team travelled away to Edgeborough on Wednesday and narrowly lost a high scoring game replete with thrills and spills. On the attack, we played very well with lots of successful off-loading of the ball and some very efficient rucking to recycle possession. Our running with ball in hand was equally good and we were able to score quite freely throughout the game. Unfortunately, our defensive play did rather let us down. We gave the opposition too much space and time in possession by not closing them down fast enough, and tackles were missed which meant that Edgeborough were able to match us score for score. Towards the end we went a couple of scores behind and started to play with slightly less organisation and vigour and this was enough for Edgeborough to secure victory by 9 tries to 7. There were lots of positives to pick out of this performance, but equally, we must improve our defence. Try scorers: Jacob, Lucas, Raffy, Charlie and Sam.

Mr. Lawrence

U10B Netball vs Ripley Court
Won 7-5
Players player: Alice
Lady of the Match: Isabelle C

This week the U10B’s had a fantastic match against Ripley Court. After a quick warm-up upon arriving at Ripley Court the girls got straight into their match, thankful that the looming clouds had not yet opened up. At the end of the first quarter the score was tied at 1-1. The girls showed great teamwork as they spread out and made space across the court, allowing the ball to move quickly down towards their attacking end. By half time Amesbury were down 1-3. Throughout the match Isabelle’s tight marking in the defensive D made it difficult for her player to get free and have shots at goal. The defenders did a fantastic job at rebounding the ball and keeping Ripley Court’s chances to score to a minimum. By the end of the third quarter Amesbury had taken the lead, 5-3. Lovely, swift moving through the D by Alice and Amelia created space and allowed them to take some great shots at goal. It was fantastic to see some strong and accurate shoulder passing by all the girls, a skill that the U10B’s have made great improvements on! In the fourth quarter the girls in centre court did an excellent job at leading for the ball, allowing them to get free and help their teammates. Well done on a fantastic win girls! You should all be proud of your efforts.

Miss O’Sullivan

U11A Rugby v Edgeborough
Lost 0-7 (tries)

Amesbury arrived at Edgeborough with a very depleted squad through injuries and absences, but determined to put in to practice everything worked on in the previous week. The messages for the day were around rucking intensity, defensive line speed and support. Unfortunately Edgeborough started with more intensity than us and took the lead early on with a well worked try. From then onwards we were on the back foot and were unable to get a foothold in the game. The second half saw marked improvements in our intensity at the breakdown, but still not up to our standards with the defensive line speed, allowing Edgeborough to pick holes in the line and score at regular intervals.

Mr Rouse

U11A Rugby v Cranleigh
Lost 1-7 (tries)

After the first game, the boys knew that we needed to show improvements if we wanted to get anything out of this game. The main message for this game was our defensive line speed, this needed to be focused on, with us putting the opposition under pressure as a unit. There were marked improvements in this area, especially in the first half. This pressure allowed us to regain possession more frequently, and venture a few attacks forward with good intensity. Unfortunately we did not make the most of these opportunities, unlike Cranleigh who scored some superb tries, with excellent handling and running skills. With the game out of reach, there was a moment of magic produced by Zac, as he ran nearly the length of the field to score a deserved try for the team.

Lots to work on for next week, but big steps in the right direction in the second game.

Mr Rouse