Sports Report – Short Half 2022: Week 3

Tuesday 20th September Golf U18 v Marlborough College (h)

We played at home for our second match of the season. The match marked the season debut for Jack Bristowe (A) and Harry Xu (I). However, it ultimately led to the team’s first loss of the season. Isaac Haines (I), our vice-captain, played to his handicap with a 3+ finish over 18 holes but was little match for his opponent losing 4&3. Battling to remain all square after 12 holes, six consecutive birdies from his opponent ended the match on the 15th green who finished an astonishing 5 under par for the round. Taanvir Sood (Coll.), captaining his second match of the season, fought till the 18th green finishing all square, winning half a point. Two down after the twelfth hole, a birdie on 13 led to winning three consecutive holes. However, an injured back on 17 led to some abysmal putting finishing all square following two three putts. Seb Wells (G) dominated his game and easily won 6&5 playing 6+. His accuracy of the tee, in great contrast to his opponent, led to some relaxed easy golfing and a comfortable finish on the 12th green. Sander Andreason (A) struggled against his older opponent finding himself with longer approaches into greens. His valiant efforts were left unrewarded as he lost 4&3. We look forward to him stepping into his stride and showing us all what he is capable of. Harry Xu’s (I) season debut was marred by injury. An injured back left us all longing for the familiar speed of Harry's swing and his usual subtle swagger with which he effortlessly wins matches. It was a tough day for him, losing 5&4. Jack Bristowe (A) once again showed his reliability and stepped up as always to win his match 8&6. His golfing absence has led to no loss of talent nor ability as he effortlessly finished his opponent on the eleventh hole, having not lost a single hole. (T.Sood, X)

Wednesday 21st September Football Yearlings A v Winton Community Academy (h) 15 - 3

Winchester began with a good tempo and quickly looked to release Zawoda and Laarman into the righthand channel. Despite an early save off Laarman, Zawoda, Oluwabusola (2) scored quick goals, with Santagati adding two more with good strikes from the top of the box. As the team formation and personnel adjusted, scoring slowed and Winton replied with two goals on the counter, before Maithya-Garcia and Fernando (2) added more before the half time break. Winton scored the first of the second half before Zawoda, Fernando and Oluwabusola completed their hat-tricks, the latter displaying excellent dribbling skills for one of his 5 goals despite having first received the ball from well inside his own half. Fernando's last goal brought about the end of the game and takes us into the next round of the cup. (JMB)

Thursday 22nd September Golf U18 v Dauntsey's School

The golf team travelled to Upavon Golf Club for an ISGA regionals quarter finals match vs Dauntsey's school. For this match we took Arthur Hampel (MP, B), Sander Andreasen (JP, A) and James Redfern (JP, A). The team was seeded in that order. Arthur had a very solid start as he was 5up through 6 holes but then dropped a few shots. He was 1up going into the 15th and needing some momentum to regain the control he made birdie. After some weighty pars at the end he won two up. Sander lost the first few to poor putting but he fought back well going 4up through 12..He made some reasonable putts at the end to win 2&1. James started very well. He had a quick start and was 3up through 5. But his opponent fought back and it was all-square going into 17. James won the hole. But unfortunately he lost the last to finish all-square. I thank Mr Moore for driving us up there. W2.5 - 0.5 Arthur Hampel (MP, B)

Badminton 1st v Harrow (a)

The first match of the season for the new badminton team was against Harrow, a challenging game to start with. Having scraped a 9-7 victory last year at home, the team knew the match would be tough. Our players had a couple of good weeks of training but were not accustomed to playing with plastics which went much faster than feather shuttles. The new pairing of Derek Wen and Vincent Gueguen, fought hard but eventually lost their two matches against Harrow's third and fourth pair. Our third pair of Ashmit Pande and Alvin Yu had a disappointing outing losing both matches by a significant margin. The first pair of JP Chen and Rudra Patel won both matches, going to 3 sets against the second pair, a good outing for the new pairing. Lastly, the best performing pair of Yuyao Xie and Ben Wen (MOTM) fought with true Winchester spirit, never giving up even when on the back foot. Although the pair eventually lost, they demonstrated exceptional resistance as they played Harrow's second pair. Overall, a disappointing 6-2 loss for WinColl, not the best start to the season. However, the team showed great promise and will no doubt train hard to beat Harrow when we host them at home after half term. (Rudra Patel, I)

Fencing 1st v Westminster School (h) Foil A: 45-38 WIN! Foil B: 45-43 WIN! Epee: 45-38 WIN!

Football: 1st XI v Canford

We welcomed Canford to Winchester on a lovely Thursday afternoon on Doggers. We wanted a fast start and we certainly got it. Both Freddie and Casper should have scored in the first 2 minutes but shot wide. After dominating the first half we were unable to put away the chances we created so the half time talk was about being clinical and more creative in the 2nd period. The boys responded by creating numerous chances but had to wait till mid-way through the second half for Freddie Van Every to power a shot into the roof of the net. This settled the boys down and after some good link up play Casper drove into the box and sided footed the ball past the oncoming keeper. One has to give Canford credit for their dogged defending but going into the next few games we need to make sure we put away the chances and be more creative in final 3rd. A good win going into the Cup game on Thursday. W2-0 (JRD)

3rd XI v Canford (h)

This was an excellent performance against Canford’s 2nd XI from a 3rd XI that is starting to gel and work together impressively. It wasn't a perfect performance, but defensive lessons were learnt from last week and at times the team played superbly going forward; if Winchester had scored a couple more goals that would not have been unfair. That said, credit should be given to the Sports Department Canford defenders who battled hard despite constant pressure. Today was a big step in the right direction for the 3s, and they should be proud of their commitment and success. W3-0 (LNT)

5th XI v Canford 3rd XI (h) W13 - 0

Junior Colts A v Kings Winchester (h) 1 - 6

After seven minutes of play, King’s scored the first goal of the match. Despite Winchester’s poor distribution we managed to hold it together and were even able to get away some shots on target. After slipping away from his man, one of the opposition headed the ball into the back of the home net from a corner making the score line 2-0. Shortly afterwards, a penalty was given to Winchester and Max Jackson (A) was elected to take it. It was sent towards the keeper’s right side but was unfortunately just in reach of his glove. Kings’ returned after halftime with pace and strength, scoring a respectable three goals without response. Nearing the end of the match, a ball was put through to Seb Kingsbury (A) who calmly put one in the net for the home side. Kings’ snuck in another goal, with very little time left putting the final score at 6-1 to the away team. (AJD, D) L1-6

Senior Colts A v Kings Winchester (h) 1 - 3

Rackets 1st v Eton (h)

Eton brought some high level pairs which threw up some competitive matches. Colts A, Jack Bristowe and Lukas Brunner, faced a team who swiftly claimed the first 2 games. The early season showed at times with several unforced errors. However, our pair managed to fight back and win a close game 3, before succumbing to another close tussle in game 4. Colts B, Rupert Balmain and Ollie Frost, after losing game 1 relatively easily, swiftly took game 2. Although the next 2 games went Eton's way they were tightly fought. 2nd pair, George Gardiner and Alex Harker, after winning game one, took their foot off the pedal and allowed Eton to take the next 3, but again, there were some tightly fought moments. So to the first pair contest; Eton’s first pair, an extremely polished outfit, who will be the no 1 seeds in the National Schools Doubles tournament at Easter. This proved a particularly high level battle with each pair grappling to seize control. Bertie Vallat and Henry Nicholas started well by winning game 1 with Bertie’s well-crafted racket-work and Henry’s effective left-handed serve causing the damage. Eton, learning quickly the behaviour of the court, then came back strongly to take the next 2 games with an impressive consistency. However, Winchester managed to fight back and in a very tight game 3, narrowly win it. At 2 games all the final game was extremely close and ended in a set in which Eton just managed to win. Bearing in mind both Eton boys are a year older, this is an encouraging performance by Winchester.

Squash U15 v St Edward’s School (a)

Matched against older opponents the U-15/U-14 Winchester College Jun. X played very well but at times were defeated by the greater pace and strength of their opponents .For many of the team Sports Department this was their first match and it was great to see them playing with great determination and tenacity. All learnt that given a loose, poor length ball the opponent can play an irretrievable shot. Those players who won their matches did so by placing their shots well, controlling where their opponents could hit the ball. A very competitive match with many of the games being decided by one or two points was enjoyed by all the players and augurs very well for the future. Team : Kentaro Tada, Matthew Leung, Thomas Dunn, Laurie Sawbridge, Fergus Turvill, Amar Fernando, Charlie Mavor, Holly Wang, Ayush Shah and Ziao Wang. (RAA)

Special Mentions:

Congratulations to Wilf La Fontaine Jackson (B, VI1) who has achieved selection into the full Hampshire CCC U18 Academy programme alongside one of our new VI” entrants, Ethan Baker (A, VI2). Both boys have invested significant time and effort into their cricket and the selection is just reward for such hard work. They will be involved in winter training at the Ageas Bowl in preparation for Academy and potentially 2nd XI matches next summer.

One of our other new VIth entrants, Sophia Liu (H, VI2) also deserves congratulations for her progress with sailing. Having finished in the top 50 in her category at the European Youth Sailing Championships in Greece during the summer she is now regularly attending training squad sessions as part of the selection process for the U18 Great British squad.

All fixtures details can be found on:

https://sportsfixtures.winchestercollege.org/

Sporting quote for the week:

“Great players and great teams want to be driven. They want to be pushed to the edge. They don’t want to be cheated. Ordinary players and average teams want it to be easy.” (Former NBA Coach, Pat Riley)

M.S. Burley

Director of Sport

28th September 2022 Twitter: @WinCollSports