Sports Report – Common Time 2023: Week 3

Tuesday 24th January

Rackets vs Clifton College Boys-U18
Clifton brought a 1st senior pair and 4 first year boys. An all-Furleyite pair of Henry Nicholls and Jack Bristowe teamed up to take on the seniors. Henry's clinical serving and impressive 'picks' off the side wall, when receiving, proved too much for the opposition and before long, Winchester were 2 games up. Jack's play was improving noticeably throughout the match and it was not long before next 2 games were also claimed, sealing the victory. Our yearlings team of 8 boys managed to play several mini matches with varying partners against the opposition and this format continued successfully all afternoon. (TERC)

Squash v Radley College (h)

A very good 3-1 win for the first team against a strong Radley side. With Shiloh Wu playing very well at first string for a 3-0 win the team had a good start. Shiloh's win was followed up with No. 2 Freddy Fisher and No 3 Oscar Henshaw both winning tough matches 3-1. Both players had really tough games where a good length or attacking drop made all the difference. The only player to lose was Ivo Sawbridge at 4th string whose boast could not win him the match. A good result before the teams next match v Epsom Away.

A good 3-1 win for the U15s against Radley with the only loss being at 1st string where Radley were forced to play their 1st team’s number 4 as a replacement. All the other Winchester players played well getting used to the lively Bar End courts, playing more consistently than their opponents. (RAA)

Thursday 26th January

Badminton v Charterhouse (a)

This was our first ever match against Charterhouse, and the boys were excited to take on a new challenge. From the very start, the team had to get used to the conditions including loud noise from basketball, faster shuttles and different courts. The first round began with our first three pairs finishing matches in 2 sets. Our fourth pair of Vincent and Derek had a hard time as they lost 13-15 in the final set against Charterhouse’s third. The next two rounds were smooth sailing as we won all the 8 games. Coming into the last round, there was a bit more pressure from our pairings who smashed through the Charterhouse defence. Overall, a massive 14-1 win making this our biggest win ever. Although Charterhouse seemed to be a decent opponent, it was our intensity that caused Charterhouse to crumble. As we play our hardest fixture next week, this was definitely a confidence booster. (Rudra Patel, I)

Basketball U18 v Sherborne (h)

Winchester started this game at full speed and pulled out to a 22-0 lead after just a few minutes. Sherborne were not at their best as they have been without their training facility recently, but they worked hard and competed. This presented an excellent opportunity for the Winchester team to try new offences and defences, and for lots of players to get valuable game time in different situations.. Not everything was perfect, but at times Winchester were superb as they executed team and individual moves impressively. At the risk of sounding glib, all the Winchester players played well and should have learnt a lot; the team is developing well. (LNT)

Fives v Christ’s Hospital (a)

Winchester U18s won overall 114-65, winning both the singles 56-25 and the doubles 58-38. This included a very close, hard fought game between 2 U16 opponents, that Jeffrey just lost 11-12. Christs U16 won overall 105-95 against Winchester’s U15s won the singles 37-31 by lost the doubles 58-74. (JM)

Hockey v Dauntsey’s School

The U15s first match of the season was much anticipated as we had waited nearly three weeks for it. Both sides started the game quite scrappily with neither able to string together a clean passage of play but we finished the first quarter firmly on top despite the lack of a goal. Then soon into the second quarter the team seemed to relax and passing movements started flowing across the pitch until finally we got our reward with Piers Fletcher (A) poking the ball through the keeper’s legs to open the scoring. This was the boost we needed and only a matter of minutes later Oli Street (K) dribbled through the Dauntsey’s defence and smashed it past the keeper to make it 2-0. This flourish bought us to half-time with the game firmly in our control. However, early on in the second half a hit through the middle of the pitch caught us off guard and the Dauntsey’s striker made it 2-1 with a good finish the only fault in an otherwise solid game from keeper Will Hagger (D). Yet this setback only seemed to raise our game as we began to play the smoothest hockey of the game so far, and as the opposition became fatigued gaps began to open up. This was capitalised on in perfect fashion with an excellent counter attacking run from Michael Jin (I) who had dominated the attacking midfield throughout the game. He then slid a pass to Aryaveer Baljee (K) who slapped it back across to Ethan Xiao (D) who slotted a much deserved goal into the corner via a great deflection. At 3-1 it seemed the opposition had run out of ideas and their only tactic was to try and smash it up the pitch. Almost every time though the ball was stopped in midfield and we continued to pressurise the opposition’s D. This resulted in a short corner and as the final whistle blew Piers Fletcher (A) scored his second with a powerful strike from the top of the D which he buried into the bottom corner. This concluded an excellent first game of the season from the JCAs. Thank you to Chris Batten (A, VI:I) for helping Mr Taylor coach the game whilst he was umpiring and to all the parents who were able to come and support (Stanley Askew, K)

U14A lost 0-3 to KE Southampton

Rackets v Marlborough College (a)

Bertie Vallat and Jack Bristowe teamed up to represent the 1st pair. At 13 points all in game 1, they opted for a gutsy 'no set' call which resulted in their winning the all-important initial game. Games 2 and 3 came relatively easily after that. Seb Robertson and Alex Harker, playing as 2nd pair, met a powerful opposition and unfortunately had to take the loss despite a determined effort.

Jamie Mitchell and Arthur James-Duff took on an older, adept girls’ pair. Despite facing severe serving, Jamie played exceptionally, returning shots out of the corners 2 or 3cms above the floor. Arthur performed impressively too, with a mature consistency, making it challenging to get the ball past him. After losing the first game, Winchester responded by winning games 2 and 3 relatively easily. Game 4 was a tight affair but Arthur and Jamie finally closed it out, taking the win after a spirited contest.

Next, Jack Bristowe, playing in his own age group, was partnered by Lukas Brunner who makes rare visits to the rackets courts. However, his adept eye for the ball and athleticism, helped the pair take the first 2 games. Game 3 was much closer and Marlborough managed to win it in the set. However, this provoked Winchester into responding and take game 4 efficiently and, with it, the match. Jack had played well with some well-chosen angles, retrievals and serves.

Finally, Oscar OCarroll and Dima Kasumov took on Marlborough’s U14s. Last time these pairs played one another, Winchester lost decisively. However, this time things were different. Dima’s strong left-handed serve made heavy inroads into the score and Oscar’s quick foot movement enabled him to retrieve challenging shots. The final score saw our pair take all 3 games, with game 1 going to a set. This is testament to the time they have spent practising at the courts. (TERC)

Cross Country: Inter-House Sprint Relays

The inter-house cross country relays saw teams of five from each age group race around the edge of New Field last Thursday. The three fastest individuals within the race were Jack Pascoe (B) in 1st, Harry Aherne (F) in 2nd and Mario Gianni-Garcia (B) in 3rd. Jack and Mario’s efforts were central to Toye’s taking the team title, followed by Chawker’s in 2nd and Hopper’s in 3rd.

Swimming Vs Eton (a)

It was a challenging opponent to start off racing this term. With a full bus, we arrived in Eton in high spirits. It was neck and neck for most of the match. In the U15 50m breaststroke, Nikita Sirotin and Bryan Lau dominated, coming first and second. In the U15 100m individual medley and U15 50m backstroke, Ruifu Gao won gold for both. And in the U18 50m breaststroke, Michael Yan secured first place. Unfortunately, even after such a valiant effort from everyone, we lost 63-81 in the end. I would like to give special mentions to Henry Steen and Nikita Sirotin for getting a personal best in their races. (M Yan, I)

Football: Soccer XI v Lancing College, ISFA Trophy QF (A)

Having not played a match since the ISFA Cup defeat away to Berkhamsted in early December there were concerns we would be undercooked for the ISFA Trophy quarter final match away at Lancing. However, a superb start to the match saw Winchester exert control and dominance. A couple of early chances were missed but the lead was taken from a Seb Fennell thunderbolt struck into the top corner after some nice link up play. It was just a few minutes later that Soccer XI were awarded a corner. Caspar Hall delivered a lovely cross into the six yard box where Luca Ryan rose to glance a well-placed header past the keeper. As half time approached we sat a little too deep and Lancing applied additional pressure to grab a goal back.

2-1 up at half time with everything to play for. Unfortunately, the lack of individual fitness training and collective work came home to roost. Lancing began to dominate the ball and found space easily. More and more of the game was being played in our half and Will Whitehead was called onto make several saves to keep us in it but eventually Lancing found the equaliser. There were still a couple of gilt edged chances available but we failed to take them and were punished for this profligacy when Lancing took the lead with just a few minutes left. The hosts saw the game out with some adept game management by keeping the ball in our bottom corner and their desire to win was ultimately the difference. Perhaps, a glance at this week’s quote might resonate. (MSB & JRD)

All fixtures details can be found on: https://sportsfixtures.winchestercollege.org/

Sporting quote for the week:

“There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” (Derek Jeter, former Major League Baseball player)

M.S. Burley

Director of Sport

30th January 2023

Twitter: @WinCollSports