Sports Report – Cloister Time 2023, Week 2

Monday 24th & Tuesday 25th April 2023 

Golf: ISGA National Finals, Slaley Hall, Northumbria

The three man team of Isaac Haines (VI2, I), Arthur Hampel (MP, B) and James Redfern (JP, A) made the long journey up North to represent the school in the ISGA Finals. Unlike their qualification process which was match-play, the format for this competition was a two day medal score so the boys had little capacity to play a poor hole without it potentially costing them dearly.

The first round on Monday saw the boys deal with an arduous 5 and a half hour round on a very wet course and all three boys saw their scores falter on the back nine. Nevertheless, they sat amongst the middle of the leader board at the start of the 2nd round. Scoring once again proved difficult on the second course and as Arthur and James struggled a little Isaac, kept himself in the top half with some accurate golf. Isaac finally finished in 26th, Arthur 36th and James 40th out off 55 players and the team finished 15th overall. (MSB)

Tuesday 25th April 2023 

Cricket: 4th XI v Bradfield College (a) Lost by 68 runs. 101 ao against 169 for 6.

Golf: 1st v Bradfield College (h) Lost 3-0

T Sood & S Wells - LOST 3&2

S Andreasen & J Bristowe - LOST 4&3

O Chuen-Im & H Xu - LOST 5&4

Wednesday 26th April 2023 

Cricket: Lords v Christ’s College, Christchurch NZ (h)

In the end a disappointing result, but for the neutral a great game of cricket which resulted in us losing by 1 wicket with 2 balls left.

We batted first and were very well placed at 149-2 to post 270+, but once Wilf had departed for a well-constructed 70 from 78 balls, and then a little later Seb for 69 we found ourselves from a very healthy 164-4, to 218-8. Dom ensured we made a competitive score of 238 all out with 23 from 24 balls, but our batting was a little disappointing, caught between playing "big" shots or the need to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Alex bowled an excellent spell going for only 18 runs from his initial 7 overs, as did Callum too (1-28) and we were well placed to win the game with 15 overs left. Ethan Baker also bowling a great spell of 3-34 from his 10. However, the Christs College 6th wicket pair batted excellently, scoring 1s and 2s at will, with great "gap" awareness to find the odd boundary and put on 71 in approx. 9 overs to leave them favourites to win the match. We then took 4 quick wickets and when the last pair needed 9 from 10 balls we were favourites. However some intelligent batting saw Christ College over the line with 2 balls to spare. Our fielding errors and extras counted in the end costing us the game. (PNG)

U17A’s: Lost by 4 wickets. 120 ao against 121 for 6.

Saturday 29th April 2023 

Athletics: Inter-Schools meet at Dauntsey’s (Dauntsey’s, BWS, King’s Bruton,. Kingswood, Bradfield, Lord Wandsworth, Sherborne, Wincoll)

The athletics team consolidated their strong start to the season with another 2nd place finish behind the host school. With several JP pupils stepping up to compete in the Inters and even the Seniors competitions, it was a very successful day. Within the senior boys event Kaito Kawada-Williams picked up a superb 400m-200m double victory, Harry Draper-Barr took 1st in Discus and 2nd in Shot, Gus Bowden finished with the same results in High Jump and 110mH respectively and Jeshaiah Murray took 2nd in both Triple and Long Jump. Amongst the Inter boys there was a double victory in Long and Triple Jump for Jeffrey Chan and top three finishes for Hunter Lui (100m), August Deeming (100mH), Maxwell Yu (400m), Jad Garlick (Shot) and a superb 2nd place finish in the senior 1500m from MP pupil Issa Duggan. Both sprint relay teams claimed good 3rd place finishes. (MSB)

Cricket v Portsmouth Grammar School:

On the best day of the year so far from a weather perspective, Lords travelled the short distance to PGS for a 40 over game.

We lost the toss and found ourselves in the field and on a slow/low wicket, with an extremely slow outfield, batting was never easy and a score of 130/140 may have been challenging. Thankfully, our bowlers were good, realising that concentrating on good lines and lengths and patience would be rewarded, Seb and Callum were probably the pick, Seb took 4-23 all bowled, Callum, 3-22, Alex and Charlie were both economical too as was Will who took 1-10 from his 8 overs.

So we required 98 to win and at 1-2 off the first over, the PGS opening bowler the pick of the opening bowlers we have faced this year taking both in his over, we were struggling a little! Chris and Zain however, with decent running between the wickets, steadied the situation and put on 38. However, we then lost 3 quick wickets and at 59-5, still needing 39 to win, we required a good partnership. This duly came from Dom and Seb, who both finished unbeaten on 19 and 18 respectively, both playing freely and the win was secured with 16 overs remaining. I was very pleased with the attitude and overall performance, although there are areas to work on, especially some of the ground fielding! Won by 5 wickets. 98 for 5 against 97 ao. (PNG)

The Second XI were in high spirts going into our game against PGS following a big win last week against Bradfield. We had a bat first in which Ritchie and Foster opened up. After losing Foster and MacMillan early, Matthews and Ritchie built a strong partnership with a steady run rate. Both batsmen played some beautiful shots with Ritchie making 50 followed by Matthews a few balls later. Unfortunately, Matthews was removed for a run-a-ball 51(47) triggering a typical second XI collapse. We fell from 128-2 to 138-8 with Ritchie being removed for 64 (82). Thankfully Harker and Batt added some handy runs at the death and we scrambled to 157-8 after our 30 overs. Won by 113 runs. 156 for 8 against 43 ao.

We felt this was a strong score and easily defendable. Batt and O’Doherty opened up the bowling and resumed superb form from last week rapidly reducing PGS to 21-5. Batt finished with 3-7 and O’Doherty 2-9. Brooke and Matthews both came on and bowled very economically but it was Tom Symonds who would finish the game taking a breath taking double hat trick (4 wickets in a row.) Tom finished with 4-0 off his one over and the overseas pro MacMillan finished off with the last wicket cleaning PGS up for 43. This was a massive win for the 2nds in which we performed fantastically with ball, bat and in the field. (Patrick Ritchie VI1, A)

Jun Colts A (a) Won by 89 runs. 149 ao against 60 ao.

On a sunny day after another postponed game vs Bradfield, the Yearlings As looked ready to play their first full match of the season. We lost the toss but were put into bat as preferred. Tom Howard (E) and Vedant Shah (D) opened the batting. In the second over, two wickets fell as Vedant was dismissed caught and bowled followed by Ayush Shah (E) in the same way. Winchester lost another wicket and suddenly, we found ourselves 9-3 in five overs. However, Tom and James Redfern (A) put on a rebuilding partnership, with Tom finding 3 boundaries before James was bowled out by a beautiful ball that trimmed the top of the off stump.

In came Amar Fernando (I) at No.6 but his partnership with Tom didn’t last long as Tom was caught for a very well made 25. Numbers 7,8,9 and 10 fell quickly after and before long the last two men in the middle were Amar and Laurie Sawbridge (H). Amar started to accelerate, looking to score over the top and behind square, including hitting four 4’s in one over. Laurie was brilliant with his running and alertness, always ready to react as quickly as possible and defending very solidly. At the end Amar was caught for 40 off 43 balls, with Laurie remaining a well-deserved not out. The Yearlings were bowled out for 104 but heads did not drop.

Ayush and Amar opened the bowling. Ayush’s figures were 0-1 off 4 overs (3 maidens!) and Amar ended with 2-7 off 3 overs, including a slower ball wicket that had the field ecstatic. After an outstanding spell of 3-0 by Isaac Leung (K), with energetic celebrations at each wicket, Tom picked up a couple of quick wickets. The game seemed out of reach for the visitors, however Winchester never gave up their energy, keeping intensity all throughout the game. And it was Holly Wang (I) who picked up their No.11, assisted by a brilliant reflex catch behind the stumps by James. In the end, PGS were all bowled out for 28, Winchester winning by 75 runs. Overall, a brilliant team effort which led to the first win of the summer. Won by 75 runs. 103 ao against 28 ao. (Amar Fernando, I)

Yearlings B did not bowl as well as last week against PGS U13A. There were too many extras. However, we did come back from a precarious position by bowling some really tight overs in the middle of the game. Well done to Archie and Mayin in particular for this. The fielding was okay but the catching was a little loose. Seb was our standout fielder. PGS set us 146 to win and some people were pessimistic about this. However, we kept up the run rate by playing sensible shots until we were on the verge of victory. Then, in the penultimate over, one of their players bowled a double-wicket maiden and the situation looked dicey. Step up Fergus to clonk a couple of boundaries to win the game with four balls to spare. He finished on 28 not out. Caspar (27) and Gabriel (39) were the rock in the middle of the innings. Won by 5 wickets. 146 for 5 against 145 for 4. (PAH)

The Yearlings C team went into the game against PGS U14Bs with a revised line up including a couple of new additions. After winning the toss, we chose to bat first. Our opening pair of East and Robinson started with a steady approach before taking advantage of the fielding mistakes made by PSG. They scored quick singles and managed to score their first boundary after just three overs. Gutpa replaced East after he was out LBW and he scored two fours in his first two balls for the team. Gutpa and Robinson worked well together, scoring twos and the occasional four, until Gutpa was caught whilst trying to score his first six. Lewis, another new addition to the team, showed great batting ability by scoring boundaries within his first two overs of play. By the 12th over, the team had already exceeded the run score from our previous match this season. The confidence of the boys quickly grew regarding the outcome of the game. Lewis and Robinson formed a great partnership, punishing some of the poorer deliveries from the PSG spin bowlers. The batting innings ended strong with Perks, Mcintyre, and Barcley, scoring some extra runs leaving the team with a total score of 137 runs after 25 overs.

McIntyre and Gupta opened the bowling and quickly took wickets with the help of Stoesser as their wicket-keeper. The C team took an aggressive approach, using their fastest bowlers to take out the opening batsmen from PSG. With this approach, the run rate of PSG was limited, and Robinson and Mann then took turns in taking wickets and depleting the batting order of PSG. The team's confidence was boosted with some superb fielding from Perks and Mavor, resulting in catches and run-outs. Next our faster bowlers, Lewis and Mavor, took turns in punishing the PSG batsmen and taking wicket after wicket. PSG struggled to score as many runs as they would have liked, and the game ended with PSG managing to score only 108 all out by the 22nd over. It was an excellent game and thrilling to watch and the C team should be proud of how they performed, showing a massive improvement in all areas of the game compared to their first match of the season.(JM)

The Yearling Ds put in a spirited performance against a strong PGS U13B side. Handy contributions with both bat and ball came from Johnnie Bailey (1 wicket for 17 runs off 3 overs and then 22 runs with the bat) and Roman Ivanov (2 wickets for 31 runs off 4 overs and then 14 runs with the bat). Ultimately it was two outstanding individual PGS performances that made the crucial difference on the day - one of the PGS opening batters made 36, before their captain took 4 wickets for 22 off 5 to put pay to Winchester's run chase. Lost by 30 runs. 105 for 7 against 135 for 4. (JL)

Tennis v Charterhouse

A rusty 1st VI nevertheless managed to start their season with a solid win against Charterhouse on a glorious Palmer afternoon. Lee, Van Every, Cao and Brunner won all of their matches, while Howman and 1st-VI debutant Apostolides picked up a solid win against the opposition's second pair. The 2s were less successful, though the Huw-Hugh dream team of Jiang and Williamson-Jones enjoyed a couple of epic sets. Won 7–2., U18B Lost 3–6. The 3s had a successful afternoon on Warden's Lawn, (W5-4) making this a pleasing way to start the season. (RJHM)

A dominant display by the Senior Colts A saw them romp home to a 9-0 victory against Charterhouse on the opening fixture of the season. An impressive overall team performance saw a blend of big serving from Daniel Garrett, assured net play by Oscar Oldenhove, the powerful groundstrokes of Adan Rubin, Ludovic Remers’ baseline consistency and great teamwork by Vincent Gueguen and Harry Latimer. These attributes proved too much for Charthouse to overcome and Winchester will look to continue this dominance into their next match. W9–0

The first fixture of the season saw the Senior Colts B produce a strong and ultimately definitive performance against Charterhouse. Some fine hitting was on display from John Sadie and Oliver Tait coupled with some outstanding net play from Stefan Ungureanu and Jonny Inglis. The team were carried home though by Oliver Frost and Tunt Pungpapong with two wins out of three .Both wins came with convincing score lines of 6-0 and 6-1; a promising doubles partnership to watch over the coming fixtures. Won 5 – 4 (TERC)

A superb day out for the U15s. The sun was shining, the parents were watching, the coffees were flowing. Winchester took some time to get used to the surface, the balls bouncing higher than they were used to, but once they got into their stride there were some very good matches. The A’s managed to pull off a 5-4 win against an impressive Charterhouse side. A particular highlight was the first pairs’ match with both pairs playing excellent tennis. Won 5 – 4.

The B’s lost 2-7 overall, but this doesn’t reflect the closeness of the matches. Indeed, two out of the nine went to tiebreak with a third ending 5-7.  The C’s had a tough job on their hands against a strong Charterhouse team. Nevertheless, despite losing they showed improvement over the afternoon and good humour throughout. (FHC)

The Under 14 A, B, C and D teams had a wonderful day of tennis in the sun at Charterhouse. The As were the only team to take home a win, but boys across the other team played fantastically. Kourosh Moghadam and Vas Salikhov had two exciting tie-breakers and Kirin Ranpura and Quincy Wong were the top performers in the Cs. The last match to finish saw Alex Jurdjevic and Oscar O'Carroll win a nail-biter, leading to a full-scale celebration on their court by all the U14s at the end. It was a great start to the season. (LJR )

U14A W5–4, U14B L4-5, U14C L2-7. U14DL1-8.

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

Sporting quote for the week:

“Don’t permit fear of failure to prevent effort. We are all imperfect and will fail on occasions, but fear of failure is the greatest failure of all” (John Wooden, Former UCLA Basketball Coach)

M.S. Burley

Director of Sport

1st May 2023

Twitter: @WinCollSports