Sports Report – Common Time 2024, Week 9

Tuesday 5th March 2024

Fives v St Paul’s School (a):

Winchester won 20 out of 23 games in a convincing 244-123 victory at the modern "Home" of Fives, St. Paul's. Particular credit goes to M Zhang and Casper W for the way that they outplayed a talented St. Paul's 1st pair on their home courts. [JM]

Rackets 1st v Wellington College (a):

The Prince’s Pair (so named owing to their historically being invited to practise at the Prince’s Club, Chelsea), Bertie V (VI1, F) and Henry N (VI1, A), made relatively short work of their opponents, winning 15-1, 15-7, 15-4.

JC’s, Oscar O’C (I) and Amar F (I), took on their Sen. Colts, winning 15–4, !5–2 15-9, an encouraging result on an away court. The contest of the day involved Jack B (VI2, A) and Rupert B (VI2, K). Rupert played at a new, high level racing up the court to cut off challenging angles whilst volleying solidly. Jack appeared to feel at home on the court too, and together, they raced into a 2–0 lead, 5–4, 15-2. However, this stirred the opponents into action and they managed to first equalise and then claim the final game. [TERC]

Wednesday 6th March 2024

Golf – Micklem Trophy (a): 1st Rd: Winchester 4.5 - 0.5 Bradfield

Harry H won 5&4

Isaac H halved

Sebastian W won 8&7

Ray S won 7&6

James R won 5&3

Rugby Sevens 1st VII – HSFRU Tournament

Making their debut in the Hampshire Schools U18 tournament the squad was unfortunately weakened through unavailability and injury. First up was Brockenhurst College and despite controlling possession for the first two minutes the boys didn’t get themselves onto the scoreboard despite chances to exploit overlaps. Brockenhurst went up by three scores before Gus B (VI1, F) grabbed one back but the temptation to be drawn into contact didn’t help and we only managed one further try through Gus again in the second half. The second game of the pool was against the favourites Peter Symonds College and to everyone’s surprise WinColl took a 7-5 lead after a superb catch and run from the kick off by Lucas P (VI1, A) which he turned into a converted try. There was far greater discipline with and without the ball and it was a credit to WinColl that the PSC team had to work very hard to score their tries out wide. A 38-7 loss was perhaps a scoreline which didn’t do justice to the ebb and flow of the game. By the time WinColl reached the Bowl semi-final there were just 7 players remaining and the fatigue factor resulted in a disappointing loss to Burgate School. Lots of lessons learned. (MSB)

Thursday 7th March 2024

Badminton v Bradfield College (a):

On Thursday, Winchester’s second VIII were deployed to Bradfield to play badminton. This was a rare occasion, and despite not having much experience in their respective pairs, all the players were adaptive and cooperated well. Despite their best efforts. Winchester suffered a 12-4 loss. However, these players have good potential with more training, teamwork and experience, the second VIII could hopefully give Bradfield a run for their money next year.

The man of the match is Alex P (VI1, I), who bravely played on despite having a sprained ankle and even managing to win a game, which is very respectable. While he was unable to move much, he played some good, tight dropshots from the back of the court. (A. Yu, VI1, I)

Basketball v Canford School (a): Lost 45-48

Golf – Micklem Trophy (a): Semi-Final: Stowe 3.5 - 1.5 Winchester

Harry H won 7&6

Isaac H lost 3&2

Seb W lost on 1st extra hole (19th)

Ray S lost 3&2

James R halved

Hockey v The Portsmouth Grammar School (a):

U15A: Lost 1-8

In sunny Portsmouth, the U14As began the game strong in defence as McGregor, Fletcher and Carnegie ensured a quiet passage of play for Pang in goal. Henry and Irvine were encouraged forwards as the outside halves but we struggled with any end product in the Portsmouth circle. Hawkins finally got more possession in the Portsmouth 23 later in the half and in the 25th minute worked enough space around the top right of the circle to fire a shot into the bottom left corner.

After the break our hosts were instantly on the front foot and passing the ball much faster. This caused us plenty of problems as they piled on more pressure in front of our goal and eventually found an equaliser with a finish from close range. As the game became more stretched we responded well and Hawkins found another goal, again striking cleanly from the top right of the circle. Pleasingly, we did not sit back and Hawkins kept trying to create more opportunities for Henry and Lassalvy. Hunt, Scott Moncrief and Paterson kept working hard in midfield and broke down much of the danger in the final moments of the game to see out the 2-1 win. [JMB]

Squash v Eton College (a):

The Sen IX lost 0-9 against a very strong Eton side. The Winchester players all played well but were beaten by their opponents’ greater pace and shot placement. Their were close games for Felix C at 1st string , losing 7-11,9-11 and 7-11 and for Sam B at 4th string who won his first game 11-8 , only to be defeated 3-1 by his opponent’s greater strength . It was the final match for many of the Winchester side: Captain Brian C (VI1, C), Louis B, Max Di V and Will H. They played with the same level of determination they have shown in their squash careers, playing their best for their team. As a team the Senior V will reflect with pride that they have won over 50% of their matches with limited resources being led very professionally by Brian C. and Will G. (Vice-Captain).

The U-14 team retained their undefeated record with a very good 3-1 win against a strong Eton side. The team played well, having to get used to the Eton courts where keeping in front of the opponent and placing the ball tight at the front was crucial. Proad D. and Alfie M. were first on and Alfie, serving well and using his drop shot to great effect was soon 2-0 up. His opponent put Alfie under pressure in the 3rd game but he kept his focus and won 12-10. Proad had a tough match and was eventually beaten 12-10 in the 4th by his opponent’s good serves and retrieval at the front of the court.

The next players on were 1st string Ayson K. and 2nd string Phoom K. Ayson played a very good game, placing the ball to all four corners of the court with very little pace and as the ball became colder his opponent had to retrieve more but it was to no avail as Ayson won 3-0. On the other court Phoom had a much harder match. Serving well and controlling the game he won the first two games only for his opponent to play really well to draw the match 2 all. The 5th game was decided by Phoom's great composure, making fewer mistakes and serving well, finally winning 11-6. The result was really deserved by a very good U-14 team. [RAA]

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

Sporting quote for the week:

You don't get what you wish for, you get what you work for”. (Daniel Milstein, US Entrepreneur)

M.S. Burley

Director of Sport

12th March 2024

X: @WinCollSports