Sports Report – Cloister Time, Week 7

Tuesday 10th June 2025

Chess v Staff (h):

Despite the best efforts of the staff, the pupils came out 7-0 winnners in this occasional fixture. Mr. O'Ceallaigh came closest to securing a point for the adults, putting Xerxes under the cosh, but the irrepressible Hopperite wriggled free and came back to win. Mr. Douglas held his own for a long time against Rex, but was undone towards the end while Dr. Guerriero gave a good game to Yourui. Mr. Reeve had the daunting task of facing off against Edison in the latter's final competitive game at Winchester. One of Edison's trademark searing attacks down the h-file put the Undermaster to the sword. The lot of losing to a Jun Man on board 1 fell to Dr. Follows, who was worse off in the opening after a risky gambit but managed to regain the pawn from Pengxiao in the middle game and force off the queens for an equal endgame, in which Pengxiao's superior technique and skill were enough to deny the staff even one drawn game. A big thank you to the staff for gamely taking on the might of our A team before their National Schools Finals later in June. [DIF]

Cricket: v Bradfield College & Hounsdown School

Lords lost the toss and were sent out into the field. A good opening partnership, surviving some testing bowling from Seb (D) and Stanley (K) was eventually broken by Tom H (E), dismissing the Bradfield opener and number 3 in quick succession. George B (B) continued to keep the pressure up, taking another 2 wickets. A solid partnership between the surviving opener and the number 6 merged before Archie L (I) broke the stand, picking up 3 wickets in the end. The opener carried his bat through the innings for an unbeaten 103, leaving Bradfield with 239-7

Will (B) and Jack (A) started brightly, each picking up a few boundaries before departing in quick succession. Seb and Amaar (I) formed a solid partnership, moving the score on, batting well through tight Bradfield bowling. However, both fell, with the Bradfield bowlers able to build pressure and take regular wickets, leaving us bowled out 96 runs short. [Sam H (D)]

The Yearlings A secured their spot in the County Cup semi-finals with a 7 wicket win over Houndsdown, at the third attempt to get the game played.

Following travel and weather issues postponing the first two attempts to play this quarter-final, our guests opted to bat first in a 30 over game on Meads. They made a steady start with their young openers but Sinclair, Clothier, Pounds and Aram also did not allow them to accelerate the scoring either. Aram linked up with a good catch by Marsh to break the deadlock and then Hamilton and Mitchinson charged through the opening, taking 6 wickets between them in the next 12 overs. The captain continued to switch the bowlers around and Radcliffe, on debut, took the final wicket, after Marsh had taken a brace in his first over.

Chasing 72 to win, Collegemen Qi and Shah opened up (has this happened for the YAs before?) but neither looked settled at the crease and both departed by the 8th over. Clothier (25*) and Sanders kept the score ticking over before Mitchinson replaced Sanders and finished the chase off in quick time. Won by 7 wickets. 72 for 3 against 71 ao.

Tennis: Girls 1st VI v St Swithun’s School

Megan (K) gallantly stepped in at short notice to complete the team line-up. 10 minutes in the minibus and we were there ready and to go.

Our 3 pairs played each of theirs in turn. The St. Swithun’s team was made up exclusively of seasoned match players from their top 2 tennis teams. Cleo (D) captain, partnered by Charlotte (H), competed well in all 3 matches and won several close rallies although they did not quite manage a win. Otterlie (K) and Megan (K), who had had little match experience, seemed to significantly improve as the fixture went on. Although they faced strong opposition they battled well and managed to win several rallies within the games. Our first pair played at a high level throughout with un-wavering consistency, managing to return at times what appeared like certain winners. Erica’s (A) volleying was impressive as were Hesper’s (H) steady ground shots. This pair achieved a clear win in all 3 matches, a laudable effort. In summary, a fine spectacle played in good spirit. L6-3 [TERC]

Thursday 12th June 2025

Cricket v LWC and Bristol Grammar School

3rd XI v Lord Wandsworth College (a): Won by 5 wickets. 134 for 5 against 131 for 4.

U17A’s v Bristol Grammar School (a): National U17 Plate

On a rather rainy and cloudy afternoon, Winchester arrived in Bristol for an anticipated cup game. Batting first, we made a big total. C Mitchinson (I) solidified the Winchester innings, scoring 102 runs and with the handy help of J Kennedy (X) at the other end scoring 32, gave the team a great start. Knowing we had the capacity to bat all the way down to number 11 we really accelerated in the last overs with supportive innings from the likes of H Clothier (B) and L Husband (H).

When Bristol Grammar School came into bat, our bowlers took control of the game. O Irvine (B) bowled with elegance and power, taking 2 key wickets. C Wilson also bowled very well and took 2 wickets himself. Mentions also go to S Askew (K) and H Pockney (G) for very economical spells and took one wicket each. All the bowlers put pressure on the Bristol batsmen and made it hard for them to score boundaries. The fielding was sharp too, with some good catches and smart stops in the field especially from the likes of A Lawson (I) and A Baljee (K). In the end, Winchester won the game comfortably. It was a complete performance with both bat and ball, and the team can be very proud going into our next cup game on Tuesday. L.Husband (H)

Tennis v Harrow School (a):

U15A: Won 6 – 3

U15B: Won 6 – 3

Having driven through the pouring rain up the M3 we arrived at Harrow to glorious sunshine. The U15Cs won eight of their nine matches with the star pair being Jaden and Bertie at C1. Our C3 pair, Myles and Hugh had some excellent matches including a nail-biting tie breaker against the Harrow C1 pair that they narrowly lost. In the Ds we were down a player but Nathan A stepped up from the U14s to play in the D2 pair with Rupert. The Ds won 5-4, with the best performances being put in by Spencer and Fraser. Overall it was a fantastic afternoon of tennis only slightly diminished by the terrible London traffic.[LJR]

U14A: Lost 2 – 7

U14B: Lost 4 – 5

U14C: Won 8 - 1

U14D: Lost 3 – 6

Friday 13th June 2025

National T20 Cup, 1st XI v Wellington College (n): Lost by 8 wickets. 190 for 5 against 191 for 2.

Saturday 14th June 2025

Golf 1st Hockley Club Championships (h):

Three boys competed in this men's competition at our own Hockley Golf Club, against a field of the club's finest golfers. It was a long day (36 holes) but a beautiful one, matched by some of the Wykehamists' golf.

Notably Seb Wells (G) had another strong performance, finishing sixth overall. Though he will ultimately be a little disappointed with this finish and his scores, it is testament to the quality of his golf at the moment that Seb's expectations will have been higher. Certainly, there is some impressive golf from him, waiting just around the corner.

The standout out performance came from relative youngster Sander Andreasen (A). Still well and truly enjoying a sense post-IGCSE euphoria (having had his last exam the day before), he produced two of his finest rounds, in tough and windy conditions, to shoot a fantastic 1 under par aggregate total (72-69). Much to Sander's own surprise, this was enough for him to win the whole event and be crowned Club Champion for 2025 by 1 shot and his get name on the honours board. This is a huge result for Sander and a sign of fine things to come (and many more victory speeches!), no doubt. (RM)

Athletics: HSAA County Championships

Twelve athletes from the club had earned selection to represent Eastleigh & Winchester Schools at the Hampshire Schools Athletics Association Championships in Portsmouth on Saturday. A persistent calf injury meant that Benedict J (A) had to unfortunately withdraw but fellow VI1 pupil and club captain Jeffrey C (C) was first in action, finishing 4th in the Senior Boys 100m. Jeffrey moved straight to the SB Long Jump where he took 1st place and at the same time Vbk pupils Seb B (G) and Ed F (B) competed in the Intermediate Boys Long Jump finishing 4th and 6th respectively; Seb earning a new pb in the process. Seb then moved onto the IB 200m which saw him win his heat and move on to the final where he once again finished just outside the podium but again achieved a new pb. Fourth place was the same finish for Ivor M (G) running in the IB 800m and it won’t be long before he is running this distance sub 2.00min.

Three JP pupils were also competing in the competition for the first time. William R (I) ran a very competitive race to finish inside the top 10 in the Junior Boys 1500m but there were championship victories for Sam W (A) in the JB Shot Putt and Emmanuel O (K) in the 80m Hurdles. New personal bests for each of them and Emannuel recorded a time which puts him in the top 15 in the country in his age group.

Amongst the other Intermediate Boys there was a fine 2nd place for Felix C (E) in the 100m Hurdles and a 3rd place for Jayden O (C) in the triple jump. Justin C (B) faced difficult throwing conditions in the javelin but finished a credible 8th place and Osamede A (G), throwing against many boys a year older, finished 2nd in the discus, with a new pb, and 3rd place in the shot putt.

Congratulations to Emmanuel, Sam, Osamede, Jayden and Felix who have all gained selection to represent Hampshire at the South East Counties Championships in Crawley next Saturday. Also, huge congratulations go to our own Miss Jones who threw a new javelin pb and her furthest distance for over fives years to climb into the top three of the national rankings. (MSB)

Cricket v OW’s (h):

1st XI: Won by 61 runs. 270 for 5 against 290 ao.

2nd XI: Lost by 4 wickets. 240 for 4 against 242 for 6.

Croquet U18A’s v OW’s (h):

A strong team of recent OWs, including the England captain of golf croquet, came down to visit and play in the beautiful setting of Warden's Garden. The early stages were cagey, and the current Wykehamist first pair of August and Oli K contained their opponents and then built up a lead of 10-3 with five minutes to go. Meanwhile, the current pupils on the other lawn held his own against OWs Alaric and Angus for most of the game. As time wore on though, Angus found his touch and forged ahead to win. It looked like a drawn match was the just reward for some excellent play by Oli K and August, but Aston for the OWs had one turn left, needing 8 points to win. Since taking a ball all the way around would only yield 7 points, his only chance was to peel partner ball through hoop 4 along the way. With heroic croquet and concentration, though, Aston showed all his skill and managed the feat to clinch the game and the match in the final seconds by doing just that. (DIF)

Sporting quote for the week:

“Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” Former NCAA Football Coach, Lou Holtz

M.S. Burley

Director of Sport

17th June 2025

X: @WinCollSports