Tournaments - Inter-House and District

Date: Thursday 13 March 2008

The last Thursday afternoon games' session of the term, and the Senior Boys Hockey Tournament came to its conclusion with the 3rd/4th place play off and the final itself.

In the play off match the sides finished 1 - 1 after 25 minutes each way. Harry Callaway had opened the scoring for Warneford, before a penalty stroke by David van Rooyen brought Wagner a well-deserved equaliser. No winner came in the five 'golden goal' minutes, so a penalty shoot out led to a victory for Wagner when Joe Rawlins failed to save Warneford - not as a 'keeper, but with a missed stroke!

The final was a very one-sided affair, as Baker strolled to a 4 - 0 win over Watson. Two goals in the first half from Ben Easter and Nick Clapham, and another two after the break from Jack Barwick and Freddy Pack were too much for a Watson side, hugely reliant on the attacking flair of Oli Perry, and the defensive strength of David Welham. To be honest, the Baker-Wagner semi-final should have been the final in terms of balance. But, as long as these tournaments are based on a 'random' draw system, and 'seeding' does not take place, this will often be the case.

The District Netball Tournaments for 1st and 2nd VIIs always take place at St Edmund's and did again this year. The rain which had been threatening all afternoon swept in with a vengeance, and clearly made playing conditions outdoors almost impossible. Given the problems of frozen hands, a greasy ball, and a slithery court, the quality of play was impressive from all the schools involved.

The St Edmund's teams fared very well indeed, to round off a memorable season. The 1st VII drew with King's Canterbury, lost to Kent College, but won their other four matches to finish third overall with 15 points (KC 16, King's 17). The 2nds won their first four matches, and had to beat King's in the fifth game to win the trophy. As conditions deteriorated, King's came out on top 6 - 2, and so we were consigned to the runners-up slot, finishing with 13 points to their 15.

So King's took the trophies back down the hill; we went to dry off!