The Start of the Seasons - Seniors

Date: Thursday 11 September 2008

The girls' Hockey season began this afternoon with two 'training games' against Sir Roger Manwood's School for the new 1st and 2nd XIs. The firsts went down 1 - 4 to a strong and experienced Manwood's side, sporting a number of players with representative honours to their names! Two early goals were conceded before a period of concerted pressure before half-time led to a short corner reply from Amber Nicholls. The second half saw the School maintain a higher level of control in midfield, but without really threatening to penetrate the circle. A very late strike enabled Manwood's to add a fourth goal, and leave SES pondering the playing format for the season, and where goals are going to come from. There is some real talent in the squad, with captain Emma Wink showing the ability to beat players, and Arabella Pemberton acting as a midfield link; the Upper Fifth debutantes worked hard, and will, hopefully, make the step up from Under 15 Hockey to this much higher level.

The boys 2nd XI football team started their campaign with a home defeat against Barton Court, losing 1 - 2, after conceding a soft goal in the last five minutes. That said, enough chances had been created to have put the School 'out of sight' before that final aberration. Frequent substitutions did not allow the team to develop any real consistency over the 70 minutes, and the only SES goal came from a corner, which deflected from the crossbar, onto Dominic Morgan's head, and into the back of the net. Kamaal Khatumal was outstanding in defence, but we really should have turned pressure into goals, and defeat into victory.

The girls' 2nd XI, who travelled to Polo Farm for their first game, came home having dominated much of the game on the wrong end of a 2 - 0 scoreline. Manwood's scored two cracking goals past goalie Laura Patterson - making her debut - but despite the best efforts of 'Man of the Match' Charlotte Lench and Susannah Benham, incessant SES pressure brought no reward. Such is sport: domination is no guarantee of success, if goals don't come!

Despite these results, the best news is that for the first time in several years there is a glut of players at the senior end of the School, all keen to compete for places in the top sides; that can only be good for the season lying ahead.