GIRLS’ SPORTS REPORTS 10/12/2017

HOCKEY

1st XI Hockey v Millfield lost 2-0
The 1stXI hockey travelled down to Millfield for their annual fixture. Sedbergh knew it would be a tough match, however they focused on the basics and took the confidence from the season into the match. The girls started off well will 50-50 possession moving and distributing the ball well. The opposition were a strong side with high levels of intensity and determination to win every ball.

A short corner was awarded against Sedbergh which they conceded. With the ball at the other end of the pitch Sedbergh were awarded a penalty flick from a short corner, which under the pressure was not successful. The girls kept their heads up, putting up a very strong fight making it very difficult for the Millfield team to break up the Sedbergh press.

Half time blew with a score of 1-0. Sedbergh surprised Millfield as they have had a very impressive season winning comfortably and making nationals. Sedbergh kept the pressure high throughout the whole match getting into the oppositions head and causing them to make mistakes. The girls took confidence from this winning many short corners however not scoring from them.

The Millfield team won another short and scored from it making the score 2-0. The last few minutes of the match saw the umpire award another short corner for Millfield from a silly Sedbergh mistake. The final whistle was blown and Sedbergh managed to defend well and kept the score 2-0 at full time. Over all the girls put on a sensational performance, restricting Millfield to just 2 shots on target from open the play in the whole game, the team have lots to be proud about. This should give them plenty of confidence ahead of the Wellington fixture the following day. MWS

1st XI Hockey v Wellington won 3-1
Sedbergh faced Wellington in their penultimate game of the Michaelmas term. The Wellington defence were under considerable pressure from Sedbergh’s attackers but the first half only saw fruitless attempts of near misses. A last minute defensive short corner, lead to Sedbergh falling one goal behind from a drag flick before the half time whistle.

With their foot still in the door, the girls knew what they needed to do. Sedbergh’s fight back was kick started by a well-executed short corner routine where Zöe, at right post, deflected a powerful push from Josie from the top of the D. In quick succession of this, Jemima collected the ball from the 25 and aggressively drove into the D from the right hand side, only to beat the three defenders in her way and uncut slapped the ball into the roof of the goal. The complete turnaround made a much more competitive game and the now energised northern side utilised the width of the pitch.

The Wellington attack was broken up by a sturdy defensive unit of Holly and Georgina and very well assisted by wing backs, Eliza and Tabby, who threaded the ball through to Issy and Mary. On one of these occasions, Mary took responsibility and skilfully rounded the centre back and hit the ball from top D, which soared above the logged goalie, to finish the match of with a 3-1 victory. Congratulations to Zöe Wismeth, Mary Archner and Holly Dale who were awarded their colours and Josie Coulthard on her Brown Blazer for her huge contribution and dedication to Sedbergh hockey.  MWS

U16 XI Hockey v Millfield lost 6-0
Tuesday saw the girls face their toughest fixture of the season against Millfield. As they prepared for the North finals they knew a good performance was required. In a close first half Sedberg managed to match Millfield and the game looked very even.

It was due to unfortunate circumstances that they trailed 2-0 at half time after some brilliant saves from Lena Muller Eising. The second half didn’t start as positively as the first as Millfield took advantage of some sloppy passing at the back to score 4 quick goals. A 10-minute spell that effectively finished the game meant the girls had to show some real character to bounce back ready for the North’s.  Beaten 6-0 by a superb Millfield team.

U16 North Hockey Finals
After success at the North West finals the girls were drawn against Wakefield, GSAL and Cheadle Hulme in their North finals group. 
The first game saw Sedbergh face Wakefield. After a difficult match the day before the girls struggled with the fast start Wakefield made and conceded early in the first half.

The bouncy Leeds pitch also made playing hockey hard for the Sedbergh girls and their task was made harder when they went into half time 2-0 down. The girls improved second half but still struggled to create any meaningful chances. Pushing for goals meant the defence was open and Wakefield took advantage of this and scored another 2 goals. Final score finish 4-0 to the eventual winners of the North finals stage.

The next game became make or break against Cheadle. This pressure seemed to work for the girls as they put in a much improved performance and thanks to a lovely finish from India Haydon Wood at a short corner the girls took a 1-0 lead. Some solid defending followed lead by Perdie Blackhall, Ellie Madden and Dasiy Page who stopped all hopes for Cheadle as consistently prevented every meaningful attack.

The girls showing why teamwork is the most important skill to possess. This win meant the girls only required a draw against GSAL to progress. After three tough matches fatigue was starting to take place which made it a lot harder for the girls. A fast start by GSAL didn’t help and they quickly found a way through the defence of Sedbergh and took an early lead. As time went on Sedbergh had to take more chances and commit numbers forward.

Tash Cookson, Lottie burns and scout turner Richards all doing their best to create chances and get sedbergh back in the game. After GSAL managed the squeeze a shot in at Lena’s near post to double their lead the task became too much for Sedbergh to overturn and unfortunately lost the deciding game 3-0. This meant they were knocked out on goal difference. 

A disappointing end to the season, however one they can be completely proud of. The girls gave absolutely everything and just didn’t get the luck they deserved to progress. A fantastic year with some real potential for future years.

U14 XI Hockey v Millfield lost 3-1
U14 XI Hockey v Wellington lost 3-1

This was an ideal experience for the girls as they faced two technically strong teams on fast modern astros in back to back fixtures. 
In the first game Millfield’s centre half dominated the first half and it was only when Gabby Morris man-marked her in the second half that Sedbergh got a foothold in the game and pulled the score back to 2-1. With the playmaker neutralised Sedbergh began to have more possession and looked capable of scoring more than the one goal but unfortunately conceded late on to prevent the comeback.

On the following day Sedbergh faced a similar team with an equally strong centre half. The first half started poorly as Sedbergh insisted on dumping the ball in the middle of the pitch, squandering possession and putting themselves under constant pressure. A 2-0 score line at half time was lucky at best and after a stern team talk the players responded well in the second half, passing the ball far more accurately and away from the middle and were rewarded when Robyn Johnston scored at the near post off a short corner.

Sedbergh continued to press for an equaliser but were unable to find one due to an impressive display by the Wellington goalkeeper.
Both games showed the girls that they can compete with these high calibre teams as long as they listen to the coach, stick to the tactics and play in a composed manner. 

NETBALL

Senior netball v Millfield lost 64 – 25
A tough fixture against a strong and clinical Millfield 1st team where Sedbergh struggled to find their flow and had limited shooting opportunities.  Positives to take were that all 14 players took to the court and there were glimpses of brilliance but too few to change the score. 

The Upper 6th of Lewin, Turner and Haywood worked their socks off to try to influence the game but there was little opportunity to dominate and it was a dejected team that left the court, having battled against possibly the best team in the country this year. 

Senior Netball v Wellington won 34-26
A much improved performance from the senior netballers against a more evenly matched side.  Imo Caudwell took to the court following yesterday’s illness and Tabby Holdsworth also took to the court to play hockey after. 

This defensive duet made an immediate impact which saw opportunities galore for our shooters of Turner and Lewin.  Haywood continued to dominate the centre court and is impressing at Centre.  Still work to do on patterns through the court but a much improved performance to take the win.  LS

Junior Netball v Millfield lost 40-15
Our junior netballers lined up against Millfield a mixture of U15s and U14s all excited to be in tour and determined to give this match everything.   Millfield were a strong tall powerful side who were so clinical in execution of their passes through court it was hard for us to turn over any ball at first.

We converted our centre passes through some great work in attack by Emily and Ella taking on the strong Millfield defence and getting some goals.  As we got in to the game we grew in confidence forcing errors by the opposition but were unable to covert these in turnovers into goals. Great shooting from Ella and Flora saw all our goal opportunities scored off in the first and second quarters. 

With a few changes for both sides after half time the second half saw a different game not many long overhead passes but a shorter sharper game. Grace managed to get a few defensive rebounds under the post as their shooters started to miss but we couldn’t turn these in to goal scoring opportunities. We started to tire but never gave up.

The girls should be proud of how hard they worked today joint captains Flora and Ella both leading by example throughout the game and encouraging the rest of the team on the court. Looking forward to the Wellington game tomorrow where we hope to get more goals on the board.   VLO 

Junior Netball v Wellington lost 24-10
The last game of the tour and a slightly different team to yesterday with some of our u16s taking to the court. An outstanding game for Elle Heathcote who played the whole game at C forcing errors, tips and interceptions working tirelessly until the final whistle.  After a tough first quarter the girls settled down their passing, concentrating on the high release of the ball to avoid the Wellington defence and offering a square or back up option to keep possession.   

In the second half Amelia and Joelle did a great job of bringing the ball down from defence in to attack but we lacked ball placement into the circle around a tall opposing GK. Everyone battled hard until the end and the unit work on court was an improvement on yesterday’s game.   A long range penalty shot from Kayleigh on the whistle put us in to double figures with a final score for the match of 24 vs 10. VLO

LACROSSE

1st XII Lacrosse v Sherborne lost 13-4
The girls arrived at Sherborne buoyed by the notes of Winder and ready to take the pitch. A very strong Sherborne Centre meant Sedbergh struggled to win the draw and gain early possession. The Sherborne girls were well drilled and fought hard to maintain possession and get a few early goals. Sedbergh learned from their mistakes after every quarter and the defensive unit got better and better as the match went on. Unfortunately a strong Sherborne Goalie meant that Sedbergh’s shots on goal sadly were not often converted giving a final score of 13-4. FAPM

1st XII Lacrosse v Wellington won 11-7
We arrived at Wellington 2 players down due to illness but the girls rallied themselves following the previous day’s loss and started strongly against an unknown side. The attack worked well together with newer players stepping up and taking control leading to a lot of well-earned goals. The defence built on their progress from the day before to give a really cohesive unit with strong slides and lots of communication. Against Wellington Sedbergh really played lacrosse as I know they can and stepped up following a disappointing defeat. Final score 11-7.

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