Prep Sports
It has been an incredibly busy week for the Prep school Sport, despite the weather the children have still managed to get out onto the fields and astro for matches!
Last Friday the girls had the pleasure of both travelling to Exeter School, and hosting them at Queen’s for hockey. Some great matches followed for all the girls, with the A team matches very closely fought. The U10s who have yet to lose a fixture played some great hockey and scored early but a talented Exeter side came back in the second half to secure the win. The U11A were dominant in their match away and had lots of opportunities and were unlucky to score in open play, however a well struck short corner from Juno secured a win. The B teams also worked hard to improve their passing technique.
On Saturday, the U10 boys hosted their Queen’s tournament with the help of some of our Year 6 players; a glorious morning greeted the 14 schools who attended our annual Queen’s College U10 Rugby Festival. The morning is best described by a visiting parent who commented that the event showed off how well the grounds are maintained which clearly has not been an easy feat given the weather over the last month. In addition much thought had gone into ensuring everyone was well looked after, the referees and officials were fantastic and the Queen’s pupils were charming and helpful.
In addition, the U10 boys played their best rugby of the term. They worked hard in all their matches, putting in some tremendous defensive shifts and attacking with determination. They certainly made good progress during the course of the morning with George at the forefront throughout. More U10 rugby photos can be found on Flickr.
Also on Saturday the U10 girls travelled to Millfield for their tournament and faced some tough opposition. They played some amazing hockey at times and played tenaciously but again getting the ball in the goal was a challenge, but some lessons learned and progress made.
On Wednesday on what turned out to be the best day of the week, all the girls were at home. We had a lovely triangular with Perrott Hill and West Buckland, with some competitive and fun matches. The U10 girls recovered well from Saturday and played some excellent hockey with many of them wanting to score which was fantastic to see. The U11 girls also played some creative hockey and worked hard to score in their matches.
The rugby teams had some tough matches against kings hall but the U11 continued to listen brilliantly to coaching advice and this is reflected in their full match reports on SOCS. the u10 boys struggled in defence but put on a spirited display in their matches.
This Saturday, the U9 children have hockey and rugby festivals at Blundell’s (fingers crossed for not too much rain) and on Sunday nine of our children who performed well at our own House Biathlon are off to compete in the South West schools event at Millfield.
Senior Sports
U16 Rugby
The U16’s welcomed Brymore on Saturday for the annual, eagerly anticipated fixture. As always, Brymore brought a physical and determined squad. The relentless attack from their forwards was met with ferocious defence from Queen’s, Harrison, Ben and Flynn leading the way with some crowd pleasing tackles. Slick handling and clinical finishing meant Queen’s were once again too strong for their opposition and ran away with the game in the first-half. The second-half saw Brymore change gear and start to put the Queen’s defence under pressure. Some well worked and well deserved tries were still not enough to get close to the impressive Queen’s team performance. Another dominant display, well done boys. Tries – Caspar (4), Harrison (2), Woody, Flynn. Conversions – Caspar (8).
U15 Rugby
Queen’s U15 met a physically and tough team from Brymore Academy on Saturday. With pitch conditions wet under foot and large patches of heavily worn muddied ground, Queen’s quickly became un-stuck and conceded within 3 minutes of the start. A missed conversion kept the game tight with both teams wrestling for possession in the middle of the pitch. Queen’s eventually broke the resilient Brymore lines and scored in the corner. A second try and conversion followed soon after following a good line out and penalty decision. At half time with the scores 5-12 to Queen’s, both teams needed the first response to add points on the scorecard. Peniston-Bird and McDavid provided a relentless period of big tackles, solid ruck turnovers and brave jackals to supply the ball to Burrough to dictate the set plays. Burrough found Messom with a pin point pass who picked up the ball on the wing and out-ran 3 players before diving into the corner for a crucial try.
Brymore were not finished and an impressive captain’s display from the visitors kept the scores tight late into the second half. Queen’s performance levels did not drop and a driving scrum and turn over, set the ball to Hartland who smashed himself through a superb defencive Brymore line and slammed the ball down for another man of the match performance. Nash wasted no time to kick another conversion to add to an impressive points total for the season.
A brilliant resilient and well disciplined display from Queen’s. (Queen’s 24 – 12 Brymore).
U14 Rugby
This was again, a physical game for the U14s. Brymore started the game with direct running and slick handling skills. Queen’s defended bravely throughout the first-half. In the second-half, Queen’s played some brilliant rugby with very strong running lines and some lovely interplay between the forwards and backs.
Overall it was a high paced, physical match-up between the two squads with both teams playing high quality rugby.
U12 & U13 Rugby
Saturday was a tough encounter for both the U12’s and the U13’s v Brymore Academy. The Queen’s boys met two, well-drilled squads who proved difficult to overcome in many contact areas. However, the boys remained determined and very positive throughout their matches. Queen’s worked hard to move the ball through their hands whenever they had it. However, their opponents were equally committed to disrupting and slowing the game to a pace that they were more comfortable with, through determined and direct ball carrying. Queen’s stuck to their task and displayed very good handling skills under great pressure, only fine margins separated the outcome of each game.
Our handling skills and determination to go forward were well understood and executed positively, by all the players. Congratulations to all players for their relentless effort.
On Wednesday, we welcomed KIng’s Hall for two well-matched and well played games of rugby. The U12 played some of their best rugby yet. They were relentless in defence and their tackling kept them in the game following some good attacking spells from KIng’s. The Queen’s boys not only showed great spirit in defence, but in attack they were clinical, finishing off many a move with points on the board. The match was so close, score became irrelevant with both teams enjoying the competitive experience – whatever the result, there was only a few points separating the teams! Well played boys.
The U13’s put on a dazzling display of attacking rugby, with some excellently executed tries out-wide. Their handling and running lines were their best to date and it paid off with early tries. King’s relied on their strike runners to carry ball and unfortunately, too many missed tackles meant they were able to get back into the game. A convincing and pleasing performance from the boys who continue to improve each week. Well done.
Hockey
Last weekend the hockey squads were in action against Exeter. Some very resilient performances put in by the majority of squads. The U15/14A put in a strong, intense performance against a physical Exeter side. And the 1st XI narrowly lost in a tough 3-2 battle. The U13 A and B squads were at the Millfield tournament where they both had some strong performances against tough opposition. Beating Truro and All Hallows alike. Yesterday our squads played against Exeter Cathedral School. Several teams bringing home wins and some top performances from players in the U13D team, and the U12C teams. Well done to everyone. This weekend we take on West Buckland in our block fixture, and the added excitement of Reigate Grammar School coming down on tour.
