U10 Boys’ House Football Matches
Results – St Philip’s 3-2 St George’s
The best thing about this match was that I was able to stay quiet throughout the whole game and simply referee. The pupils demonstrated a superb display of sportsmanship, competitiveness and knowledge about the game, which was a delight to see. The game was played in the right context – competitive but fair. It went back and forth throughout keeping the supportive crowd on their toes with their ooohs and aahhhs. Both teams looked composed on the ball, using width and space brilliantly to create quick attacks. Both teams kept their shape well, meaning this game was a nail biter throughout. However, the deadlock was broken in the final minutes as St Philip’s scored a late winner to take the game. Despite the score line, I was immensely proud of each player with regards to their development as individuals and as game players over the past 12 weeks.
Mr Melia
U10 Boys’ House Football Matches
Results – St Philip’s 3-3 St George’s
Player of the Match – Jai Bajwa for a wonder save
What an amazing advert for prep school sport. I shouldn’t have expected any different really having worked with these boys all term but I have to say what a pleasure it was to referee this house match. House matches can sometimes be tetchy affairs where interschool rivalries boil over but not this; the boys’ behaviour was outstanding with all players living the BCS values. The game was a classic one of two halves as St George’s quickly went into a two goal lead with chances for more. St Phillip’s hit back though and trailing 3-2 with a minute to go scored a wonderful equaliser to ensure the game finished even at 3 apiece. What was most pleasing is that all the boys try and play good football by passing and moving into space which only bodes well for the future.
Mr Protherough
U10 Boys’ House Football Matches – Hammers
Results – St Philip’s 3-2 St George’s
Players of the Match – Sami Babwah and Bertie Charles
In an end to end and entertaining battle between the red of St Phillip’s and the green of St George’s, it was St Phillip’s who emerged as the victors by the narrowest of margins. St Phillip’s started the first half of the match like a train going three goals up quickly with some great goals scored by Shaan, Sami, and Otis all showing composure in front of goal to give the reds a brilliant start. St George’s needed a response and through desire and workrate got back in the game with Aaryan providing a great assist for Bertie to slot under the Goalkeeper and then Bertie made a charging run and scored into the bottom corner to make the game 3-2. Into the final quarter of the game St George’s huffed and puffed but they could not get through the solid defence of St Phillip’s with Ishaan C making some heroic last ditch challenges to keep out the charging St George’s attack. A great game with entertainment, tackles, lots of shots, and some great passes and goals scored with Sami and Bertie being players of the match for their respective teams.
Mr Gregory
U10A Netball v EHS (H)
Results – BCS 14-3 EHS
Player of the Match – Mia Sargeant
This afternoon the U10A girls played their final Netball fixture of the term. They played what I think the girls favour, the seven aside game, and the girls did not disappoint. The sun was shining, and support was plentiful, with lots of parents cheering the players on. The girls played at pace and demonstrated excellent teamwork. They worked the ball through the court at ease, making timely runs and pushed the ball into space. These girls anticipate where their teammates are moving to and place the ball in their space well, making it impossible to defend. The girls gave themselves lots of chances at goal and with some super shooting, were able to convert. At half time they were 5 goals up, after a team talk and moving a few players around, they stormed into the second quarter defending every single ball. Sticking tight to their opponents and having the confidence to go for the interception with two hands enabled them to turn over the ball time and time again, many of which they were able to convert to goal. With the game continuing in the same fashion until the final whistle, this was a comfortable win for BCS girls today, winning 14-3. Well done girls. A fantastic season, keep playing your Netball outside of school and I will very much look forward to picking up where we left off next season ready to prepare for IAPS Qualifiers!
Mrs Somerville
U10 Jets Netball v EHS (H)
Results – BCS 4-11 EHS
Player of the Match – Nanda Nishanth
This was to be the U10s’ final netball outing and what a way to spend it in an afternoon of sunshine. In our first quarter the girls started off slowly and were moving away from the ball giving EHS easy intercepts as they took the lead by two goals. At quarter time and a new rotation we saw more quick movement from Emily and Lara in attack and in that quarter the score was 3-2 as we moved forwards for the ball with Nanda moving from defence to attack swiftly. With some very determined defending from Amber, Ritika and Lauren, EHS found it harder to keep possession and with confidence growing with Eva-Nicole, Lucy and Mani working together well in attack we lost the third quarter 3-2. It was great to see the team using both attacking and defending skills as the girls switched positions, allowing them to grow in confidence as the match went on.
Mrs Bennett
U10 Fusion Netball v EHS (H)
Results – BCS 12-0 EHS
Player of the Match – Aditi Mohanty
A fantastic afternoon of netball in the sun. It was lovely to see how much the girls have developed over the term, passing the ball quickly down court and moving into space. Excellent shooting by Neve and Umaiza allowed our girls to take an early lead and they continued to dominate throughout the match. The girls showed excellent team work in the shooting circle, passing the ball quickly in and out to gain a better position to score. In the last quarter the positions were switched around and it was great to see that the girls have grasped a good understanding of a variety of positions as the ball still worked its way quickly down court and into the net. Well done girls, a great way to finish the season!
Miss Crews
U9A Football v Warwick (A)
Results – BCS 5-2 Warwick
Player of the Match – Freddie Wood
The U9A team finished off their season with an impressive performance versus Warwick School with an assured display and some composed goals. The first quarter of the game was a topsy turvy start with BCS taking the lead with a smart finish from Noah. Despite Warwick responding immediately, BCS then regained the lead with a powerful finish from Loic into the roof of the net. Warwick responded immediately again through a defensive lapse in concentration, allowing them a goal. After this BCS on a dry pitch needed to get the ball under control and play with their vision and pick the right passes. Fortunately this started to happen with Freddie switching the play brilliantly in the middle of midfield playing the ball into wide areas so crosses could be put into the box. Noah started finding angles so the defence could play forward and directly to get into their opponents’ half. This put the opposition under pressure and started creating goal scoring chances; three came in quick succession with Umar and Noah who scored his hat trick to make the game 5-2, with one left footed finish from a very tight angle. The defence were assured, keeping out any attack with Jasper, James and Rayan continuing to know when to tackle and when to provide cover for their fellow defender. A good Football season of progress for the U9 A team who are starting to understand the positions they play in, realise the importance of passing the ball and moving off the ball to keep possession, and are competing against opponents reducing the space and time they have to attempt to win the ball back as quickly as possible.
Mr Gregory
U9B Football v Warwick (A)
Results – Warwick win
Player of the Match – Siyuan Le
This was quite the spectacle: 6 matches, every pupil playing and representing Blue Coat, demonstrating everything they have learnt over the past 12 weeks. I wanted to stay quiet for today’s fixture, so the pupils were able to resolve situations as a team and for themselves. The result was great to see – pupils’ positional awareness and shape has certainly developed and were put into place effectively. For me, this is the biggest success; for pupils to put into practice and demonstrate that they are developing their understanding of a game and the reasons behind it is far more important than any score line. For a year group that has missed out on 2 years’ worth of Football, they are certainly back on track!
Mr Melia
U9 Foxes and Devils Football v Warwick (A)
Results – 1 BCS win/1 Warwick Win
Player of the Match – Jayden Liang
Wow what performances! Between the two teams we managed 3 hat tricks, for Jayden, Lucien 3 and Zian. The Foxes narrowly lost but staged a fantastic comeback in the last quarter whilst the Devils backed up their win against Solihull with an amazing 7-3 victory with some unbelievable performances from Jerry in goal, and Lucien and Jayden. To see how far these boys have progressed this term has been a real pleasure and I’m pleased their hard work and effort has paid off. Not only have they become technically better but their game understanding has developed hugely as well. Really well done to all.
Mr Protherough
U9A Girls’ House Netball Match
Results – St Margaret’s 14-1 St Monica’s
Players of the Match – Susie Bentick & Mischa Bailey
A fantastic afternoon of netball! It was great to see how much the girls have improved over the term, moving the ball quickly down court and into the shooting circle. It was clear they had a firm understanding of all 5 positions on the court, and I was really pleased to see them utilising quick passes in the D to get into better shooting positions. The game was dominated by St Margaret’s but St Monica’s never gave up and it was great to see them rewarded with a goal.
Miss Crews
U9B Girls’ House Netball Match
Results – St Margaret’s 8-2 St Monica’s
Players of the Match – Whole St Margaret’s team, Edith Pemble
After the news of St Monica’s beating St Margaret’s in the House swimming galas which had taken place in the morning, this seemed to encourage the St Margaret’s girls and put an added bit of spice into their playing. Both teams were competitive, but St Margaret’s pulled ahead with some great passing play down court. Both teams demonstrated their progress as they made good intercepts in defence. At times I saw some excellent dodging into space and all girls understood the 5 playing positions which was pleasing as this was all of a muddle when we first started in January. Although St Margaret’s dominated it was a great afternoon of netball in the sunshine. I have also found a top team coach/manager in Jaiya who was most helpful all afternoon.
Mrs Bennett
U9C Girls’ House Netball Match
Results – St Margaret’s 5-2 St Monica’s
Players of the Match – Aadya Gulati & Charissa Lam
A sunny afternoon for the U9C House match today, making for excellent conditions for the girls to play their last Netball fixture of the term. They demonstrated lots of progress as they played the five aside version of the game, BEE Netball, in which the children must rotate around the different positions. For the first time ever, none of the girls needed to be prompted on where the positions were allowed to go within the court, or their role on the court. I was very proud of this, as only 4 -5 weeks ago I was having to remind them again and again. Super progress, well done girls! For most of the match the game went end to end, showing the teams were evenly matched, and this made for a very competitive game. There were lots of examples of passing and moving into the space and when the girls did this the ball flowed up the court at ease in both teams. However, there are still moments where the girls crowded and the game become like a game of ping pong, with the ball in one team’s hands and then in the others in the next pass! Space is vital for the girls to make the next steps in their progress! St Margaret’s, however did have more shot on goal than St Monica’s and once they got into their flow scored some lovely goals where they don’t seem to even touch the net! The final score was 4-2. Well done to each and every one of you girls.
Mrs Somerville
U11A and u11B Football Kings Hawford Football Tournament
Players of the Match – Greg Hackett, Arjun Gill & Jonty Scurlock
The U11 As & Bs made the journey to The King’s School Worcester on a beautiful bright Wednesday afternoon to take part in the annual King’s Hawford Football Festival. The last time this festival took place was 2019 and we managed to win it then, so we took the trophy with us, hoping to bring it back on our return! We arrived in the nick of time to play our first game against RGS The Grange and the boys played superbly to win 3-1. This was followed up with a routine victory against Hallfield 2-0 to put us in a good position. We then managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against our nemesis this term, WGJS where we played all the football but made a simple error from which they capitalised to win 1-0. The next game we played Winterfold and we put in a performance that lacked any intensity or desire, resulting in a loss 5-2. This left us with 2 groups games left to salvage something from the day and we managed a win to finish the group with 4 wins and 2 defeats. There was a nervous wait to see if we had made the trophy or plate semi finals and thankfully other results went our way and we ended up playing Warwick in the semi final just as we did at ISFA two weeks ago. This was a brilliant game played between two even sides and in truth whichever team won deserved it. Thankfully the opposition’s big chance ricocheted off the post whereas James showed great composure to finish at a corner and BCS were into the final. This was a nervy affair where in fairness to the boys they were exhausted and although we probably had the better chances it finished 0-0 so straight to penalties. After both teams had scored 2, the Monmouth lad missed and James tucked away his penalty with aplomb, winners! We loaded the trophy back on the bus and brought it home!
The Bs faced a difficult pool in which they certainly held their own against tough opposition. They opened their account against King’s St. Albans, 2-1 down going into the final minute, Arjun stepped up and swung in a corner which miraculously ended up in the back of the net: cueing wild celebrations! This started a run of six competitive and exhausting games on the bounce: an excellent counter attacking 2-1 win against Abberley, with two cool, calm and collected finishes from Ethan and Vivek; a spirited 5-0 loss against a strong Warwick side; a dominant display in a 1-0 win against Moor Park; losing 2-1 to King’s Hawford. A final push from the B team boys ensured they took eventual runners up of the whole competition, Monmouth, all the way narrowly missing out on a point, 1-0. A special mention to Greg for a string of excellent saves to keep us in the match at 0-0. Overall, the boys should be extremely proud of their efforts, an excellent tournament from start to finish for them!
Mr Protherough and Mr Matthews
U8 Football v Norfolk House (H)
Player of the Match – Paul Wang
On a bright Thursday afternoon, the Under 8s took on a side comprising Years 3 & 4 from Norfolk House. In truth their Year 4s were a bit too athletic and this showed in the first half. We decided to mix the teams up which made the game far fairer and the BCS pupils really got stuck in and gave a good account of themselves. Raymond and Etienne both showed a level of understanding and worked hard but the stand out player was Paul who was tenacious and worked incredibly hard for his team. To improve, the boys need to get out in the garden and play with a ball as much as possible, this will help improve their control of the ball which in turn will assist their tactical development.
Mr Protherough
U8 Football v Norfolk House (H)
Player of the Match – Emmanuel Oguzie
This was a superb way to allow the pupils to demonstrate everything they have learnt over the past 12 weeks and put it into a competitive match against Norfolk house. Competitive being the operative word! The first quarter was filled with everyone bursting with energy and keen to get their feet on the ball. Kunal and Connor both showed a level of understanding and worked hard but the standout player was Emmanuel who was tenacious and worked incredibly hard for his team. Plenty to work on still but this is a great start to their Footballing journey.
U8 Girls’ House Netball Matches
A St Margaret’s 8-7 St Monica’s
B St Margaret’s 2-2 St Monica’s
C St Margaret’s 2-5 St Monica’s
Players of the Match – Brooke Bushell, Amelia Sabir, Katherine Matopoulou & Michaela Loizou
This Thursday was the U8s’ last Netball fixture of the year. On a beautiful sunny afternoon, it was the very competitive House matches, where St Monica’s and St Margaret’s were battling it out to earn valuable points in the hope they could win the sporting cup at the end of the year! The U8C team demonstrated lots of progress today. To think that 12 weeks ago, many of them did not know any of the positions or where these positions could go. It was fantastic to see a well-structured game from the girls today. Playing BEE Netball, they played lots of 5 minute stints, stopping after each to rotate around positions. The girls were a little slow to get started, with no team scoring within the first 10 minutes. However, once they warmed up and settled into the game, they really started to show some good passing and moving skills, enabling them to work the ball into the circle and try to shoot. This hard work converted into goals, from both teams. With 10 minutes left in the game, the score was 3-2 to St Monica’s, making it a very close game. With lots of parents’ support, it made for a really competitive afternoon, where both teams were fighting for every ball, and no-one gave up until the last whistle. However, as the game continued, St Monica’s were able to push on a little further, having more shots at goal, finishing 5-2.
Mrs Somerville
