Sport

Head Boy Ben Harty and his two Deputies, Haroon Raqib Nisar and Tom Selby. They have been without doubt one of the strongest leadership teams we have ever had. I must also thank our fantastic team of tutors. Mrs Harris has sadly left her role as Ridley 10 tutor to take up the position of Head of Lee House. We wish her the best of luck and will certainly miss her. I would also like to thank Mrs Lillywhite for stepping in and tutoring our new Ridley 7 class and we are very much looking forward to welcoming Mrs Smith back in September.

Well done to everyone who has contributed towards such a positive year for Ridley and we look forward with optimism to what the next year will bring.

Mr J Barrie

1ST XV Rugby

Played 15, Won 13, Lost 2.

Following on from a successful summer tour of Argentina and Uruguay, we looked ahead at the 2019 season with mixed emotions of excitement and trepidation. Without doubt it was our hardest fixture list for many years. New block fixtures had been arranged with St Edwards School, Oxford, Kings College School, Wimbledon and Campion School from Essex to supplement an already challenging list with the likes of Northampton School for Boys, Magdalen School, City of London Freemans and Merchant Taylors. However, I knew the 1st XV has bags of ability and had the potential of developing into a really good team.

We had a gentle transition into the new season with comfortable games against Sir William Borlase Grammar School in the Natwest Vase and St Columba’s School from St Albans. The Borlase game gave me a valuable opportunity to rotate the squad and see as many players as possible, winning 56-5. We then played St Columba’s twice in 10 days, once in a Saturday friendly and once in Round 2 of the NatWest Vase. An aggregate score of 119-0 was achieved across the two games and slowly the team was taking shape. Certain combinations were starting to settle and some players were commanding a starting place. The 2nd row, back row and back three all looked pretty nailed down but in other areas, we were far from sure what our best options were. The biggest dilemma was deciding who would play at fly half. This was a challenge that would continue to cause problems for months to come.

Our next game was going to be a real test and we played St Edwards School, Oxford on the artificial surface at Aylesbury Rugby Club. This would be our first chance to see how we matched up to the stronger schools on the circuit and make a statement that we were to be taken seriously.

We grasped this opportunity with both hands and produced a commanding performance. The forwards dominated and controlled the breakdown magnificently. Lindars and Davies caught the eye with their incredible work rate. The backs looked sharp too and were clinical taking their chances. Two very late scores from St Edwards gave the score line a sense of equality but this was a statement win for us 22-17. It was nice to see Ben Jacobs again, two years after leaving AGS for a scholarship to St Edwards but unfortunately for him, he ended up on the losing side.

Next up would be two incredibly difficult fixtures, firstly against Reading Bluecoat School and then against City of London. The Reading fixture was made even more challenging due to the absence of influential captain Joe Chapman, who was struggling with man flu, but Archie Rainbow stepped up to admirably fill his shoes. This really was a game of two halves, mainly due to the wind, and having played against it first half, we were down by 10 points at half time. A crucial score by James Phillips giving us a welcome boost just before the half time whistle. The second half was mightily impressive and with excellent game management, we played in the right areas and made good decisions. Although we left it late, Ben Mulholland scored the decisive try to grab control of the game with 5 minutes to go. Final score was a 32-26 victory. City of London the following week would be equally tough and they were on top form and the previous weekend had been named ‘Team of the Weekend’ from Schools rugby website. By contrast to the previous weekend, we performed poorly and made a ridiculous amount of errors – missed tackles, poor kicking and a lack of game management through the spine of the team. Somehow, we bravely battled to a 13-10 victory and as you know, it’s the mark of a great team when they can win whilst playing poorly?!

In Round 3 of the NatWest Vase we played Beaumont School and this proved to be a fairly comfortable experience, winning 57-7 despite the sin-binning of Chris Bond for repeated infringements. The game away to Merchant Taylors was always going to be one of our toughest and it was a gamble of mine to start with the third different fly half of the season. Chris Bond was given his opportunity to get the backline to function effectively and made his 1st XV debut at 10. There probably couldn’t be a tougher place to make your debut but I had faith in Chris. The game was an absolute dogfight, with two teams battling toe to toe for the full 70 minutes. The game remained in the balance for its entirety and was not settled until the dying moments. The AGS pack were incredible, with Lindars, Archie Davies, Tom Giles, Tom Lane, Jake Graham and Ben Mulholland leading the way with powerful carries and courageous tackling. In terrible conditions, the ability to play expansive rugby was limited and patience was going to be the key. Having led 7-5 until the dying moments, it was heartbreaking to concede a close range try at the death to lose 12-7. A tough loss to take as I thought we were the better side but unfortunately,

we were on the wrong end of a couple of key referee decisions at crucial moments. But out of every moment of gloom, there comes light. This loss would become the catalyst for greater things. Having obtained the game footage from the Merchant Taylors video analysis programme, we embarked on a mission to analyse and develop a plan of action to take this team forwards. From here, classroom theory and analysis sessions became a weekly event and we set about ironing out our deficiencies. The brutal statistical analysis on each player provided the extra motivation needed to raise the bar on performance and admittedly, effected team selection too.

With arguably the tougher half of the season to go, the 1st XV would not lose another game on the Saturday circuit. Major scalps were obtained over Northampton School for Boys, Magdalen College School, Watford Boys GS, KCS Wimbledon and Campion School.

The Magdalen game was one for the purest and it will long live as the finest 3-0 game you’ll ever see.

Defensively, we were improving with every game and to nil a team of Magdalen’s quality was a huge achievement. With further video analysis, we were working hard to invent a flatter more effective attacking system and it was from here that Toby Cook appeared. Toby had proved himself in the development grounds of the 2nd XV and now had to take his opportunity to stake his claim for the fly half spot. We soon realised that he was made for the flat line attack we were seeking to develop and his magical feet were the key. Under the greatest of pressure, he consistently managed to dance his way out of trouble and get the backline firing on all cylinders. Dylan Taylor and Ollie McKenna were benefitting from his distribution and wings Alex Butler and Kit Fairhurst running in tries for fun.

Unfortunately, injuries started to take their toll as we entered November, and the loss of Archie Rainbow and Kit Fairhurst proved a challenge. However, their misfortune proved to be the making of others and both Chris Bond and Joe Chapman stepped up. Chris proved to be the kicking Fullback we had been looking for, for a long time and why it had taken me so long to realise Joe Chapman can’t pass is a mystery. A player who can’t pass is a winger and that is where Joe excelled. What a revelation. In the Campion game, the defence of both wingers, Joe and Ollie Speake, was instrumental in securing a huge win against one of the best state sides in the country.

Wins against Watford and KCS Wimbledon were hugely impressive and a collective squad effort was needed. Pat Kelly was dominant in the front row and the lineout play of Gus Burnett was superb. The strong running and running lines of Dylan Taylor were magically Welsh, which is the highest compliment I can pay. In the absence of James Phillips, Shaun Bedwell stepped up and covered admirably and it was great to have C Mac recovered from injury and playing again for the last couple of games. Scrum half Josh Alexander was Mr Consistent and his excellent service and box kicking were key.

As we reflect on such a successful season, it comes as no surprise when you see that hard work has paid off. For the 1st XV, they have committed to Monday rehab sessions, Tuesday fitness sessions, Wednesday and Thursday training days, with analysis/theory classroom sessions thrown in on top of Saturday fixtures. In addition to this, for the first time, we have implemented a programme where senior rugby players have actively worked with the coaching of the younger age groups throughout the school. You have all been an absolute credit to yourselves and your school. A special thank you to the outgoing Year 13 who have played their final games. And to the Year 12’s, we go again next year and look forward to raising the bar even higher.

Mr G Ramsbottom

2nd XV Rugby

We started a fairly busy term with a large Senior Squad. The players were in pretty good shape, with many having toured South America on the school’s Summer rugby tour.

Others were in good physical condition due to completing early season training, prior to the start of the season. We also had a number of Year 13 student’s returning having played 2nd XV rugby last year.

v Reading Blue Coat School won 29-19

Tom Miles scored FOUR tries from scrum-half. Forwards dominated the breakdown; I however felt that a number of good chances were wasted, through handling errors which we certainly need to reduce in order to have a good season results wise. Overall, a very good win against tough, well drilled opposition.

v Merchant Taylor’s won 44-5

A TREMENDOUS team effort overall, the score was only 10-5 to AGS at half time. The opposition were extremely confident that they could win this fixture on their home turf. The AGS forwards really worked hard in the second half and bullied the opposition with pick and go ball, keeping it tight; Will Spencer, Owen Billings Adam Gouillon, Ed Birch all had good games. Toby Cook led the backs extremely well at No 10. Another excellent victory by a comprehensive score line. A poor first half in this Mid-week game. But really started to produce some good rugby in the second half. Challoner’s could not live with the quick tempo. Will Spencer and Ethan White made big impacts in the last 35 minutes.

v Magdalen College won 27-12

Another excellent AGS performance. Two tries apiece from James Samsome and Jack Pinder wide out on the wings, were stand out moments. Big game from the pack. Chris Bond had an excellent game at Full Back, George Bates and Jasper Smith played well in the centre, both are powerful and determined runners and caused problems for the opposition all season. Team was well led by Andrew Claassen.

v Watford Boys won 54-3

A very BIG win in awful conditions under foot. George Plummer led the team from the front as always, before suffering an injury. Two tries from Luke Murray-Russell who initially started the match in the back line. Great displays from both Tom (Skippy) Forrest and Andrew Claassen. Tom Miles and George Bates, also had strong games at scrumhalf and centre. An excellent team performance.

v Wimbledon College School won 24-12

An excellent overall team performance, against good quality opposition. AGS once again showed their quality both in the forwards and backs.

v Campion School lost 7-22

Our first defeat of the season, was marred by what can only be described as one-sided biased refereeing. The penalty count was 19+ penalties to Campion and one yes only one to AGS, over the course of 70 hard fought minutes of rugby played by two very determined sides. The game started so well with the AGS pack bundling over the line after a series of pick and goes. Only for the referee to disallow the try and give a penalty against the spectators!! That set the scene for the whole match and ruined what would have been a very competitive game of rugby. It is impossible to play the referee and the opposition. No more needs to be said.

Can I thank the entire AGS 2nd XV squad for a great season, they proved that they are a high quality and very combative team, with great spirit. Interestingly many of the players saw 1st XV rugby over the course of the season, which was great to see. It has also been a genuine pleasure to coach them and can I thank George Plummer and Andrew Claassen for setting the tone in the leadership stakes. May I wish those Year 13’s leaving us every future success and PLEASE continue to enjoy playing and watching rugby. Play as much as you can whilst you are young and still able, as when you get older you spend a long time watching the game.

U16 Rugby

Unlike many managers and politicians, I am going to start by addressing the elephant in

the room. The results table. If you search up the win rate of these boys, this year, it says 2 wins in 8 games. 4 home and 4 away. In a sporting world dominated by facts and statistics, I have some that I feel are more important.

0 – the number training sessions cancelled

0 – the number of training sessions where the injured players haven’t turned up to see what we were doing.

0 – the number of games we have not had injured players on the sidelines supporting their teams.

This team has been incredibly committed all year round. Whether injured or playing fit, the boys turned up to training sessions week in week out. I even had a chat with Sparkey after his pretty bad injury to tell him that he wasn’t required to attend the training session. He still came. As may be the case with many teams who may lose players over the course of the season, our numbers have swelled consistently. Credit to every member of the squad, players have wanted to come to training session and play rugby.

Another big stat that has affected us this year is the number of consecutive games that we put out the same team. 0. Not once did we manage to put out the same team two weeks in a row, due to nothing other than injury. Despite that we had the same players on the coach, as they came along to support their mates. It is this commitment, from the players who knew they would not be playing and would have to stand in the cold, that has meant I have not for one moment resented early Saturday mornings or wet training sessions. During what has been an incredibly busy term, these boys have found respite in rugby and it has been an absolute privilege to see the enjoyment they have taken out of the game that I love!

Not one to dwell on negatives, I would like to focus on a game that demonstrates the potential of this team. Rather than put in my words I am going to read the wonderful prose of our own Paddy McNulty. I take you to Thursday 21st November 2019.

Location: Top Playing Fields

Opposition: Watford Grammar School

On Thursday afternoon we arrived to the top field with confidence from our 69-5 win last week against Royal Latin.

After a strong team talk from Digby Partridge we started the game well. Going uphill to start, we kicked off and turned the ball over. With some more big carries we were five meters out from their try line and after strong rucking we won a penalty and decided to kick for the posts. A simple penalty from Paddy McNulty put the score at AGS: 3 Watford Grammar: 0. After a kickoff we ran the ball in to their half before being turned over. Defending against a big team, we unfortunately left an overlap allowing Watford’s centre to run through and score under the posts, 3-7 to Watford. With heads high, we chased the kick off and turned the ball over. Following some big carries from Birch, Dolphin and Sparkle we found ourselves 10 meters from the try line. Spotting a gap in the opposition defence, flanker Digby sprinted to the try line for our first try of the match. 8-7 to AGS, Game On.

Watford kicked off and we ran the ball well working for position in Watford’s half. After another turnover Watford had the ball and kicked down to winger Will Greenfield. There was not much space to run to but stepping a number of Watford’s players he made a good ground. Fullback Truman Alvalle picked the ball up well and kicked back to Watford. After a small fumble, Watford’s centre gathered the ball and ran through our defence for their second try of the match. 12-8 to Watford. It was half time.

AGS were definitely not out of the game and after dominating for the first half we were determined to get the next score. After the kick-off

the likes of Kearney and Byles got us past half way with some great feet and hard lines. After very solid defence Watford turned the ball over and ran well to get back up closer to half way. Seeing space on the right, Watford fly half passed it wide, allowing their very quick winger to run in their third try of the match. After a simple conversion it was 19-8 to Watford and we had a long way back to go.

After an excellent, high and short kick off, flanker Matthew Sparke, caught the ball and popped it to Max Dolphin who worked hard to make some extra yards. Carrying well, we found ourselves very close to Watford’s try line. Then we passed out to the backs and ran right to Wheaton and Sparkle to get within a meter of the try line. With the forwards grafting for some important metres, we got it out to the backs for McNulty to pass to Tominey who dived over the line for a brilliantly worked try. Score: 19-13.

Watford kicked off and we knew we needed another score to get back within touching distance. More solid runs from McIntosh and Kearney moved us up the field, supported well by the immense rucking of the pack. Quick ball and some excellent hand offs from Sparkles caused the Year 8’s on the side-line to jump up and down and laugh at an increasingly frantic Watford. Then after a run up the wing we were close to the line. With some direct crash balls, we etched closer to the line before Max Dolphin picked up the ball and dived over the line to make the score 19-18, with 10 minutes left in the game. Watford’s kick off put us under pressure deep into our half with a long way to the opposition try line. A shock Watford turnover put us under more pressure, but some phenomenal defence from everyone on the pitch saw us hold out for a muchneeded turnover.

Watford were desperate to defend and went offside constantly. Now close to the Watford 22 and with time running out we won another penalty for a Watford offside. Aware of his team’s penalty advantage, Fly Half McNulty saw the space behind Watford’s defence and chipped the ball over. Their winger stood to catch the ball but flanker Jack Tominey made a spectacular catch, gathering the bouncing ball. Fending off Watford’s winger Tominey ran in the final try of the match. We were on top: 23-19 up with only 5 minutes left. Despite Watford’s best efforts, they failed to make much ground and just as they looked to score, centre, Sam Kearney ran across to throw him into touch. That was it, full time. AGS-23 vs Watford-19.

Without a doubt, this was my highlight of the year. The hard work the boys had put in, saw them defeat a well-drilled Watford side. Those of you who have come along to watch each week, I know will support me in saying this is a team who have come a long way this season. With unquestionable commitment, three front rows and options at just about every position, they have incredible potential and it is a shame they will be divided up next year. For those of you who will continue with your school rugby next year, I wish you the best of luck. It has been an absolute pleasure!!

Before moving on to the awards, I would like to make some honourable mentions. First is the group of lads around which you build a team. The front row – this year we have been fortunate enough to have a full replacement at front row. Ollie Pepper, who has played in every game this year, Johnny Gopal, who came back to rugby this year and Herbie Mansbridge have been awesome. Their combined effort on the pitch has been exceptional. Finn Spencer, Jack Tominey and Anuka Kumarapelli have put in some serious performances which have provided platforms for the team to excel.

Our locks, have also put in tremendous performances this year in the form of Marcus Birch who provided a highlight of the season for me with an exceptional tackle on our try line against City of London Freemans, Daniel Partridge who is the very definition of a workhorse

and Evan Byles who has been a destructive force at the line out all year.

Our back row including Sparkle, Dolphin Hannan and the numerous other players who stepped in have worked doggedly about the park making tackles and hitting rucks. Our Scrum Half Will Chapman has played a pivotal role in our attacks and Paddy McNulty, with the hands of a magician has been instrumental launching our attacks.

Our centres of Kearney and Wheaton seem to have no stop button and have worked tirelessly showing great finesse with ball in hand and heroic defence to win it back. Our back three has been ever altering but every player who has represented in these positions has done so brilliantly. Alfie with his phenomenal feet, Will Greenfield with his resilience in contact and sheer refusal to be brought down and Truman Alvalle who was successful in his position as last man standing. It has not mattered who he has played against, he has not been bettered! We have also had performances from Aryan Saxena, Jai Horwood and Jude Guest-Brainch, who have grown in their position, learning the game well.

As for awards. This has truly been a monumental task. Fortunately, our first award was chosen for us. Players’ Player. There have been some tremendous performances throughout the year and a number of students were named for this award. However, there can only be one Players’ Player and this year it is a player who has made some thundering runs down the wing, has captained the team on occasion and I believe, has played every second. Players’ Player is Daniel ‘Digby’ Partridge!

The next award is for most improved. An award that often gets overlooked for the other two awards. However, for me it is something much more. The greatest players have to start somewhere and player development is a journey. The player who was chosen by many of his team mates and by myself and Mr Warner has done just that. He has been on a tremendous journey and has gone from a fringe player in the past to one of the first names on the team sheet. A figure around which we compose our set-pieces and who has demolished many an opponent. He is a truly tremendous player and I truly hope he continues on the journey he has on. Evan Byles, you are our most improved player.

The final award is for Coaches’ Player. This, once again, could have gone to anyone. Captain fantastic Anuka, has been the thorn in the side of every opponent and referee he has come up against. Not one to keep quiet he has led his term vocally and physically from our first game to our last. Jack Tominey, another strong contender, has been an incredible success this year, with a highlight including 5 turn overs in a single game, one of which was in our dead ball area. Paddy McNulty, has steered the ship, putting ball through the hands or on his boot to look dangerous in attack and safe in defence. Matt Sparke truly has sparkled during the season with his physical dominance and huge hitting, which has seen him suspiciously sin-binned in a game against City of London Freeman’s School. However, we are only able to give this award to one player. This player scored one of the most impressive tries I have ever seen, fending off three players at full stretch and putting the ball over the line from 5 metres out. He has put in some of the biggest hits of the season and has made more yards than almost anyone else in the team. This year’s Coaches’ Player of the Year is Max Dolphin.

Mr T Walker

U15 Rugby

It’s safe to say that this has been a season of ups and downs for

the Year 10 Rugby ‘A’ team. We

came into the season with a strong squad and lots of confidence after last year’s successes, however there have been ongoing concerns about availability and having the right numbers, due to injuries or players being unavailable due to other commitments, throughout the season. Another contrast compared to our previous successful season, and a big lesson for the squad, is that the physical battle against opponents changed massively. It was hard to get over the fact that we couldn’t just dominate teams without having to really try anymore and this is something that we tried hard to work on as the season went on.

Our first match was against St Columba’s School, against whom we recorded a strong 39-19 win, where we showed attacking brilliance from the whole team, and it was a win that put us in good spirits. There were however signs in this game that we needed to improve our defence massively, as well as increase our attacking flow in the game. A cancellation from St Edward’s School left us matchless for a Saturday, until we played Reading Blue Coat, where a very strong pack, as well as quick and powerful backs, left us heartbroken after a narrow 15-17 loss. It was a game that shocked us all, as we were expecting to win easily. We attacked our opponents magnificently in the second half, bringing the scores closer, but it was a considerable blow to our confidence to lose this game. A special mention however must go to Alex Brown, whose impeccable decision making and control of the back line at 10 really did make a difference to our second half comeback.

This year we had the opportunity of participating in the National Schools Cup, but losing 17-10 to a massive Samuel Whitbread School, despite another second half comeback, was obviously disappointing. Despite the result, Morgan Billings (whose work rate and strength was amazing), Dan Sudbery (whose work at the breakdown was so important to our team) and George Wellbelove (who has constantly amazed us with his accurate kicking) deserve a mention. After these losses, we needed a booster which was provided by City of London’s Freemans school, who we beat 52-3.

An experimental team needed to go into the next match, against Merchant Taylors, as we lost more than half our training squad to DofE commitments that weekend. While not ideal, the team played exceptionally well, despite the score of 38-3, thanks to an epic performance from Charlie Shepherd and likes of Will (T) Smith stepping up to the A team. This unfortunately was followed by another bad spell as we lost to NSB 42-5, after which things really needed to change, as the squad was struggling to fulfil its potential.

In the Natwest Bowl competition, The Perse School proved to be another very difficult opponent. A try scored by Josh Armstrong brought us closer to the 13 point lead the opposition had on us, but despite a variety of different players stepping up to take on the challenge, we couldn’t close the 7 point deficit, which prevented us from moving further on in this competition.

Our next game, against Watford Grammar School, was a well needed and well-deserved win (37-0). The man that stood out in that match was Ben Kearney, one of a few players who have reappeared back into the squad after taking an earlier break from playing, who has been welcomed enthusiastically back to school rugby and has provided us with the ability to cause mayhem in opponent’s backs. This game was started and ended well by all the boys involved, including Leo Walsh’s cameo at fly-half, and we were pleased with this result, in particular the way we dictated and arranged our attack and defence.

This positive form was taken into our next game, a tough but brilliant match against Wimbledon College School, which we again lost by a very narrow margin (19-24). Our season was quickly coming to an end

and we were still not consistently performing how we wanted to. The match did feature a cracking second half performance from the whole team, and in particular Charlie Shepherd, and we went into our next game, against Campion School with a bit more confidence.

What we did not factor in at Campion was a refereeing display that was of such poor quality that our efforts were, at times, in vain, which contributed significantly to another close loss, this time 24-19. We did not help ourselves with yet another slow start to a game, which is an aspect of the game that we need to keep working on for next year. Very disappointedly this proved to be the last game of our season, as both Challoner’s and The Latin cancelled our final matches.

The fact that the B Team squad has had such a successful season has obviously been a real bonus, providing players such as Will (T) Smith, Seb Butler, George Wellbelove and Harry Holmes with the platform for them to push for places in the A team squad. It has also been great to see Abshly and Shreeharsh play school rugby for the first time, and see boys like Alex Hamilton, Zac Santos-Carro, Theo Bockmeuhl, Joseph Grapes, Josh Sond and Ben Perkin consistently turn out for school.

Next season will be interesting to see as we carry on our rugby journey as a squad, and we will see if we can regain dominance in games from the word ‘go’. The need to be aggressive and prepare for matches better will significantly change the result of games, as we still feel as if we have the skill, the talent and the drive to take us forward…...we hope that we have learnt what the consequences are about not starting well.

I would like to thank all those who have been involved in school rugby over the last two seasons for their hard work, commitment and (on the whole) good humour…..it has been a pleasure and I wish you all the very best of luck in your future rugby endeavours.

Mr C McGIll

Ben Chanter & Josh Armstrong – Ridley 10

U14 Rugby

Due to a slight shuffle round with the staff I have been lucky enough to work with the same group of boys again this year.

You may remember me talking about a lack of numbers in Year 8 and a consequence of that, plus the move up to 15 a-side meant that we would only have one team at Year 9 this season. You may think that having only one team makes it easier but actually this was a new conundrum and the truth is we have had around 30 boys coming to training every week since September including boys with very limited rugby experience all the way up to some fantastic and experienced players who have been playing for a number of years. It is at this point that I would like to thank the boys who have been training regularly yet have had very little game time. With the calibre of opposition that we play on our circuit and the wide range of experience we have, it has been difficult to keep everyone involved and these boys have continued to work hard, are keen to develop their own game and have shown an extremely mature approach this season.

You may notice that throughout this report I am going to steer away from mentioning lots of results and yes there is an obvious reason for that. But the thing is, it is actually not always about the results and that is certainly the case for this Year 9 squad; it is about the progress the team make and about the development each player undertakes and I am pleased to say we have made huge improvements in both areas.

The forwards:

The front row: Arya Kotian: the technique and the strength, Alex Davis: the agility and the skillset, Archie Thompson: the adaptability and Daniel Mawdsley: the powerhouse ball carrier.

The second row:

Harry Elliott; the scrapper and Reuben Hayward-Doyle; the pick and goer.

The back row:

George Mansfield: all round rugby player, part of the leadership team and occasional kicker, Jason EganSteel: the lover of pick and go and searcher of any contact, and Eliott Godley; captain, skipper, leader of men and excellent all round back rower.

Their transformation is nothing short of amazing. A scrum that can compete with any pack we have come across, a signature lineout and maul routine and a group of players who have the discipline and skill set to pick and go over multiple phases regardless of where they are on the pitch.

On to the backs:

Scrum halves; Sam Johnson; highly technical and part of the leadership team, Jonty Woodward; passionate and a huge potential.

Fly half:

Ollie Blundell; outstanding with the boot, added variety to his game, often the last one out of the changing rooms.

Centres:

Mattie Ventham; Flanker turned centre with a high skill set and great tackle, Billy Knibb; relentless energy, exciting with the ball in hand and loves making massive hits.

Back 3; James Marklew-Brown; great running lines, Will Yarroll; composure under the high ball, Zac Brown; loves a try saving tackle at full back, and Eddie Greenfield and Harry Woodus who are both really strong runners and can do a great job in the forwards too.

In truth the backs have spent most of their time focusing on defence this year and consequently organisation and line speed has improved. They have also executed moves from the training pitch, showed much more variety in attack, and on occasions joined the forwards in their mauls and pick and go phases when attacking the try line.

Season highlights include:

A driving maul that was virtually carried over the line by the support from the side-lines away at Merchant Taylors. A pick and go master class from the forwards that started in our half and went all the way to the attacking twenty-two in the 2nd half versus Dr Challoner’s.

Victory in a close game with Magladen College that saw us take a three point penalty late on in order to put the game beyond their reach.

End of season awards:

Most improved player: Harry Elliot

Players Player of the year: Billy Knibb

Coaches player of the year: Eliott Godley

At this point I would like to reiterate how much I have enjoyed working with this group of players this year. They are attentive, hard-working, competitive, they have a really high level of team cohesion and both trust and respect each other on and off the field. They are a group of players with a huge amount of potential and I am excited to watch their development over the next 4 years of school rugby.

Well done to everyone who contributed this year and good luck in your rugby futures for both school and club.

Mr R Rooney

U13 Rugby A Team

Throughout the season the year 8’s have demonstrated no lack of effort, despite results not always going their way. There

have been times where it would have been easy for the boys to point fingers and blame one another, but thankfully that didn’t happen. There was always a strong and supportive team ethic that ran through the team. Victories against Magdalen College in the dying seconds and Sir Henry Floyd were well deserved and enjoyed as the high points of the season. Close matches with St Columba’s and City of London also showed the potential of the squad.

In a number of games we competed well and showed that there is some strong talent in the squad. Captain Matthias Bockmuehl led the side well and demonstrated a resilient attitude to his team mates. Some of the standout performers were Sean Dover who demonstrated innovation and flair, Nat Massa and Sam Griffiths who put in some big hits and showed courage and commitment throughout the season. Also, Ewan Gatt, Ollie Costello and Toby Evans all showed their abilities to beat defenders with pace, movement and skill.

If there were areas to focus on for next season I would say tackling and rucking should be top of the list, too often we didn’t compete for the ball and were too polite when the opportunity to nick the ball was there. When we had the ball in hand, and could keep it for a number of phases, we looked threatening in attack. And I’m sure next season will see a vast improvement in the try scoring column.

Mr J Webley

U13 Rugby (B Team)

Wow, what a season, it really has flown by. It has been an extraordinary year for the B-team.

Back in September the fixture list announced that ten games were scheduled, however three of our matches were cancelled, meaning less game time in an already short season. Despite numerous disappointments the team rallied and put their best feet forward.

Of the seven games played, we won three, drew one and lost three. We lost our first game against St Columba’s (St Albans). They were very tough opponents. Despite scoring five tries they pipped us to the post with late tries.

In our game versus Reading Blue Coat, we didn’t score any tries, but our communication, teamwork and passing was better. If you discount our cancelled fixtures, our run of home games signalled a turning point in our fortunes. Our three wins (a massive achievement considering that we were facing some of the toughest teams in our league) included matches against Magdalen, Dr Challoner’s and Watford Grammar School.

After our City of London Freeman game was cancelled we came back stronger and put in a sterling performance against Clair’s Court - our first home game. Four tries were scored, however the final score was a little controversial with the referee ending play on a penalty. This could have been a win to us. Despite a few handling errors, we had a good defence, great communication, better passing, good support, with good rucking and scrums. The best display of teamwork so far.

A resounding victory against Magdalen came next - we destroyed them 10-1 and we even held up two tries through excellent defence. Everything came together - good tank balls, brilliant forward rucking, solid scrums - winning ten out of eleven, awesome tackles, a good variation of play and great restart formations. This massive win really boosted our confidence.

The match against Watford Grammar was a real AGS team effort. We had a hybrid team. Despite some close calls and AGS dominating possession in the first half we were behind at half time, but wait….what a comeback! We quickly drew level in the second half and went on to win 5-3 as a result of good scrums, better tackling and good calls, also through some special guest appearances from Nat, Freddie, B-dot & Sean.

Our last game was one of the toughest if not the toughest, versus Campion. The weather and pitch conditions did not work in our favour. We started well, but their tactical play and passing out to the wing was far superior. There were a lot of knocked on balls (the majority from our hosting opponents). After an inspirational chat from Mr Shimony at half time we were straight back into the game, with better tackles, stronger and quicker rucks and were starting to scare the other team. We were dominant in the scrum winning twelve out of thirteen, using a lot of tank and wing play, but our opponents’ defence was just too good for us.

We have improved significantly throughout our seven games. All players have grown and taken a lot away from each game. Initially our strength and successes relied heavily on the skills, determination and resilience of our forwards. What have we learnt: TACKLE, TACKLE, COMMUNICATE …..AND TACKLE!!

Some things to work on for next season:

• • • • All players need to tackle Pass the ball quicker to the wings Don’t get sucked in at rucks At kick off get the wingers running onto the ball • Quicker ball out of the scrums and rucks • Take advantage of ball handling and errors I was very honoured to Captain the B Team this season. We were a united, selfless team, with ambition and no matter what obstacles came our way, we grew stronger, working well together, giving each match our all.

I’d like to acknowledge some stand out performances and influential play from: Josh David, the Walsh twins, Will Crock, Adam Ward, Oliver Reading and Nathaniel Thomey (second half hat-trick) On behalf of the team I’d like to express our thanks to Mr Shimony and Mr Webley for their continued support and commitment during training and matches both home and away. Bring on next season.

James Davies – Lee 8

U12 Rugby

The season started in early September with a doubleheader against St Columba’s College and Haberdashers and it was clear from the outset that we had the makings of a good team.

Thomas Lowe had impressed in training and was given the captaincy, his understanding of the game and encouraging nature helped to get the most out of his players. There were a number of standout players from the first two games, Fionn Clare’s powerful running and Ollie Jinks’ quick footwork caused the opposition constant problems. Tom Usher also impressed with his speed and ability to break the gain line, he also scored an impressive try from an excellent kick chase. At fullback, Cormac Clancy made some important tackles and excellent runs. Overall, the team showed that they could all tackle and was aggressive in the rucks, which was great to see from such a young team.

I told the boys that in the early games, they will inevitably make mistakes in my team selections and that they had to stay patient and work hard to get into the A team. Alfie Harris and Charlie KapinskiNoades impressed in the B team so it wasn’t long before they got a chance in the A team.

Oseratin Erese was available in the next game and he made an instant impact, for such a quiet player off the pitch, he certainly made a huge impression on the pitch. This player can tackle, ruck and run, all with devastating impact. The team was also starting to become more organised and play in a more cohesive way.

After a convincing win at City of London’s Freemans school, where Harry Baldwin and Cormac got amongst the tries and Alfie Eldridge’s powerful running added to the impressive 8-0 score. The team was starting to play with control and discipline and up next was Claire’s Court, a tough test and a chance for the team to show how much progress they have made.

AGS arrived at Maidenhead Rugby Club to play on their 4G pitch. The opposition looked good in the warm up, organised and powerful, we knew we were in for a tough game. The first half was tight, but AGS dominated the rucks and were able to apply good pressure. After a scoreless first half, AGS was determined to get the first score and quick thinking by Thomas Lowe gave us our first try. A second AGS try from Fionn put clear daylight between us and the opposition. Strong tackling and powerful running from Osaretin and Fionn continued to apply the pressure. Claire’s Court got a try back from with 5 mins left on the clock, making it a nervy last few minutes. But again our defence was on top and Ollie Jinks found some space and made the game safe.

The boys found it really tough against a very strong NSB team and perhaps this game should be used as a benchmark to gauge this teams improvement over the next few years.

A tight game and some uncharacteristic mistakes against Magdalen meant we lost a game that we should have won. It highlighted to the boys that we needed to adapt our style of play and capitalise on the weaknesses of the opposition. This game also showed that we had strength in depth in the squad with strong performances from Ollie Baldwin, Saava and Iwan. Next up was Dr Challoner’s where the team battled to a deserved 2-2 draw and again showed that they could step up and fight to the end.

Convincing wins against SHFGS and Watford GS ensured that I (2001) could rotate the team and give some of the B team players a chance to step up to A team level. Ayath and Adi played well and I’m sure will be pushing for a regular A team spot next year. Our last Saturday game saw us lose 3-2 to Campion but in actual fact, I believe this was our best performance of the season. We adapted our style, played tight and direct to compress the opposition’s defence and then tried to play wide when we saw the chance.

The difference in this performance from the first few was stark, the group has made excellent progress in a number of areas, and they should be proud of what they have achieved. But they are by no means a complete team, there is still plenty of room for new players to come through and for established players to continue to work hard and make individual improvements.

Mr N Gibbs

U12 Rugby (B Team)

With many of the boys coming into the school with little to no experience of rugby whatsoever, the Year 7 B team often acts a stepping stone for many of the players to go on and play at a high standard throughout their future years at AGS. In fact, 48 different boys have featured for the B team over the course of the season. Training every Monday and Wednesday as well as taking part in games lessons has seen the boys progress rapidly and with the help of Mr Mansfield and a number of established rugby players from older age groups, we have seen a complete transformation in regards to both rugby skillset and the way the boys conduct themselves in training and on a match day.

Starting the season, a week and a half after the start of term was always going to be interesting. But with the help of an electric performance from Risheet Saboo, scoring 7 tries, we managed to come away with a draw. For a number of lads getting used to the physical nature of rugby can prove to be a challenge. But with the consistent tackling of Austin Bhadri and Harry Noall we have started to form a good foundation of a solid defence.

However, it would be unfair to talk about tackling without mentioning Vedanta Warad. A name that strikes fear into any opposition attacker. He never hesitates to put in a big hit to get the team fired up and has always been 100% committed. Quickly the boys realised rugby becomes a lot easier when they start to tackle and we went from a group of individuals, to a team willing to put in the hard yards to help each other out.

Strong rucking from Ethan, Abu, Tahseen and Tom resulted in improved ball security which in combination with powerful running from Ayath, Arthur, Jacob and Caleb played a key part in our success. The work of the forwards often goes unnoticed in the younger year groups, however playing against strong and experienced opposition quickly made the boys realise how crucial the forward pack were in getting a positive result.

Taking advantage of this increase in possession was never going to be a problem. With captain Ossian and vice-captain Jonny showing leadership beyond their years throughout the season. This allowed us to exploit the quick, tricky feet of Imisi and Ridwan which ultimately resulted in our first ever win. The strong bond the team established was clear for all to see and unfortunately in the case of Mr Gibbs and I, hear. Our ears were often put to the test on the coach as the boys would blast out the national anthem in support of the England rugby team during the world cup.

Playing against teams such as Northampton who have been together for multiple years now was always going to provide its challenges and without the players picking each other up during the hard times, we wouldn’t have got to experience the many highs as well.

As you may expect, running a squad of Year 7 boys every Saturday, has led to a season filled with mixed emotions. From the lads celebrating their first ever win against Clare court, Abu Bakr stating he not only wants to be a NASA engineer in the future, but also a part time rugby player. And finally, Stanley’s Grandad coming to support his grandson. Only to realise he was watching the A team game for the first ten minutes.

But I can honestly say its been a pleasure to coach a number of lads through their first ever experience of rugby at AGS. Over the course of the season they have either won or drawn 6 out of their 10 games. I’m confident they can improve this going into next year as they’re a squad with huge potential. They have made my first year of coaching an absolute pleasure and I hope I am only a small part of what’s a long journey in representing AGS rugby. I wish all the boys the best for the future.

Mr T Carter

1st XI Football

This year the AGS 1st XI Football team has enjoyed another highly successful season. Sadly, however the end of what we hoped would be another triumphant season was ended by Covid-19 and the closure of schools across the country.

This season the U18 County Cup was organised into 2 divisions. On the basis of playing records over the last 5 seasons, AGS were placed in a division with the other top 8 ranked sides in the County – which in theory meant less easy games. We started out with fairly routine 5-1 and 6-0 wins against Chesham Grammar and Sir Henry Floyd. We then beat the technically excellent Teikyo team 7-1, although the score line belies what was a hard game for 60 minutes. Mention should go to our goalkeeper Ollie Twidale who managed to get on the score-sheet from a huge goal kick.

The team made a habit of coming on strong in the second half of matches and this was the case in a 7-2 win at Denbigh and especially a 4-2 win at Royal Latin, where we were 2-0 down at half-time. The only blip on our 100% competitive record was a 2-2 away draw at Sir William Borlase, where we were a bit unlucky not to win. For the past 2 years we have played Dr Challoner’s in the County Cup final, so our 4-1 win was very pleasing – especially since we had played a tough national cup match only 24 hours earlier. It was certainly one of our best performances of the season. Given the schools we were playing, to finish top of our division with 7 wins and a draw from our 8 fixtures was no mean feat.

The benefit of winning our group was that AGS by-passed the Quarter Final stage and advanced straight to the Semi Finals where we met our old rivals, Teikyo, who we had defeated (after extra-time) at the same stage of the competition

last year. The game began in the worst possible fashion and after 25 minutes we were two goals down against opponents with their tails very much up. However, this team never knew when they were beaten and a superb Elton Atat hat-trick secured our passage through to a third consecutive final. As we celebrated a great victory, little did we know that this would be the last game that the team would play.

In the National Cup competition, which is a straight knock-out, we began with a comprehensive 10-0 win at St. Gregory the Great. A much tougher game followed at Matthew Arnold School. The game looked to be heading for extra-time before a quality finish from Michael Amaeshike took us through. In Round 3 we met our 3rd Oxfordshire school – Lord Williams’s, Thame, who had knocked us out of the National Cup the previous year. There was to be no repeat as AGS controlled the game to win 4-1.

Round 4 brought us an unknown quantity in the form of Ibstock Place School. The terrible conditions did not allow us to play our most fluent football, but we were the deserved winners courtesy of a Harry Edmonds penalty. The margin of victory could have been bigger. Our opponents did not help themselves by having a man sent off – a rarity in school football. The team now advanced to Round 5 – the last 32 nationally and an away game at Park House, Newbury. In a tight first half AGS took the lead courtesy of an excellent finish from Marcus Waterhouse. Unfortunately, in 10 mad minutes just before half-time we lost our heads and our grip on the game. With 2 players temporarily sin-binned we were reduced to 9 players and in this period, we conceded 2 goals and with it control of the game. We ended up losing 4-2. This was the only disappointment of the season since although Park House were a good side, we could have beaten them. This team was certainly good enough to advance to the latter stages of the National Cup competition.

As always, the team also played a series of friendly fixtures. One of only two defeats in the season game away at Haberdashers’ where we conceded a careless last-minute goal, but a 6-2 win away at Bedford Modern was another highlight of the season.

This season we were fortunate to have 2 talented forwards in the form of Elton Atat and Michael Amaeshike who scored 43 goals between them. Midfield players such as Ben Ratcliffe, Olly Cay and Marcus Waterhouse contributed additional goals and assists. Goals came easily – we scored 85 in 20 games. However, there were other sides to the team, including resilience and a determination to win the ball back when we did not have it. Players such as James Atkinson would always do what the team needed. On occasions our entire back four consisted of Year 12 players, so this certainly bodes well for next season.

Well done to all those who represented the 1st XI in 2019-2020. The season did not end in a way we could possibly have foreseen and we were denied the opportunity to win a third straight County Cup Final, but it was nevertheless an outstanding season and I thoroughly enjoyed working with all the squad.

Played: Won: 20

15

Drew: 3

Lost:

2 Goals For: 85 Goals Against: 30 Goal Difference: +55

Mr J Barrie

2nd XI Football

The 2019/2020 season yielded mixed results for the AGS 2nd team and much like in previous years it was a season that can be broken up into two halves; pre and post Christmas. The

beginning of the season is always difficult; at a time when we are trying to have a look at some new players, settle on a balanced squad and find a formation that we are comfortable with, we are unfortunately faced with our most difficult and challenging opponents due to us often being paired against other school’s 1st teams. This period threw up some heavy defeats and the team found it a challenge to retain the ball and create goal scoring opportunities.

Post Christmas however, the team really kicked on. A more settled squad operating in a 4-3-3 formation and now facing more evenly matched opponents, the team began to get some joy and both results and performances improved.

Throughout the year the core group of Year 13 students - now in their second year of representing the AGS 2nd team - supplemented by a very enthusiastic bunch of Year 12’s were a joy to manage. Edwin Vass was an excellent character to have in the team alongside being a goalkeeper capable of making some excellent reactionary saves. Ben Harty and Jack Burns were typically robust and at times comically reckless in their approach to defending but meshed perfectly with the more technical and calm approach offered by Boysie Morse, Tom Kemp, Sam Woods and Cameron White.

In front of them, the midfield was also made up of a good mix of tenacious ball winners and technically sound ball players. Luke Alligan, Sam Gibbs, Logan Smith and Dom Boyd combined well together, providing good cover for their back four and supply for their front players.

The forward players offered a lot of flexibility to the team, all being capable of playing out wide or through the middle. Tobi Dairo, Jay Maheshwaran, AJ Gratton, Sam Holcroft and Alex Butler all had some very good performances during the season and were a threat with the ball at their feet, as well as being a danger for the opposition running in behind.

Well done to all those involved in the 2nd team this year and to those who have represented the school in the 3rd and 4th team fixtures. You have shown an excellent attitude all season and have been a real joy to watch and manage.

U16 Football

The team started the 2019/2020 season in excellent form with the goal of improving on the progress made in the previous

season. After falling at the final hurdle of the District Cup last season, and being narrowly edged out early of the National and County Cup competitions on penalties the team were set on securing some silverware this season and made light work of the first couple of rounds in both the County and National Cups. Most encouraging was the fact that none of our opponents in these early rounds were what you could consider pushovers but they were made to look very average by AGS.

A slight alteration to our formation, moving away from the 4-3-3 and adopting a 3-4-3 allowed us to be more robust defensively and the combination of Sam Hurley-Cook, Ollie Flecknell and Jake Field offered us both steal as well as a lot of quality on the ball with which we could start our attacks. The main benefit of the switch was it allowed us to unleash the attacking qualities of our fullbacks Julien Atat and Dyan Changer. With the extra protection offered by the 3rd centre back, Julien and Dylan had the freedom to get forward more, often to devastating effect.

In centre midfield we rotated between Max Cornish, Jude GuestBrainch and Aran Bali who all

continued to demonstrate that they are all excellent footballers with each of them being able to operate as combative ball winners and destructive ball players. In the wide areas, Sanjit Mallya and Harish Ramesh were given the licence to roam and drift into central areas where they regularly unpicked opposition defences with clever runs and creative through balls. Up front, Timi Ashaolu continued to be an immense presence for the team and tormented opposition defenders with his technical abilities and physical attributes.

With this strong core group of players supplemented by excellent cameo appearances of Isaac Ayilara and Matt Sparke the team made it to the County Cup quarter final where they faced a very strong Ousedale School who had knocked AGS out in the previous season via penalties. After a close physical encounter, the game again went to penalties and in the dying light of a cold winter afternoon, AGS came away victorious in impressive fashion with a series of impressive penalties dispatched with confidence and precision.

It was around this time that due to poor weather conditions resulting in cancelled games the fixtures began to pile up and, with an eye on progressing further in the County Cup, the District Cup fixtures offered a chance to dip into the strength in depth this year group has and get the likes of Tom Smale, Parsa Hariri, Tom McKenna and Dan Hidalgo-Anguera involved. Although the District Cup campaign would finish with us eliminated in the group stages the competition would produce an excellent battle between AGS and The Floyd. The game was full of crunching tackles, well taken goals and plenty of tension and atmosphere.

Ultimately this season became another ‘nearly’ season with the team unfortunately being eliminated in the County Cup at the semi final stage, narrowly losing to very strong opposition. Despite no silverware this season, the team have certainly demonstrated that they are a great bunch of footballers with excellent determination and technical footballing ability. There is no doubt that at senior level they will form a formidable side and go on to be victorious in the County Cup, a competition dominated by AGS over the past couple of years.

Mr G Davey

U15 Football

I think I’ll always feel quite bittersweet about this past year of football. There is a definite feeling of what could have been.

We all know we should have beaten MK Academy comfortably. We were by far the better side throughout the game and could have easily won by five or six. However, as happened throughout the season, we struggled defensively against one ‘big number 9’. It says a lot that the Sir Henry Floyd side, who we comprehensively outplayed, put six past them.

I think we can put the National cup down to the luck of the draw. During the abandoned game, despite missing Callum Kitely and Tom Foley, we were very much in the game, albeit not quite at our best. However, they were simply the better side. I don’t think it would surprise many of the boys that Lord Williams’s advanced a further four rounds in the cup, only losing on penalties to eventual semi-finalists. But we did prove that we can compete at this level, though once again we struggled against a ‘big number 9’.

The district cup all really came down to the game against the Grange. The way that we had played in patches against AVA gave large cause for optimism, albeit we should have won the game from 2-1 up, particularly as they had put four past the Grange. Yes, we were outworked and outplayed, but this was in terrible conditions on an awful pitch, as far away from our strengths as possible. I still think if we play that game on our pitch we would probably win it. But once again, the big number 9 was our Achilles heel. Yes, this one was an extremely talented footballer who may well go on to play professionally, and I don’t think many of us will see a better goal than his overhead kick. But we still struggled against him, when the rest of their team was nothing special by comparison.

Our final game against the Floyd really proved what we can do, and is probably the most enjoyable game I have ever coached, outplaying county cup semi-finalists. The way we scored all three of our goals was phenomenal, long passing moves building up to great finishes. The work rate was something to be proud of: we pressed better than we had ever pressed before, the full backs got forward, the wingers even tracked back! The fact that they scored with their only real chance showed our defensive prowess, and our ability to dominate possession. This shows what we can do, and our performance would have beaten every side we have played this season. We can compete at a much higher level than we did in the county and national cups this season, despite having two years less experience than most other teams. We just need to replicate this performance.

Ben Perkin has held down the number one this year. He is a superb shot-stopper, and I won’t forget the last-minute wonder save against AVA any time soon, whilst his composure and distribution continue to improve. Alex Hamilton has been calm and composed, has great awareness and is very strong positionally, and is improving going forward all the time.

Tony Alocious is similarly composed, particularly excelling in the wingback role, even adding some goals to his name. In the middle of defence George Hamer has turned himself into a true all-round centre half, he is phenomenal whether the ball is in the air and on the ground, his passing improving all the time.

Will Cliffe has talent and pace in abundance, and we definitely missed him during his injury. Krishan Mistry has been a revelation, and I still don’t know how he didn’t play school football last year: he is always in the right place at the right time, and an exceptional tackler.

Calum Brooke is starting to develop into a strong left back, his performance against the Floyd really showing how much talent he has and why he has been near ever present. In midfield we have Tom Foley. I would say that every team needs a Tom Foley, with his infectious enthusiasm, incredible work rate but also the quality to go with it: he is the only player I have ever seen at any level to give 100% every single second. This was sorely missed in the game against the Grange, and I wish him well in his recovery from injury.

Captain Callum Kitely is one of the best passers of the ball who I have played with or coached, his ability with the ball at his feet is exceptional, and has started to add more end product and defensive contribution to his game, while he develops as a leader all the time. Nick Cay is a truly versatile, all-round footballer. He has a skill set so vast that I would be happy to play him in any position on the pitch: he can defend, disrupt, create and score. Teni Oluranti-Ahmed is another versatile player, incredibly powerful but with that bit of finesse when needed. He must be a horrible player to play against (Mr McGill would agree!) Josh Davidson is another workhorse in midfield, with sublime passing and brilliant anticipation. Sam Tung is another powerful, pacey player, and a really strong and skilful dribbler who wins penalties for fun.

Joe Barber is a defender’s nightmare, with incredible pace and superb work rate. He has learnt how to use his strength, and is now a constant threat. John McGregor is an exciting player to watch, who has skill in abundance, with great pace as well. His performance against the Floyd will live long in the memory, dancing through four players to assist the first, and with a brilliant volleyed finish for the second. Harry Wilson is another player with terrific pace, and is an extremely composed finisher, while he is improving with the ball at his feet all the time. Honestly, I did not really see Ben Kearney playing a part in the A-squad this year, however Ben is a player that however well or badly he is playing he will always score goals, something invaluable to any team: a truly natural finisher.

Despite all of this, I think the thing that I am most proud of is the sheer number of boys training and playing for both teams this year, which is more than 50. This is something incredibly rare in AGS football. The number of players to have played regularly this year, despite not doing

so last year, is phenomenal, and it has been brilliant to see how well you have developed as footballers. There are lots of players who are not far from playing in the A team squad, and the likes of Tom Keane, Ewan Dixon, James Whitehead, and DJ Mentiply, to name but a few, will push hard in the years to come.

Above all you have all been a pleasure to work with over the past two years, and I hope you all continue to enjoy your football for many years to come. I’ll certainly keep an eye out on Twitter to see how you get on.

Fitz Steger-Lewis – Denson 13

U14 Football

Like any sport that was still being played in March of 2020, the Year 9 football season came to an abrupt and inconclusive

end. Having played a number of A and B team friendly fixtures in the first half of the term, a 16 ‘man’ playing squad was working its way (very successfully) through the group stages of the District Cup. While the squad still had 2 group games to play, having won all of their games so far, it was looking extremely likely that this squad would have qualified for a semi-final place (at least) in their first year together as a team.

With an initial 30 player squad being selected from what we had seen of the boys during the football term of Year 8, what became very clear early on was that this squad was keen to train, was willing to work hard and apply themselves with great enthusiasm, and that they were willing to listen to advice and guidance. These attributes continued to be shown throughout the season, making them an extremely enjoyable group to work with. As with every Year 9 team, the friendly games played before half-term were slightly ‘nervy’ and apprehensive affairs, where groups of AGS boys are put together for the first time and asked to play as a team. Keen to see positive individual performances, with players wanting to get on the ball and express themselves, as well as a desire to win the ball back after losing possession, we as coaches saw plenty to be positive about, even if the results for the A team against Reading Blue Coat, Bedford Modern and Abingdon Schools were not positive. The fact that the B team performed so well in these games, allowed us to consider more and more boys when it came to settling on a squad for the District Cup matches.

With a squad of 15 selected, which left a few boys disappointed to have not been chosen (but extremely willing to be available if needed), our first District Cup game against AVA could not have gone better. Playing away on AVA’s 4G pitch, we showed great patience and control when in possession, which frustrated our opponents, and our positive attacking play was rewarded with a 0-4 win, with goals coming from Enaan Hussain (2 - including one fantastic free kick), Chisom Okwudili & Tobi Akinwumi. This trend continued into what was a very strange match against our next opponents, The Mandeville School. Again, playing away on an artificial surface, we completely dominated our opponents in the first half (without having to play that well) and thanks to goals from George Whall (2), Spencer Siddall, Enaan, Paolo Gray & Tobi, raced to a 0-6 lead at half-time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, rather than going on to continue as we had done in the first half, our opponents rallied (very well) while our performance and work rate dropped and the game ended 1-6. This game showed that, as a team and in certain parts of the pitch, we were still getting to know each other and that we couldn’t assume that we would get the better of opponents without having to work hard at it. Work hard we did in our next game, again away, but this time on the (long) grass pitch of Sir Henry Floyd, where keeping possession was difficult on a challenging surface and the squad needed to show more of their battling qualities. They did this and a single goal from George Whall gave us a deserved 0-1 win. It was at this point, with games to be played against The Grange and Sir Thomas Fremantle still to come, that the season ended.

So, what did we learn about our players this year, appreciating that we didn’t get to see them play in matches that would have hopefully tested and challenged them?

Well, in Sam Duodu we have a very accomplished and dependable goalkeeper, which is always a huge bonus at youth-level football. At the back, we have some really good options for what will be a very solid defensive unit, with the ability to turn defence into attack quickly. Billy Knibb, Bertie Heyes and George Bancroft impressed greatly as centre backs, as did Daniel George at both full back and centre back, with Alex Davis looking solid at left back. In midfield, Enaan, Max Ward and (when fit) James Baldwin provided great creativity and delivery in the wide positions, while Billy was a real powerhouse when he was moved into a central midfield position. His partnership with Jonny Buckthorpe worked extremely well in the middle of the pitch, with Joss Kenrick and Paolo Gray providing able support when called upon. In the forward positions, George Whall, Chisom Okwudili, Tobi Akinwumi and Spencer Siddall provided goal scoring threat and a number of different options based on their contrasting skills and attributes.

All of this suggests that this squad will do very well in the future and it was a huge disappointment that we were not able to see the 2020 season out. Both Mr McGill and Mr Skinner would like to thank every Year 9 student who represented the school football teams so well this year…... we had great fun working with you and wish you all the very best for next year.

Handball

In its ninth year at AGS, this has been another successful year for Handball when you look at the numbers of students that are either being introduced to the sport, or returning to it for a second and third year. After

the successes of last year’s national championship winning squad at Under 15 level, there was a great deal of excitement as to what the new squad of players could do in this year’s competition, while another new squad of year 8 students were keen to see how they would fair in their competition.

U13 Squad:

It is safe to say that, having successfully reached the regional and national finals stages of both U13 and U15 boys competitions over the last few years, expectations within students can be very high. This was definitely the case with the Year 8 boys, who attended training at the start of the year in great numbers, and who maintained extremely high levels of enthusiasm and commitment to training throughout. With such large numbers attending training and with limitations on time and space, we attempted to teach the boys the core skills of the game through gameplay. This meant that, at the time of the District Competition in November of 2019, we were able to field two squads of 12 boys per squad, allowing lots of AGS students to gain competitive experience of handball. Results were an irrelevance, as the competition provided automatic qualification for the County Finals, which meant that the two squads could play with very little pressure. Preparation for the County Finals in January went well, and we continued to see very good numbers attending training. This caused some issues, as the rules of the County Competition restrict the numbers of participants in each playing squad to 14, which meant we had to disappoint a fair few students by reducing training numbers in the final weeks before the County competition. The truth is though, on the day of the tournament and despite the significant efforts of the whole squad (and much to the disappointment of everyone involved), we didn’t really perform anywhere near the best of our abilities. Too many basic errors were made, we never really played with the freedom required to create good goal scoring opportunities, and we missed a fair few tackles in defence. As a result we suffered a couple of defeats during the round-robin competition (one of which was a particularly heavy one to a strong John Hampden team) and we failed to finish in the top spot required to qualify for the regional finals. Despite the disappointment, the group’s enthusiasm didn’t drop and it was fantastic to see all the boys who were involved up until the county competition return to training once we got going again, and with this attitude I am confident that we will see this squad get better and better over the next two years if they continue to play handball as AGS. I

would like to thank the following Year 8 boys for the efforts this year: Luke Murphy (GK), Gammy UloyokJob (GK), Ewan Gatt, Sacha Page, Matty Holmes, Matthias Bockmuehl, Freddie Crafts, Pelumi Abioye, Anthony Unugboke, Sean Dover, Ben Giles, Winfred Gotah & Oliver Reading.

U15 Squad:

The biggest challenge facing this group of players was going into the new season knowing that the previous year’s squad had won the National Schools Competition in pretty emphatic style, but the reality is that each season brings about new teams, new players and different challenges, making the previous year’s competition irrelevant to the current crop of U15 handballers. Having said that, having three players who had been part of last year’s winning squad (Aryaman Poondy, Joe Barber and Oscar Wellbelove), who had gained useful playing time in national finals matches, was always going to act in our favour, as was the fact that most of this year’s squad had been part of the previous year’s training squad. Having started weekly training sessions in September, the whole squad needed competitive fixtures and it did not help that our District Qualifiers in November didn’t take place, meaning the first meaningful games that we would play would be in January’s County Finals. With a lack of match focus, there was always a danger that the squad could lose focus during a long training period, and after the Year 8 boys found their finals tough, there was some concern amongst the group as to how their county competition would go. In the end, there was no need to be worried as, during their round-robin matches, they played fantastic attacking handball which they combined with some fierce defending. As a result, they won all of their matches, including a comprehensive reversal of the defeat suffered by the Year 8’s to John Hampden School, who regularly provide very strong opposition. Having been crowned County Champions for 2020, while fully appreciating the bigger picture surrounding the need to cancel this year’s national schools’ competitions at all levels, it has been extremely disappointing and frustrating to know that this group of players did not have the chance to see if they could go on and achieve what last year’s cohort were able to do. There were no guarantees that they would, but it would have been great fun to see them try.

I want to say a huge thank you to the following boys, as they represented the school so incredibly well in limited circumstances this year, and I hope that as many of you as possible will carry on playing handball next year:

Aaryaman Poondy (GK), Ollie Lemonde (GK), Ben Kearney, Sam Tung, Harry Holmes, Oscar Wellbelove, Alex Davis (Year 9), Alex Brown, Christian Lynch, Ollie Blundell (Year 9), Theo Bockmuehl, Elias McCalla (Year 9), Joe Barber & George Birch

Perhaps the achievements of four Year 11 AGS students will inspire the above-named boys to continue their handball journeys, as Sam HurleyCooke, Harry Jones, Sam Kearney and Nathan MacDonald were not only selected to play for the U16 EHA Eastern Region Handball Squad this year, they were also all picked to be part of the England Handball Futures Programme, which is a fantastic achievement. Nathan in particular has had an incredible year as, in addition to his selection for the Futures Programme at U16 level, he also represented Team GB at Under 18 Level. AGS is extremely proud of what Nathan, and all of the students who have been named in this report have been doing on the handball court, and hopes that as many as possible will look to give something back to the school programme in order for the sport to keep growing here.

Mr C McGill

Cross Country

The season began in October, where the Junior and Inter Teams both competed in the ESAA Cross

Country Cup. The Junior team, which consisted of Adam Bottrell, Freddie Crafts, Toby Evans, Rafik Moussaoui, Joseph Aloluwaloba, and Tom Usher finished a very creditable 5th place. Joseph Aloluwaloba was the highest placed finisher in 17th out of 51 runners.

At the same competition, the inters faired a little better, placing 3rd overall, behind DCGS and JHGS. The team, led by Nick Cay and consisted of Alex Hodson, Ethan Perry, Oscar Wellbelove, Sam Wright, and Tom Young. They all performed very well and secured a place at the regional finals in Banbury, Oxfordshire. At the regional finals, Nick Cay and Oscar Wellbelove both finished in the top 20 which was fantastic and the team overall finished 6th, but unfortunately, this was not enough in order to qualify for the National finals.

In February, the Cross Country squad travelled to Stowe school to compete in the Bucks Schools Championships. This is an individual event and the top ten finishers earn a place in the Bucks County Team which goes on to compete at the National Finals. The results were as follows;

Year 7 Position Time

12 0:07:27 HORNER, Stanley 30 0:07:57 KAPINSKI-NOADES, Charlie 0:08:45 BLAND, Alex 0:09:03 O’NEILL, Jacob 0:09:07 HARRINGTON, Kiran 0:09:10 BARTEN, George 0:10:41 VUJANIC, Luka

Junior Position Time

24 0:15:10 WRIGHT, Sam 42 50 0:15:52 YOUNG, Thomas 0:16:12 PERRY, Ethan

Inters Position Time

16 0:21:07 CAY, Nick 18 0:21:25 HODSON, Alex

47 0:25:05 BULL, Pat

Senior Position Time

4 0:18:44 PERRY, Max 9 0:19:16 LINDARS, Ben 0:20:01 BELL, Harvey 0:20:42 RIZZO-NAUDI, Matt 0:23:36 BROWN, Finn

A huge well done and thank you to all those who tried out for the Cross for those who went on to represent the school at this year’s events.

Swimming

This year AGS entered teams in the ESSA Regional Championships, Watford. Leading to the ESSA National Relay Championships, London.

AGS attended the event for the 5th year in a row, hoping to qualify once more for the National finals in November. The Junior Team (Jake Chesworth L7, Daksh Surana H8, Dan Beadle Ph8, Tom Poole D8) was up first and came 3rd fastest in the Medley Relay and 6th fastest in the freestyle. This was good enough for the team to qualify for the National finals in the medley relay. Unfortunately, their freestyle time was just outside the top 30 times nationally so they narrowly missed out.

The Inters team (Sam Pyefinch, Carmelo Almadin, Billy Knibb and Murray Wakefield) performed superbly well, winning the medley relay and coming a narrow 2nd in the freestyle relay. The team’s performance meant that they qualified for the national finals in both the freestyle and medley relay.

The Senior Team (Cam Brooker, James Chennells, Tom Selby, Ish Rahim & Nick Reid) arrived at the regionals very confident of good performance and they didn’t disappoint. They won both their races and in new regional record times! This amazing performance propelled them to the national finals, with the 4th fastest qualifying time in the country!

In November 2019, the swimming squad travelled to the Aquatic Centre in Stratford, London. The Inters and Senior teams had all had experienced the National finals in previous years so looked at home in this environment. For the Juniors, it was the first time they had reached the finals and they were very excited. They swam well but unfortunately, they didn’t qualify for the final and they ended up finishing 13th overall.

The Inters team had two opportunities to make a final and the first came in the Medley relay where they finished 3rd in their heat and qualified for the final, 9th fastest. In the final, the boys swam quicker than the heat and finished 8th overall which is a fantastic achievement. In the freestyle relay, they swam well but could only manage 20th overall.

The Senior swim squad had high expectations, they were potentially aiming for some silverware. In the medley relay heats the boys swam well and qualified for the final posting the 8th fastest time. In the final, they placed 8th, which is in line with what they hoped and again an amazing achievement. The team had their eye on the freestyle relay for the best chance of placing higher. The heat went well and they qualified 5th fastest and were confident for a top three finish. Unfortunately, they were unable to improve on 5th and that was where they finished in the final.

Overall AGS had all teams finished in the top twenty, four top ten finishes and one top five finish. For a state school, this again is an amazing achievement and something which the boys should feel immensely proud of – Well done!

Mr N Gibbs

Squash report 2019-20

The season started in October with our annual friendly fixture

against Harrow. We took the

minibus to North London with the 1st and 2nd teams, and we came away with 5-0 wins for both. This was followed by another friendly win for the 1st team against Eton College which set us up for our journey on to National Schools qualification.

The regional group stage paired us up with our hosts Abingdon, RGS High Wycombe and Bradfield College. With a fully fit and motivated team we came away with 3 wins and qualified for Stage 2 in the New Year. Continuing on a confident run AGS had a 5-0 friendly away win against Radley College soon after. We started the New Year with friendly fixtures with an away win over Stowe and another convincing return fixture at home against Harrow. Before National Schools started we had another friendly win against Berkhamsted which gave the team a further confidence boost.

Stage 2 of the Nationals had us drawn against John Hampden, Felsted and Colchester. We were given home advantage to try and secure a place in the Finals scheduled to be played at Nottingham SC in March. Encouraged by being undefeated and aiming for future success the boys overcame all the opposition with 5-0 wins and remained unbeaten in the competition thus far.

As we all know, fixtures came to an abrupt halt due to the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures. Despite being very disappointed at not being able to continue the season, everyone understood the decision taken by England Squash to postpone initially, and eventually cancel the finals.

Well done to all who have represented the 1st team this season - Lewis Milner, Dan Choudhury, Ryan Connor, Tom Woodage, Ollie Carolan, Callum Egan and Dylan Holmes – Cowan. The 1st team also benefitted by being able to call on Sam Woods & Logan Smith which gave us greater strength in depth. It’s anyone’s guess if the boys may have become CHAMPIONS!

The U17 team also played the National Schools competition and progressed through Stage 1 finishing top of their group with wins over our hosts North Leamington, Myton and Bromsgrove. This was followed by wins over a touring Hunts County Squash Club. Many of these boys also stepped up to play for our 1st team in friendly matches before their Stage 2 matches.

The squad were dealt a massive blow due to a back injury sustained by Callum Egan and despite a 5-0 win against RGSHW the boys came a spirited 2nd to John Hampden. Thanks to Ollie Carolin, Callum Egan, Silas Glover, Aaron MacWhirter, Tom Whitehead, Ollie Peck and Harry Cuddy. Whitehead, Ollie Peck, Alex Glover, Harry Cuddy, Billy Dodds, Ellison Socrates and Joel Jennings have shown enthusiasm and commitment and were eagerly awaiting their fixtures to begin.

Many of these boys played a part in the victory over Hunts CSC and used this as a warm up for their National Schools stage 1 group. They were up against hosts John Hampden, who had an A & B team in this group. The team came away with 5-0 wins against both JHGS and a walkover against the last opponents Berkhamsted who withdrew at late notice.

Stage 2 draws were announced and the boys were up against serial winners of national schools in Wycliffe, as well Tring and Felsted. Results in the group were always going to be close and despite a 3-2 loss to Wycliffe the team secured 2nd place with wins over Tring and Felsted. After a nervous and long wait for all the results to be collated together, AGS were delighted to hear they had also qualified for finals due to being best runners up overall. AGS now had two teams in the finals which is an extremely good achievement, so it was doubly disappointing that the finals had to be cancelled.

Overall, the season has been excellent across all teams with only two losses in all fixtures and the 1st team remaining unbeaten. All the boys also compete in the Bucks Junior League on Sunday afternoons and we had three teams chasing honours with the 1st team top of Division 1, 2nd team top of Division 2 and 3rd team half way in Division 3. Unfortunately the season has now been cancelled and no more fixtures will be played.

More success came in the Bucks Junior Closed with title wins for Lewis Milner U19 and Billy Dodds U13 and we send our best wishes and fond farewells to Lewis Milner and Tom Woodage as they leave AGS and enter a new chapter in their lives.

Mr D Withey