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RUGBY
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This year, we knew we were going to have a competitive start to the season, with Monkton Combe, Bournemouth School and King’s Bruton being our first three games. Our morale was high throughout the start of the season and we took this into our next game against Poole Grammar, where we managed a convincing win. There were many brilliant moments throughout the first term, especially Jack Pearce’s try where he slipped and weaved his way through the whole of the opposition, scoring one of the best tries of the season! The next few games were a challenge as we had players missing for various reasons, so this was a huge test for us as a team to try and carry on the winning form, which we did as we faced Yeovil in our next cup match. We showed our full potential with Harrison Horner making a few bombing runs down the wing and Rupert Angell stepping past the defence. We got our second
win and move to the third round of the cup. We managed to secure our three-match-win streak when we played Warminster after half term, as our great determination and hands on the ball allowed us to score 38 points, making it one of our most memorable matches this season. This was a great game with the scores being level at half time, but Dauntsey’s showed their strength in depth and used this to their advantage in the second half. With travelling a long distance to Mount Kelly ending our cup tournament run, we were able to focus on our next game with King’s Bruton, where we showed our best defence of the season. Only conceding a few tries and scoring one of our own, we showed how much we have developed and improved over the season compared to when we played them at the start. We then had the two tough fixtures of Sherborne
and Exeter, with six of our starting line up missing. We played well, and demonstrated the spirit and resilience which we held throughout the season. With Monkton Combe being our last match of the season, our emotion was high and we gave it our all throughout the match, however the opposition adapted to the conditions and the weather suited their forward style of play. It was a great and enjoyable season for us, with some of the best chemistry within a team that I have ever played in. Thank you to the boys who played this season, and I wish the lower years good luck for the future. We would also like to thank the coaches for their hard work: Mr Conway, Mr Kelly and Mr Gibbs. Thank you. Felix Flute (1st XV Captain)
HOCKEY We knew this season would be a period of transition, after losing some very good Year 13 players last year. However, gaining some quality Year 11 players this term made this a positive process. The team has made a great deal of progress throughout this term and this has been evident in the fixtures as the term went on where we have taken some good Hockey schools all the way until the final whistle. An example of this was the National Cup game against KES Bath, where they scored in the final minute. Highlights of the season include the Year 11s such as, Joel Cazalet being a rock in midfield and
Henry Gundill holding solid in defence to name a few. In total, we had six Year 11s which is by far the youngest team on our circuit, which shows that with the addition of the current Year 10s next year, Hockey at Clayesmore looks to be in a really strong position. That with the support of Adam Tapper who brings a wealth of knowledge and different coaching ideas, the future of Hockey at Clayesmore looks very bright indeed.
13 leaver’s carry on playing Hockey wherever they choose to go next year. I would like to pass on the following message to next years’ team - back your skills and never give up, but most of all enjoy the game. The school are heading out to Barcelona in October half term for an U17 trip and this promises to be a very useful and exciting chance to play different teams and learn a great deal. Michael Sandiford (1st XI Captain)
I hope that the team has been able to enjoy this season and I hope our Year