Successful Sporting Term

It has been another successful term on the sports field for Highcliffe.

During the course of the term success was achieved in a number of areas.
In rugby the 6th form team were runners-up in an area tournament.
In the Year 7 rugby area tournament the boys were victorious against Ballard in the final, in what was a nail-biting game.  The Year 8 and 9 teams went undefeated all season on top of winning the District cup.  Good luck to Year 10 team who are playing Gillingham in the County Rugby plate semi-finals.

In netball all years are competing in the area netball league which continues after half term.  All teams are progressing well, but the Year 7 team are the most successful as they have only lost one game.  The Year 7, 8 and 10 netball teams have tournaments this term.

In the girls’ football the U13 team are through to the quarter-finals of the County Cup and they made it to the last 32 teams in the National Cup.  The U16 team is currently unbeaten in the County Cup league.

In basketball all teams played in the Christchurch and district basketball leagues.  Congratulations to Year 9 who won the league having been undefeated all season.  The Year 7 team is also undefeated with one match to play.  The Year 8 team finished as runners-up in the league.

A number of tournaments took place towards the end of term and we are pleased to be able to report a considerable degree of success.

The Grange U13 girls’ Football Tournament.
Well done to the U13 girls who ended up not only as winners of the recent tournament but were also unbeaten throughout the whole tournament.  This was no mean feat as they faced stiff competition from good quality teams representing The Grange, Talbot Heath and The Bishop of Winchester.  It would be invidious to single out any individual performance as the whole team played so well.  However Katie was unanimously chosen as Highcliffe player of the tournament.  Well done to the whole team!

U14 St Peter’s Rugby Tournament
The Highcliffe U14s have put in some fantastic performances throughout the season but they certainly left some of their best rugby for the annual St Peter’s Tournament.  Eight schools entered the competition and were put into 2 groups.   St Peter’s were our first opponents, who are a strong and powerful side and were certainly favoured to do well in the tournament.  They had beaten the team the previous year in the final.  This game was going to be crucial to the day’s outcome and so it proved. 
The warm-up was very focused as the team gathered their thoughts for the forthcoming challenge.  When the whistle blew Highcliffe came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders.  The forwards dominated position with the line out, scrum and broken play being dominated.  This dominance lead to Tom picking the ball up from the back of the scrum and scoring in the right hand corner to put Highcliffe 5-0 up.
The backs grew in confidence throughout the game and towards the end of the second half Finn (who played exceptionally well at fly half throughout the day) scored after making a half break.

Oakmead had also won their opening game.  Highcliffe defended superbly in this game, turning defence into attack by pressuring Oakmead into mistakes. In the loose Nathan  and Luke really took the game to Oakmead, spoiling their possession.  This led to quick ball for Finn, who drew his man and released Sami, who ran the ball in for the first of a hat trick of tries.  Following his superb assist, Patrick also broke the defensive line to score.   Result 20-0

The Grange were next up in the pool matches.  Nathan, Theo, Dean, Sam, Oli and Cameron performed exceptionally in this game, all breaking the gain line, and linking with supporting players.  Sam finished off a free flowing move in the right hand corner to get the scoring underway.  Sami, Patrick and Finn all adding to the scoreboard for a 20-0 win.

Highcliffe had won the group  and went straight through to the final against Lytchett.  The team performances had been superb all day but they saved the best for last.  Confidence was flowing through the team as they passed and off-loaded in all areas of the pitch with Phil and Dean growing in stature upfront, Ciaran pulling the strings from scrum half, and Rhys linking any loose play into territory gained.  Patrick and Finn again both scored, before a sublime first phase move lead to Patrick taking a switch pass at full pace to score unopposed directly under the post from 20 yards out.  Final result: 15-0 Highcliffe Winners!
Full credit should be given for their attitude, leadership and togetherness not just on the day but throughout the season so far.  They were a true credit to the school, and it has been a pleasure to coach them again this year.  They continue to listen and improve, shortly after the tournament the team went on to beat Bournemouth School for Boys 31-10.  I would like to extend my congratulations to the boys and thank all the parents for their continued support they give to the team.

Year 9 Boys’ Rugby
Highcliffe arrived at the tournament with 2 strong sides ready to defend their title from the previous year.  The A team were in a pool with St Peter’s B, Twynham B and Arnewood A.  While the B team faced the tougher draw of St Peter’s A, Twynham A, Arnewood B and Portchester.  The B team gave a sound account of themselves winning against both Arnewood and Portchester but narrowly losing against both St Peter’s and Twynham A teams.  They eventually finished joint runners-up in their pool but did not reach the later stages due to an inferior points score.
The A team, playing some great flowing rugby in all games went on to win all their pool matches in emphatic style.  In the final Highcliffe faced their old adversaries Twynham.  Highcliffe took an early lead 15-0, Twynham fought back to score a consolation try though Highcliffe went on to 25 – 5 and retained their trophy.
A special well done goes to Arthur, who had to play in both A and B teams after an injury to one of the A team players.

Dorset Schools Team Tumbling Competition
We must congratulate Lauren, Ella, Jessica and Molly who represented Highcliffe School at this major regional competition held at Rossmore Leisure Centre in Parkstone. During the day almost 100 teams from over 40 schools took part, divided into four age groups. Highcliffe’s team competed against 17 others in the Years 7 & 8 category. After the first round of the competition, where the standard was incredibly high, the top five teams went through to the final. Brilliantly, Highcliffe was one of them! Of the final five, Highcliffe came in third overall. This was a great achievement and a fantastic end to a very enjoyable competition.

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