The 1st XV rugby team hosted Stowe on Saturday, and our home team showed much improvement against a strong opposition. Inspired by vocal home support, Oundle attacked with fluency and intent, epitomised by the industrious Ben (S) and Tom (G) Curry twins, and an exceptional performance from fly half Freddie Johnsrud (Ldr). Our defence proved impregnable, with Stowe unable to score a try. The final score was 20-9 to Oundle. After a tough start to the season, Oundle have the ball rolling. An Oakham fixture awaits this week.
The 1st XI girls hockey team played Oakham away. In light of their notorious rivalry, both teams started aggressively. Oundle’s defence strategically targeted their key player. Esme Wishart (W) and Annabel Barker (N) double-teamed to prevent her from using her pace and skill to get past the deeper defence. Anna Hodgkinson (N) scored the first goal. After Oakham equalized, Oundle fought hard, however the standard of play declined as the team tired in the second half. Oakham’s star player took advantage of this and scored two more points despite tremendous effort from Minna Coke (D) in goal. The final score was 3-1 to Oakham.
The Squash Club played away against Stamford. The 1st V won 4 and lost 1 in a solid performance with some convincing wins. In particular, Alex Swanston (G) showed his grit against an irate opponent, maintaining focus and snatching victory in the final stage of the final game, 3-2.
In the second Squash Club fixture of the week, Oakham visited Oundle. The 1st V continued their winning run and won 4 and lost 1 due to injury. Alex Swanston and Kieran Marray (L) put on an excellent exhibition of their talent, both winning 3-0.
The 2nd V fixture was a nail-biter which was won in the end 3-2 to Oundle. Tom Farmer (S) had to step up to the mark to replace an injured player and pulled off a remarkable 3-0 victory. With the fixture at 2-2 all the pressure was then on Ryan Cheng (Ldr) in the deciding match. He played brilliantly and won 3-2, clinching an overall Oundle win.
The Swimming Club travelled to Bramcote to compete in the annual ESSA regional qualifiers, where they were met by some of the toughest competition from a variety of schools across the Midlands. The teams were age categorised, with swimmers from 11+ to 18 years. The Club was strong in both medley and front crawl relays against challenging opposition, and all competed with spirit.
The badminton teams had a tight match against Rugby away. The boys drew while the girls lost by just one game. Ben Bird (L) and Marcus Lo (C) played as the fourth pair of the boys team and performed extremely well. James Clayton (L) and Francis Yiu (Sc) showed excellent teamwork even though it was their first time playing doubles together. They used varying formations and strategies to gain the control of the pace of their games, giving their opponents some exciting games.
The girls team made great improvements from their previous match. Sophie Crowe (K) and Tilly Cooper (D) both showed great determination and attacking skills by using many strong smashes and high shots to interrupt the formations of the opposing pairs. However, up against some well-experienced teams, their weaknesses were spotted, and their opponents limited opportunities for the Oundle side to progress.
Dylan Martens (L)