On Saturday 19th November, the girls hockey squad travelled to Stowe. The 1st XI game started with Stowe's push back to start, and the forwards did well to put plenty of pressure on them, forcing the ball backwards, and soon winning possession. Oundle worked hard to keep the ball in the attacking quarter, and Oundle managed to win a few short corners. Despite failing to convert the first few, Frannie Aldridge (K) finally fired it right past the goalie into the back of the net, putting Oundle 1-0 up. With a notable boost in confidence, the quality of play increased and the game became more intense. Goalkeeper Roisin Emmerson (D) made some crucial saves and Oundle soon won another short corner with Izzy Myers (Sn) deflecting it into the goal, making the score 2-0 just as the whistle blew for half time. The second half saw Stowe up their game, and after a few defensive blunders from Oundle the score was 2-1. However with around ten minutes to go, Oundle pulled together and captain Dora Nicolle (W) secured the game for Oundle with a fine finish to find the back of the goal once again.
The 3rd and 4th teams both had excellent games against strong sides, playing Stowe's 2nd and 3rd teams respectively. Both teams secured a 4-0 victory, continuing the 3rd XI's winning streak this season.
At home the 2nd XI and 5th XI were in action against Bedford Modern, and they too gained victories for Oundle with a 2-1 win for the 2nd XI, and a 5-0 win for the 5th XI.
The rugby club did not have any external fixtures this week as they were in the midst of the ongoing, highly competitive house rugby tournament.
The squash club had a fixture against Rugby with both the 1st and U16 boys teams in action. The 1st team played a series of close matches, and despite the absence of their captain, the team pulled together to win a narrow, but well deserved 3-2 victory. The U16 team, who were less experienced, unfortunately lost 1-4 on this occasion.
On Thursday 17th November, the Oundle swimming team raced in a gala against rivals Bishop’s Stortford College. The gala promised to be competitive with BSC's form looking particularly good in recent years. Individually, the U16 Boys put out a phenomenal performance and really impressed all spectators and swimmers at the gala. Harry King (G) put in an impressive performance for his wins in the breaststroke and freestyle, and Tom Delf (S) swam a strong backstroke in the medley relay. The U16 team outperformed their senior counterparts from within the squad which was very impressive.
The U18 girls were joined by some U16 swimmers and had some extremely tough competition with BSC having both international and Olympic swimmers in this age group. The younger swimmers swam well, and weren't fazed by the level of swimming they were up against. Without our backstroke swimmer, there was a gap in the team which was ably filled by Grace Maund (K), who gained excellent times. The climax of the gala was certainly the 4 x 50m freestyle relay in which Oundle always performs well. From the very first leg, Grace had a lead, and Bini Hirst (K) managed to maintain that lead throughout her 50m. Lucy Cairns (N) kept it close for the third leg with one of the faster BSC swimmers biting at her ankles. Maddy Farley (L) swam the last 50m, and was up against a swimmer who had previously beaten her by over a second in the preceding event, however the lead which they had gained during the race helped her finish the race in first place.
The senior boys were missing a few key swimmers, but this didn't impede their success. They faced fast and accomplished swimmers from BSC who were tough to compete against. Undoubtedly, the boys raced their hardest and brought in some great times. Their relays were tough and individual races were hard fought and huge congratulations must go to them all as a team as they cheered and supported each other in the wake of some frustrating losses.
21 personal best times were broken, with some even gaining multiple PBs across the events. Overall the competition was very close: U16 boys 28 – 19; U18 girls: 27 – 29; U18 boys: 25 – 29; Overall 84 – 82. The man of the match was Linus Lam (S) for his performance in an impressive seven races. And the girl of the gala was Grace Maund who impressed all of her competitors with her speed and ability on backstroke.
Ruby Goodall (L)