Football: Review for 2008 - 09
Football
Played 135 Won 75 (56%) Drew 38 (27%) Lost 23 (17%)
Seniors
The senior teams enjoyed a solid rather than spectacular season but produced some excellent performances along the way. The 1st XI started the season in fine style winning four of their first five games racking up 25 goals in the process with victories coming against Vinehall, St Michaels, Solefield and Sevenoaks. The match against Sevenoaks saw the school’s sporting ‘champagne moment’ of the year as goalkeeper Patrick macLachlan kicked the ball the full length of the field to score an unlikely goal! Unfortunately, tougher games followed and only one more victory, however this was an impressive 3-0 victory over a strong Holmewood House side and a final record of Played 10 Won 5, Lost 3, Drew 2 is a pretty good effort. The 1st XI boys also gained some tournament success winning the New Beacon 7’s plate and the fair play award in the Sevenoaks Prep 5-A-Side tournament. Will Page maintained his affiliation with Crystal Palace this season and his skills were to the fore for the 1st XI.
The 2nd XI and 3rd XI’s followed a similar path to the 1st XI with all of their wins coming in early season encounters. The 2nd XI highlight was a fantastic 4-1 victory against a competitive St Bede’s team. Duncan Bristow in goal and Ed Baker at the heart of the defence enjoyed excellent seasons. The 3rd XI came close to having an outstanding season despite winning only 3 games; the 5 draws they battled to could so easily have been victories. Draws against capable New Beacon and Holmewood House teams confirm that ours was a strong outfit. The 4th XI had a difficult season but their solitary victory against Solefield was reward for their hard work during the term.
Middles
This was an outstanding season for boys in Y5 and 6 with tournament victories and unbeaten seasons everywhere you looked. The standard of football played in these two year groups was exceptional and the boys deserve great credit for the skill and application they demonstrated throughout.
The Colts A team proved themselves to be almost unbeatable in the smaller form of the game winning the St Michael’s 6-a-side, the Sevenoaks Prep 6-a-side and the Sevenoaks Senior School 5-a-side tournaments. Dominance in the 11-a-side game, however, proved elusive and three easy victories were followed by four narrow defeats, three by a solitary goal. Louis Mckeeve led the team with great determination, pace and skill with Jonathan Smith equally impressive in his striking role scoring 30 goals in all competitions.
The Colts B had an excellent unbeaten season, winning six and drawing one. The match they failed to win against New Beacon was avenged towards the end of the Michaelmas Term with a hard fought 1-0 victory at New Beacon. This side relied heavily on tenacity and hard work to complete a season the boys can be proud of.
On the flip side the U11C’s final record of no wins and only 1 draw was disappointing but the boys can take heart from the fact that no side beat them by more than two goals.
The Y5 teams completed a remarkable season: of the 37 matches played by these 56 boys, 32 were won, 4 were drawn and only a solitary defeat by the U10B’s 3-2 at the hands of Hawthorns, (sorry Mr Smith), prevented the whole year group from going unbeaten.
The U10A led the way winning 10 out of 10 and playing some delightful flowing football with all of the players from Alex Hewitt in goal to Spencer Alderton in attack making equal and vital contributions to the team. Despite their loss it was probably the U10B team who provided the sternest opposition for the U10A team during training. In winning 8 of their 9 games the U10 B team scored 49 goals and they were also victors in the St Michael’s U10B 5-a-side tournament. The U10C also played an exciting brand of football winning all six of their games and scoring 31 goals in the process. To top off a wonderful season for the U10s the D, E and F teams completed unbeaten seasons. Well done boys!
Juniors
The junior boys had a satisfactory season with the overall statistics showing that more than 60 % of the matches played resulted in YC victories. It has been great to see the progress these boys have made during the term as the early season ‘bees around a honey pot’ approach developed into something a lot more structured with boys learning about positional play and movement off the ball.
The U9s A-D all played eight matches and the A team led the way winning four, drawing three and losing just the one match. Jonathan Shepherdson, Sam Mercer and Ben Morley playing influential roles in a number of closely fought matches. The U9Bs and C’s had an almost identical record, both teams winning four of their matches. The B’s 2-1 victory over Hawthorns was a particular highlight whilst Hugo Toppin played an important role in goal for the C team. The U9 D team played in several close games and it was great to see the enjoyment our boys get from taking part in school fixtures.
The U8s started the season strongly; many of these boys turn out for the pre-season training that we run during the summer holidays. Selection is always difficult at the early stage of the term with so many boys striving to play in as high a team as possible. The A team started well winning two and drawing two of their first four games, with the skills and shooting ability of Charlie Dumas evident for all to see and George Baker demonstrating an excellent knack of putting the ball in the net when the chances were offered. The U8B led by the competitive Will Beechey won three and lost three, with all matches being very close. The U8C team proved to be a strong team winning all four of their matches; this was a fantastic achievement considering 22 different boys represented this team.
Other Seasons: Current Season | Football: Review for 2007-08 | Football: Review for 2006-07 | Football: Review for 2005-06 | Football: Review for 2004-05 | Football: Review for 2003-04 | Football: Review for 2002-03