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Raising the bar

Sport at Clifton continues to improve at a pace, with some fantastic team results to inspire and set a high benchmark for others to follow.

Butcombe

Butcombe actively participate in a wide variety of sporting activities with great enthusiasm. On the rugby front they were able to field three U8 tag rugby teams against the Downs School at the beginning of the season, two teams in the Beaudesert U8 tag rugby festival in November and also hosted an extremely enjoyable rugby festival of their own on the Close.

The U8 girl’s hockey played two teams against The Downs School, narrowly losing but gaining their first experience of playing in a school match and they all gave a very good account of themselves.

As well as the team sports Butcombe run a huge number of sports clubs and activities from Judo and Karate; where a large number of children have moved swiftly up the Gradings, to swimming and chess and many more.

Pre

The Michaelmas term was another hugely successful and enjoyable term for sport in the Prep school. Boys and girls across all age groups once again showed a real enthusiasm and passion for sport from the swimming pool, the rugby field to the hockey pitches at Beggars Bush.

The girls played hockey as their main sport and had a very successful season highlighted by the 1st VII qualifying for the Nationals IAPS Finals. The girls played well at the finals and finished 5th overall, an excellent achievement. Well done also to the 2nd VII who had an unbeaten season. The 1st XI and Under 12 girls were tournament winners at Cheltenham, with the U12 VII also Severnside winners. The 6th and 7th VII were also unbeaten and for the first time the Pre also fielded an 8th VII. 100% of girls at the Pre played in school matches, a fantastic achievement.

The younger girls have also been excelling, the U11A were Severnside tournament winners and the U10As were unbeaten in school fixtures and were tournament winners at the Millfield and the Severnside tournaments. Conceding just 7 goals whilst scoring 64 shows how well the girls played. All ages and abilities had a season to remember with only a few loses across the whole spectrum – a remarkable achievement.

Not to be outdone the boys have had an excellent season on the rugby pitch. The 1st XV played 14 matches and won 10 of them giving them an impressive win rate of 72%. A special mention should also go to the 3rd XV who lost only one of their 10 matches. The Pre also played a 7th XV for the first time and the boys who took part did themselves and the Pre proud. The 1st VII team played some superb rugby to win the Severnside Rugby Sevens Tournament at Beaudesert. Over 90% of the boys including all in the Lower Pre have represented the School on the rugby field, with 60% of those games resulting in a win or a draw.

The Cross Country team had a great term which culminated in 8 pupils being selected for the Bristol Schools team. They will be competing at the Avon Schools Cross Country Championship and if they do well they could be selected for the County team, good luck to them all.

Upper School

Girls’ hockey had an excellent 2011 season. The U18, U16, U14 won the County tournaments, all qualifying for the Regional Finals showing the strength and depth across the age groups. The seniors performed well with Captain Saskia Barnes leading her team to big victories over Cheltenham and Marlborough. Lily Owsley has continued to dominate School matches, her England U18 selection well deserved. The 2nds had a notable win over Dean Close and the 3rds and 4ths worked hard all season. The juniors in particular dominated the hockey circuit with three unbeaten seasons for the U15A, U14A and the U14C. The juniors played 42 matches in total, only losing 3.

The U15A scored 36, conceded 9 and the majority of the squad were instrumental in winning the County U16 Final; reaching the U16 Regional Finals, after qualifying through the preliminary rounds. A special mention to Anna Sibley who captained the U16 squad, it was a tough experience with a young team, but it is looking very promising for this coming year when they will be at the top of their age group.

The U14A have a very impressive set of statistics! In their school matches they scored 63 goals and only conceded 2. In the County and Regional Finals they scored a total of 48 goals and conceded 4, which is why they became Regional Champions and will represent the West at the National Finals. The girls have worked very hard and they will continue to train in the Lent term for their tournament in Cannock on 29th February.

The 1st XV had the most successful season for 10 years; winning ten matches out of twelve. This equals the number of victories achieved by the unbeaten team of 2001 who won 10 and drew one.

Despite losing their first match against Taunton the 1st XV team then put together 9 straight victories. The highlights of the season which featured many close games were wins against Cheltenham 20–13 (Away) and a nail-biting 22–17 victory against Bromsgrove, but last Saturday’s victory 17–15 against a Sherborne team who boasted England U16 internationals was probably the most dramatic of the season – and a moment every player will remember forever.

Clifton’s 1st XV played for four trophies and won four, a feat which will be a real target for future 1st XV’s. The squad have been actively helping junior players in games sessions and they have set an ethos of hard work and teamwork that future 1st XV players should aim to emulate. Their discipline on the field has been a key factor, never blaming any teammate or referee for mistakes but just getting on with the job of playing rugby and enjoying themselves.

Captain and No 8 Max Cresswell has been an inspirational leader; Vice Captain Will Watson kicked many vital penalties and conversions; however the whole squad have been tremendous and a wonderful advertisement for schoolboy rugby.

Match results: Taunton School: Lost 8–13; King’s Taunton: Won 22–10; Bromsgrove School: Won 22–17; Bristol Grammar School (Bresnahan Trophy): Won 16–3; St Edward’s Oxford: Won 44–10; Marlborough College (Governor’s Cup): Won 22–12; Prior Park: Won 48–0; Bristol Grammar School: Won 21–3; Blundell’s School (Colquhoun Cup): Won 18–3; Cheltenham College: Won 20–13; Old Swinford Hospital School: Lost 10–20; Sherborne School (John Craig Cup): Won 17–15.

It has been 10 years single Clifton has won a Rackets trophy in the boys’ Public Schools Singles tournament – until now. Sam Byron-Evans was the last, winning the Renny Cup in 1991, although it is testament to sport at Clifton that the first ever girls racquets open competition at Queen’swas between two Cliftonians, Lucy Piggott and Emma Powell, when Lucy won the day.

In December Ben McGeoch showed great skill, determination, desire and a lot of composure to bring the Renny Cup back to Clifton. He came through the first four rounds without conceding a game. He met the Number 2 seed in the semi-final and came through with a 3–1 win, hitting the ball very cleanly and accurately.

In the Final Ben was up against Goldie (Eton). It was a tense first game as nerves crept, but Ben showed his steel by taking the first game 15–7. In the second, there were some fantastic rallies and Goldie pipped Ben 16–13. The third was another nail-biting encounter but Ben served really well at crucial times in the game and won it 15–12. Ben dominated the fourth, playing quality rackets and served brilliantly, winning the game 15–4 and the match 3–1. Ben has worked extremely hard at his game all term and thoroughly deserved his win.

13 January 2012

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