Spring House Sport

Every year the Spring House Sport competition is always in the balance as we never quite know what the weather is going to throw at us at this time of year. Fortunately for everyone involved, the last week of term 4 saw some of the best weather conditions we can remember and students turned out in their masses to take part. Students had not competed since Christmas and so these events were the perfect way to kick start the competition back into action! There is surely no school that can offer views & countryside like St Katherine’s when the sun shines!

Year 7 Football

An impressive 80% of year 7 boys turned out to represent their houses in what was the first competition of the Spring House Sport calendar. It was great to see the boys so excited to earn points for their houses on the football pitch. In a nail bitingly close competition the eventual standings were decided based on the number of goals scored as their points and goal difference were unable to split Saturn and Jupiter. Goal difference also decided 3^rd and 4^thspots with Mars and Mercury level on points too!

Saturn house ran out eventual winners taking all four points for the overall total despite actually losing to Mars who finished up in fourth place. Jody Quinn was proving something of a goal scoring machine for the yellow house as he notched up a total of 4 goals. Jody’s first goal against Jupiter house proved to be the decisive factor in that match as it got the momentum going but his goals were vital in the final standings. Unsurprisingly Toby Rice had a stormer between the sticks and made countless saves; 3 of which came in about 2 seconds but still couldn’t stop Ben Bohin from nudging the ball home much to Toby’s frustration. Ben Lumoso was a rock at the back and put in some big tackles meanwhile Jack Rossiter was like a terrier in midfield chasing anything that moved!

Jupiter were unlucky not to take maximum points and could only look back at their first match and wonder. Joe Paice scored his first of 3 goals on the afternoon but not before Saturn equalised. A costly own goal was the moment that turned Jupiter’s fortunes but to their credit they didn’t let it stop them from going on to win their final two matches. The boys in blue comfortably beat Mercury with goals from captain Nana and Joe. Shadrach and Harry Slape were busy defensively; Shadrach broke up a lot of opposition attacks in the midfield while Harry cleared up well in defence. Calum Stock was also a real threat down the wing and created a number of Jupiter attacks.

Mercury took third spot and got off to an absolute flyer against Mars in their first match. At half time the scores were level at 1 each; a Mars own goal cancelling out a screamer from Ollie Page. Second half goals from Ollie Stratton (2), Isaac Adebo and Mansur were added to another own goal, this time from the green house to see Mercury win 6 goals to 1. Unfortunately they just couldn’t recreate this in their other two matches but it wasn’t for lack of effort. Dylan Deadman kept goal brilliantly with Max Stevens & Ollie Stratton combining well in front using pace & power well in the Mercury defense. Jenson Reeve was proving a handful in attack; not to mention Adebo, Yilmaz and West – a fantastic team on paper that were desperately unlucky not to come away with more.

Another house that got off to a flyer were Mars with an absolute stunner from Ollie Page giving them the lead. Lewis Cole kept goal really well for his house while Ben Bohin was talismanic in attack – Ben scored two goals in their 3-1 win against eventual winners Saturn. Ciaran Large was also in the thick of the action getting in the scoresheet in the Saturn game too. He had some lovely touches in the final third and was a real asset to his house captains Corey and Liam. Mars had an impressive defense with Enzo, Dom and Liam but just suffered from a bit of bad luck!

Year 7 Hockey

With an impressive turnout from the students from Year 7, it made for a glorious afternoon of sunshine and hockey.  With over 40 students representing their house the tournament was played in a round robin format, to allow every team to play each other.

Round 1

Mercury 7 – 0 Jupiter: It was an impressive start from the Mercury side, with high levels of attacking possession.  Isobel Taylor, Jolie Breakwell and Daisy Money all linked well to create scoring opportunities and they were well taken by the team.  Jupiter had a mainly defensive game with Issy Howie working hard in defence, pulling off some great goal saving tackles.

Mars 0 – 0 Saturn: This game would best be described as one of missed opportunities.  The possession was changing between the team frequently and both teams had attacking opportunities. Jamie Leigh Bell came close on a number of occasions and she was well supplied by some great passes by Sophie Weaden, however the strong defence of Ellie Ojo and Elina Jakubaite kept a clean sheet for the Saturn side.

Round 2

Mercury 1 – 0 Mars: The close scoreline reflects the game and possession well.  Both sides had a number of attacking opportunities, Molly Green provided a number of great balls into Sophie, who narrowly missed the target on a number of occasions, whilst Issy Prime held her position upfront well and nearly scored a breakaway goal.  Isobel Taylor scored the only goal of the game and shortly after had to leave the pitch with a ball to the head.

Saturn 3 – 0 Jupiter: Saturn really came to life in this game and began to pass the ball around with confidence.  Maya linked well with Asha Storer and Niamh Gaynor and Adrianna Noriega both contributed to the 3 goals for the Saturn side.  Jess Stanley made a number of important tackles for the Jupiter team, well supported by Issy Oliver, Ella Leakey and Lucy Walbridge.

Round 3

Jupiter 1 – 4 Mars: With both sides after their first goal, the game began very open, with both sides testing the others defensive qualities.  Issy Howie made a number of consecutive saves off the line, but this wasn’t enough to keep Jamie Leigh Bell and Sophie Weaden from scoring.  Having gone behind early to a Jupiter goal, the Mars side then began to dominate scoring 4 goals to win their final game.

Mercury 0 – 3 Saturn: With both teams in with a shout of the title, it was Saturn that got off the blocks quicker with great interplay between Asha Storer and Maya Matthews to score past the Saturn defence.  The shell shocked Mercury team then conceded a further 2 goals before the halftime whistle.  Both sides had further chances, but the lead was too strong and Saturn confirmed their first place position with a convincing victory.

Year 8 Football

As always the year 8 boys turned out in their droves to support their houses and entered the changing rooms on Friday morning with their typical vim and vigour. Thanks to some support from older students we were able to soak up the atmosphere and watch the boys play. What a competition the year 8 boys football turned out to be – three houses level on points, two level on goal difference and once again ‘goals for’ deciding the final positions!

Saturn took all four points in the year 8 boys competition as well as the year 7 event. They may have won their first game against an unlucky Mercury house but their subsequent two draws meant that things were a little closer than they would have liked. Saturn really got away with one in their final game against Mars and left it right up until the last minute to equalise. Beau Gilbert got on the scoresheet twice in Saturn’s first match along with team mates Mursal and Subeer. In their second game Mursal appeared to be on fire when he scored both goal in the draw against closest rivals Jupiter – one of which was a deft touch that lobbed Jupiter keeper Finlay Belcher leaving him no chance. Jazper Peacey was typically covering every blade of grass on the pitch and leading from the front as captain. Despite giving away a penalty against Jupiter it was Jazper who scored one in their final match against Mars to give them the victory. Mars were seconds away from winning outright when Ajay Dimambro was brought down and Jazper coolly slotted home from the spot to snatch victory from Mars.

Mars drawing their final match and Jupiter winning meant that the blue house took second place with a better goal difference by an agonising single goal. Louie Dun was instrumental in everything positive that came from Jupiter. Louie scored 4 of Jupiter’s 5 goals, 2 of which came from the spot – there seemed to be more penalty kicks than normal in the year 8 competition but you couldn’t argue with the decisions! One of Louie’s goals in particular stood out as he went up for a head against Charlton Milligan. Louie somehow managed to get the final touch on the ball and turn it goal bound! Finlay Belcher, Ruffin, Brandon and Tom proved to be a rock steady defence for the blue house as they conceded the fewest goals of the entire competition.

Mars were forced to settle for third place eventually but were just seconds away from taking all four points. Captain Fergus Creton had led the boys from the red house brilliantly all morning and there was a great feel in their team. Max Andrews had really been running a mock in all of their matches. He was dominant against Jupiter scoring Mars’ goal but deserving more than the draw they managed, he scored two vital goals against Mercury and two in the final match against Saturn putting his team 2 ahead. Somehow Mars just took their foot off of the gas in the second half of the Saturn match and let them back in to the game – you could see Saturn equalising but Mars seemed powerless to do anything about it. Mars’ strength was in their attacking game as Finley King, Mason Chuss, Max and Kyle were linking up well. George Turner was pulling the strings in the middle of the pitch and picking some outrageous passes to set up his team mates.

Mercury may have finished in fourth spot but could not have been any unluckier! They went 1 up against Saturn in their first game thanks to a great goal from Hanad. After conceding to go level Mercury went in front once again, this time through Charlie Medder who would go on to have a brilliant morning. Not even the Medder miracle could stop Saturn running out eventual winners 4 goals to 2. In almost identically cruel fashion Mercury found themselves ahead against Mars in their second game; Tony Tanner with the goal. Medder put Mercury ahead once again after cushioning the ball at his feet to turn and pick a spot with an excellent finish. Mercury just couldn’t live with Max Andrews in the second half and lost by 3 goals to 2. Frustrations showed in their final match against Jupiter but despite this Ethan Emery, Tony Tanner and Charlie Medder still had good showings.

Year 8 Hockey

The year 8 girls hockey competition was another fantastically close affair with the top two places being decided on goal difference. There was a lovely atmosphere as this group of girls were the most impressive in terms of their participation rates of all of the girls year groups. A fantastic 70% of girls turned up to represent their houses in this hockey competition.

Unfortunately Saturn ended up finishing in fourth place but notwithstanding excellent performances from house captain Molly Jackson and house mate Amelie Purvis – both girls have played a lot of their hockey this year for the year above and have been a great asset to the team. Mars took third place captained by Leah Milkins – yet another of the year 8 girls who has played a lot of their hockey for year 9 this year.

It all came down to a tense finish between Jupiter and Mercury with the later eventually taking top spot. Jupiter enjoyed every minute of their time on the hockey pitch – just look at their team photograph and there are some fantastic smiles! Congratulations to Mercury house who picked up a much needed 4 points with this victory with some excellent work from a number of really competitive ladies.

Year 9 Football

The year 9 boys had the best turn out of any year group to their football competition and such was the interest that we could almost have run two competitions; Saturn house arriving with 19 boys pretty much says it all. There was a lot of talk before the game about how strong Jupiter were but none of the boys were expecting the matches to be as close as they turned out.

Jupiter did win 2 of their 3 matches and finish in first place but it wasn’t as straight forward as they imagined. It wasn’t until the second half of their first match that goals came and even still they had missed a large number of chances. Four goals from Morgan Tiley across the competition certainly helped the cause but the real secret to Jupiter was the balance across their team. Will Conroy, Ashya Gray and Sam Sedlen kept things sure at the back which allowed Eli, Ethan and Zak to create chances for Morgan. It didn’t really matter how many they missed; eventually they were going to find the net and this was the case in matches against Mercury and Mars. It was only Saturn who were able to hold them to a 0-0 draw but this was all they needed for victory.

Saturn finished in second place but matched Jupiter house in terms of the number of goals that they scored. They got a flyer in their first match against Mars with a 5-0 victory; goals coming from Alex Wilson (2), Reece Palmer, Felix McGovern and George Haywood. Their second match was against Mercury but on paper the match seemed to be between Reece Palmer and George Hardwell as both boys scored twice to give their teams a point each. Saturn had their backs to the wall in their final match against Jupiter. Wilson was injured and had to play in goal which saw Zubair come outpitch – what a difference he made to their defence! He was possessed in the yellow defence and won pretty much everything that he could get to. Lewis Ojo was solid as well which gave George Haywood the freedom to play creatively in their other two matches.

Mars too third place but this was closely contested by Mercury house. The positions weren’t decided until the two houses played in their final match. Mars went in having lost heavily to Saturn and Jupiter and were yet to score a goal. It seemed that something kick started their performance as they beat Mercury 4-0 when it mattered most; goals coming from Alfie Rendell (2), Brodie Storer and Connor Coleman. Mars have lost some really strong sportsmen since year 7 but have also gained some great assets. Alfie Rendell played in just about every position for the red house doing well in each of them. Shamarka and Danny Bennett worked tirelessly in the middle of the pitch all afternoon regardless of results and deserve huge credit for the work they contributed.

Mercury had almost resigned themselves to defeat before the competition had even begun and not even an impressive first half display against Jupiter in match 1 could set them on a more positive track. Hamza Bullaleh kept the green house in the game during this period making some exceptional saves – one of which drew great praise from both teams! George Hardwell looked great with the ball at his feet and brought some of his best football to the game against Saturn which earned his house a point.

Year 9 Hockey

Round 1

Mars 1 – 1 Saturn: In the first game for both teams it was more about getting used to the pitch conditions than anything else.  The ball wasn’t travelling fast so they needed to use some strong passing to get any kind of distance on the ball.  Molly Peppin was solid in defence for Saturn whilst Jazzy Pither also defended well at the other end of the pitch.  A solid finish by Lucie Robertshaw out Saturn ahead, only for Jazzy to squeeze a goal past Izzy Fielden from an impossible angle to level the game.

Mercury 3 – 1 Jupiter: These two teams seemed much more confident with the playing conditions from the start and the game was full of goals.  With only 5 players Mercury needed to cover a lot of pitch and by spreading out they played really effectively and created a number of chances.  Niamh Scanlan took her chances well scoring two goals in the first half, however after some great defensive work by Priscilla Lumoso, Shanice scored a great effort past Ruby Webber in the Mercury defence.  It was Mercury who had the better of the possession and in the second half Lois Scanlan secured the win with a further goal.

Round 2

Mars 1 – 1 Mercury: The 5 of Mercury started the game with an immediate impact, some great passing using the width of the pitch using Ellie McIntyre on the right created an opportunity for Lois, who had no trouble converting this into a goal.  There was a great battle between Niamh and Jazzy in the middle of the pitch, but Mercury were backed up with some fantastic tackles by Ruby Webber.  Jazzy managed to equalise for the Mars side to end the game in a fair draw.

Saturn 4 – 0 Jupiter: With their first win under their belts, the Saturn side were unstoppable in attack.  Ellie McCarthy linked well with the Saturn attack to provide plenty of chances for Lucie.  Despite some great defence by Jupiter, in particular Elise Caddick, Lucy managed to score 4 goals to secure their second win.

Round 3

Jupiter 0 – 1 Mars: With both teams looking for their first victory this was always going to be a battle not to finish at the bottom of the table.  Grace Brown travelled well with the ball, creating lots of attacking chances for the Mars players, with great support from Amelia Scott.  Jazzy Pither scored another great goal past the Jupiter defence to give them the lead; however the game was still very open, with Shanice creating a number of chances for her team.

Saturn 4 – 0 Mercury: The victorious team would be crowned champions in this final game, so there was everything to play for.  Initially it was very close, with Lauren Hooper making some great tackles for the Mercury side, backed up well by Ruby.  Buy with a further injury, the Mercury side went down to 4 and the Saturn side began to pass the ball around with ease.  There were a number of chances for all players but Lucy added a further 3 goals to her tally and Ellie McCarthy also scored for the Saturn’s side emphatic win.

Year 10 Football

It was lovely to see so many boys wanting to represent their houses on the football pitch for one final time – there is always a nostalgic feel to the year 10 competitions as the participants know that this is the final time they will wear house colours in each different sport.

It was Saturn once again who took victory in the year 10 boys competition. They won their first two matches but were unable to beat Mars in their final game and had Mars have found their goal scoring boots during the competition would surely have beaten them to top spot. That said the Saturn boys worked really hard with captains Zhang and Harrison leading superbly from defense and midfield respectively. Matty Crutchley always brings energy to the sporting arena but has recently started to offer goals on the football pitch to boot. In a positional change that started at his club earlier this season Matty has really developed his shooting and finishing and it was his first goal that got things going for Saturn. Sam Sanders has always been a goal scorer and popped up in the right place at the right time on two separate occasions against Mercury to give his house their second victory. Saturn were up against it in their final game but knew they could not be caught. As much as they will say they didn’t mind, their loss against Mars will have frustrated them. Special mentions also to Linus and Justin for the shift those boys put in.

Mars defeated Saturn in their final match but just couldn’t fit their goal scoring boots at all! Captain Caolan Pearce was the only Mars played to score a goal in the whole competition and this didn’t come until the end. That said it was essential for Mars to secure second place and just minutes earlier Caolan had dribbled through pretty much the entire Saturn defense before being crowed out and denied at the last. Their defensive efforts were immense; Caolan, Femi, Owen, Drew and Charlie were resolute and Mars were only the second house not to concede across all of the year group football competitions. Mars really should have lost to Jupiter in their second match and had it not been for their defensive qualities would have been beaten to second place by Mercury.

Mercury enjoyed their third place finish having not enjoyed the best of luck in house competitions over the years. A ‘park the bus’ mentality came to the fore in their first match against Mars as a rather defensive formation frustrated their opponents. In all honesty Mercury have some of the best attacking players in year 10 with Mickey Chittem and Paul Rickards in their ranks. Mickey did get on the scoresheet in their second game but it wasn’t until their final match against Jupiter that their attacking threats came alive. Mickey and Paul got the goals but there was some excellent play from Stratton and Drohan in the build-up.

Jupiter always seem to be unfortunate in the availability of their players for house football – last year 4 key members were missing for the football competition, this year a similar number for the rugby forced them into forfeit and they couldn’t believe their luck when they found out that Kieran Phillips was unavailable this year. Kieran was playing in a cup final for Bristol Rovers and so was quite rightly missing, but that didn’t stop his house mates putting in some great performances. Their first match against Saturn was disappointing – they didn’t play well and they knew it but they picked themselves up brilliantly and should have beaten Mars in their second game; they were all over the red house! Mott and West saw more of the ball in the second game while Prime, Lebo and Parsons kept things quiet in defence. Jupiter had two guilt edged chances in the dying embers of the Mars game but couldn’t convert either!

Year 10 Netball

As with the boys competition the girls also knew it was their last opportunity to compete for the house netball title. Netball has been a fiercely popular sport in this year group with girls teams enjoying success right from the word go and throughout their time at the school.

It was Jupiter who clinched all four points in the competition which didn’t come as a surprise to many of the girls. Jupiter are lucky enough to have a number of the netball team all in the same house which made a big difference on the netball court. In fact as it turned out this was the fourth year running that they have won the competition so it was a fitting end for them. Mars house took second place and again have a good number of the netball team in their ranks. Saturn and Mercury battled it out for the bottom two places and it was the yellow house that eventually won out.

Huge congratulations to all of the ladies who represented their houses. There was a lovely feel to the final house netball competition as girls from all houses gave cheer and support to their peers in the sunshine!

We must also give special mentions to some boys in years 10, 11 and 13 who supported the running and officiating of the competitions. Caolan Pearce and Mason Smart both refereed the year 7 house football matches brilliantly. Mason, Jay Spicer and Charlie Pepper all took on officiating duties in the year 9 competition and did a fantastic job making some difficult but correct decisions! Jay and Mason took charge once again in the drama of the year 8 house matches while Joe Crutchley, Jay and Mason all teamed up to take control of the year 10 games. It was lovely to have so many older students wanting to help out with the younger age groups – all of the boys did a fantastic job and could all easily referee club matches on the weekends if they wanted to (Caolan already does). It meant that we were able to really watch and enjoy how brilliant SK students are!

Well done to all of the students who were involved in this year’s Spring House Sport competition! P5s are on their way!

The PE Faculty