An Overview of the matches on Tour
TUESDAY 22 JULY
COMO SECONDARY COLLEGE v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘A' Lost 4-0
COMO SECONDARY COLLEGE v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘B' Lost 1-2
Match Report A's.
I'm sorry to say that we will not be keeping a clean sheet as we lost our first match today against Como Secondary College. However, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as we had our first experience of Aussie style hockey and a water-based astro Having just got off a plane a few hours previoulsy, suffering from jet lag, in a different environment, dehydrated, fatigued and culturally disorientated it was no wonder we weren't performing to our top level and were defeated 4-0. Not to mention the difficulty of playing hockey upside down. Thomasin Purbrook
Match Report B's.
In our first match of the tour, against Como Secondary College, we played a brilliant, but tiring game of hockey. Sporting our new, sparkling kit, we strolled professionally onto the pitch, to face our first competition. Having got off the plane only a day prior, we managed to keep the energy and momentum high, and reached half time with the score still at 0-0. Unfortunately, we conceded a goal in the second half, due to some superb play by the opposition. However, we immediately struck back, with a fantastic goal by Claire Makin, up the right wing. This goal, combined with some all round excellent play by Claire, won her the award of Player of the Match. We continued to defend boldly, with the backs all working together well, transferring the ball and communicating with the rest of the team. However, with 6 minutes to spare, a member of the hockey academy managed to slip another cheeky goal in. We fought back, and had a couple more opportunities but we didn't quite manage to finish any of them off.
A special mention should got to some spectacular play from two of our midfield; Abi Smith and Jess Martin (my vice captain), who played outstandingly, considering they played almost the whole match on a waterbased pitch (a new and interesting opportunity), in the blazing sun.
Sophie Harrison
THURSDAY 24 JULY
1300 hrs UPPER GREAT SOUTHERN U15 XI v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘B' Draw 1-1
1430 hrs UPPER GREAT SOUTHERN U17 XI v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘A' Won 3-2
Bs v Narrogin
In a well matched fixture against Narrogin Great Southern hockey academy, the B's were made to work hard from the start. The midfield players provided some good links to the forward line and created some good early chances which were saved well by their keeper or scrambled away by their defence. Despite this early pressure, Oundle frustratingly made some basic errors and were unable to convert the chances. As a result Narrogin got back into the game and started to pressure our D. However, they did struggle to finish and Harriet Skehan remained untested up until half time. The first part of the 2nd half saw Narrogin putting together some good attacking moves and Oundle failing to clear their D which led to a string of short corners which eventually resulted in a goal. Oundle then had to ensure that they made the most of their chances. Harriet Bates, Rosie Davis and Sarah Tunney worked hard in the backs to link to the mids of Jess Martin, Sophie Harrison and Chloe Ashby. The speed of Abbie Smith and Miranda Spencer at CF and RW broke away from the defence and set Lucy Mitchell and Harriet Bannister up for some good chances. Eventually as a result of some hard work at LM from Ellie Hiskett, and then an excellent through ball from Lucy Horsell, Lucy Mitchell found herself in space in the D and this time made the most of her chance and placed the ball in the corner of the goal to equalise. Oundle found themselves under pressure for the last couple of minutes of the game and some strong tackles and aggressive defending from Lucy Gore, Robin Trotter and Lottie Birks enabled us to hold out for a well deserved draw.
Oundle v Narrogin School.
A fine performance from everyone in the squad saw the first victory of the tour with a 3-2 win over Narrogin School. Oundle started at a pace that the opposition initially could not handle. From the push off, Amy Francis moved the ball wide with Luxmoore-Styles and Darroch linking well to create an opportunity for Emily Kier which produced an outstanding save from the keeper. Fine defensive play from Wildgoose and Rice snuffed out any opportunities that Narrogin produced. A slick moved that started with a ball from right back to left wing saw Emily Kier slip the ball under the approaching keeper to score the first goal of the game. More pressure from Oundle saw more great saves from the keeper. However, an inability to strike the ball correctly saw Narrogin come back into the game. Against the run of play, Claire Makin reverse-sticked the ball past the keeper for Oundle to take a two nil lead. A lack of concentration allowed the opposition to get the ball in our D and after a good save from Greenlees and a goal mouth scramble Narrogin scored. Just before half time again, a flowing move with midfield duo Taylor and Westwood created another opportunity for Makin who calmly put the ball into the open goal.
Half time with bananas and sweets allowed us to think about new tactics. These worked but tiredness meant that we were unable to score again in the second half and allowed Narrogin to close the gap to a single goal. The match ended with more Oundle pressure but no more goals. This strong performance has now set the bench-mark that we expect for the rest of the trip.
Mr Terrett
SUNDAY 27 JUL
1000 hrs HAILEYBURY SCHOOL / OUNDLE SCHOOL ROUND ROBIN
Oundle B team v Haileybury B's:
With a number of rotations for the 2 games today the team had to adjust to new players coming into the squad and some also had to play different positions. However from the whistle Oundle put together some positive passing moves and were pressurising the opposition goal with a number of shots which were either saved well by the GK or knocked wide. The opener came from Chloe Ashby after 10mins with a well taken chance and then 3mins later she again slotted a goal to take her tally up to 2. Oundle continued to dominate the game and in the next 10minutes stretched their lead to 5-0 with Miranda Spencer scoring and Ellie Hiskett getting onto the score sheet twice. The second half was started in a similarly convincing manner with midfield players Lucy Horsell, Hattie Bates, Abbie Smith working hard to feed through balls to the D and provide forwards Hattie Banister and Lucy Mitchell with some good goal scoring chances. Chloe Ashby scored again to take her hat trick and Lucy Mitchell managed to get hers with a superb strike from the top of the D taking the score up to 9-0. Backs Rosie Davis, Lottie Birks, Sarah Tunney, Zoe Kier, Robin Trotter, Lucy Gore, Polly Hughes maintained their focus and pushed up the pitch to allow the forwards and mids to continue their attacking play and also transferred the ball well from left to right. Final score was 9-0 and a performance which Oundle should be very satisfied with.
Oundle B team v Haileybury A's:
The 2nd match of the day provided a tougher challenge to Oundle against a well drilled Haileybury A team, already warmed up from playing our A's, pushing for a win and with some fresh legs in the form of recently arrived State level players. Oundle started in a positive manner and started to push forward using the speed of Sarah Bury, Miranda Spencer and Miranda Spencer in the forwards. However, Haileybury broke quickly and after some sustained pressure in the D managed to force some corners. Their opening goal was scored from Oundle failing to clear a ball from the D and later on in the half Haileybury scored a 2nd with a well drilled shot to the corner of the goal from a penalty corner. However Oundle rallied well and midfield players Jess Martin, Lou Troughton, Sophie Harrison started to link well with the forwards and on the half time whistle Oundle won a penalty corner. A well aimed shot from Zoe Kier scored Oundle's and Zoe's first ever goal and we went into half time only 2-1 down. In the 2nd half Oundle again continued to press forward and create some good breaks. The backs also organised themselves more effectively and started to clear the ball well. Unfortunately legs started to tire despite substitutions and Oundle conceded a 3rd goal. We continued to pressure right up to the whistle with some good strikes into the D but unfortunately could not quite get the ball past some very strong backs and GK. A superb, flowing game to watch with significant progress being made since the last matches and the girls should be pleased with their performance.
Ros Goatly
Oundle A team v Haileybury A's:
The whistle went. I passed to Banks. She passed to Claire who ran for a bit with the ball towards the goal, which is the aim of the game. Having entered the 25 yd line, the other team tackled and got the ball. They then ran the other way right into Troughton, fool. This went on for a while; surprisingly it was rather like a game of hockey. We spent a decent amount of time in their D without making an impact: bad times. We then got a short corner which resulted in a fantastic strike and goal from Alice Wilson: good times. Then, most importantly, I scored. It was a moment I'll cherish forever, pure ecstasy. The goalie took me down but ‘I'm that little bit of hope, when your back's against the ropes, yeah I made it, mmmm, I'm the worlds' greatest', so I got back up again like all worthy warriors do. Thommy produced some passages of play which some quoted as ‘Oscar worthy' (if there were Oscars for hockey).
After half time it was the age of Sarah Bury; she came, she saw, she scored after only 1 minute on the pitch. However, Mr Terrett, while shouting praise from the sideline, confused Sarah and she panicked, thinking she'd scored in the wrong goal! Fortunately she hadn't and on that note we won 3-0. Even better times. On a more serious level; we played well as a team. Although there are still aspects of hockey which we need to focus on, most passages of play were smooth and dynamic.
By Fran Denny with a little too much influence from Thommy Purbrook.
Oundle A team v Haileybury Bs:
We took this match as an opportunity to work on particular areas of our game; winning short corners and transferring the ball. We looked to avoid hitting the ball (as this is often too slow) which was certainly a different experience to say the least. This was in practice for the best school in the state, who we face tomorrow. We succeeded in gaining a number of short corners which resulted in a few goals. We improved the quality of transfers throughout the game, feeling confident in them by the final whistle. The end result was 6-0. Alice Banks scored 1. We love her; she is our idol. With these improvements in our game, we should be in a better position to take on our renowned opposition tomorrow. The parrots have just started screaming outside our window and it is a bit scary as the first sign of trouble brewing is disrupted birds...aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh
By Fran Denny and Thommy Purbrook
MONDAY 28 JULY
1300 hrs CAULFIELD GRAMMAR SCHOOL v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘B' Win 7-0
1430 hrs CAULFIELD GRAMMAR SCHOOL v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘A' Win 1-0
B's Match Report
Today's match was amazing! The eventual score was 7-0, which was thoroughly deserved by the team. Stephy Smith was a leading light in the team as well as Sarah Bury on the right and Zoe Kier with her brilliant short corners!
Within minutes of the start Stephy made an impression on the team, scoring off a cross from the right. This great goal started a long run of other goals, the next two by Sarah Bury. For the rest of the first half the level of hockey remained very high, and there were many moments of brilliance from both the Oundle and the Caulfield girls. After a few words from Miss Goatly, some bananas and a water refill we were ready to start the second half and improve further on our great first half performance. The second half was filled with even more goals.Great short corner strikes from Zoe Kier and other good goals from Lousia Troughton and Lucy Mitchell. As usual the captain (Sophie Harrison) and Vice Captain (me) were great. Player of the match was Stephy Smith for making such a good impression on the team and for her great attacking skills in and around the D. Mr Bush had a quick word with us after and he mentioned how impressed he was with our hockey, saying he thoroughly enjoyed watching. Overall the match was very enjoyable, and the best performance we've made as a team.
A's match report
Playing Caulfield proved to be very difficult and the match was seriously close! In the end we won 1-0 which was amazing.
We were all running around all of over the place in the first half as the ball went up and down the pitch, the umpire told me and Tabby that we were having a real ‘G and D game' but we weren't quite sure what that meant. Claire Makin was so close to getting a goal but that didn't happen. As usual Alice Banks and Thommy Purbrook were solid at the back and in the Mid field and at half time the score was still 0-0. At halftime Mr Terrett told us what we needed to do and the to be captain Fran Denny obviously took it all in - she dribbled past all of the defenders and scored our first goal! The rest of the game, people were subbed on and off to give for ‘impact' - Emily Kier played a brilliant game... in fact it was the best game that we have played as a team and everyone was so pleased with the result. Once again Thommy Purbrook was awarded a well deserved player of the match! The headmaster who said he had to leave after the B's match and then stayed for the whole of our match as well! Tabby Luxmoore-Styles and Charne Gill should probably be mentioned for playing a brilliant game. We then went inside and were given an amazing match tea where we all stuffed ourselves with cakes and sandwiches! It was good to give Caulfield a good game as they haven't lost a match yet and are going to the State finals sometime soon!!!
WEDNESDAY 30 JULY
1330 hrs TAKAPUNA GRAMMAR SCHOOL v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘A' Won 1-0
1445 hrs TAKAPUNA GRAMMAR SCHOOL v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘B' Won 3-0
Match v. Takapuna Grammar School - 1-0
Pretty much we did what we had to do in the match - we got down to business and defeated them. However, the match was not very spectacular. We started off very shakily and didn't look at all like the team that defeated Caulfield 1-0 the other day. Typically, as soon as we got onto the match it started pouring down, making the water-based turf very bouncy. This we seemed to struggle with slightly as the ball quite often bounced off our sticks giving an advantage to the opposition. However, towards the end of the first quarter, Iona wacked the ball from the edge of the D and scored a great goal. This seemed to make us more confident as we had one up over Takapuna. Half time came and we realised if we wanted to keep this score we would have to step the game up a bit and start to use our newly developed skills. We had many more attempts at scoring in the 2nd half but we didn't actually get one in. We had a few different players from normal - Hattie Bates and Abby Smith played and they coped really well. At the end we did our normal photo shoot and gave them our bands, One more special person who has joined our team is Bruce. Bruce is a teddy Koala given to us by my host at Melbourne. He is our new mascot. Obviously, he is giving us luck as while he has been present we have won all our matches!
Annabelle Cooke
2nd XI v. Takapuna Grammar School - 3-0
Yet another excellent match from the second squad. Every member of the team played a major part in the match, and we immediately had the upper hand. With a few unfortunate missed chances, Harriet Banister put her stick on the end of a fantastic cross from Lucy Mitchell to give us the lead, 10 minutes in. Even with the horrific weather settling in, causing a lot of hassle with gale-force winds and torrential rain, both teams kept going and consequently produced a very good game. At half-time we were drenched, but still eager to get some more goals off the opposition. A special mention should go to Lucy Mitchell (right forward) and Sarah Bury (right midfield) who worked superbly together, creating plenty of chances for us to extend our lead. Our second goal was after a run up the right, with Sarah finishing it off with an incredibly accurate strike on goal from the top of the D. This goal, along with her consistent play and energetic character, earned her the joint award of Player of the Match. The co-winner of the award was Rosie Davis, who was strong in defence, communicating brilliantly with the rest of the field and keeping Takapuna from getting close to a goal. Our third and final goal was off the stick of Lucy Mitchell after one of Sarah Bury's typically precise and perfect crosses.
Other special mentions should go to the fantastic support of the 1st XI, and also to Jess Martin, Lou Troughton and Miranda Spencer who need to be thanked for firstly, looking so beautiful, and secondly for keeping our spirits high, while they rested. Steph Smith played her usual best, and kept the team together and strong. With some incredible play up the centre, she created a vast amount of chances, and used the space to its full potential. She unfortunately got an injury in the first half, but fought through the pain, and came back on to continue playing her fantastic level of hockey. Finally, a mention to Robyn Trotter for saving a goal as it slipped through Kate Beckwith's feet, nearly crossing the line. However, Robyn was there, as ever, and cleared the ball out of the D, stopping the goal from being conceded. So all in all, a great match, with an all-round outstanding contribution from everyone on and off the pitch.
Sophie Harrison
FRIDAY 01 AUGUST
1000 hrs DIOCESAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘A' Lost 1-0
1130 hrs AUCKLAND GIRLS' GRAMMAR SCHOOL v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘B' Won 1-0
1sts vs Diocesan School for Girls
We knew that this was going to be our toughest match in New Zealand and this was apparent from the start. We moved the ball around lots but their young side were very skilled and had several short corners in the first half and scored an impressive goal off one of these at the end of the first half. After an inspirational talk at half time by Mr Terrett and Alice, we came out much stronger and our game improved continually throughout the second half. The defence cleared the ball continually to the forwards who ran around lots creating several good attacking opportunities, including an impressive touch by Emily Kier as she ran on from the sideline after a substitution to receive one of Thommy's mammoth hits from the other end of the pitch! Everyone's game improved hugely throughout this match despite the final score of 1-0 to them.
2nd XI v. Auckland Girls Grammar School
After watching AGGS play yesterday we came onto the pitch perhaps a little too complacent, and expected an easy opposition. However, from the outbreak their girls played some super hockey and had us working extra hard. We were the stronger of the attacking teams and had a number of chances to score, nonetheless nobody managed to put their stick on the end of any of the crosses, and we missed out on taking an early lead. AGGS had a couple of breakaways, but our defence stood strong, especially Robyn Trotter who won the award of Player of the Match, was solid in her position, rarely letting a ball past her. At half time, it was 0-0, and the team seemed very disheartened and glum. With a few words of advice from Miss Goatly and I, we went back on, raring to go. And 10 minutes in, we got our winning goal. With yet another great run from Zoe Kier up the right wing, Harriet Banister was ready to deflect her cross into the left-hand corner. This was a real spirit booster, and the second half proved to be a much better game of hockey. With the loss of Jess Martin in the first half, after an aggressive hit to her ankle, we were worried our attack wouldn't be half as lethal, but Lou Troughton took on the task of centre midfield, and worked full-out to keep Auckland Girls from scoring. Along with Robyn Trotter, Zoe Kier gains the Player of the Match prize, for all round good play. With our continued solid defence, we managed to keep the final score to 1-0.
SUNDAY 03 AUGUST
tba hrs TAUPO NUI a TIA COLLEGE v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘A' Won 2-0
tba hrs TAUPO NUI a TIA COLLEGE v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘B'Won 7-0
1st XI Oundle vs. Taupo College
We didn't get off to the best of starts - Tommy had been hit in the face by Iona during the psyche-up chant. During the first half we started with the usual formation of 3 forwards, 3 midfields and 4 defenders. However, later on we discovered (or Mr Terrett did) that it was more effective to play with 4 forwards and with no sweeper because the game turned out to be dominated by the forwards.
Fran scored both goals, the first being a slight scramble but with Fran reacting first to the rebounds. The second was excellent, starting right back from defence and passing it right up to Fran, who skilfully dribbled it around two defenders and the goalie to make it a 2-0 victory.
This was a very good way to finish our touring around New Zealand. In New Zealand we have won 2 out of the 3 matches. This is a very good achievement seeing as the Auckland league has very impressive schools in it. We have enjoyed our experiences here very much and hope to return at a later date.
Amy Francis and Claire Makin
After waking up at the leisurely hour of 9:45, the Oundle tour girls were well rested and ready to play some serious hockey! At half time, it hadn't rained and Oundle was 1-0 up, the goal having been scored in a rather unorthodox manner! In the next half the Bs scored 6 goals in thirty minutes; the last two being scored within 2 minutes of each other in a joint effort from Zoe Rice and Lou Troughton. This left the score at an impressive 7-nil. The dramatic improvement in the second half has to be associated mainly with the fantastic support from the A team, serenading us with renditions of ‘let's all have a Disco', ‘swing low sweet chariot' and ‘Jerusalem'. These songs, conducted by Tommy, as well as giving great support to our team effort, gave the watching New Zealanders a taste of classic British spirit!
Ellie Hiskett
An addition: Ellie Hisket failed to mention that she in fact scored three of the seven goals in this match - well done Ellie!!! Chloe and Miranda.
WEDNESDAY 06 AUGUST
1600 hrs PYMBLE LADIES' COLLEGE v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘A' Lost 3-0
1600 hrs PYMBLE LADIES' COLLEGE v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘B' Draw 1-1
We arrived at Pymble College, aware that it was going to be one of our toughest matches on tour, as they were renowned as being the best in Sydney.
We prepared well, however, the beginning of the match did not all go to plan, but the team stuck at it with great play by Alice Banks in the centre, controlling the game as usual. However, Pymble managed to gain a short corner in the middle of the first half resulting in a goal. This meant that Oundle had to step up their game and everyone did, especially Alice Wilson and Emily Taylor, who played incredibly well down the right side and managed to stop the majority of their attacks.
The second half saw the Oundle team come out very motivated and driven, determined to bring the scores up level. There was great play by all the forwards, who were being rotated often, especially Claire Makin and Fran Denny who both played very well throughout the match. Unfortunately, the Pymble attack was too strong and they gained another short corner from which resulted in another goal as there unusual short corner routines confused are defensive players. Thommy Purbrook played very well and kept the back four strong and Emily Westwood also played well down the left and had an excellent game throughout.
With only a short period of time to go there was a change of tactics within the Oundle formation, putting on an extra forward and removing a back, with hope to add extra pressure. However, as the formation was moving, Pymble managed to break through and score a lucky third and final goal.
The Oundle team played well together, however there is much to improve on before we meet another strong side in Sydney on Thursday - Ascham. There is the Olympic stadium training tomorrow which will hopefully help us all. The player of the match had to be awarded to Emily Taylor, who played consistently all match and managed to prevent a lot of attacks down the right.
By Steph Smith and Emily Taylor.
THURSDAY 07 AUGUST
OLYMPIC TRAINING
GB 1 Australia 1 Penalty Strokes GB 4 Australia 3
FRIDAY 08 AUGUST
tba hrs ASCHAM SCHOOL v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘B' won 4-0
tba hrs ASCHAM SCHOOL v OUNDLE SCHOOL ‘a'won 1-0
Match .v. Ascham School
After a relaxing morning, everyone wanted to play well and finish in style by winning what was going to be another tough match against Ascham.
After a short warm up due to a lack of time, the large team, with plenty of reserves (as everyone was playing due to it being the last match) prepared to play Ascham.
Within the first couple of minutes the team had a setback as Fran Denny was injured which was a major blow, however, everyone picked themselves up and carried on playing well as a great unit. There was good play on the left by Charne Gill and Emily Westwood who worked well together and prevented many attacks. The forwards moved the ball around simply and effectively, making sure that Ascham was always under pressure. Special mention should go to Tabby Luxmoore-Styles, who played a very influential game considering she had just had stitches in her knee from playing at Homebush the day before! However, even with our constant attack and good play the score remained at 0-0 for half time.
The team came out well in the second half and within the first 10 minutes there was a great goal scored by Iona Darroch who deflected the ball in from a free hit taken by Alice Wilson. Throughout the whole match both Alice Banks and Thommy Purborook played exceptionally well. The match concluded at 1-0 to Oundle, a good result for the end of the tour. Player of the match had to be awarded to Alice Wilson for consistent strong play throughout.
Match report:
Bs:
We were all ready to play our final match of the tour against Ascham and psyched to win. After an intense warm up, the match began. We started from the ‘whistle go', showing our progression over the tour as previously we have been slow to get going. Immediately, our attack started making runs and after a short while, Miranda Spencer scored after quickly reacting to the rebound. From then on, Oundle were as strong as ever with the defence effectively stopping the opposition's attacks and good saves were also witnessed from Laura Greenlees. The mids consistently set good presses and helped greatly with both defensive and offensive play. Then, just before half time, Chloe Ashby made an impressive run to the post to deflect a perfect hit from Eleanor Hiskett right into the top corner of the goal.
After an inspirational team talk from Miss Goatly, the team spirit could be felt by everyone and everyone was eager to honour our coach. In the second half, Ascham stepped up their game meaning we had to also. There was more defensive play and brilliant stops and clears were taken out by players such as Zoë Kier and Polly Hughes. Brilliant tackles were also seen from most players, and the mids again took out aggressive sprints forward to usually have a shot at goal or sometimes create short corners. There was then another goal due to impressive team work between Miranda Spencer and Chloe Ashby. Unfortunately, we did not score from our several short corners but we were glad to have got them. Everyone generally played really well and it was a superb end to the hockey on our tour... Miss Goatly was indeed honoured to have coached us. Thank you to her!