7 February 2019
U12 B
A competitive match, but one that was almost one-sided after the first goal was scored. 1st Half: There were many chances in the first half for both teams. The match was up and down the pitch and many shots were hit at both keepers, who made fantastic saves throughout the match. But Abingdon dominated overall and just as the half-time whistle was blown, a goal was scored by the right winger, Harry Brinson. 2nd Half: Abingdon continued to control the match straight from the off. They pressed high up the pitch and defended strongly and consistently. They kept taking shots and many passes were fired through the defence, by Conor Rogan the team’s centre-midfielder. After a while goals came as well with Sean Hanlon scoring two, Freddie Arnold scoring one and Conor Rogan slotting another into the bottom corner of Bloxham’s net. The end score was 5-0 to Abingdon. Though Abingdon was on top for the majority of the match, both squads played very well and in the right manner. After three cheers for each school, a small tea was served in the clubhouse.
U13 B
The match started well, but our passing wasn't great and so we kept giving the ball away. Both sides created chances but it remained goalless at half time. The second half was similar although Bloxham did get the ball in the goal but it was disallowed by their umpire because of an infringement. The end score was 0-0.
U14 C
We arrived at Tilsley Park looking forward to the game and hoping for another win. We were missing some of our more experienced players (with a few not turning up on the day due to injury) but, nonetheless, were hoping to prove that we could win without them. But, just before the game, Jake Morris fell ill and was unable to play. This meant we only had ten men instead of eleven. We would have to work our hardest to win this game. We won the toss and elected to start. We lost the ball almost immediately and had to pull back and defend. This was where our less experienced players really did their best. Our defence was good quality throughout, even though they had an extra player on the field. We also counter attacked well. Our centre midfielders (Kyle Walsh and Thomas Perrott) played really well and were the core of both our defence and attack. Late in the first half, Christopher Skelton managed to get the ball in the D and score. We nearly scored again on numerous occasions but didn’t manage to capitalise on our opportunities. During the second half Bloxham were really going for goal. They had complete control of possession and territory, but, as we defended really well as a team, they didn’t manage to score either. When the final whistle blew we were both elated and extremely exhausted. We played well overall, but we need to work on shooting and using width. A good win. The final score was 1-0 to Abingdon.
U15 A
Off the back of two great wins against St Edward's and Wellington we were facing Bloxham. Unfortunately, we came out with a 1-0 loss, although we played good hockey. In the first half, we started off slowly, resulting in Bloxham having an early lead. However, we then switched on and battled out hard for the rest of the game. We had some critical chances, which we did not execute. Overall, we played well, however sloppy mistakes led us to a loss, which we did not totally deserve.
U15 B
Our 3rd year result was a 3-1 loss so we needed to make an improvement, even though it was a 2-0 win last week, we still needed to push out to the wings to quickly make use of our possession as well as the defense not passing the ball straight back to the opposition after we have just got it.
In the first half it was very even with the ball up either end of the pitch but both defences being very solid each side got a short corner which was both pressured out not being able to make a clear shot on goal.
Later in the first half we were having great runs down the wing which we aimed to do which was paying off, but it was still anyone's game to win.
At halftime there were clear goals set to keep giving options so the person on the ball doesn’t run into any dead ends and to get the ball to the forwards so we could create as many chances as possible. We also said that one of the forwards should try and give an option when they are unmarked in their D as there were no off sides. Murray was very good at driving the ball up the pitch which Heardy had a good line of sight for to run on to his passes.
We had the majority of the possession but weren’t getting clear chances on goal, Bloxham had a few chances which were successfully cleared by our much improved defence. It was the closing 15 minutes we counter attacked driving down the right wing playing round their D until we got a free hit, Oli K passed it to Ethan Chen who got stick tackled. Another free hit at the top of their D we knew if we passed backwards the last time they countered very successfully and a fair few Bloxham players marking us. Oli K took the risk which they weren’t expecting, to drive it straight in the D the defenders left Joe and Cameron both unmarked Oli K lifted and skilled all of the defenders in the D and passed it straight to Cameron who missed but Joe smacked it in for a goal, result.
In the last 10 minutes we were taking our foot off the pedal which Bloxham got a short corner off, which our reliable defense cleared, we were then trying to get as many free hits as possible finally ended the classic match. For our next match we need to focus on keeping possession and giving options. The final score was 1-0 to Abingdon.
U16 A
On a cold morning of 26 January the Abingdon boys travelled down to Bloxham for another fixture. Finishing in a 5-2 win. It started off with Abingdon dominating in the first half going up 4-0 up after making some great plays through the middle. However the Bloxham boys had clearly had an effective halftime talk and came back eager to score some goals. Abingdon then lost some composure and conceded 2 goals before scoring one more.
2nd
The 2nd XI travelled up to Bloxham in high hopes after the strong result last week against Wellington. However, the performance this week was not as complete. Abingdon dominated possession throughout the first half and looked to assert the position in this game. However, Bloxham found joy in the counter attack scoring a scrappy goal that put them into half time 1-0 up. The boys looked to bounce back after an inspiring team talk from the leaders within the team. It seemed as the second half would go Abingdon’s way after captain Max Hall equalised for the away side shortly after push back from a short corner. However, a lapse in concentration at the back allowed Bloxham to take the lead once more. Abingdon continued to batter the Bloxham defence with their goalkeeper making many outstanding saves but the breakthrough would not come. Once again, Jake Blackwell proved a useful outlet with many skillful dribbles that threatened the opposition and Danny May proved a nuisance in midfield with his extraordinary work rate. A disappointing result for the team but with another hard week of training ahead. I am sure we will fight hard again next week away at Magdalen and come away with a result. The final score was 2-1 to Bloxham.
1st
The team delivered another strong performance, pushing forward throughout the game against a defensive Bloxham side. By half time, we were 3-0 up thanks to goals coming from Smith and Lawson. Later on in the first half and into the second, Bloxham’s rugby talent began to unearth itself, but they were unable to hold off the ongoing threat of our forwards, with Smith bagging another 2 in the second half to give himself 4 on the scoresheet, and the team 5. Further into the second half, Bloxham tested the defence with several aerials, at times opening up opportunities, but our defence held strong and prevented any serious attacking threat from Bloxham. The game adds to the developments made so far this season, certainly in the way that the ball was played around the whole pitch. The final score was 6-0 to Abingdon.
