Radleian Sports Supplement LT19 by Radley College

THE

RADLEIAN SPORTS SUPPLEMENT

L E N T 2019

HOCKEY 1ST XI P10 W5 D1 L4 The 1st XI hockey team of 2019 will be remembered for their guts, determination and their incredible level of competitiveness. With the exception of the Abingdon fixture, where we were below par against superior opposition, every match was close, and our competitive spirit was often the difference between our opponents and us. We were sometimes not as skilful as some of our opponents, but we were incredibly hard to beat, and for this the players deserve a lot of credit. The term started with our annual tour to Barcelona in January and, given the fact that just four players in the squad had 1st XI experience, this pre-season trip was vital. It was a success, and the hard work the boys put in went some way to securing good results in the first three matches of the term. We opened the season with two fixtures in the first week: a confidence-boosting 4-0 win over Harrow and a hard-fought draw at Marlborough. The Harrow match was a scrappy affair, but we scored when we needed to, and in the end it proved to be a comfortable victory. The goals were shared between Harry Purton, Will Nicholson, George Marshall and Joe Beck. Marlborough had a very good team and playing them away was a tough challenge. Nil-nil scorelines are rare in hockey but, despite

what the score might suggest, the match was very entertaining with the game sweeping from end to end. We werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t able to capitalise on some good goal-scoring opportunities but our defensive effort was top class, and we did well to avoid conceding. It was one of the four clean sheets we kept this season and our goalkeeper, Sam Richardson (who was simply outstanding), deserves a huge amount of credit. It was Alex Haynes, however, who earned the man of the match award for his sterling work in defence along with the rest of the back four. Our next fixture, away to Bradfield posed an even tougher challenge. They had very good players all over the pitch, and we knew we would have to be at our best to get a result away from home. We could not have made a better start with Henry Chapman, returning from injury, scoring twice in the opening minutes. Harry Purton then scored a third and, before we knew it we were 3-0 up after just ten minutes! Unsurprisingly, Bradfield then raised their game and scored just before half time to get themselves back into the match. They mounted a furious challenge in the second half, and we responded by defending resolutely, repelling wave after wave of attacks. Our back four of Freddie Horler (one of the most improved players in the team), Rory Marshall, Louis Needham and Alex Haynes were

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Master in Charge: M Hills Coach: GR King, PM Bennett Captain: G Marshall

excellent, but it was Tom Reed who stood out for the man-marking job he did on their outstanding centre forward. They scored again late in the second half to set up a tense finish, but we held our nerve to win an extraordinary match. Sam Richardson was excellent in goal again, but our midfield of George Marshall, Phil Barnett and Will Barker deserve a tremendous amount of credit for their incredible work-rate and tenacity. Things did not get any easier with an away fixture against Tonbridge. It was an unremarkable match played on a very slow surface, which made for a very scrappy encounter. We played poorly and consequently struggled to get a foothold in the game. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t adapt well to the conditions and, with hardly a chance created throughout the match, we had no complaints about the 1-0 loss against a superior team on the day. The loss against Wellington, which followed, was the biggest disappointment of the season. An early Harry Purton goal may have given us a false sense of security and, for the first time in the season, we had plenty of possession, which may have allowed complacency to set in. What followed was some uncharacteristically poor defending, and we looked very vulnerable to the counter-attack. We ended up losing 1-3 which, given the fact that Wellington posed less of a threat

than the previous teams we had faced, was hard to take and valuable lessons were learnt. Fortunately, a midweek match against Teddies before Leave-Away presented an ideal opportunity to put things right. We tightened up our vulnerability to the counterattack and played some excellent hockey despite losing our captain, George Marshall, early on. Losing him was a blow, but this did give Will Blacker, a youngster with a very bright future, a chance to shine - which he did. Unlike our match against Wellington, we converted possession into opportunities, and our forwards took their chances to register an emphatic 5-1 victory. Harry Purton, who was proving to be an outstanding finisher, was in fine form and he thoroughly deserved his hat trick. Henry Chapman and Phil Barnett scored the other two. The fixture against Eton is never easy and this year was no different. It was a very tight affair with both teams struggling to impose themselves. It was beginning to look like another 0-0 draw was on the cards, when Phil Barnett unlocked the Eton defence with a wonderful piece of individual skill before sliding the ball across for Harry Purton to score yet another. Some tense moments followed but our defence held firm as we closed out the match to secure a highly rewarding victory. It was not an attractive match to watch, but it was fantastic to win a tight contest without being at our best. We played some of our finest hockey against Cheltenham on our way to a relatively comfortable 2-0 victory. We scored our best team goal of the season where Harry Purton finished

off a move which started deep in our own half. It was an excellent allround performance, with everyone contributing, but it was Phil Barnett who stood out for his individual brilliance. Cheltenham had no answer to his skill, and he dominated from start to finish. His penalty stroke, past an excellent Cheltenham keeper, was also a fantastic finish. After eight matches, we had only conceded seven goals. This is a remarkable statistic in a sport that is renowned for the high number of goals scored. Sam Richardson can take a lot of credit for his goalkeeping, but collectively, the team had an incredible appetite for hard work and every player bought into his defensive responsibilities. From the forwards (special credit goes to Joe Beck for his tireless work up front), to the midfielders (I would be surprised if there is a player with a higher work rate than Will Barker) and the well-organised back four, with Louis Needham at the heart, life was made very difficult for every team we competed against. We were not always pretty to watch, but we were unbelievably competitive and tough to beat. It was therefore very disappointing to lose to a very good Abingdon team in such a tame fashion. They were better than we were and when they scored two early goals, we had a mountain to climb. We had our chances to get back into the game, and we did not stop believing, but our finishing let us down. Once they scored a third, the writing was on the wall, and we ended up losing 4-0. It was an uncharacteristically poor performance where we were unable to exert pressure on the opposition, but we had to give Abingdon credit for the manner in which they

unlocked our defence. Abingdon were very good but we probably backed off a bit too much and paid them too much respect. We were determined to avoid making the same mistake against Charterhouse, probably the best team we faced, in the final game of the season. We went a goal down early on but equalised when Will Nicholson finished off a lovely move down the left-hand side. We conceded again but refused to lie down, and Harry Purton buried a rebound from a penalty corner shortly before half time. This was Purtonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ninth goal of the season, which is the second highest tally by an individual in the past fifteen years, and sealed a fantastic season for the striker. Our captain, George Marshall, led the way with a typically gutsy performance as we dug deep and soaked up a lot of pressure. Sadly, we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hold on for what would have been a well-earned draw as a Charterhouse penalty stroke, with minutes left on the clock, consigned us to a disappointing loss. It was a season of many highs and a few lows, but there is no doubt that the 1st XI of 2019 can be proud of their efforts. Their never-saydie attitude and their incredibly competitive spirit earned the respect of all who played against us. We say farewell to some fine servants of Radley hockey but, with some excellent youngsters in the team, the future looks bright. My thanks go to the boys for the pride with which they wore the 1st XI shirt. GR King

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HOCKEY 2ND XI Coaches: CE Scott-Malden, KM Willis-Stovold Captain: M Chapman

P9 W3 L3 D3 Team From: M. Chapman (c), M. Daly (vc), W. Brolly (GK), G. Medd, G. Tompkins, R. Butterworth, S. Tucker, W. Way, A. Ward, E. Roest, M. Stalder, L. Ely, G. Thomson, B. Mather, T. Reed. This was a mixed season for “The Flag Ship” team bookended by their best performances - Marlborough (2-1) at the start, Charterhouse (4-1) to finish. In between, the team also beat St. Edward’s, drew with Abingdon, Cheltenham and Bradfield but lost to Eton, Wellington and Tonbridge. We were competitive in all the games, except Tonbridge, who were a stronger outfit than the one we defeated last year, and we came within a whisker of clinching the League with a goal-bound shot cleared off the line by an Abingdon defender that would have made us champions. Nevertheless, they were a great team to coach and they played with the right spirit and a smile on their faces throughout the season, with the two hockey highlights undoubtedly being Tom Reed’s final second equaliser against Cheltenham and Sam Tucker’s four goals against Charterhouse.

CE Scott-Malden & KM Willis-Stovold

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HOCKEY 3RD X P9 W4 D1 L4 The season started off with a 1-2 loss to Marlborough but fortunately this only boosted the team’s desire to strive for victory. The next four games we played before half-term we beat Bradfield, Wellington and St. Edward’s and drew versus Winchester’s 1st XI. Amazing performances were made by our forwards, George Wright, Jack Sheldon and Geordie Thompson, bringing about 3-0 and 5-0 wins

Coaches: HD Hammond, TC Lawson Captain: R Mathewson

against Bradfield and St. Edwardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s respectively. A huge team effort was put into our challenging game against Winchester. Our midfield throughout these games were the key to success with James Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Leary, Ed Buchanan, George Daly and Charlie Rosling performing the plays we needed to succeed. Unfortunately after half-term we lost key players Geordie Thompson and Jack Maidment to injuries for most of our matches and

subsequently we only won one more - against Cheltenham. Our final game of the season saw us playing Charterhouse with half our squad missing to school trips. At half time we were down 3-0 to an undeniably better side but after half time we kept our heads high and George Daly and Jeremy Shelton-Agar scored two goals. Unfortunately the game ended as a 4-2 loss but there is no doubt the squad gave their all and thank

you to 4th XI players who came to play for us. These last games were unfortunate but still a highly commendable effort from our defence Toby Crawford, Ben Mather, Robin Mathewson, Jack Maidment, Harry Rugman and Albi Tufnell. Special thank you to Albi Tufnell for stepping up to the mark and playing goalie for most of the season and performing really well. R Mathewson H Social, 6.2

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HOCKEY 4TH XI P6 W4 L2 Squad: Harry Vyvyan-Robinson (c); Hamish Davidson; Toby Bennett; Freddie Ledger; Kit Pitman; Ned Carter; Torquil Gordon; Angus Goaman; Toby Melvin; Billy Powell; Jeremy Shelton-Agar; Jamie Richardson; Jake Elliott This season has been one of extremes. Our 5-1 victory against St. Edward’s perhaps epitomised the 4th XI at our best: vivacious, clinical and aggressive. This was arguably a culmination of our victories prior to this match: a clean 2-0 dismissal of Marlborough, with both goals scored by our striker, Toby Melvin, to commence the season was promising, and the following 1-0 win at Bradfield College turned this promise into hope. There was a short hiatus from fixtures: a beast from the east (snow) meant our

match with the beast in the south east (Tonbridge) was cancelled and thus the 4th XI honed its skills and tactics to produce a team that could successfully rival the 3rd XI in our friendly games sessions on Tuesday and Thursday. Then came the infamous match against Lord Wandsworth College. It is hard to find a 4th XI member who does not wince in pain when this match is brought up in conversation: a convincing 3-1 lead at half-time seemed to ensure a continuation of our unbeaten season...but our opponents had other ideas. A rather key substitution produced 3 impressive goals and Lord Wandsworth College claimed victory that day with a tight 4-3 result. So, with our dreams of an unbeaten season dashed and our morale low, the result of the following match against St. Edward’s, as alluded to at the beginning of this report, could not have been

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Coaches: RMC Greed, TC Norton Captain: H Vyvyan-Robinson

predicted. A mention must go to TCHN’s masterful tactical awareness in moving Jeremy Shelton-Agar from sweeper to striker, and to Jeremy, who scored a magnificent hat-trick that day. The team was on fire. However, our following 0-7 loss to Eton uncovered an unexplained rupture in the team’s dynamic, a potential loss of spirit. The only joy we could take from the match was that, in the second-half, we were able restrain their attack to two goals thanks to RMCG’s tactical call to play with eight defenders. In retrospect, though, with a comfortable 3-0 victory to finish the season against Cheltenham, that match can be regarded as a blip in the proceedings. The 4th XI proved once again that while its determination can falter, it can never be extinguished. It exists in perpetuity. H Vyvyan-Robinson B Social, 6.2

HOCKEY COLTS 1 P8 W6 D1 L1 For 16 Against 10 Squad: J. Sharp (gk and captain), F. Walker, B. Dezelsky, R. Koudounaris, G. Hall, W. Blacker, O. Barker, D. Stone, M Jardine-Brown, J. Hayes, O. Marshall, G. Salwey, H. Snell, T. Wilson These boys were a pleasure to coach. Like all youngsters they had their moments when they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t totally switched on in training but these were few and far between. The preseason tour to Barcelona helped us to hit the ground running and we totally outplayed Marlborough for long periods in our first game. They were a decent opposition and so we were encouraged by the 1-1 draw. We then went to Bradfield and won 3-0 with a hat-trick from James Hayes, who led the line magnificently throughout the season. On a cold, snow-affected weekend we achieved the rarest of feats; a 1-0 away win at Tonbridge. This result was no fluke. We were the stronger side throughout, playing effective hockey on a slow pitch and carving out numerous chances. With an imperious defensive performance we were rarely threatened. Due to struggling hockey numbers at Wellington and St. Edwardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s we played Lord Wandsworth next. This was a terrific game. They had 3 exceptional players, who all played for their 1st XI and one of whom who was of National League standard. We were leading a pulsating game 3-2 at one point before succumbing 6-4 in the end.

Coaches: M Hills, JC Rock Captain: J Sharp

that a positive result would win us the league. It was a scrappy game due to strong winds and a tacky pitch but we fought hard and Oscar Marshall scored the only goal of the game with 15 minutes to go. With the league title in our hands the season finished with a home game to Charterhouse. Technically superior to us, we dug deep and again showed a great team ethic. After trailing to a goal at the start of the second half Max Jardine-Brown smashed home a short corner before Tom Wilson managed to finish off a fine passing move by sneaking a shot in at the near post. But that was not the end of things, Sharp in goal had an outstanding game and made several late saves before Fred Walker managed to block a drag flick on the line to seal the win. The excitement of the team at the full time whistle was inspiring to see. This group of players has come a long way, both in terms of technique but also in terms of attitude and a winning mentality. Sharp is a very good keeper with great reflexes and is also agile off his line. Dezelsky and Hall both read the game well, tackle low and keep the shape of the team.

Koudounaris was a rock at the back, making crucial last-ditch tackles and interceptions and improving game by game in distribution. Walker is a class act: a composed defender with a great range of passing. Will Blacker was our best technical player and fully deserved his promotion to the 1st XI at half-term. Jardine-Brown has the best hit on the team and can beat a man 1-on-1 with ease and he was supported perfectly by Barker and Stone, whose industry and ball- carrying ability were crucial. Up front Hayes, Marshall, Salwey and Snell rotated in the three attacking positions. To play as a forward you have to work selflessly for the team and they all played their part. Hayes scored 6 goals to be top scorer and Marshall incredibly scored 3 winning goals in 3 consecutive games, but they would not have been able to achieve this without the work ethic of the other two. I hope all of those involved continue to play next year. Many of these boys will be in contention to play for the 1st XI next season. I hope they continue to realise their massive potential. M Hills

After half term we travelled to Eton and, despite conceding in the first two minutes of the game won 2-1. The following week we were behind to Cheltenham with 20 minutes to go before again turning it around to win 2-1. This meant we went into our match against Abingdon knowing

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HOCKEY COLTS 2 P7 W5 D1 L1 Encouraged by a positive week of practice we moved into the season with hopes and expectations high. An end-to-end draw (1-1) versus a capable Marlborough side proved a good yard-stick for things to come. Victory away to Bradfield (2-1) avenged the result of the previous season in another hardfought encounter. Momentum in sport, whether winning or losing, can become a habit and so it was somewhat frustrating to enter a period where first Wellington - we played their Senior 4th X1 winning

3-1 - and then Tonbridge failed to produce a Colts 2nd X1. Returning from Leave Away after almost a month without a fixture felt as if we were starting the season all over again. At their plush new hockey complex we found an Eton side that played a hightempo passing game which proved a bit of a wake-up call, inflicting our only reverse of the season (1-7) in the process. The embarrassment of this defeat however proved the catalyst for a run of performances that saw the team improve week-on-week as matches versus first Cheltenham (2-1) and then Abingdon (5-1) were comfortably won. These secured the

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Coach: AR Wagner

Colts 2nd XI league title along the way. A resounding victory over Charterhouse (4-1) rounded off a run of games where the quality of hockey showed off the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability and concluded the season in good style. Alec Foster- Brown and Hugo Carr shared the goalkeeping duties behind a solid defensive unit made up of Dom Osborne, George Dutton, Freddie Rees and Jake Parsons (who also captained the side). Hockey these days tends to be squad-based with more fluidity and positional inter-change than in years past. The engine room of this side consisted

of Oliver Taylour, Thomas Wilson, Freddy Loveland, Tom Beattie and Gus Adams. Harry Walkinshaw led the line, supported by a combination of James Harrabin, Matt Rowland and Ben Wilson. I would like to congratulate the team on a successful hockey term and thank them for their hard work and commitment during both this and the previous season. I wish them every success as they move forward through the club.

HOCKEY COLTS 3 Coach: N Murphy Captain: H Carlisle

P5 W4 D1 GF17 GA2 AR Wagner

Team From: H Carr, A Foster-Brown, H Carlisle (c), A Cha, C Frei, O Davies, A Horsey, H Hoare, H Moore, H Brown, G Adams, B Pastukhov, M McGee, A Sweetnam, P Clegg Unusually this year there were enough players to field a Colts 3 XI, whereas in previous years an enlarged Colts 2 squad has been about the limit of Fifth Form hockey ambition. However, this year there were 14 players ready to take up the cudgels, and Mr. Hills also managed to find six fixtures for the boys. Only one ended up falling by the wayside (Bradfield, the weekend of the snow) so the team played Eton Colts 4, Eton Colts 3, Lord Wandsworth 6th XI, Marlborough Colts 3 and Charterhouse Colts 3. The match statistics make for impressive reading, and the boys played some excellent hockey along the way. There were also some pleasing moments: Cyrus Frei playing most of a half for Eton, Gus Adams and Hugo Carr’s promotion to Colts 2, and the competitive matches against Wags’ Colts 2 side. Hugo Carlisle captained the side magnificently, and Arthur Horsey, Harry Hoare, Hector Brown and Max McGee made for a good ‘spine’. Boris Pastukhov was a handful all season and all the other squad players chipped in valiantly at crucial moments. Well done on an unbeaten season, and I hope all the boys will continue playing next year.

N Murphy

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HOCKEY JC 1 P9 W6 D2 L1 M Anikin (gk), G Acheson-Gray, T Szlapak, F Spicer, F Woodward, A Wingfield, C Hartigan, T Thame (capt), R Fletcher, B Tucker, J Duncan, O Mordaunt, W Mordaunt, E Alder. It has been another impressive season for this group of players. We started the season with two tough league games on the bounce. First up was Marlborough College - we had a slow start and were 2-1 down at halfterm but three unanswered goals in

the second half gave us a good 4-2 win in the first game. Then followed Bradfield, who this team drew to last year. 30 seconds into the game we were 1-0 down to an astonishing goal from the opposition striker but then the game opened up. We went 2-1 up, then 3-2 down and at 3-3 with 1 minute to go we were settling for the draw. Then we played some good passing hockey to get into the D and Benji Tucker spun on the ball and whipped it under the keeper for a 4-3 win - a moment voted as the “moment of the season”

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Coaches: REP Hughes, BT Knowles Captain: T Thame

by the team. Next up in our very tough fixture list was Tonbridge - the only loss from last season. After a long bus journey we were determined to keep it tight throughout the game and try to catch them on the break. We were very unfortunate to be 1-0 down after 30 seconds (again) to a very impressive deflection but from that moment on it was anyone’s game. A frustrating 1-0 loss was a good lesson to take on for the rest of the season - we need to be organised

from the first whistle. Our next fixtures showed we had learned from this. 11 unanswered goals in games against St Edward’s and Wellington put us right on track to win our league - outstanding performances from a good number of players but Will Mordaunt’s 3 goals and man-ofthe-match performance gave us good momentum going in to the second half of the season. Next up were Eton - the team seemed to be picking up where they’d left off being 3-1 up deep in to the second half. But two excellent individual goals for Eton meant we were pegged back to a 3-3 draw - a great game of hockey. Two more league games saw us comfortably win our competitive league by 6 points - an impressive achievement in itself with just a

tough game against Charterhouse to play. We didn’t play Charterhouse in the U14s so it was an unknown quantity. 1-1 at half time in a cagey affair meant we needed some inspiration; not for the first time up stepped our captain, Toby Thame with a great goal to settle us down. This was followed by an excellent break-away goal and left us winning the game 3-2.

goals between them. However, the whole squad should be proud and with luck their side could do very well in the coming seasons. REP Hughes

A fantastic season for a squad who are getting stronger as the years go on. A few special mentions must go to Mischa in goal - only conceding 14 all season, Ferdie and Fraser who were excellent in defence, Toby, Benji and Rory who ran hard in midfield and our tireless front three of Ollie, Ed and Will who scored 14 of our 30

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HOCKEY JC 2 P8 W7 L1 GF38, GA7 Team From: Hector Bennett, Lucas Booth, Magnus Garson, Rollo Harrap, Charlie Hartigan, Wilf Inglis, Freddie Judd, Max Phillipson, Edward Farrell, Luke Rowland, Will Smith, Tom Way, Tom Rawlinson, Patrick Goodwin Junior Colts 2 were an outstanding side in 2019. While the statistics are clearly impressive, they fail to capture just how determined, resilient and technically skilful these boys were. They played some superb hockey, thanks I am sure to the ASP programme many of them had attended over the Michaelmas Term. Much credit should go to Mr Hills and Mr Bennett for the expertise the boys demonstrated from the very start. The season was, excepting the

match against Bradfield, in which we conceded in the first and last few minutes of the game, a masterclass in attacking hockey. While Messrs Rowland, Way, Judd and Harrap rightly gained plaudits for leading the line so well, the spine of the team (Phillipson, Crosthwaite-Eyre and Booth) was exceptional in its work ethic and composure. The strength of the year group was exemplified when we inherited Jonty Duncan to replace Lucas; Jonty’s game management was a real asset. With the indefatigable Wilf Inglis on the right and the combative Will Smith alternating with the cultured Magnus Garson on the left, we were richly stocked with invention. Hector Bennett and Alex Wingfield were terrifically reliable and commanding on the defensive flanks.

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Coach: AFC Nash

Hector, in particular, was superb all season. Tom Rawlinson was a real find from JC3, and grew into a confident and technically gifted player, offering plenty going forward as well as in defence. While perhaps underused, Ed Farrell was a truly impressive servant of the club and deserves great credit for his efforts. His authoritative shotstopping and terrifying ownership of his ‘D’ were central to our defensive solidity. All in all, this was a rewarding and successful season for the boys. I hope they enjoyed it as much as did the spectators who watched, and the coach who falsely claimed credit! AFC Nash

HOCKEY JC 3 P6 W2 D1 L3 Team from: T Bailey, C Graham, B Fleming, H Milne, T Woodward, A Grinstead, H Roskill, A Stirling, A Crole, E Parkes, T Crawshay, G Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor. Early in the term there were plenty of signs of encouragement. It is hard to imagine that a nil-nil draw against Marlborough would cause much excitement but there was plenty of effort and enterprise on both sides. We had opportunities but it was a struggle all season to achieve shots on goal. The boys trained well during the week and we learnt to be more conscious of using the space where possible. We tried developing our passing skills but this was not always successful!

Coach: DJ Pullen

Ed Parkes worked relentlessly in defence and should be a player pushing hard for Colts 2 next season. Charlie Graham, Angus Stirling and Henry Roskill were put under a lot of pressure, particularly in the second half of the season but they all defended with considerable guts and determination. In the midfield, we looked better in attack. Archie Crole had bursts of high-level activity and could be really menacing. Ben Fleming really enjoyed taking the opposition on. We did stuggle to get the ball quickly into the D though, leaving George Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor (at the start of the season) and then later, Tom Crawshay, to take on the opposition defences with limited opportunities but they both tried really hard to get shots onto goal. Tom Woodward led the team with authority and was menacing

on the right wing. Both Henry Milne and Tom Bailey also made big contributions to attack and our defence. Next year, I would really like the team to be a bit more aggressive in their matches. It was a tad exasperating, having trained hard in the week, for the boys to be a bit standoffish against opposition. Once a goal had been conceded it was often very tough to get back into the game. The team have the potential to be a really good side. I really look forward to finding out how they will get on as Colts. DJ Pullen

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HOCKEY JC 4 P7 W1 L4 D2 Team: W Monckton A Butterworth H Medd J Aikenhead K Mason-Phelps L Bury M Siow S Dickie A Hedges J Jacobs J Fanshawe L Stroyan M Metherell S Ramachandran What the team lacked in skill, they made up for in determination. Most matches were very competitive, with the team managing to score in all their games except against Eton, the only game where heads dropped. In attack, Stroyan and Bury both struck the ball very hard on occasion, but they perhaps lacked the support needed to score more goals. Both showed good stick skills at times, but could spend too much time on the ball before managing to shoot. A range of players held positions in midfield and centre

forward, including Mason-Phelps, Hedges, Aikenhead, Fanshawe and Medd, but they lacked the fitness and speed required to dominate opponents. Plenty of the boys were keen to play at the back, which meant a fair degree of rotation was inevitable in the games. This did unsettle the organisation of the defence on occasion, but it was not for lack of trying to stop them that opponents found their way into the D. Ramachandran grew in confidence as the season continued, using his speed to cause no end of problems for attackers, although he did end up on the ground more than once. Monckton acted as the cornerstone in defence, always looking to move the ball forwards, whilst also proving himself a very reliable captain who always led enthusiastically. Siow, Jacobs, Butterworth and Dickie also

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Coach: DWS Roques

played at the back, and never gave less than their best. However special mention must be made of the tireless Metherell in goal, who was always ready to put his body on the line keeping the ball out. Without him, many more goals would have been scored against the team. Overall then, this was a very enjoyable termâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hockey.

DWS Roques

MIDGETS 1 P9 W7 L1 D1 GF33 GA5 Four days after returning from the Christmas break saw an ISHL fixture against Marlborough. Despite barely knowing one another the team worked hard to secure an early bonus point 3-0 win, Harry Markham scoring a brace of fine individual goals with Jack Cotterell rounding off an excellent team move with a cool finish. The next two games against Bradfield and Wellington were always going to be tough. A gritty 1-1 draw against a robust Bradfield was followed by the County Cup four days later. The team rose superbly to the challenge, drawing 1-1 with Abingdon then going on to defeat St. Edwardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2-0, MCS 1-0 and Bloxham 2-0 to lift the trophy and qualify for the regional finals. Next up the difficult game against league leaders Wellington. This was a close game with few chances for either side. A 2-1 defeat was to decide the league after only 3 weeks. St. Edwardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s felt the full force of this defeat as they were beaten 6-0 away

Coaches: PM Bennett, JE Popplestone Captain: H Markham

with Harry Markham scoring 4 and Jack Cotterell another brace. Next, Eton were beaten convincingly 3-0 at home with goals inevitably from Markham and Cotterell and Fawcett also added to his tally. The long trek to Tonbridge, usually one of the toughest fixtures in the calendar, saw more goals Radley winning easily 5-2 with goals from Markham, Cotterell 2, Wilson and Fawcett. The regional finals at Cranleigh bought the squad back down to earth with a bump losing three out of four games with the only consolation being they beat the eventual winners, Churchers, 2-1 in the group games. This setback fired the boys into action and began a winning run of three matches scoring 14 goals with no reply. At Cheltenham the boys started on the front foot, Markham scoring a well-rehearsed short corner. This was closely followed by Daniel McDermott and Monty Donald with a great deflection. The second half saw more goals from Markham and Fawcett to seal a 5-0 victory. Abingdon suffered the same way with a 5-0 score line, the scorers this

time were Markham 2, Donald 2 and Fawcett. The squad then produced their best performance, a sparkling display of controlled hockey against a quality Charterhouse team. After a fine early save from GK Charlie Silk the defence, marshalled by George Beattie, gave the opposition no more chances. Midfielders Cosmo GarrettCox, Orlando Stirling, Harry Markham and Harry Wilson began to work the ball well, creating chances for the forwards. A series of short corners led to Harry Wilson smashing the ball into the corner of goal from the same move on two occasions. Two further second half goals from the lively Monty Donald, including another excellent deflection, were enough to secure a fine 4-0 win. The season went from strength to strength, the boys grew in confidence with every passing week, they trained well and by the end of the season were playing quality hockey with everyone looking comfortable on the ball. A very enjoyable, successful season. PM Bennett

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HOCKEY MIDGETS 2 P9 W4 L5 D0 GF13 GA10 Team From: R McNair, O Phelps, G Laing, H Shippey, C Napier, R Sloan, L Loveland, A Buchanan, D McDermott, H Miles, S Hoshina, V Kostikov, J Lau & J Sugden. As always the priority for teams at this stage of their time at the school is development, enjoyment and skill progression with a big emphasis placed on attitude and willingness to learn. Almost every member of the Midgets 2 hockey squad has bought into this, working hard on their fitness and skillsets at each and every training session. This has therefore meant that the boys have all made a significant amount of progress, allowing the team to play some very nice hockey, especially at the tail end of the season. Our first fixture was against Marlborough. Both sides were inexperienced having not been able

to practise much in the lead-up to the game. Radley looked more dominant early in the game but conceded an unlucky looped goal, which had been deflected and somehow ended up beating the impressive George Laing in goal. Radley hit back with a great goal. Daniel McDermott worked down the right and crossed for Rory McNair who brilliantly smashed the ball into the goal. Marlborough were dominant in the second half but Radley defended superbly. Eventually the pressure told and with only 90 seconds left on the clock Marlborough scored from a short corner after a goal line scramble. Disappointment but much learned from all involved. The improvement was very evident to see against Bradfield with the side looking far more like a hockey XI rather than a set of boys loosely tagged together. Despite this Bradfield were still the dominant

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Coaches: H Crump, JA Gaunt Captain: J Cooper

team for the first 15 minutes. We created good opportunities, only to hit shots straight at the opposition keeper who saved well. Halfway through the second half the deadlock was broken, unfortunately not in Radleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favour. The dangerous Bradfield right midfield picked the ball up on his 23 and weaved his way skilfully through several defenders before putting the ball emphatically into the bottom left corner; a truly special goal. Radley pressed for the equaliser but to no avail. The Tonbridge side we played next were athletic, well drilled and more than competent in their basic hockey skills. However, Radley showed an immense amount of fighting spirit in scrapping to keep the score at 0-0 until a short corner six minutes from the end of the game. This meant heartbreak all round as a superb rear-guard effort deserved a share of the spoils in

the end. There is little doubt as to which side worked harder, so it was a shame that we could not convert a well-worked last-minute short corner to share the spoils. Playing against the U14 A XI from Winchester was always going to be a tough ask. Several of the Winchester XI would certainly have challenged for places in Radleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Midget 1 side so it was always going to be important to shut down those key performers. To their credit Midgets 2 did this but the lionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s share of possession was at Winchesterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disposal and a well-worked short corner led to the impressive centre half smashing the ball into the bottom righthand side of the goal beyond the excellent George Laing. Radley rallied and replied with aplomb scoring themselves off another good short corner, putting us back in the game at 1-1. However, Winchester scored another well-taken chance from the top of the D. Radley pushed for the equaliser and started to play their best hockey of the season. McDermott was causing trouble down the right and balls started to find their way into the D. A golden chance was spurned and the whistle

went. Encouraged by our progress, confidence was high meaning that Wellington College were comprehensively felled 5-0. This was a superb performance by the team. Everything that we had worked on in training seemed to come to the fore. In attack we had been working on moving to space, creating passing lines for each other, making sure that every player on the ball has two outlets and transferring the ball to use the full width of the pitch. Defensively we worked on not diving into challenges, channelling attackers to parts of the pitch we knew we could defend and connecting with teammates to work as small teams. All of the above was evident meaning we punished the athletic Wellington side for any errors they made. Radley went into half time two goals up through McNair and Phelps. McNair added a further two goals to his tally finishing with a hat-trick and McDermott added the fifth. Rob Sloan was named MoM for his industrious work. After a dominant display against

Wellington confidence was high in the group. Our intention was to get a fast start and then build pressure from there on in. However, some inaccurate passing and lack of width in attack meant we struggled to get past the jungle of Teddies defenders posted in the middle of the pitch. A little more attacking nous was needed so tactics were talked over at half-time, at which point we held a 1-0 lead. Despite never having our goal threatened we failed to add significantly to the score line and added only one further goal in the second half despite a much improved half. Again a bonus point opportunity missed. Eton has been a superbly contested fixture in the past few years with Radley winning 3-0 last year and Eton 2-1 the year before. Once again, it did not disappoint. Both sides played good hockey with Radley really starting to show the ability to move the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, transferring the ball to well worked space. Eton had the better of the first half but it was 0-0 at half time owing to some excellent saves from George Laing. Radley started the

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stronger of the two sides in the second half and could have scored with a little more composure. Eton then worked a short corner and their fullback stepped up to slot a beautifully taken hit into the bottom right corner of the Radley goal. Radley had to attack to find the equaliser and with that threw players forward. This left us exposed at the back and Eton capitalised on this to score a late second goal. Cheltenham was a rather strange game. Some poor play, some quality play, some strong words from the coaches, some very complimentary words from the coaches, some narrow play down the centre of the field and some fantastic use of the wide channels. Oh the frustration! The first half resembled little more than a stick fight with Radley soaking up wave after wave of Cheltenham pressure. George Laing keeping (quite literally) us in the

game with a string of excellent saves. We regrouped at half time and went about our business in a much more mature and thoughtful fashion in the second half, Charles Napier, Oscar Phelps and Alexander Buchanan in particular finding lots of joy down the left hand side of the pitch. Luke Loveland was strong in defence and Sota Hoshina was industrious up front. A scrambled goal by Rory McNair was the difference between the two sides but other chances came Radleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s way and a deserved win was the end result. In the following game Abingdon were beaten 2-0. Radley completely dominated possession and territory but could unfortunately only muster two goals, missing out on the bonus point which could have secured us the ISHL league. We travelled away to Charterhouse

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for the final game of the season and started very much the brighter of the two sides. A superb finish from Vladimir Kostikov made it 1-0 after ten minutes. Radley had chances to make it more and with Sota Hoshina at the heart of everything, we did. Charterhouse resorted to some fairly tough tackling in the second half and Radley found it hard to find further rhythm. Charterhouse pulled a goal back through a well-worked short corner and the game finished as a draw, which was probably a fair result in the end. Well done to all the boys who have played their part in a slightly frustrating but nonetheless progressive season of Midgets 2 hockey.

JA Gaunt

HOCKEY MIDGETS 3 P6 W2 D2 L2 Team from: Noble, Rugg, Stewart, Couttie, Vickers, Sugden, Elvin, Beckford, Warriner, Wilson, James, Brasher, Carr, Beardmore-Gray, EvansFreke. The whole of the term could be quite nicely summed up in the final match of the season at Charterhouse: half a match of congested, scrappy, rather ugly but dogged hockey, and half a match playing very attractive and effective hockey, using the full width of the pitch, keeping possession well and creating plenty of chances. But just not scoring from many of them. Among this group of boys there was certainly no shortage of fight, and they worked tirelessly to dig themselves and each other out of holes, which explains why only Abingdonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s U13A could score more than once. Even though it was disappointing not to face like-for-like

Coach: JAD Wilson

opponents, it was a good eye-opener for the boys to encounter technically skilled and potentially more experienced opponents. Highlights included a dominant second half performance at Marlborough, where a Freddie James goal rescued a draw, but if the goal was a few inches wider it could have been a big victory. The Eton match was the first performance of term with a much higher level of hockey, and whilst a 1-1 draw was not an unfair result, a victory could have been quite possible. Mentioned earlier, the first half at Charterhouse was the most impressive of the season. Will Brasher and Johnny Vickers saved their best display until then, whilst Archie Elvin worked tirelessly and was a constant threat. Jake Beardmore-Gray capped his development as a forward by finishing off a well worked move, set

up by Harry Warriner. Much of the stability of the team has come from the rock-like defence of Declan Rugg and Ben Stewart, with Jonty Sugden consistently impressive in the middle of the pitch. Angus Couttie was tenacious in defence and increasingly confident on the ball, Miles Beckford technically very good with an improving work rate and Hugh Wilson a silky player with a natural eye for the shuffle! Arthur Carr led the forward line with confidence and an increasing appreciation of space and movement, whilst Benedict Evans-Freke was also always a danger. A special mention must go to Ali Noble, who volunteered in January to go in goal and grew in confidence and skill as the term progressed. JAD Wilson

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HOCKEY MIDGETS 4 P8 W5 D1 L2 Coaches’ player Arthur Hsia/Freddie Gilbert, Players’ player Freddie Skrine, Most improved Jason Lau and Best overall Rohan Haripaul Team from: Harry Stanwell; Jack Cooper; Logan McEachran; Charlie Sparke; Arthur Hsia; Archie Lloyd; Freddie Gilbert; Russell Kwok; Freddie Skrine; Orlando Fox; Benedict Evans-Freke; Harry Warriner; Jason Lau; Fred Huang; Rohan Haripaul; Sota Hoshina; Vlad Kostikov; Ivo Gray.

This year’s splendiferous hockey season for the Radley D team, or rather Midgets 4, started with a hardfought game at Marlborough College on the 12th January. Our legs were quite lethargic when we arrived due to the prolonged bus journey and the chilly climate. We played with profusions of determination and managed to get a goal. The score was 1-3 to Marlborough. This though was our first taste of loss and the craving for victory was soon to come... But a few more matches were destined to come before the Day of Judgement.

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Coaches: MGG Doyle, ND Wood, T Reed (6.1) Captain: AWC Lloyd

The next match was with Bradfield College; they too were very adept at hockey and had hardened players who were experienced. This match was our first home game so we had high hopes on this frigid Saturday afternoon on the 15th hour of the 19th day of January. It was contested vigorously and unfortunately, Bradfield had emerged as the clear victor at full-time, due to their judicious training and talent within them. As MGGD commented, ‘They were very good players and many of them could play for their B team.’

The next match on the agenda was the Tonbridge home game but it was cancelled unfortunately, possibly due to Tonbridgian fright. On Saturday the 9th February, the desire to win a match was so great we did so. The first half was somewhat worrying, being a draw even though we were much greater in skill and his experience; most of Wellington’s team seemed like A team rugby lads! The second half was a miracle waiting to happen. We chugged along and smashed them 5-0. It was most definitely an enjoyable experience; the first scent of victory had reached many Radleians in Midgets 4 and they were ready for more. We had to be rather rushed on the 14th February, missing lunch, but were compensated by some dodgy

protein balls and bananas. Luckily, the journey was quick and St. Edward’s was spotted. This match was the best of the season: 6-0. Mr Wood even let us switch defence into attack and vice versa. It was also in this match that Mr Crump and Mr Gaunt scouted for some magnificent Midgets 4 players like Sota Hoshina and Vlad Kostikov; they were greatly missed. The old traditional rivalry between top boy schools was ignited within each proud Radleian’s heart when we were notified about a match against Eton College. It was on 2nd March and a home game, seemingly giving us luck; that was most definitely needed. One could describe it as a classic 50-50 game where nobody really had an advantage; the full-time score was 0-0. Most well done to the goal keeper Freddie Skrine for his lovely saves. This, fortuitously, was our last not-sogood match.

had concluded the season on a high and was very well-earned. This season was our first, only and final season of Midgets hockey. For the propitious few, this had gone gloriously with many ascending to the dizzy heights of Midgets 2! For others, it constituted great fun and was a splendid time. This season was a good one and had nicely ended with an amazing 68.75%-win rate.

RHW Kwok C Social, Shell

We were against Cheltenham next, on 9th March. We all had a slight aura of doubt surrounding us after news came through that they were Cheltenham’s C team; but it was their bottom team. It was not a pushover but we still achieved a great result: 2-0. The moment we had waited for with baited breath had arrived: Thursday 14th March. We were playing against Marlborough again but this was a home match. This match really showed the amazing improvement and skill many Midgets 4 players had honed over the season, resulting in an astounding 2-0 victory compared to 3-1 to Marlborough two months ago. Abingdon, similarly to Tonbridge, were not able to play with us due to an abrupt cancellation. Lamentable, since we could have beaten them. The last match of the season was against Charterhouse, on Saturday, 23rd March. They had actually beaten Eton so the consensus was it would be a hard-fought, 50-50 match. Nevertheless, we rolled them over in a splendid triumph of 4-1; their goal was somewhat accidental. This match

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HOCKEY MIDGETS 5 P6 W1 D1 L4 GF6 GA16 The 2019 Midgets Fifth team was like a vintage Maserati that requires a little sympathetic maintenance: attractive to look at, but with some structural weaknesses and an engine in need of balancing and fine-tuning. At heart, however, a thoroughbred sports car capable of roaring into life and charging past opponents with effortless style. Glimmers were shown versus Marlborough straight off the starting line but the engine was prone to misfiring with the right bank of cylinders starved of fuel. The back brakes were temperamental and occasionally one side locked. They lacked grip in the early matches and could never really be relied on. Still, if corners could be negotiated and a

nose could just be edged in front, then it was back on the gas and fast forward to the finish line. It was not until the last match against Charterhouse that that all 12 cylinders (11, surely, ed.) started to fire in sequence, and then only in the second half. Down two goals at change of ends, RDW was forlorn during the half-time pitstop, but knew that goals tended to come in streaks and we deserved to score. After a torrid first five and a half games, suddenly Midgets V roared into life with repeated shots on goal and a fantastic, trademark, flailed finish from crackerjack Cormack and two crafty scores from Otis Dodd, the James Hunt of centre forwards. 3-2, our first, last and only win! Henry Cowen was best when on the

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Coaches: RD Woodling, N Murphy Captain: N Xu front foot and had a scything cross; Hugh Curling again was in his element when on the ball and in attack; Nick Xu, Captain and player of the season, was a powerhouse in midfield, the crankshaft of the team. Ed Wingfield was reliable and hard working: a lad with effortless pace and style. Al Bligh, a signing from M6, was another tireless worker, and M6 Captain Ayo Lawal was a revelation in the last two games for M5 - a polite partner in practice but a warlord when in a match â&#x20AC;&#x201C; fantastic. Marcus Boucher was dependable and fleet of foot with a keen eye for the D â&#x20AC;&#x201C; often the kingpin of scoring sequences. Ambrose Chan demonstrated confidence and natural stick skill either in attack or in midfield. Further back, Louis McClean ultimately showed grit and heart and

had a powerful shovel when needed. Patrick Hughes, similarly, could display burly play and had a natural eye. Ivo Gray joined M5 from above but played with fire early-on, though ultimately proved reliable in goal. Archie Chilvers played with panache going forward and enjoyed stick on ball but latterly preferred to win playing for M6. As usual, M5 was a proving ground for superstars and the excellent Jason Lau finished the season playing M2 after early games for M5. A number of other lads played supporting roles and tribute is paid to their loyalty. M5 were lucky to have signed Mr Murphy to help run the team – the Ross Braun of coaches. Grease monkey RDW should like to extend his gratitude for NM’s first class tactical assistance and to pay tribute to Nick Xu and his team for an ultimately very cheering season.

RD Woodling

HOCKEY MIDGETS 6 Coaches: C Bedford, N Murphy Captain: A Lawal

P5 W3 L1 D1 Team From: Edward Cormack, William Verdin, Nicholas Dykes, Warren Chan, Ayomide Lawal, Max Holmes, Sota Hoshina, Hugo Thompson, Harry Lowndes Lumb, Geordie Maddan, Oscar Ngong, Roger Peng, Jamie Shaw, Henry Boulton, Daniel Auchterlonie, Thady Goodwin, David Magkeev, Monty James, Jacky Yao, Matthew Zhang, Archie Thompson, George Hanlon, Marcus Boucher, Nicholas Xu. The extensive Midgets 6 squad of 24 players, all of whom played in a match for at least a few minutes (occasionally for the opposition) enjoyed a thoroughly enjoyable and successful season, powered by half-time Haribos and ably captained by Ayomide Lawal (until lost to the team above) and Will Verdin. Plenty of goals were scored (twenty), of which half were contributed by our ‘pinch hitter’ Edward Cormack (it was a surprise that we managed to keep him in the team for so long before following Ayo to Midgets 5), but Will Verdin and Nico Dykes also chipped in with three goals each. A particular highlight was the match against the top Cothill side under floodlights on the 1st XI pitch. Although only a year younger their skill levels were considerable and after taking the lead early in the first half Midgets 6 gave a fantastic account of themselves, going down in the end by 3 goals to 1. Having been forced to raise their game after this encounter, the season ended on a real high with an 8-2 win against Marlborough and a tough away match against Charterhouse (3-1 win). It was a real pleasure to see how much individual players and the team as a whole improved as the season went on, thanks in no small part to the skills and drills organised by Mr Murphy and Mr Woodling as well as the Bigside players who gave up their time to help out on occasions (thanks in particular to Alex Haynes, George Tompkins, and Will Jack). CM Bedford THE RADLEIAN SPORTS SUPPLEMENT

ROWING 1ST VIII GB Long Distance Trials On the weekend 23rd - 24th February five rowers from the senior team produced a very encouraging performance whilst representing Radley. Ned Rae Smith and Felix Rawlinson finished in an excellent 4th position on both Saturday and Sunday out of 42 of the top pair combinations from all over the country. Despite only having one short practice session together (as unfortunately Will Nelson had to withdraw due to an injury), Alex Senior and Freddie Nielsen finished 16th on the Saturday and then achieved a very creditable 10th place on the Sunday. Due to Will’s injury Peter Denton had to race in the sculling event on Saturday and still managed to beat some of the

scullers. On Sunday he rowed with a boy from Hampton whom he had never even met before Sunday, and they achieved a very respectable 21st place overall. The 5km Boston stretch is notoriously challenging to steer with various narrow corners and twists so credit should be given to all our rowers for steering a clear course.

boys were really looking forward to putting down a marker for the season and showing some real speed whilst doing so. It was the first of many early starts that the squad will encounter in the upcoming months which took us by surprise. But all crews were able to adapt and bring energy on the day.

Hammersmith Head

All crews raced very well and gained valuable experience on the notoriously tricky course. The 1st VIII placed 3rd in their category and 4th fastest overall on the day showing some real promise, but felt they hadn’t quite found their best on the day, and will look to work hard in the days ahead to squeeze out some extra boat speed and move further up the field.

Six Radley eights travelled to London for their chance to row on the first two-thirds of the Schools’ Head course in preparation for that event in two weeks’ time. Unfortunately, the weather in the early Lent Term season had meant the cancellation of Hampton Head and Wycliffe Head, meaning this race was the club’s first proper race of the year and the

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Master in Charge: SW Townsend Coaches: JE Gearing Captain: F Rawlinson Schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Head After a slightly disruptive build-up the 1st VIII had started to come together nicely in the few days leading up to the Schoolsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Head. We had to start fairly far down the field in 10th place, but we still hoped to get a clear run down the course. After going through Barnes Bridge we had already closed the gap on Latymer and moved out to overtake them before Hammersmith Bridge. Unfortunately this meant moving out of the stream a little which prolonged the overtaking process and resulted in the crew having to dispense a lot of energy to produce clear water between the two crews. Once we were through Latymer we settled back into a good rhythm and

picked up our pace for the last part of the course. We managed to secure a promising 4th place overall, but we would have liked to be a bit closer to the top three boats who all finished with less than two seconds between them. Despite this, the crew feel we have some good speed and we will use this result as an incentive to push on and have an encouraging training camp. GB Spring Assessments Next up for five members of the senior squad was the invitational GB Spring Assessments. This trial is used to gather information on all the rowers (and coxes) for the upcoming Munich regatta and later Junior World Championships and Coupe de la

Jeunesse. It is held over the three days and includes a pairs matrix on the first day and seat racing from then on. From this trial, four Radley boys (Alex Senior, Freddie Nielsen, Ned Rae Smith and Felix Rawlinson) have been selected to represent their country at Munich International Regatta from 3rd - 5th May. Special congratulations to Felix Rawlinson who was considered to be the highest rated stroke-sider over the 3 day trial, a very special achievement considering the quality in the junior rowing circuit.

T Williams E Social

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ROWING 2ND VIII The senior group were strengthened at the start of term by “rugby boys” Hector Thorneycroft and Fred Dreyer joining the senior rowing squad. Although their rugby fitness was somewhat different than our rowing fitness they were welcomed in, and developed at a fast pace. The 2nd VIII, much like the 1st VIII, were challenged throughout the term by illness and injuries. This however did not deter the eight racing at three head races on the tideway. Hammersmith Head, the Schools’ Head and the Men’s Head. There were different personnel in

each race and each race showed some progression in racing fitness and technical ability. It did show that even taking into account injuries etc the crew has some work to do to match our opposition. Setting the crew and creating their own identity will go a long way towards this, plus as a group attending all possible sessions will in my opinion, have them in a position to be in the medals at the National Schools’ Regatta and qualifying for the Henley Royal Regatta. The blend of boys where some will be working to keep their place in the boat and

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Coach: M Genchi

some who will be working to move into the 1st VIII could well drive this boat forward.

M Genchi

ROWING 16.1-2

Master in Charge: SW Townsend Coaches: SW Townsend, SI Milanova

J16A crew – cox Harrison Kane, Bert Dreyer, Justin Lam, Clemente Giuseppetti, Pip Chetwode, Rupert Halford-Harrison, Archie Donald, Ralph Adams, Finlay Trasler

racing. J16.2 fought bravely down the course holding off a charging Abingdon boat the entire way. This helped them to come 4th out of the 16.2 crews racing.

J16B crew – cox Felix Gates, Alexander Pearson, Charlie Morgan, Johnny Ekins, Orlando Alford, Ben Zhang, Mallam Findley-Grant, Nithin Simanand, Seymour Shaw

The last preparation for Schools’ Head came at Reading University Head, which saw both crews compete in the 2nd Division over the 4.6km course. The J16.1 boat found a very good early rhythm in the first 2km, making strong headway on the St. Edward’s crew in front of them, but they struggled to maintain this in the second half of the race and subsequently learnt a valuable lesson in pacing and efficiency, seeing them finish a creditable 4th in their category. The J16.2 boat continued with their progression, and were looking very neat and tidy throughout their race. A thank you must go to Johnny Ekins, who jumped into the crew at the very last minute owing to injury to another crew member.

will now look to push on for the summer regatta season to see if they can ensure they cement their credentials as an A Final boat for National Schools’, with an outside shot of going for the podium.

Races – Hammersmith Head, Reading University Head, Schools’ Head, Private Match with St Edwards The J16 squad swiftly got back into some basic fitness work after the Christmas break and worked hard to make some headway in this area in the weights room, on the river and in the ergo centre. The first month and a half was about trying to regain the squad’s fitness, as well as their feel for the rowing stroke and basic technique, as without these it is always hard to compete in the long distance headrace season. To the boys’ credit they stuck to the task, and we were lucky with the weather throughout the Lent term, meaning we lost very little water time. The first race of the season took place at Hammersmith Head, which provided a perfect practice race building towards the main event of the term, Schools’ Head. Both J16.1 and J16.2 took confidence from some strong races, fighting hard against crews around them all the way down the course. J16.1 placed 9th in their event, within 14 seconds of 3rd, which gave them an incentive for the upcoming months of training and

The final race of the term saw the squad compete at the Schools’ Head of the River in London, and the crews acquitted themselves well on an extremely blustery day, which saw a number of categories cancelled at the event. This did not seem to impact either Radley crew as they both raced with determination and skill. The J16.2 crew raced with real steel the whole way down the championship course being chased by St. George’s College, who they managed to pull away from throughout the 6.8km course. The crew should be proud of their 5th placed finish in their category and

The J16.1 boat produced their best race of the season to date, and their 9th place finish in the Championship event signals that the crew has taken a step in the right direction. The crew set off for the race with a very fast Eton College boat going off behind them, and we had discussed the importance of using this crew to help our race progress down the course. Eton eventually emerged as the winners of the J16 event, so were the perfect pace boat for the Radley crew, who doggedly stuck to their task all the way down the course, holding off the quick Eton boat until the Mile Post. Once the crew got through, you could see the Radley boat had exerted every ounce of energy, but pushed all the way to the line to hold onto their top 10 finish. The results of the race show that the J16.1 boat will be in a real tussle come National Schools’, with nine other schools all within 19 seconds of each other over the 6.8km race. This means the training camp in Slovenia will be very important for the crew to push on and gain some valuable speed going into the regatta season.

SW Townsend

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ROWING J15 The Remove rowers spent the first half of term, doing the majority of training in mixed crews, learning the ‘sweep’ rowing technique. We were fortunate with the weather this year, only missing a handful of sessions due to flooding or high wind, however they had their fair share of adverse weather conditions, with wind, snowy conditions and freezing conditions. The boys stayed in good spirits ready for their first race when we had 3 eights and a four prepared to race at Hampton Head. Unfortunately this was cancelled the day before due to some snowfall. We finished the half term with a lot of good training under their belts and due a well earned rest. In the second half of term, the races came thick and fast, to help prepare the boys came back a few hours early to get some much needed water time before term started. Hammersmith Head Our first race of the season was Hammersmith Head with 15.1 and 15.2 racing, over a shortened Schools’ Head course. 15.1 had a good first outing, coming third in a well attended field, losing out on the win by just a couple of seconds. The second boat also had a good row, to come 16th/26th, but the 4th 15.2 of the day. Reading University Head Into Reading University Head we raced our Schools’ Head Eights, 6 days before the event. 15.2 and 15.3 raced in the J15 category, with a great result, both eights placing highly only behind Shiplake and St. Edward’s first eights. Coming 3rd and 4th ahead of all the Eton eights amongst others, the biggest result

from the category was the ‘15.3’ boat beating ‘15.2’. 15.1 raced in an open category racing novices from university and Pangbourne’s second eight, beating them all to win the event by some margin, also ahead of the quickest time in the J15 category. Schools’ Head With some great results from Reading and Schools’ Head 5 days away, the boys’ last 2 training sessions before Schools’ Head went well with all 3 crews showing good speed, 15.2 this time beating 15.3. Unfortunately the day before the event the J15 second eights were cancelled, stopping the boys getting to test their speed in their own event. However the J15 Championship eights were still running, the boys turned up at St. Paul’s, ready to go, this will have been the longest race they have done so far in their rowing lives. They raced down the track hard, but in a vacuum, a large gap in front of them, and no one close behind. But heads down, the boys worked hard down the track, rowing well together and came away with 3rd in J15 Championship eights; a first for Radley J15s in recent years. The last few weeks of term we have had great conditions out on the river, and the boys have had time to do some small boats work, and matched eights work for the lower boats. J15 Crewlist for SHORR 15.1: Cox-Bow, Ben Brown, Guy Jardine, Harry Plumstead, Antonio Perez Quane, Harry Silman, Teddy Tufnell, Harry Pitt, Edward Mortimer, Maxime Geuten (spare) Lucas Jones 15.2: Cox-Bow, Xander Younger, Zach

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Master in Charge: SW Townsend Coaches: SW Townsend, HL Lyons

Armitage, Felix Cripps, Connor Casey, Nick King, Oscar White, Andy Su, Archie Atkinson, Roddy Lewis 15.3: Cox-Bow, Johnny Elliott, March Turnbull, Hylton Harvey, Daniel Willmott, Hamish Rimmer, Edward Burges-Watson, Emilio Zanardi-Landi, Tiger Li, Teddy Barlow

H Lyons

ROWING 14.1-5 A squad of 49 shells took to the water in January learning the skill of sculling in 8 man boats. For the vast majority, this was their first time rowing and there was a lot to learn. We were blessed with favourable conditions and had lots of water time in the first half term. Early on we could see this was a promising group with boys keen to show off their athleticism in the gym and eager to improve their technique on the water. This belief was confirmed at the end of the half term with some internal competitions between matched teams. In the second half of term we had our first taste of competition against other schools. After a washed out fixture against Shiplake we invited them to Radley for some land based training. After a team biathlon competition the crews took each other on in a ‘tug of war’ in which Radley took the win, hopefully a sign of things to come! The squad then took 4 octuples to

Coaches: SD Walter, TP Bowles, AC Norman, O Dix, BJ Holden, LRI Smart

Bedford for an invitational match against crews from Bedford School, Bedford Modern and Shiplake. The ‘A’ crew came second in their category, despite losing a scull along the course, with the other crews placing 3rd, 1st and 2nd in their respective categories. The term finished with two crews going to the Junior Sculling Head at Eton Dorney and two crews taking on Abingdon in a private fixture on the Radley stretch. In the home fixture our C/D matched crews were just bettered by Abingdon in a number of thrilling side-by-side pieces. This first taste of 1-on-1 competition was a huge learning experience and will be valuable come the regatta season. A lot of fun was had by all and both clubs look forward to future races against each other.

to be the main challengers at National Schools Regatta in May. All the results this term point towards an exciting summer for the Shell rowing squad. Results: Bedford Invitational – 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 2nd in respective A, B, C & D categories C&D match v.s. Abingdon – Lost Junior Sculling Head – 9th and 14th with matched crews

SD Walter

At the Junior Sculling Head our matched A/B crews took on the tough test of two lengths of Dorney Lake. The two crews put in a solid performance placing 9th and 14th, both around the crews which expect

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FOOTBALL 1ST XI P14 W3 D2 L9 Team from: E Cockcroft, E Elliott, A Tufnell, T Vincent, M Rothery, J Wilson, H Glassey, W Brooks-Ward, T Buck, H Carr, H Carson, J Dobby, O White, R Henry, A Barrow, H Jewell. Could a football season get off to a better start than bumping into the current patriarch of English football, Gareth Southgate, in the gym at St. George’s Park, the English Football Association’s national football centre? An inspiring pre-season tour to the new home of English football got the squad off to an incredibly positive start. An intense three days of productive and enjoyable training sessions culminated in a thrilling 3-2 victory over a Burton Albion Development squad. Buoyed by such an excellent performance against Burton, the boys were raring to go in their first league fixture at home to Tonbridge. As always when facing Tonbridge, the boys had to work hard to regain and then retain the ball. At the half time break the game was poised at 1-1 with Archie Barrow (who ended the season as joint top scorer

with 5 goals) driving the ball home from outside the box to level for Radley after Tonbridge had taken an early lead. The second half was dominated by wave after wave of attacks from Tonbridge, and Radley must give great thanks to the heroic goalkeeping of Eddie Cockcroft who made a string of top class saves. Radley’s resistance eventually caved and Tonbridge finished clear winners with a 4-1 victory. An LB Cup (versus St Alban’s) fixture was just what was needed after tasting defeat. Radley’s record in the competition is impressive, with 5 finals, 3 of which were wins, in the previous 8 seasons. A topsy turvy match ended with Radley leaving it late to win 4-2, coming from 2-1 down, with Archie Barrow and Tom Vincent netting a brace each. More heroics from goalkeeper Eddie Cockcroft, but also a very disciplined defensive team display, saw the team secure their first league point of the season when facing a strong St Paul’s side. After conceding early on again, a superb piece of individual skill from Toby Buck in the middle of the park set Archie Barrow free, who calmly

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and expertly lifted the ball over the oncoming goalkeeper from 25 yards. The game finished 1-1 and showed that the team were more than capable of competing against the top teams in what is an extremely competitive league. In fact, the side’s most impressive performances perhaps came against the top three placed teams (Harrow, St Paul’s and Berkhamsted), drawing two of them 1-1, and making Harrow work very hard for their 3-0 victory. Against Berkhamsted especially, even after taking the lead from an excellent Jude Dobby goal, the boys will feel that they had many chances to win the game, but as was often the story this season, we failed to capitalise on those opportunities. Further frustration mounted as the general theme for most match post-mortems became ‘what if?’. Narrow league losses to St John’s Leatherhead (3-2, with goals from Hanno Jewell and James Wilson) and away at Haileybury (5-3, with goals from Hugo Carr, Archie Barrow and Tom Vincent), both after being ahead at half time, deeply affected the boys and it was clear after each defeat that it was hurting. To their immense

Master in Charge: SJA Perkins Coaches: AMH Hakimi, CA San Jose Captain: H Carr credit, and even after further disappointment in the friendly fixtures against rivals Marlborough, Abingdon and St Edwards, the boys kept on believing and working hard in training, and even though the results did not necessarily swing in their favour, the general team performance levels got better as the weeks went on. Hugo Carr and Toby Buck led the way with their passion on the pitch, revving up the team even during the hardest moments in the matches. Tom Vincent’s influence grew as the season progressed and he marshalled the back line superbly, even amassing an impressive goal tally of 5 goals for the season (joint top). Oscar White (Player’s Player of the Season) terrorised defences as he walked past them beating them with skill and lightning pace. Further class was offered from the silky Hanno Jewell (3 goals for the season), industrious and tricky Jude Dobby and rapid Henry Carson. The defence, who perhaps had weathered the storm more than any other, was ably anchored by the strong and courageous Angus Tufnell and Edward Elliott with, of course, the man of the season, goalkeeper Eddie Cockcroft (Coaches’ Player of

the Season). It was also pleasing to see two other future prospects in Harry Glassey and Miles Rothery making their mark on the season and giving the College lots of hope for next season. The group of 6.1s that featured this season all played with a maturity that exemplified the philosophy of the team which was to love having the ball at their feet. The LB cup run sadly ended at the quarter-final stage against St. Edmund’s College, Ware. A slow start where the team fell 2-0 behind within the first ten minutes made it an enormous uphill task, but pride was restored as the game finished 2-1 and proved to be a very tight encounter. A 3-1 loss to Epsom on the final day of the season was a tough result to take. Preparation was not ideal, having played out a fiercely contested 1-1 draw with Berkhamsted two days before, but the match perhaps epitomised the season: a game where we created many chances but could not capitalise. Hugo Carr eventually converted, finishing a nice team move to peg Radley back in to the

game, but far too many chances were squandered. Rory Henry was very unlucky not get himself on the scoresheet in his first start for the first team when his powerful 20 yard half volley was acrobatically parried away by the Epsom goalkeeper just before the final whistle. It was hard for the boys (and their coaches!) to taste defeat as much as they did during the season. The level of football on display, particularly towards the latter half of the season, was very pleasing and some of the results were genuinely unlucky. It was encouraging, however, to see the boys continue to approach their football with enthusiasm and we are adamant that they have all developed into better players as a result of their experiences over the season. We thank SJAP for his calm leadership and support, AJK and his team for the superb care and dedication they show to getting the pitches ready every week, and also to James Marshall in the Strength and Conditioning Department for his continued efforts with the boys over the last five months or so. AMH Hakimi & CA San Jose

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FOOTBALL 2ND XI P10 W1 D1 L8 Team from: Baz Butterwick, William Carr, William Brooks-Ward, Alec Cooke, Felix Gilliat-Smith, Rory Henry, Alex Martin, Miles Khano, Alex O’Dowd, Freddie Pratt, Dan PleydellBouverie, Tom Sweetnam, Sam Waller, Miles Rothery, Zac Martin-Zackheim, James Wilson, Jude Dobby.

by SJAP and AJK, encouraging the side into playing some attractive football by the end of the season and everyone improving their skillset. We tried various formations over the course of the season, playing somewhat defensively until Leave Away and eventually pushing our full-backs into wing-back roles to provide some attacking support as well as defensive, ending up using the modern 3-5-2. The team was led by Captain Rory Henry (B), who controlled the midfield and deserved his call up to Bigside, assisted by William Brooks-Ward (H) and Thomas Sweetnam (J) who pushed forward the most to create the chances that we needed.

The 2nd XI season has been something of a roller-coaster ride with few results that we wanted, however very much a team that can play football to a top level and competed with any team on the circuit, but sadly not for the full 80 minutes. We played ten games in all, seven of which were in the very Our biggest victory of the season competitive Southern Independent was the 8-1 win over Cheltenham Schools Lent Term League. This year’s College 1st XI, and everyone involved squad was extremely strong which certainly made the most of playing included a powerful strike force, on Bigside. The game looked an aggressive midfield and a solid polished off at half time with a defence. With a talented goalkeeper great goal from Tom Sweetnam, who of Alec Cooke (J) it would indeed be slotted the ball in from the halfway difficult for him to be beaten on his line, reminiscent of Wayne Rooney. day, pulling out numerous worldThe game was settled by striker Dan class saves to keep us in matches. Pleydell-Bouverie (E) who brought Overall, it can be judged a successful THE RADLEIAN SPORTS SUPPLEMENT 32season, his shooting boots to the match with the team being coached

Coaches: SJA Perkins, AJ King Captain: R Henry

and secured a well earned hat-trick. This match proved to the team that we were indeed tighter and more integrated than maybe our first match against Tonbridge, where we had conceded four goals. With every season comes some disappointments for the team. This one was against Epsom, the final League game of the season which could have lifted us up from the bottom of the table. However this wasn’t to be. The opportunities came rolling in for Radley in the first half but we failed to capitalise and convert our plethora of chances into goals. Our defence of Alex Martin, Felix Gilliat-Smith, Sam Waller and Miles Khano remained firm and we looked by far the stronger team. However, two mistakes from set pieces ended the game with a 2-0 loss somehow! All told, this year was a term of much progress for a team that gelled together well and sends off the 6.2s with a very enjoyable season. W Brooks-Ward H Social

FOOTBALL 3RD XI P10 W5 L4 D1 GF17 GA19 Team from: Rutka, Holbech, Fletcher, Grant, George, Southgate, Deely (C), Ojo, Von Sanden, Martin-Zakheim, Southwell, Green, Stone, Barlow, Johnston, Beardsworth. Whilst unable to replicate the heroics of last year’s title-winning vintage, this year’s 3rd XI fought back admirably from a slow start to record a winning season. They grew notably in grit and it was pleasing to see them become increasingly streetwise as they learned to “win ugly”. The season began with three defeats. Against Tonbridge, we ran out of steam after going ahead to suffer a 1-2 reverse (Martin-Zakheim with the goal)– and we were not at the races the following week against St Paul’s, in which a horror first twenty minutes set us up to succumb 0-7 in the end. The most frustrating defeat

Coaches: PW Gamble, PWG Ford Captain: D Deely

of the season, 3-2 vs Marlborough, left us short of confidence heading into the exeat. What followed, then, was a triumph. We found a strong spine comprised of Rutka in goal (with Holbech a more-than-capable deputy), the ever-present Fletcher at centre back, steely skipper Dom Deely and fit-again Bertie Southgate bossing the midfield, and Ollie Green as a potent target man up front (bagging eight goals in six appearances for us before his deserved promotion). Playing 3-5-2 both forced the defence to take more responsibility, and allowed the pace, trickery, and cultured right boots of Southwell, Martin-Zakheim, and Von Sanden respectively to flourish further up the pitch. Suddenly boys became men: we weathered a late bombardment from St John’s Leatherhead to chalk up a 2-1 victory and repeated the margin of victory, nervelessly

this time, five days later against St. Edward’s. Back-to-back 4-1 thumpings against Haileybury (Green with all four goals) and Abingdon ensued, before a 0-2 loss at Harrow checked momentum. Then came perhaps the most pleasing result: a resolute and stout-hearted 0-0 draw against eventual League champions Berkhamsted. Bloodied, bruised, but unbowed, the team dusted themselves off to notch up a final 2-1 victory at Epsom to ensure our account finished in the black. Deely led by example throughout and he combined excellently with Southgate to ensure we won most midfield battles. Fletcher, a green 6.1 at the start of the season, grew to be an accomplished presence at the back. All were worthy recipients of Colours. Well done all on an ultimately satisfying season. PWG Ford & PW Gamble

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FOOTBALL P7 W2 D4 L1 It would be fair to say that the 4th XI had a rather successful season this year. In an opening match against a very reputable Tonbridge side, we held our own in a thrilling 0-0 draw, a feat repeated against St. Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the following week where George Clackson kept phenomenally well, despite being a midfielder. After the unfortunate cancellation of two potentially winnable fixtures Marlborough and Berkhamsted - we went a goal down to a strong St. Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leatherhead team before the ever-steady Frank Barlow went on a winding run from his own half, leaving seven defenders in his wake, and slotted a cool finish. Sadly a disappointing performance

4TH

away at Haileybury with a filthy amount of wind cost us the unbeaten season, but we silenced all the critics the week after with a 4-0 win against Abingdon, the highlight a stunning volley from Chris Sloan. The away trip to Harrow was always going to be tricky, but coming into half time 2-0 down, a saintly and historic team talk from PJT reset our spirits. He talked of Istanbul, he talked of Munich, we were hopeful. Second half goals from John Peers and Ee-thern Ship and what can only be described as a work of magic from Frank Barlow, stroking a free-kick into the top corner, completed the comeback. The final match, away at Epsom, with a depleted team, saw an imperious performance from the defence, and yet another 0-0 draw. A brilliant season

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Coaches: EO Holt, PJ Taylor Captain: M Stuart-Bourne

from the boys, just five goals conceded speaks volumes about the team. The fantastic team spirit throughout, and the amazing leadership of EOH and PJT, led us to a special season.

M Stuart Bourne, A Social

FOOTBALL COLTS 1 P8 W1 D1 L6 GF10 GA22 Team from: E Southgate, M Levi, L Donaldson, B Barton, F Barber, J Beardmore-Gray, H Glover (capt), A Mogg, R Elliott (GK), Z Hussein, W Moss, M Eastwood, MRJ. Also played: L Baglietto, I Radway, E Chow, A O’Donnell The Colts squad started the season with limited confidence following last season’s heavy defeats as JCs. However, we quickly picked up in training and it was very clear that amongst our team we had some serious talent. After a 1-5 defeat last year, we apprehensively made our way to Tonbridge for our first game of the season. In a well fought battle we narrowly lost 1-2 with Louis Donaldson (F) scoring. Despite the loss we all felt much more confident in ourselves as players and as a team, as we had already made a huge improvement from last year. After a tough away defeat to eventual League winners St. Paul’s, we attended early morning strength and conditioning sessions and high intensity training to meet the

Coach: MR Jewell Captain: H Glover

challenge of more winnable next games. However, our matches against Marlborough and Berkhamsted were called off due to snow. Still upbeat, we travelled to St. John’s, Leatherhead, where as JCs we had lost 0-9. Despite this, we were only 0-1 down with five minutes to go. Then, in the closing minutes, Will Moss scored with a sensational halfvolley, a great result. With this new deserved confidence we moved on to Marlborough, our first home fixture. It was a sunny day at Radley and we were ready. Within fifteen minutes Harvey Glover (D) got his name on the score sheet with a brilliant run and finish into the bottom corner. Soon after Donaldson got two goals, Zayn Hussein (J) got another followed by another from Glover. We won the game comfortably 5-1 and again improved our result from last season. We were unlucky not to get a result against a good Haileybury side, playing well on Bigside, but did less well together on Abingdon’s artificial pitch, despite Moshe Levi’s (C) battling efforts in midfield.

Finally, it was our turn to play on Bigside against Harrow. Having suffered a 1-6 defeat last season, it would be no easy game, and with strong winds. However, we dug in and performed well. Unfortunately, our valiant efforts weren’t quite enough as a lucky cross from Harrow swept into the top corner caught by the wind. But we kept fighting and got another goal back. Eventually we lost 1-2 but felt we had done everything we could. Our final match saw us lose agonisingly to Epsom 0-1 with the last kick of the match. Despite many narrow losses, results have improved drastically from last season with a largely unchanged squad. We thank our coaches Mr Jewell and Mark Pizzey for this improvement, as well as each other for our persistent commitment. Special mentions go to Max Eastwood (B), central defensive pairing Freddie Barber and Jamie Beardmore-Gray (G) and our brave goalkeeper Rory Elliot (D) as on countless occasions they either provided game-changing passes, interceptions or saves. We are all looking forward to next season! H Glover, D Social

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FOOTBALL COLTS 2 P8 W2 D0 L6 The Colts 2 football team had a challenging season. After two early traumatic away defeats at the hands of Tonbridge (0-7) and St. Paul’s (0-11), the boys gradually came to grips with the need to be far more competitive in the tackle, far more disciplined in terms of team shape and far more effective in releasing the ball forward as early as possible. As a consequence, results improved with a comfortable 7-1 home victory against Marlborough, and although alongside this there were three further defeats, they were defeats of a completely different character than the opening two games of the season. Those games against Haileybury (0-1), St John’s, Leatherhead (1-2) and Abingdon (3-5) were all highly competitive affairs, which confirmed the immense progress made by the team as the season progressed. 36

Whilst the subsequent 8-1 defeat by Harrow was disappointing, it was not entirely unexpected, and it was, therefore, gratifying to see the boys finish the season on a high with a 3-0 defeat of Epsom College – our only League victory and a first clean sheet. Team selection was remarkably stable throughout the season, with Archie O’Donnell performing consistently well in goal (and in his absence on Colts 1 duty, George Corbett proved a most reliable replacement); Archie Mogg (our captain) and Charlie Batty developing well as combative centre-backs; Zac Carter and Ed Bligh doing everything that was asked of them at full-back; Orlando Soundy and Alex Coulson developing in confidence and aggression out wide; Luke Parsons and Eddie Southgate becoming ever more effective central midfield players; and Eugene Chow leading the forward line most effectively

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Coaches: GHS May, SR Molyneux Captain: A Mogg

(scoring 6 goals), ably supported by Kristian Gilliat-Smith, Yuhan Yan and Jago Gourlay. It was good to see two of our players (Mogg and Southgate) earn a welldeserved elevation to the Colts 1 team towards the end of the season – just reward for their efforts and ability. This allowed us to benefit from the Colts 1 experience of Ivor Radway and Lewis Baglietto in our final two games, both of whom scored excellent goals in our concluding victory against Epsom. Equally pleasing was the emergence of a great team spirit as the season progressed for which all the boys are to be congratulated. SR Molyneux

FOOTBALL COLTS 3 P7 W0 D1 L6 Team from: G Corbett, A Knipe, J Bentley, F Cunningham, A Shorthouse, F Rasch, A Coulson, G Fincham, T Pritchard, W Codrington, T Cheng, J Wheeler, J Fernandez, M Mutjaba, J Wheeler, C Deram, N Tompkins This was a difficult season for Colts 3 as our statistics show. The first two matches versus Tonbridge and St. Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s were not fair fights and we conceded 19 goals in these two matches alone. Thereafter, we battled gamely for little reward and George

Coach: KA Mosedale Captain: G Fincham

Corbett in goal had a very good season despite what the statistics might seem to show. St. Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leatherhead away was our closest loss (3-1) and a bit more confidence around the box would have been rewarded against a team that were our equals but not our betters. Our only positive result of the season was a 1-1 draw in the final game against Epsom College when a bit more luck could have seen us to victory. Tom Pritchard was the scorer after we went into half-time 0-1 down and he was deservedly Man of the Match. George Fincham was the captain throughout the season

and marshalled his resources well under difficult circumstances. Is there anything to be learned from a season that ended with a minus 28 goal difference? I suppose that it is still possible to enjoy training and even matches that you lose, so long as they are competitive. The team never gave up and played football in the right spirit throughout the season. There is plenty to work on at all levels before 2020.....!

KA Mosedale

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FOOTBALL JC 1 P9 W0 D1 L8 Team from: Jamie Ashley, Ollie Vincent, William Isaacs, Alec Hogarth, Gong Vitayatanagorn, Alex Verdin, Will Green, Algy Brackenbury, Jos Carreras, Thomas Bracken, Edward Verdon, Caspian Davies, Charles Evans, Caden Stradling, Alex Lu.

appealing as Portugal. However, it quickly transpired that any fears we had concerning location or boys attending were quickly banished.

The term began with a first for JC Football. For the first time ever, a JC1 squad was invited to partake in the pre-season football tour. Given that the boys had never played competitive football for Radley before, there was potential for it to be viewed as an unnecessary luxury.

St. Georgeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Park was the setting for our three-day tour and it would be no exaggeration to say that the facilities and coaching were of the highest quality. This, coupled with the fact that it was impossible not to feel like you were enjoying exactly the same experience as that of England internationals, made it the perfect choice for all involved. Various sightings of Gareth Southgate only lifted further the general mood in camp.

The football tour this year was also going to be on British soil for the first time, another potential risk as the weather in Burton-on-Trent in January is never likely to be as

The boys had five training sessions across the three days, plus an introduction to Futsal and a full hydrotherapy experience. The boys made huge improvements across the

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Coaches: LM Ryan, LP Newell Captain: A Brackenbury

three days and returned to Radley on Tuesday evening for three more days of training before their first game on the Saturday. The first game was away at Tonbridge and was always going to be a tough opening test. The boys performed their individual tasks extremely well and fought hard as a team to secure a 0-0 draw. A League point and a clean sheet. The signs were good. It would later transpire that six straight days of football was perhaps the key to success as such a result against top opposition would not be repeated. The boys continued to battle hard all season and should be praised for never letting their spirits and desire falter in any way despite results often going against them. LP Newell

FOOTBALL JC 2 P9 W1 D0 L8 The Junior Colts 2 football had a tough season. In a term packed with training and fixtures, the boys showed remarkable resilience and determination. Overall, as a squad, they played 9 fixtures, scored 11 goals and won 1 match. The football season opened with traditionally difficult fixtures against Tonbridge, St Paulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and St Johnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leatherhead. The boys were thrown in at the deep end and these teams proved too experienced for the squad. However, the boys took these defeats on the chin and worked hard in training for their next match. Their hard work looked like it was going to pay off in their next fixture against Marlborough but it was not enough, the team narrowly losing 3-2. Despite the disappointing defeat, the boys remained in good spirits and got back to work for their much

Coaches: R Burns, J Smith Captain: A Andrewes

anticipated match against Haileybury. This was by far the match of the season for the Junior Colts 2; not only was it a solid team performance but they recorded their first win of the season, beating Haileybury 4-2. Despite being on a high from previous results, the boys came down to earth with a bump in their fixtures against Abingdon, Harrow and Berkhamsted, suffering some of their biggest defeats of the season. The team played well in all fixtures but the other sides proved too strong. With the season coming to an end, the boys were determined to win their last fixture against Epsom College. From the sidelines, it was one of the best matches to watch and the boys showed how much their had progressed since the start of term. With a solid back four, a strong midfield line up and the dynamic duo of Zac Butterworth (top goal scorer of the season) and

Oscar Pilkington up front, it looked like the JC2 were going to secure another win. However, faced with tough opposition and tricky weather conditions, the squad lost 5-3. Coaches RB and JS would like to comment on the attitude and team spirit of the boys. They were humble in victory and gracious in defeat throughout the entire season. In true Radley form, they were a great group of young men and were a pleasure to coach.

R Burns

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BASKETBALL P5 W1 L3 D1 Team From: W Beukers (c), P McKenna, O Brown, W Goodman, F Nawar, H Williams, J Aird, G Wong, M Khan, R Curtis, A Liu, W Davie-Thornhill, W Pease. This has been another enjoyable term of basketball. Once again, there have been some challenging matches, but the team managed to notch up a win and participated in an extraordinary drawn match. The win came against Rugby School. After a drubbing against Abingdon in the previous fixture (71-31), the team were determined to get a win on the board. There was a definite extra buzz and fizz to the team’s performance. A nervy finish was understandable, as was the bemusement at the final whistle when the team looked at each other as if to say, “Is that it:

have we actually won?” Victory was indeed ours, with the result standing at 31-26. Early in the term, a 40-40 draw against Abingdon at home was certainly better than the previous five straight defeats. However, it was a game we should have won - not knowing how to win was clearly a problem. Radley led the match as we entered the final minute, but were undone by a three-pointer levelling the score. The team also led for much of the two minutes of extra time, and then conceded whilst arguing with the referee. This was a lesson in keeping focus and simply getting on with the job. Defeats against Bradfield and Stowe were not unexpected. These are talented basketball clubs and it is always a challenge to play them. I would like to

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Master in Charge: ME Walker Coach: P Finnegan Captain: W Beukers

thank a number of 6.2 boys for whom Stowe was their final hurrah: Ollie Brown, Will Goodman, and Rupert Curtis. In that final match, Radley were soundly defeated 91-28, but numbers hide an important truth: that even when the points against were piling high; or when a basket or two were ostentatiously dunked; and when a largish home crowd cheered every Stowe basket as though the scores were level but barely managed a charitable murmur when Radley occasionally troubled the scoreboard; even then, the team battled on right to the last second of the match, trying their hardest to score baskets, enjoying participating in the final match of the season. Sometimes it really is the taking part that counts. ME Walker

FENCING PSFC Team: C Wallendahl, A Shaw, P Stern, A Dayes, M O’Connell, G Turner, I Choi After two terms’ worth of fencing, the squad geared itself towards the Public Schools’ Fencing Championships. Unfortunately a warm-up match against Magdalen College School was cancelled at the last minute, so the team relied on its usual Thursday sessions with Mr Bickley, as well as some extra sessions, for preparation. The PSFC is the premier competition in the calendar year. It lasts for three days, with over 1000 competitors in the three disciplines (foil, epee and sabre). As yet Radley boys only compete in foil and epee, but there are possible plans afoot for sabre entries next year.

Master in Charge: N Murphy Captain: C Wallendahl

In the senior epee, Andrew Shaw progressed well through the poules, and then went out in a close game 13-11 in the last 64 stage of the competition. In the junior foil, Morgan O’Connell also fenced well, but he went out in the last 64, finishing 33rd after a frustrating game. In the MountHaes foil, Inha Choi, after just over a term of competitive fencing, showed huge potential with a last 64 place.

captain of fencing, and it is a fitting end to his time at Radley that he ranked sixth in the country in the PSFC. Next year Andrew Shaw will captain the squad, and we hope to build on our successes year on year as more boys fence on a Thursday lunch time. Thanks to Mr Bickley for his patience and good humour in coaching the squad.

N Murphy

However, the highlight of the competition was Christoph Wallendahl’s performance in the boys’ senior foil. Ranked third after the poules, he finished sixth after an extremely close bout against the eventual winner, going out 15-13 in a game that was head to head for almost the entire game. Christoph has been an excellent

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GOLF Bigside Report Both Senior and Junior teams enjoyed a hugely successful term’s golfing. The Juniors had friendlies against St. Edward’s and Stowe and a triangular with Bradfield and Wellington, winning all three fixtures. We have had some new names on the team sheets, with Oscar Phelps, Archie Chilvers and Logan McEachran making their debuts, and hopefully they’ll become more regular team players as time goes on. The Seniors have had a fantastic run over the past few years, and this has continued with some impressive wins against some very talented opposition to make the finals of the ISGA Senior Matchplay Championship for the second year running, as well as the Regional Finals of the HMC Foursomes competition. The former

Master in Charge: P Miron Coach: G Roostan Captain: J Duffy

competition benefitted from some phenomenal play over the past two terms by Freddie Horler, who is unbeaten in matchplay in both competitions. He has partnered with James Duffy in Foursomes and they remain unbeaten as a pair this year. They had to beat a very strong Eton team to make the regional finals, where we will now play Wellington, one of the country’s strongest golfing schools. Other boys involved in these senior competitions include Zac Carter, Andrew Liu, George O’Connor and the pairing of Bertie Southgate and Marcus Stalder, who are now becoming specialists in the art of digging themselves out of fairly desperate losing positions to win at the last hole. Both Juniors and Seniors have benefitted from coaching throughout this year by our Pro, Greg Roostan, with whom the boys have sessions most weeks now. This consistency is already paying off

and will hopefully accelerate the progression of our talented Juniors as they move up to replace the departing Seniors. Three Seniors - Freddie Horler, James Duffy and Andrew Liu - start next term with a visit to Royal St. George’s to play in the two day final of the ISGA Matchplay. Senior Team: James Duffy (captain), Freddie Horler, Andrew Liu, Zac Carter, Bertie Southgate, Marcus Stalder, George O’Connor Junior Team: Ben Wilson, Charlie Deram, Kasper Mason-Phelps, Oscar Phelps, Logan McEachran, Archie Chilvers, Patrick Goodwin, Tom Seddon, George O’Connor, Jonty Duncan. Photograph: the Senior team after their win against Eton at Frilford Heath Golf Club.

Left to right: Andrew Liu, James Duffy (c), Bertie Southgate, Freddie Horler, Marcus Stalder, George O’Connor

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P Miron

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REAL TENNIS The Lent Term began with the exciting news that the captain, Ned Batstone (h), had finished as runner-up in the World U21 Singles Championships and, the same weekend, had also lost in the semifinal of the World U24 Doubles. A few weeks later the National Schools Doubles Championships were upon us and expectations were high for Radley success to match last year’s. In the Open tournament at Queen’s our 2nd pair – Oscar White (g) and Max Wetton (b) – won all four sets in

their qualifying group, coming back well against Canford 1 (from 1/5) and Eton (from 3/5). Good serving from Max and sensible retrieval from Oscar proved decisive. In the semi-final they gave a good account of themselves against Wellington 1 but went down 3/6. The first pair of Batstone and Harry Purton (h) were relatively untroubled as they eased their way to the final against Wellington 1 and Ned’s close rival, Freddie Bristowe, the World Junior champion. It was closely run for a while but the Radley pair,

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Master in Charge: APW Bishop

playing sensibly at the weaker of their opponents managed to move inexorably from 4/3 to close out on 6/3, 6/1, thus retaining the trophy that Ned won last year partnered by Benedict Yorston. The U16 tournament took place at Radley and an entertaining day of real tennis finished with a thrilling final as Radley 1 – Ed Alder (j) and Magnus Garson (c) – overcame the favourites from Hayling College by 8/7. Both pairs staged commendable come-backs, with Radley being 2/4

and 0-40 down and subsequently Hayling behind by 4/7. Radley 1 eventually prevailed on their sixth match point! Earlier, Radley 2 – George Hall (h) and Max JardineBrown (k) – won an absorbing match for fifth place by 6/5 against an improving Canford pair, while George Acheson-Gray (f) and Jonty Duncan (j), our 3rd string, acquitted themselves well very well to reach the semi-finals. The U14 tournament, held at Wellington, unfortunately lacked a number of our Shells who were unavailable that day, but Harry Markham (g) and Freddie James (d) performed well and were runnersup to a younger, though much more experienced, pair from Magdalen College School. In addition to the tournaments, there were a few matches during the term. Batstone and Purton secured fine victories over Oxford University and Wellington, and various others prevailed happily in friendly contests with Wellington and the Oratory. It was good to be able to offer match experience not just to our champions, current or potential, but also to several boys who have played the game regularly for enjoyment. Notably, the steady improvement shown by the likes of Will HamiltonRussell (a) and Sam Hack (f) was most encouraging.

RUGBY 7S MIDGETS Coaches: JA Gaunt, RMC Greed Captain: F Finlan Squad: Freddie Finlan (c), Daniel McDermott, Charlie Rogers-Thomas, Archie Goaman, Nikita Tutus, Cosmo Garrett-Cox, Monty Donald, Oscar Baldwin-Battersby, Jonty Sugden, Edmund Hall, Johnny Vickers, Jack Buchan. Rosslyn Park National Schools’ 7s U.14 Plate Winners The Midgets added to their 15-a-side successes by winning the Plate competition at the prestigious National Schools’ 7s. The inspirational captain Freddie Finlan led the side and was the only person to play every minute of the eight games across the two days. The demanding knock-out tournament required a contribution from every player and the success was built upon an outstanding team

effort. Having won the group stage on the first day, Radley were drawn against a talented Harrow team, who eventually progressed to win the main competition. On day two, the four games on the way to the plate final saw the squad build their playing style and start to play with the width that enabled their strong runners to exploit the space and score tries. In a tense and competitive final against Manchester Grammar School, Radley ran out 31-19 winners. JA Gaunt, RMC Greed

In conclusion, though, we should again pay tribute to Ned Batstone for his outstanding performances during the last two seasons. He has already collected a number of national and world titles and, with his handicap now approaching the low teens, there should be many more distinctions ahead. The lesson for any younger Radleian players who would seek to emulate him is that natural talent bears the greatest fruit through a dedicated practice regime and plenty of match-play. Instrumental in promoting these are Mick Dean (MFD), whose dedication to Radley real tennis knows no bounds, and the two club professionals, Chris Ronaldson and Nino Merola, whose expert coaching and knowledge of the game have been vital ingredients of the college’s success. APW Bishop

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SAILING Lent Term separates the fair weather sailors from the true sea dogs, and this year was no exception. Battling on full-time were long-serving high-rollers Charlie Rooth (j, V), Alex “Bhandy” Bhandarkar (f, V), Harry Lewinton (d, R), George “T-Rex” Turner (f, R), and Maximo Lopez (a, 6.1). They were newly joined this term by Alexey Marchan (h, 6.1), and (very briefly) Thomas Isaacs (j, 6.1), whose sailing term was rudely cut short by a bump to the head. It was good to see him back again just at the end, his noggin much improved! Last but not least, we’ve had a number of Shells joining us on Tuesdays. Watching George Hanlon (c) (and his trapezing teabag T-Rex) out on his 29er one particularly cold and choppy day, particularly sticks out in the memory. As impromptu swimming galas go, their maiden

Master in Charge: AK Mühlberg Coach: G Barker

voyage ranks incredibly highly on style points. Charlie Clarke (c) became another firm favourite, demonstrating unwavering commitment and a can-do attitude. Let no one be fooled by his bijou exterior; even in the face of Arctic conditions, he has been all grit and determination. Thady Goodwin (b), and on occasion Fergus MacInnes (a), also made a welcome appearance, and we hope to see more of them after Easter. In terms of training, the Lent Term is normally dedicated to SB20 keelboats, but this year, the sailors also managed to get in a fair bit of dinghy practice. After all, the team-racing season is only around the corner, and the water still a balmy 4 degrees. Most importantly, the boys were keen to try out the complicated race strategies discussed at length in the classroom. The classroom, frustratingly, too often became a

necessary destination, as gales and blizzards pummelled the land (and sea). To save themselves from cabin fever, the sailors prepared several mini-lectures for each other, based on sailing books they had been reading. Bhandy’s presentation on sailing with spinnakers was particularly impressive and will, no doubt, inspire a new generation to go fly a kite. That said, the sailors did get in a few good keelboating sessions, and the past few weeks have seen the first crews racing on the Solent for the Warsash Spring Series. We were especially proud of the novices, who took to the sea with the same pluck and enthusiasm we have seen from them on the reservoir all term. There are still a few weekends to go before they finish the series, so watch this space for results and the full race report.

AK Mühlberg

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SQUASH Bigside Report P18 W13 L5 Players: Thomas Sweetnam (c) Oscar White, Magnus Garson, Dominic Stone, Baz Butterwick, Edward Crowston, Harry Purton As I look back at my time at Radley, I (as I’m sure is the case with all the boys involved in the squash club) consider myself enormously fortunate to have been part of such a well organised and supported club. Not only have I been fortunate enough to work with both Dr Giddens for my first four years, but also experienced what appeared to be a seamless transition to Dr Hibbs for my final year. Both Dons have given many hours of their own time to overcome the endless challenges of running a squash club – for example, the power cut this term just as the Harrow team bus pulled in! However, I feel that a special mention, on behalf of all the boys, must go to Scott Handley, whose dedication to the club goes well beyond what we are all entitled to

Master in Charge: AJ Hibbs Coach: S Handley Captain: TRG Sweetnam

expect. We all benefit enormously from having a former world top 50 ranked player coaching us day in day out. This is certainly not something that many teams are lucky enough to benefit from. He has undoubtedly been a key factor in allowing me to win 13 out of my 17 games this season and, perhaps above all, allow me to fulfil my potential whilst further helping us all to develop our skills as squash players. So enormous credit is due to Scott along with a massive thank you for his unwavering committed approach to the club. Oscar White has had a particularly challenging season playing at number 1 seed. This is always a tough ask, but huge credit is certainly due to him for the performances he has put in, often giving some of the best players on the circuit a run for their money. It would have been easy to give up at any stage during the season, looking for an easier time lower down the order, but well done to him for sticking with it and having a rewarding second term winning 3 out of his 6 matches!

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One of the highlights of the season has to be winning the triangular tournament between Radley, Wellington and Marlborough for the third time in a row. And what a great feeling for the club to be rewarded with some silverware for all the hard work put into this fixture. On the other hand, we struggled considerably this year at our major tournaments: the Surrey Sports Park and Roehampton Schools Invitationals. At SSP we were particularly unfortunate to lose some of our regular Bigside players to illness and other commitments. A bad day at Roehampton then led to us being relegated to Division 2. The challenge next year will be to place in the top two of the Division 2 tournament, securing the club’s place back in Division 1. It has been great to see over 40 different boys taking part in at least one competitive fixture with a large proportion of those being from the lower school. I cannot help but feel that the prospects are looking very bright for the future.

This, coupled with the fact that Magnus Garson (Remove, C) has featured regularly at seed 3 for the Bigside team with an impressive win percentage of 88%! I am delighted to be handing over the captaincy of the Radley Squash Club to Dom Stone (Vth) who has shown great perseverance this season winning 10 of his 13 matches and, perhaps most impressively, winning all four of his games at the Roehampton tournament against very tough opposition. I wish him all the best for next season, I am confident he will do a fantastic job and take the club from strength to strength. TRG Sweetnam, J Social

Club Report P5 W4 L1 Secondside players: Arthur EliotCohen, Hamish Fallowfield, Geordie Thomson, Freddie Armstrong, George Batty, Cian Ellis, Karl von Sanden, Thomas Boulton P7 W5 L2 Colts players: Thomas Wilson, Fred Walker, Nicholas Tompkins, Archie O’Donnell P8 W6 L2 Junior Colts players: Caden Stradling, Edward Alder, Patrick Goodwin, Jamie Ashley, Arthur Andrewes, Jonty Duncan, Toby Szlapak, Edward Mortimer, George Fearnley-Whittingstall P6 W4 L2 Midgets players: Harry Wilson, Archie Chilvers, Freddie James, Archie Goaman, Freddie Finlan, Max Holmes, Benedict Evans-Freke, Jack Wiggin, Alex Buchanan, Thady Goodwin, Edward Horsfield Our Secondside and lower school teams have all had successful seasons, with all sides winning at least 60% of their matches and over 30 boys representing the school for at least one fixture. I am particularly impressed with the Junior Colts

results – the Remove year group features several very talented players who are all exciting prospects for the future. Edward Alder deserves special mention for winning 9 out of his 10 matches, usually at seed 2 for the JCs. It’s always exciting to see what a new cohort of Shells have to offer, and I certainly wasn’t disappointed this year. A particular highlight was our fixture against Winchester Juniors, featuring 10 under-14 players from both schools. The match was played with great sportsmanship by all involved and demonstrated the depth of our Shell squad. Speaking of Shells, in Michaelmas Term we ran a Shell Squash Championship. 30 boys took part in the group stages, with the top 16 proceeding to the knockout competition. Despite being an organisational challenge, it was tremendous fun, and a valuable exercise in determining the seedings for Midgets fixtures. Harry Wilson (G) was the overall champion. The end of Michaelmas Term featured the annual Inter-Social Squash Competition. All socials took part with great enthusiasm and a competitive but good-natured spirit. The J Social team played with skill and determination to retain the trophy. In the second half of Lent Term I ran the annual Senior Championships, a singles competition, open to all boys in the school. Our most talented players all took part and played high quality competitive matches in the early stages. We were left with the top four seeds, Thomas Sweetnam (J), Oscar White (G), Magnus Garson (C) and Dominic Stone (J) for the semi-finals. Unfortunately, White had to withdraw but that didn’t faze the others who played some of the most determined squash I’ve seen from them. Garson, on the back of a particularly hard day at Roehampton, played brilliantly to see off the other two players, ultimately claiming the trophy in convincing fashion. This was a fantastic way to finish the season.

Taking over responsibility for running the Squash Club this year has been challenging but immensely rewarding. I am very lucky to have inherited newly refurbished courts, and the whole area is looking absolutely fantastic now. Indeed, visiting MiCs and coaches frequently comment on the quality of our facilities, with some even requesting the details of the companies who carried out the work! The support from other squash dons has been invaluable, and they do a tremendous job of keeping the club running day-to-day. I am grateful in particular to Stephen Giddens for being a font of wisdom – a precious resource for a new Master in Charge! Thomas Sweetnam has been an excellent captain. He has led by example on court and been very dependable off court. Particular thanks are owed to him and Benedict Yorston for coaching the Shells during Monday Activities. Finally, Scott Handley has been brilliant as always. The boys respond positively to his coaching and he is always on hand to help me. He invests a huge amount in the success of the Radley Squash Club, often going well beyond the expectations of an external coach. I thank him for all of his hard work.

AJ Hibbs

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TEAM PHOTOGRAPHS We are very grateful to Gillman & Soame for supplying team photos which have been reproduced by kind permission of Gillman & Soame photographers and can be ordered online at: www.gsimagebank.co.uk/radleycollege/t/radley2019 Parents can purchase team photographs (those featuring a watermark in the bottom right corner) by contacting Gillman & Soame directly.

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