HOUSE REPORTS One of the great highlights of the year was the senior Rugby Competition. We beat School House 11-9 in the semi-final, in what P. J. S. described as one of the best House matches he had ever refereed. In the final against The Manor we were defeated by the narrowest of margins — 8-7. Our try was scored by Michael Hunter and converted by Scott Bradley. After the match R. J. B. wrote to me in these terms: ''That was a great House match final — and a fine contest. There cannot be a great House match final without two great teams who play with great spirit and fairness." It was a thrilling afternoon — and. sadly, probably the last time that a Day House will be able to field a senior rugby team of fifteen players. The Junior Cricket Competition also deserves mention. We played Temple in the first round. Good bowling by Edgar Chadwick and good fielding by Christopher Ward enabled us to dismiss Nicholas Kay and Guy Lewis early in the match, and Temple were all out for 95. Good batting performances by Nicholas Lally (36 not out) and Andrew Kemp (23) enabled us to beat Temple with three overs to spare. In the semi-final we were in trouble after Simon Leveson and Andrew Kemp both got run out. Although good batting by Christopher Ward (25) and Nicholas Lally (18) enabled us to reach 150 for 6 after twenty-eight overs, our bowling and fielding were not as good as they had been against Temple. School House defeated us with three overs to spare. The boys' Swimming Competition was also a good day for us. We came third overall, being beaten by The Manor and School House. There were firsts for Ben Councell (senior 2 breaststroke); Daniel Leveson (senior backstroke); Oliver Marlow (senior 4 breaststroke); Simon Leveson (U.15 intermediate, breaststroke and freestyle); and Nicholas Lally (U. 14 intermediate, fly and freestyle). We also won the U.14 and Senior Medley Relays. In the girls' competition we came fifth overall, but Julia Toms came first in the senior backstroke. In the Athletics Sports Competition we came second in both the boys' and the girls' competitions — being beaten by The Rise in the girls' competition by only 2xh points! There were firsts for Robert Clark (senior 400m); Ben Councell (senior 800m); Naithan McBride (senior 400m); Scott Bradley (senior javelin); James Heald (intermediate javelin); Edward Vickers (intermediate 100m); and Nicholas Lally (junior discus). The girls did particularly well. Julia Toms won the senior 200m, setting a new School record. Zoe Wight won the junior shot. Rachael Ogden won the intermediate 400m, 800m and long jump — and set new School records in all three events! Rachael was re-awarded the trophy for the best female athlete. Clifton also came first in the junior and intermediate relays — and set a new School record in the intermediate event.
CLIFTON As a Housemaster I am sometimes criticised for giving too much emphasis to Inter-House sport. I do so because I believe that, if you have a House system rather than a year system, it is important to do things which encourage and help pupils to value being part of a House and to feel loyalty and commitment to it. There are various ways in which this can be done. A vertically-organised tutor system is one way. Inter-House competitions (Egg Race, for example) are another. But one of the most important ways in a School like St. Peter's is through Inter-House sport. This is something which is taken very seriously by most pupils (players and spectators — watch any InterHouse Rugby match) and is something which does much to nurture House identity and House spirit. Such nurturing is not easy when co-educational Day Houses compete against single-sex Boarding Houses, and it is going to be even more difficult when there are five Day Houses rather than four. Pupils in Day Houses are going to have to work even harder to maintain a House identity and spirit. My feeling is that House spirit in Clifton has been strong this year and that it has been a significant factor in our sporting successes. In boys' games we won the Tennis Competition. Our team consisted of Michael Hunter (captain), Andrew Fotherby, Paul Fotherby, Jonathan Reeves, Christopher Beckett and Edgar Chadwick. In the individual Tennis Competition, Michael Hunter won the Alcuin Trophy for the third successive year. We also won the boys' Squash Competition. Clifton was represented by Andrew Fotherby (captain), Paul Fotherby, Scott Bradley, Stephen Mulryne and Simon Leveson. Paul also won the individual Squash Competition.
I have been particularly pleased with the girls' games this year. There are some very talented games players 8
