7.12 – Y7/8 Volleyball

Our Yr7/8 students arrived at Ponteland ready to play volleyball in their 4 separate teams. We had 2 girl teams and 2 boys teams. All 4 teams went into their games with great confidence and determination. We picked up some good results from the games with every team winning at least 1 game. Massive well done to all our students for taking part in the competition.

8.12 – Y8 rugby at St Cuthberts

The boys went to the RFU development tournament at St Cutherburts and were in a pool with Ponteland and Churchill. The boys played well in both of those games and beat Churchill. However, against Ponteland they were unable to dominate the break down and as a result narrowly lost. We then played St Mary’s and the St Mary’s boys were very physical and strayed outside the laws at points. The boys handled themselves admirably and kept their cool throughout to win the game.

8.12 – Y7 rugby league at Kingston Park

Arriving in pouring rain the lads were not put off and were very excited to play on the Falcons’ pitch. We had split into 2 teams and it’s fair to say both teams played with fantastic determination and commitment.

‘Mackenzie’s’ team recorded 2 draws and a loss and improved very impressively as the tournament went on. The lads benefited from tough tackling from Matteo, Mackenzie, Joe, Tom and Tom; as well as confident running with the ball by Karun, Mackenzie and Joe.

‘Ollie’s’ team started with a fantastic display of passing rugby in attack and big tackles in defense against St Cuthbert’s and got a deserved 5-3 win. The next 2 games proved very challenging against 2 excellent teams and Newminster did very well to almost match them but with injuries to very influential players we couldn’t match their tries scored. Because of injuries we drafted in Matteo, Mackenzie, Tom McKenna and Joe Lennox for the final match who all played fantastically well. Once again we played the superb rugby of the first match and ran out 5-0 winners. Special mention on this team goes to Chris Johnstone for superb work in the centre for constantly breaking down opposition attack; confident running with the ball from Josh Grenfell and Ollie Bruce; and ‘men of the tournament’ all round brilliant performances from Dan McConnell and Ollie Crooks.

9.12 – Indoor rowing at Cambois

Our top rowers took to the machines at Cambois Rowing Club to compete against the best rowers in our region. All of our pupils did exceptionally well, despite a few technical difficulties with a couple of the machines. Very well done to Danny O’Shea, Harvey Gillie, Ben Waterfield, Maia Smith, Rebecca Bradley and particularly to Rory Dwyer (4th overall), Eadie Barakat (3rd overall) and Lucy McConnell (2nd overall). Rory, Lucy and Eadie will now be asked to compete for the county in the North East finals in March.

12.12 – Y7 B-team National Cup game away at Dykehouse (Hartlepool)

The boys turned up at the ‘Centre for Hartlepool Utd Academy’ with more than a little uneasiness about them. However they quickly realised there was no need for the nerves as they created several early attacks and a goal from Evan Logan. Newminster dominated the first half and scored a further goal from good team play and the finish from Tom McKenna. The second half proved more of the same with our team creating chance after chance and subsequent goals from Evan, Joe Lennox and an own goal thanks to great wing play from Josh Morina. Dykehouse stole a late consolation goal but apart from that it was a perfect display in defense and wonderful attacking play from our midfielders through to Evan and Joe Hardy up front. We are now the only North-East team left in the cup so lets hope for another away trip next January in round 5.

13.12 – U13s County Cup game away at Cramlington

This game was without doubt against the toughest opponents we have faced all season as Cramlington showed in the first 10 minutes, dominating possession and passing the ball well around the huge pitch. The first half continued in a similar fashion as Cramlington put the ball in the net but had it ruled out for being offside and without the benefit of Goal-line Technology had another effort chalked off as not fully crossing the line. The lads came in at half time knowing they needed to step up their efforts and definitely showed that in the second half, resulting in a more even game, with both sides being reduced to only a few half-chances. With only 4 minutes left and a superb defensive display from the entire Newminster team it looked like it may run into extra time, but Cramlington’s tricky right midfielder played the ball across from the wing and with a huge amount of luck looped it over Dan’s head into the net. The same player then sealed the win with a strong run down the right and smashed the ball into the net despite a strong hand from Dan almost pushing it wide. A huge amount of credit goes to our full squad as the played with a real fighting team spirit and can all hold their heads high, knowing they gave their all against a very good team.

14.12 – U13s Cheviot rugby

We took a large squad to Kingston Park for the county cup finals. In the pool were Dame Allans and Ponteland Middle. The games were only 7 minutes each way, so we could easily have fallen behind if we weren’t switched on and prepared. The boys warmed up well and were all excited to be playing on the Falcons pitch. There first game was against Ponteland and we flew out of the blocks and dominated the game. Ben Loknes played particularly well off the bench and the forwards controlled the breakdown. The game ended 20-0 to Cheviot. We faced Dame Allans next, this was a real test with the previous result from earlier in the season going the way of Dame Allans. In this short format both teams had opportunities to put the game to bed, but the score ended 0-0. This meant that on tries scored we were the victors. The boys have played well all season and in the previous cup rounds, so deserved the result. We’re looking forward to continuing the season after Christmas. Well done boys.

15.12 – Y7/8 indoor cricket tournament at Blyth

Our boys were representing our Area at this county event at Blyth Sports Centre.

The first game was against Valley Gardens who went to National competition level last year, so I knew it was going to be a tough start. The boys however, batted with some good attacking play and took a few wickets to keep the score respectable but a defeat was the final outcome. The second game was a much more even game but again our indecision when to run caused us to lose too many wickets and again we were defeated. Unfortunately I believe this knocked our confidence a bit as we went into the final group game against Ovingham and we never really raised our game enough to beat another very strong team.

With the group games complete the lads picked themselves up for the final ‘blast-off’ in which we played against Valley again and the rules were simple – every pair faces 1 over and whichever team score the most, wins. Valley batted first and gained a very good score. Knowing what we had to beat the team were much more positive in every aspect and steadily chipped away at their target. Going into the final over we knew it was going to be close as the number of runs left to achieve was shouted out at every ball. With 1 ball left to be delivered, 2 runs were required to level the game and that’s exactly what we did. A fair and very positive result for our team. Well done to Dominic Marshall, Ben Waterfield, Jake Leonard, Harvey Gillie, Chris Johnstone, Joe Lennox, Alfie Clark and Dan McConnell.

Y8 Girls (U13) Northumberland Netball League

The Year 8 Girls Netball Team have had an impressive start to their 2016/17 season in the U13 Northumberland Netball League.