U13s football
The boys have now added a County Cup Final place to the season after a 1-0 victory over Ponteland in the Semi. The team dominated the first half with another quality goal from James and a very solid performance from our defensive unit. The second half saw Ponteland grow into the game but we only allowed half chances until a frantic last few minutes. Their goalkeeper decided to park himself in our half of the pitch but neither side could capitalise on this and so the game ended 1-0. Well done boys!
Special mention goes to James and Tom who have represented our Area team this season and have also had a fantastic run in their equivalent National Cup. James scored in their 6-0 demolition of Tameside in the Quarter-Final. Tom then scored a ‘Worldie’ in the Semi-Final against Liverpool to take the game into extra-time at 2-2. Unfortunately the boys got beat on penalties but they can hold their heads high, as they are a phenomenal team with important games still to come.
Girls Rugby League
The rugby season has now started for the girls, with a tournament for each of our Y7 and Y8 teams.
The Y8s started where they left off last year with dominant performances from both squads and have set themselves up nicely for the next round of fixtures in March. Special mention goes to the new girls in the teams, Olivia, Chloe, Ami, Daisy, Louisa, Bronwen, Bella, Leah and Emily.This not only means we now have 2 large squads to enter into these competitions but they definitely had a positive impact on their teams’ performances.
In the second round of fixtures I tinkered with the teams to put all the more dominant players on one team to give the other girls chance to get much more involved in their squad. The stronger squad had a steady start in the first 5 minutes of their first game but then turned on the style and went through the gears to win all their games. I was also very pleased with the other team who recorded a win and 2 loses but more importantly the games let these these girls shine and more opportunities on the ball. This of course will now give me a huge dilemma as to who to pick for the Regional Finals in April they have now qualified for!
The Y7s also had a very good start to the season. Considering this was their first lot of games ever, there were some very strong performances from many of the team which led to a very pleasing set of results of three wins, one draw and one loss.
The second round of games also showed improvements as the tournament went on. After an initial loss to Seaton Sluice the team performances and organisation improved hugely and deservedly won the final 2 games.
The competition at this age has been very close and I’m pleased to say with these results the girls have also qualified for the Regional Finals in April.
Rugby Match Report March 2018
The rugby season has now come to a close with the annual 7 fixtures taking place for the U12 and U13 teams.
On Thursday 22 March the U13 boys’ team travelled to Bede Academy in the County Cup. Playing under some new and innovative rules the players adapted well to the conditions and played some intelligent rugby.
In the group we played Bede Academy and Dame Allan’s coming out comfortable winners in both games and progressing into the main cup draw. In the main cup we were paired with Newcastle School for Boys (NSB) and RGS, both private schools who take their 7s rugby very seriously.
In our first game, against NSB, the boys played some unbelievable rugby and comfortably won 35-5. In our final game we knew we had to beat RGS to win the competition and despite a fantastic start the boys were beaten by a better team on the day.
To finish runners up and beating two out of the three private schools was a remarkable achievement by all the players.
On Friday 23 it was then the U12 turn to try out 7s for the first time. They also had to use the new rules and despite having extremely limited time they adapted well and gave 100%. After a solid start against St Thomas More, Gateshead in which we won 27-12 we then outclassed and outplayed Bede Academy to win 41-5. Our final group game was against RGS who once again proved too skilful and despite a spirited performance we lost the game.
Coming second in the group we entered the runners up play-off where we lost to Dame Allan’s to finish the tournament 4th overall.
With very little time together and no school rugby this year I was extremely proud of the effort from all the players. There was some exceptional tackling and rucking which I am excited to see develop next season.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players who have trained and played this year. I would also like to thank the Head Teachers of both Newminster and Chantry for their support and allowing the teams out of school. Finally I would like to thank the PE staff from both schools for their support this season.
Mr Shaw
U13s girls cricket
Well done to our Y7/8 girls team who won the Lady Taverners Area Cricket title at Ashington Leisure Centre. The team looked superb in the early games and set up a final against Ponteland who always produce a good team in this competition. Ponteland batted first and set the target for our girls. We batted very intelligently; steadily and efficiently progressing towards their score, until it came down to the last 2 balls, in which we needed 3 runs to win. Eadie and Ruby were in bat and after a great hit and indecision in the field the girls took advantage and got the runs with only one ball to spare. A fantastic result.
Unfortunately the girls couldn’t quite match this result at the County Finals but it certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of this magnificent team.
Indoor Rowing
Well done to Lucy, Danny and Harry who went to the Regional Finals of this event competing against the best rowers in the North of England. They performed with immense strength and determination and can now officially class themselves as being within the top 10 rowers in the North of England.
Indoor Athletics
Well done to our girls Y7 team who achieved the Bronze medal in the County Finals event at Morpeth Leisure Centre. The girls performed very well against very strong opposition.
Sport Relief 18
Many thanks to all our guests and pupils for our involvement in this week of activities. As well as the many competitive school competitions; we have also had some football fitness sessions delivered by Mrs Stewart and Mrs Cromar, golf taster sessions delivered by Rookie Sports and the ‘Football cage’ from the Mustard Tree Trust.
Our sponsored walk was the main event on Wednesday and was hugely successful. We raised £419.75 and in combination with Chantry pupils we covered a cumulative distance of 4642.2km – which is the distance from Morpeth to Nigeria in Western Africa!!
hanks to your tremendous support and generosity, our annual Book Fair was a great success – despite the enforced holiday in the middle!
Newminster Middle School will be inspected by Ofsted on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 March.
