A fantastic fortnight for sport!

Girls rugby

On Tuesday 17 March we entered 2 teams into the area finals of the transition rugby tournament. The girls have improved massively over the year, which was demonstrated in their emphatic win over Chantry. They showed great team spirit throughout the tournament and it made it even more worthwhile to see that we were the only school to have enough interest to put 2 full teams in.

Boys rugby

The all conquering U13s took a back seat this time and a different team from Y7 and Y8 took to the field in a tournament at Bullocksteads. The lads played with superb commitment, enthusiasm and team spirit.

Girls football

We have now had 3 rounds of the U11s and U13s football league, with both teams playing some great football and notching up some impressive victories. Particular mention must go to the U11s in their emphatic double figure to nil win over Eastlea in which every member of the team scored at least 1.

But the performance of the season so far must go to the U13s, who came from 3-0 down to win 7-4 against Meadowdale in the greatest ever comeback to clinch a place in the County Cup Final on 5 May. Good luck girls. There are also further league games on 27.4, 12.5 and 18.5.

Boys football

The U11s achieved another fantastic first this week by being the first Newminster team to reach the County Cup Final on 30 April. The semi was a great spectacle with the football flowing from end to end. After James Allan put us in the lead with a great goal-scorers finish, Ponteland hit back with 2 goals, which would have been more, except for heroic keeping from Dan Lloyd. James McConnell then scored with a wonderful individual effort to take us to extra time. The score remained level, despite a potentially winning goal for Newminster ruled offside. The penalty shoot out couldn’t have been any more nerve-wracking with some great saves by both keepers taking it all the way to sudden death. After Ponteland missed, it was down to Tom Holden to win the game, and with a superbly taken pile driver, he smashed it into the roof of the net and sent the lads wild. Roll on the final! Even though I have picked out some players there, full credit must go to the entire squad who all played on top form. Well done!

With a slightly changed team they then played Horton Grange back in the league with a place in the league cup final up for grabs. The team played some of the best football I’ve seen all season and particular mention goes to how well the new/lesser used players integrated into the squad to give us a 7-0 win . A great team spirit and effort, well done!

Y5 skipping

30 pupils took part in the first ever Sports Partnership skipping competition on 23 March. The pupils performed individual, partner and group events as well as an awesome skip dance. The team finished in a very respectable 3rd place, with a total of 1 bronze, 8 silver and 1 gold medal for individual / paired performances.

Y8 Cricket

Well done to our Y8 cricket team who took part in the first tournament of the year. After having defeated all opposition their earned their place in the final only to be narrowly beaten by hosts, Bothal. A valiant performance by the lads, well done.

House matches

Rugby and dodgeball events this term produced some excellent performances and fantastic attitudes. These events are obviously looked at in terms of individual sporting abilities but I was even more impressed with the attitude and team work demonstrated by so many. My own personal highlight of the day was a fantastic rugby tackle by Katy Halliford, taking out not only Izzy McCormack but also ‘the staff referee’ on the other pitch! To protect her dignity she will obviously remain nameless. 😀 Many thanks to the staff referees and the Y8 Sports Captains who helped the events run smoothly. Huge congratulations to all those who took part.

The results for those events are:

• Collingwood – 27
• Dacre – 35
• Howard – 30
• Mitford – 30

And combined with the scores from last term the overall scores are now:

• Collingwood – 85
• Dacre – 86
• Howard – 72
• Mitford – 79

Very close and all to play for next term, when we have Sports day and Swim Gala.