First Team U13 Haileybury tournament
Edge Grove travelled to Haileybury this week for an U13 festival with four other schools in our group. EG played some fantastic link up play when attacking to open up the opposition early on, resulting in victories against Kingshott and Haileybury. We did however lack structure in our defence on occasion, which led to a couple of costly mistakes against Westbrook Hay. Our legs were starting to get tired by the fourth game against St Martins with a draw as a final result. A positive start to the football season with many positives coming from our attack, but we will need to look at the defensive and overall structure across the pitch to prevent costly errors. We look forward to the IAPS tournament this Saturday.
Second Team U13 Haileybury Tournament
Edge Grove second team put in a good performance this afternoon in their first competitive matches of the season. They drew two matches and lost two, however only conceded three goals in total. Special recognition this week goes to Isaac and Caitlin who showed flair in attack and Olly C who demonstrated great strength in defence. Next week focus should move onto accuracy within shooting so that we can capitalise on our attacking chances.
Colts A v St Martins Edge Grove 2 St Martins 2
Edge Grove Colts A’s started well, moving the ball around and winning most of their individual challenges to win possession. We lacked incisiveness up front which meant that we couldn't make the breakthrough. St Martins scored a clinical header from a corner when their player nipped in unmarked to break the deadlock. We then put together a couple of lovely passages of play to equalise and then go ahead through a lovely strike from Kaelan. Marli and Phoebe were very solid at the back disrupting the St Martins attacks. Timi was excellent at dropping back and using his pace and strength to diffuse the threats. Ben was quick and determined and made some excellent tackles and balls played into space behind the opposition. Noham was strong and used his clever ball skills and strength to win possession and then counter attack. Harry had a great game in goal, pulling off some stunning saves to keep the attackers at bay. Issac showed some excellent vision and link up play to set our counter-attacks in motion. Eventually St Martins equalised late in the game and in the end we finished 2-2.
Colts B v St Martins Edge Grove 6 St Martins 3
This was a great start to the season with the boys performing extremely well against a strong St Martins team. Benji was the stand out player scoring the first hat-trick of the season, however all of the boys should be congratulated on a great performance.
Colts C v St Martins Edge Grove 0 St Martins 4
The game started very badly for Edge Grove, conceding 3 goals in the first 3 minutes of play. The team rallied together and launched numerous attacks on the St Martins goal. Due to some outstanding goalkeeping by the St Martin’s goalkeeper, we unfortunately were unable to convert. St Martins scored a 4th goal towards the end of the match. The team showed great resolve and have learnt an important lesson in that they need to focus and play from the very start of the game.
Colts D v St Martins Edge Grove 3 St Martins 5
This was an excellent game of football between two evenly matched teams. St Martins passed the ball around a bit better than our team which did create more space and goal scoring opportunities, however the Edge Grove boys and girls played with great enthusiasm and determination to keep the scores level at 3 - 3 with only a few minutes to play. Two late goals meant that St Martins ran out winners.
Colts E v St Martins Edge Grove 1 St Martins 3
The Colts E team showed great improvements during the match against St Martins. The team started off slowly but they built up the momentum towards the end of the first half and showed great teamwork. Our defence worked well together, with Xander and Bolu running back from half way to put in excellent tackles and support our incredible goalie Wucheng. Ben displayed exceptional sportsmanship which was great to see and with Daniel as captain he made sure to keep praising his players.
I look forward to seeing what the rest of the season has in store. Well done boys.
Colts F v St Martins
Unfortunately we did not have the result we would have hoped for with 3 losses out of 3 matches. That being said the team showed some seeds of promise in their looking for space to pass into and their confidence in challenging for the ball and pressing the opposition to win possession. Our captain Eashan showed great sportsmanship towards our opponents as did the rest of the team. There is work to be done but with this attitude progress will no doubt be made and we can look forward to more positive results as the season progresses.
U9 Mr Dippenaar v Lochinver House Edge Grove 1 Lochinver House 3
The team conceded an early goal but then pulled together and played with great commitment and focus to level the scores in the middle of the second half. Unfortunately a lapse in concentration allowed Lochinver to score two quick goals in the final few minutes. As a first outing the team demonstrated great team spirit and effort, some work on certain areas in their game preparation and the positive results will follow.
U9 Mr Wallis v Lochinver House Edge Grove 4 Lochinver House 1
Edge Grove played with great intensity and demonstrated good teamwork throughout the match. Lochinver started strong and managed to get an early goal. EG then started to get themselves into the game and at half time both teams were playing great attacking football whilst showing solid defence. A change of positions saw a rise of intensity from EG and a hat trick from Tommy C quickly changed the momentum of the game. We did show a lack of fitness towards the end of the game so we do need to focus on keeping to our areas of the pitch/ keeping in space instead of all following the ball up and down the pitch.
U9 Mr McManus v Lochinver House Edge Grove 2 Lochinver House 1
The boys and girls played with great determination and enthusiasm in the first match of the season. Although we were a bit timid at first and allowed the opposition to win the ball too easily, we grew in confidence and started to play with a lot more intensity; the red faces at the end of the match were testament to this!!!
The team can feel proud of their effort, our focus now is to ensure that we stay in our positions, do not bunch and close down the space and pass the ball quicker.
U9 Mr Aitchison v Lochinver House Edge Grove 1 Lochinver House 1
The boys were very excited to be playing their first match of the season and started well. Making excellent tackles and determined running to beat the opposition. We are still learning the art of distributing the ball effectively and learning to spread out into our positions so a lot of the play was bunched up from both sides preventing a free flowing game. Lochinver House scored first which motivated our team to push harder. A great goal kick from Christopher led to a 1 v 1 with the goalkeeper for Raphael who made sure of the goal with a clinical finish. Tommy was strong in the tackles and had several powerful shots off target. Niam applied himself well and was very effective setting up attacks from throw ons. Joshua showed good determination to win his tackles and was strong throughout. Ted played strongly and was involved in many of our attacks on the flanks. Akish tackled and positioned himself well and made it difficult for Lochinver House to get through on goal.
We were camped down their end for the last few minutes but unfortunately couldn't find the back of the net again resulting in a 1 - 1 draw.
U9 Mr Rose v Lochinver House Edge Grove 3 Lochinver House 1
An impressive start to the season with a convincing victory against a solid team. Well done all on your enthusiasm and team work.
U9A v Manor Lodge Edge Grove 3 Manor Lodge 0
A great start to the season for the U9 A team with a fantastic win of 3-0! The girls started the game strong, working together and communicating effectively in both attack and defence. In defence, it was pleasing to see the girls display a strong stance, keeping their sticks low to intercept the ball. Roshini showed confidence as the sweeper, clearing the ball into the space on the wings. The girls were able to use this space to dribble down the pitch and convert these opportunities into excellent goals. A massive well done to all the girls involved for a great team effort and performance.
U9B v Manor Lodge Edge Grove 5 Manor Lodge 1
The girls played their socks off this afternoon! It was a most impressive performance and a wonderful start to the season. Good positioning from Edge Grove who held their space and passed out wide. The girls tackled confidently and took every opportunity to shoot. They were excellent at running around when a free hit was awarded, doing their best to shake off those marking them. A high scoring game due to the determination of the forwards. A less active game for those in defence, however, they were a great support to the girls up front and the team managed to create a large gap in the score because of this. Well done, a huge boost for the rest of the season.
U9C v Manor Lodge Edge Grove 2 Manor Lodge 0
The girls made a fantastic start to the season with their match this afternoon. They showed brilliant team spirit, encouraging each other and offering fellow team mates advice. They tackled confidently and took every opportunity to shoot. Those in defence worked equally hard to ensure no goals were scored by their opponents. A brilliant match. Well done girls.
U9D v Manor Lodge Edge Grove 1 Manor Lodge 1
A brilliant start to the season this afternoon. The girls demonstrated excellent sportsmanship in the way they played, encouraging each other and offering advice where needed. Those in defence worked exceptionally hard. The team tackled confidently and took every opportunity to shoot. A brilliant match. Well done girls.
This was a lovely afternoon of badminton and table tennis against Westbrook Hay. All Edge Grove pupils won their friendly matches and it was so good to play these two sports away at another school.
Edge Grove 271 v Westbrook Hay 253
We were delighted to welcome a number of parent spectators to a wonderful afternoon of swimming in the sunshine against Westbrook Hay. The girls all swam 4 races, including a relay. There was great enthusiasm and encouragement on the poolside and a high standard of swimming demonstrated throughout the gala.
Edge Grove were the overall winners, winning by 18 points. A fantastic team effort and a very enjoyable afternoon.
