Netball
Netball v King’s Bruton (Saturday)
1st – Won 31-17
2nd – Won 34-14
3rd – Won – 32 - 4
4th – Won 32-3
U15A – Won 18-7
U15B – Lost 11-15
U14A – Won 14-6
U14B – Won 11-8
U14C – Won 7-4
Netball v Wellington (Thursday)
1st – Won 28-19
2nd – Won 30-12
3rd – Won 38-8
U15A – Won 23-8
U15B – Won 16-7
U14A – Won 14-1
U14B – Won 13-5
Taunton School Netball Teams finished the season with an excellent set of results against Wellington and King’s Bruton, winning 16 out of 17 matches. This has been a successful year for netball with a 80% win rate at senior level and a 53% win rate at junior level, with the U15A being top junior team with 90%. There has been many a great game, with some excellent development both in squads and with individual players.
At the end of the season I must thank all those U6 girls who have given great service to the netball squads during their time at Taunton School, particular mention should go to Evie Bown (Captain), Leah Petroy and Jodie Dibble – all have been in the 1st VII starting line up for 3 seasons now and have won 28 out of their 31 matches in this squad – including one unbeaten season. Well done girls and well done to all those pupils who have represented the school at netball this term.
U15 and U19 County Tournaments
Taunton School ended up as Runners-Up at both U15 and U19 in the County Cup on Thursday.
The U15s won their section competition recording wins against King’s College, Haygrove and King’s Bruton to end up meeting Millfield in the semi-final.
What a match – the play went end to end and goal for goal and ended up with a 4-4 draw. Two minutes of extra time and a flip for centre pass, saw Millfield set up to start play. Millfield converted and scored to go 5-4 up, Taunton took their time to play the ball through the court and to score and even up the match at 5-5.
A turn over from the defence and a bit of scrappy play ended up with Taunton shooter Holli Downham having the opportunity to win the game on the last shot – in it went and Taunton won 6-5.
We played Queen’s College in the final and whilst being down 1-4 at half time, a great fight back saw us level to 4-4, but an error on the centre pass gave Queen’s the opportunity to go ahead, ending in a 4-6 defeat. Praise should go particularly to U14 Emily Gamble who had a storming tournament and Holli Downham for her excellent shooting accuracy.
The U19s had to play in a league format, playing all the entered teams in the tournament, recording wins against King’s Bruton, Wells Cathedral, Queen’s College and Wellington and a losses to Millfield and a narrow defeat 6-7 to King’s on the last shot at the end of the game meant that Taunton ended up on the same points as King’s College and Wells Cathedral. A better goal average meant that Taunton were placed in second behind winners Millfield.
Netball v King’s College
1st VII – lost 14-21
2nd VII – lost 20-22
3rd VII – won 34-20
4th VII – won 22-10
U15A – won 26-10
U15B – lost 11-25
U14A – won 24-9
U14B – won 21-3
U14C – lost 10-12
The junior teams at Taunton were the toast of the day, particularly at U14A and U14B level. Both teams were victorious by considerable margins, playing excellent quality netball at pace. To quote the coach “they were nowhere near us!”.
The U15A team rebounded from their success at the County Tournament to record another victory by a comfortable margin.
The 1st VII had a disappointing time losing their unbeaten record this weekend in a miserable fixture against King’s College. Arriving to rain and slippery courts, the 1st VII (missing Jodie Dibble on England Academy Tour) were unable to get in their playing stride.
King’s were able to utilise the home advantage to upset the Taunton style of play and deserved to come out winners in the end. The 2nds VII had a much closer game, narrowly losing – again disrupted by the quality of the court and some missed opportunities in the attacking end. Great wins were achieved by both the 3rd and 4th VII teams.
Hayley Mortimer
Netball v Canford
With the 1st VII still unbeaten, a tough and unknown Canford side stood in the way with a potential obstacle this weekend. Roz Prize missing on an Open Day visit and Jodie Dibble trying to board a plan to Sri Lanka with the England Academy Cricket Team, caused a little unrest and unsettled the squad. In stepped Kirra Kearns, a GA for the 2nd VII but needed to play WA for the 1st VII, what a job she did! The girls were up for the game and the turnover rate in the first half were high, but errors were being made in the middle of the court. Taunton were up by two at quarter time and four at half time. The third quarter was make or break, up they stepped a change to the line up between Evie Bown and Jodie Dibble saw a change in the pace and control of the game. An outstanding second half from the whole squad – particularly Evie linking the attack and Leah Peatroy in defence turning over the ball time and time again – meant Taunton pulled away to a comfortable lead and resulting in a 25-15 win.
The 2nd VII had another strong result with an outstanding shooting display from Livvy Woodhead resulting in a very comfortable 36-11 win, the 3rds, 4ths and 5ths suffered close defeats but was great to get some experience of a tough fixture.
The juniors found it a little more hard work – with lots of illness and unavailability causing changes to squads. A great come back from the U14C/U15C team from being 3-8 down to winning 19 -9, what an excellent turn around. Stars of the show were Rose Vere Nicoll and Amy Lawton in the shooting circle and to the U14’s, Amanda Steele Falcon, Hannah Simpson-Parker and Andrea Gurr.
1st VII – won 25-15
2nd VII – won 36-11
3rd VII – lost 22–39 (played against the U16A)
4th VII – lost 3-20
5th VII – lost 15-30
U15A – lost 35-18
U15B – lost 13-30
U14A – lost 7 – 21
U14B – lost 9 - 15
U14C/U15C – won 18-9
Netball v Queen’s
1st VII and u15a VII remain unbeaten!
Almost a clean sweep against Queen's College today and lots of the results were not even close.
Senior's v Queen's
1sts - won 35-6
2nds - won 28-8
3rds - won 34-14
4ths - won 40-4
U15A - won 16-6
U15B - won 30-14
U15C - won 37-9
U14A - lost 9-16
U14B - won 14-9
U14C - won 7-6
Seniors played a double match against Wells Cathedral straight after Queen's.
1sts - won 22-6
2nds - won 28-8
3rds - won 22-14
4ths - won 18-3
Great weekend for school netball. 16 matches played - 15 matches won!!
Hayley Mortimer
U14 Regional Netball Finals
Having come second at the County tournament, the U14’s headed to Bournemouth on Saturday to represent Somerset at the Regional Netball Finals. In freezing conditions they took to the court for their first match against Clifton College, too many unforced errors in the first half resulted in a 3-7 defeat. Unfortunately the rest of the games were similar with us struggling to get the ball into our shooting circle. Emily Gamble was player of the tournament, working tirelessly in both attack and defence.
Results –
V Clifton College 3-7
V Maynard 4-7
V Talbot Heath 1-11
V Penryn College 1-7
V Chosen Hill School 3-6
V Marlborough 1-6
Netball Results against Bristol Grammar School
1st VII - won 13 - 6
2nd VII - lost 10 - 11
3rd VII – won 18 – 7
4th VII – won 8 – 4
5th VII – won 22 – 8
U15A – won 20 – 6
U14A – lost 17-19
A great start for the senior sides in the school. Conditions at Bristol were bitterly cold, with the ice warning bleeping on the coach before we even stepped off for the match. A very harsh wind and near freezing conditions meant that a lot of mistakes crept into the games and shooting was very difficult.
The 1st VII started off postively moving into a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, before suffering with the cold. It was great to see Ros Price, Annie Wilman and Kate Drew making their debuts for the first team. Congratulations must go to Evie Bown who has been made 1st VII netball captain this term.
The juniors were only able to play at A team level, due to having to call off the B/C team games at home from waterlogged courts. The U15A’s won comfortably with outstanding performances from Holli Downham and Ashton Caddick, the U14A team had a difficult time against a tall GS from Bristol Grammar School, but are working hard towards the Regional Netball tournament in a couple of weeks time, well done to Cally Tapp on a good performance.
Hayley Mortimer
County U19 Netball Tournament
The 1st VII Netball team took to the courts on Wednesday, missing Jodie Dibble and Leah Peatroy (last years 1st Team GA and GD) through long term injury and then last in the day Livvy Woodhead to food poisoning. Rather than thinking the things were against us, the Senior Netball Squad have knuckled down and been working hard to prepare themselves for this tournament and aiming to gain a place in the Regional competition in January.
We started the tournament against an athletic and tall King’s Bruton side, struggling to convert possession meant we were 0-2 down with two minutes gone and then ……….. Rosie Johnson (GD) went down with a severe foot injury – after being carried off and replaced by a centre court player Campbell Bradly the game continued, 1-5 down at half time and we had been dealt a tough hand. The second half saw the girls really stick together. Great work ethic and team work saw the girls, not only draw level but beat the King’s Bruton team 8-6. The result was the same against Wellington with a 11-5 win, followed by a win agaist Queen’s 9-7……. Oh and yes another injury to Georgi Morton (GK).
Taunton and Millfield were the only two teams at this point to have not lost a game. We had three crucial games to go against the three toughest opposition – Millfield, King’s College and Richard Huish. A defeat to Millfield and narrow losses to King’s and Richard Huish meant that Taunton ended up in 4th Place. The team should be commended for their spirit and endeavour on court and particular mention should go to Campbell Bradly and Annie Wilman for playing totally out of position as circle defence following the two injuries during the tournament. I was very proud to head other schools commenting on how unlucky our girl’s had been and how well they had coped with significant changes to the squad throughout the tournament. Well done Girls!!
Results
King’s Bruton – won 8-6
Wellington – won 11-5
Queen’s – won 9-7
Millfield – lost 5 – 12
King’s College – lost 4-9
Richard Huish – lost 7-9
County Netball Academy
The following pupils have been selected to attend the County Netball Academy this year.
Year 9
Tessa Warby
Laurie Dawkins
Lucy Badcock
Martha Connon Cole
Nora Overton-Fox
Year 10
Ashton Caddick
Phoebe Thomas
Hera Bradley
U14’s through to Regionals
The U14s started their Senior School netball careers with an extremely positive start. In the section competition, they beat comfortably beat King’s Bruton 5-0 and Queen’s 7-4. Wells Cathedral provided the challenge in the semi-final, however they were no match for Taunton winning 6-1. Taking their place in the final against Millfield, Taunton already knew that they had qualified for the Regional Netball Championships. A well fought final against a tall and athletic side saw Taunton lose 3-8. The girls should be very positive in the result considering the little practice the squad has had with it being hockey term.
The U16s started the tournament in absolutely devastating style with a win against Ansford 12-1, the court play was outstanding and the girl’s were looking confident. A dominant win against a talented Wells Cathedral side 11-6, the final section match saw a close tense match against Millfield result in a 2-4. The semi-final saw Taunton playing against Haygrove school, Taunton started competitively forging a 3-1 win, but a lack of confident in attack and some poor decision making saw Haygrove go on to win the semi-final 5-7 and therefore knocking Taunton out of the competition.
U14s
King’s Bruton won 5-0
Queen’s won 7-4
Semi - Wells Cathedral won 6-1
Final – Millfield lost 3-8 (Runner-Up)
U16s
Ansford won 12-1
Wells Cathedral won 11-6
Millfield lost 2-4
Semi Haygrove lost 5-7
v Wellington (15th March)
1sts – lost 18 - 21, 2nds – won 34-13, 3rds – won 38 - 5, U14a – won 14 - 5, U14b – won 16 - 9.
v King’s Bruton
1sts – won 36-10, 2nds – won 47-11, 3rds - won 17-12, 4ths – won 27-7, U15a – won 17-8, U15b – won 32-3, U14a – lost 5-7, U14b – won
Clarke steps up to the 1st VII Team
The U19 team travelled to Marlborough on Sunday to play against a series of invitational teams from around the South West. Having lost GD Leah Peatroy on the Saturday to crutches and stand in GD Anna East to the dreaded lurgy, U15 Jess Clarke stood up to take on the test of stepping up to the 1st Team.
Taunton did not know what to expect at the tournament playing teams not normally in their circle. To say we started positively was an understatement, the next thing we knew we had won six from six.
v Oxford High – won 8-2
v Portsmouth Grammar School – won 10 -4
v Marlborough College – won 7-4
v St Helens and Katherines – won 12 – 4
v Cheltenham College – won 8 – 5
v Canford – won 7-5
This put us into the semi-finals against Royal High School, Bath. A long break in the Taunton draw meant that players were slow to start, Royal High School started well going into a 3-1 lead, Taunton chased and chased but tired legs and bad decisions had the better of them and RHS came out eventual winners 10 -7.
A really positive day of netball and it was great to see Jess Clarke really develop as the tournament progressed. A great day was had by all, the sun was shining and the netball was good!!
Best wishes to Leah and a speedy recovery.
v King's
1sts - lost 14-16, 2nds - won 27-19, 3rds - won 31-25, 4ths - lost 15-22, U15A - lost 11-22, U15B - lost 13-18, U15C - won 24-10, U14A - won 23-7, U14B - lost, U14C - lost.
Hayley Mortimer
v Millfield
U15A – lost 14-20
U15B – won 24 – 20
U15C – won 35-4
U14A - lost 14 - 22
U14B – lost 4 - 26
U14C – lost 12 – 19
The juniors played a touch fixture last week, whilst the U15B and C team enjoyed superb wins, the U14s particularly found it difficult adjusting to new squads with the departure of some key players in the A and B teams on the Australian Exchange.
County Cup - Rossholme
U19
The 1st Team were drawn into a difficult section with King’s College, Wellington and Yeovil College. Having not played these teams this season, the standard of the tournament is such now that one of seven teams could be expected to be in the final. The conditions for netball, were not great, with sweeping winds coming across the courts, making shooting particularly difficult.
Taunton started well, going up 2-1 versus King’s College in the first game, a lack of discipline saw a few unforced errors, which enable King’s to capitalise resulting in a 6-4 win to King’s. Yeovil came next in a game Taunton knew they needed to win, again another positive start saw Taunton leading 3-2 at half time, an injury to Charlie Pickard saw U14 player Ashton Caddick make her debut for the 1st Team, a close game resulting in a 5-5 draw. Then came Wellington, the team we expected to be the hardest in our section, Taunton needed the results to go our way as well as a win against Wellington, Taunton started well going 2-1 into the lead, and the score 2-2 at half time, the game was there to win, Wellington came out strong in the second half going 6-3 up before a fight back from Taunton saw the game end 6-6.
Taunton ended up 3rd in the section and did not go through to the semi-finals. The tournament was won by Wellington school.
-------
THE netball 1sts recorded a 19-17 victory over Blundells.
A quick, tough and physical match unsettled the team.
Neither side could settle into their game and were loose in possession.
Taunton remained composed and, taking a three-goal lead into the final quarter should have seen them comfortably though to a win.
They suffered from a lack of discipline but some fine interceptions from the defence saw Taunton hang on to clinch the win.
Other results: 2nds lost 20-25, 3rds lost 15-20, 4ths lost 7-18, U15a won 19-12, U14a won 13-7.
Regional Netball results
The U14s travelled to Bournemouth to represent Somerset in the Regional Schools Competition. Having drawn, Taunton faced a tough and athletic Clifton College side.
The score was a flattering 3-9 to Clifton but meant the girl's had a tough baptism of fire at this level. We then met the St. Marys Shaftsbury who also had qualified as county champions and their style of play was difficult to break down, Taunton found it difficult to find form and lost 1-6. Taunton then sealed victories against Chosen Hill 10 - 8, Hardenhuish 11 - 3 and Truro School 8 - 2 and Colyton Grammar 9 - 4 saw Taunton finish in 3rd place in the section and just miss out on a semi final place. A great effort by the girls.
Squad: Isabelle Seaton, Holli Downham, Phoebe Thomas(captain), Heidi Parsons, Milly Day, Laurie Dawkins, Lucy Badcock, Hera Bradley, Ashton Caddick
Netball v Queen's College
1sts - won 16 -12
2nds - won 23 - 7
3rds - won 32- 14
4ths - won 18 - 9
U15a - drew 15-15
U15b - won 26-21
U15c - won 19 - 8
U14b - won 18 - 9
U14c - won 25 -3
This still leaves - 2nds, U15s and U14s as unbeaten.
Netball v Bristol Grammar School
Tentitve moments during the warm up for the 1st Team when GD - Leah Peatory went over on her ankle, a tape of strapping later and all sorted for the warm up. The 1st team started off well if a little rusty, but went up from start dominating particularly the Bristol Grammar School attack with an aggressive and disciplined display in attack. Campbell Bradly making her debut for the 1st team had a superb game in the middle of the court at C, controlling the play and linking attack and defence. The shooters took a while to get their eyes in, but were on fire in the second half with some excellent shots from range. A good first match out.
The rest of the teams had a great start, particularly pleasing were the junior results having a clean sweep, with the U14A squad preparing for Regional, their result shows they are getting ready!
1sts - won 24 - 14
2nds - won 15 - 12
3rds - lost 8 - 24
4ths - lost 11 - 21
U15A - won 17 - 10
U15B - won 17 - 5
U15C - won 18 - 7
U14A - won 28 - 7
U14B - won 25 - 5
Hayley Mortimer
U14 and U16 County Netball Championships
The U14 Netball team were crowned County Champions on Saturday, winning all their games: King's College Taunton 12-2, Millfield 5-4, King's Bruton 10-2 and Haygrove 9-5.
The team will now gone on to represent Somerset in the Regional Netball Tournament to be held in Bournemouth on Saturday 28th January.
Squad: Holli Downham, Isobella Seaton, Amelia Day, Heidi Parsons (Captain), Phoebe Thomas, Laure Dawkins, Hera Bradly, Ashton Caddick, Rosie Lewes, Lucy Badcock.
The U16 team came fourth in the above Championships, having noticeable wins against King's College Taunton and King's Bruton and suffering a narrow defeat to Millfield.
Report from Captain, Georgie Hulse:
Match 1 - Wells Cathedral, lost 2-11. We played a tough match first again Wells, everyone played their best however movement around the court was difficult due to their strong marking.
Match 2 - Haygrove, lost 4-8. We started the match off with strong determination after match one. Haygrove were tight on their defence despite our best efforts.
Match 3 - Millfield, lost 6-8. The game started off strong in our favour and looked like a sure win. Millfield game out stronger in the second half to constitute a close match.
Match 4 - King's, Taunton, won 9-8. Movement on the court was rapid and fluid meaning more shots were taken. Both defenders and attackers worked well so we came out winning.
Match 5 - King's, Bruton, won 12-5. After our win against King's, Taunton, we were all focused to win our last match. The whole team worked well together to limit their goals and score our own.
Well played to everyone to went and thank you to the coaches who went with and supported us.
Squad: Jess Weeks, Abidah Ferej, Annie Woodhead, Clem Odgers, Georgie Hulse (Captain), Campbell Bradley, Lulu Metherall, Jess Clarke, Carly Brown, Gemma.