Sports Desk
Welcome to the Sports News section of the website. These pages are designed to inform you about upcoming fixtures, results and news stories in Sport at Merchiston. Results will be published as soon as possible on the website; however, I will be giving updates on Twitter, so please follow how we are getting on.
Director of Sport
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Results: |
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| Summer Term 2012: | Weeks 1 & 2; Week 3; Week 4 |
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Results Archive: |
Lent Term 2011; Summer Term 2011; Autumn Term 2011; Lent Term 2012 |
News
Tennis
The 1st IV travelled to the Lake District on Friday to play Windermere School in the Glanvil Cup. On a wet day the team played well and secured a 5 - 1 victory, taking them in to the final of the North Section against RGS Newcastle. This match will determine whether the team will qualify for the last 16 teams in the UK.
Cricket Update
On Saturday 5 May all six of the School teams were successful in
their matches against Dollar and The Edinburgh Academy. The 1st XI
were very competitive and Captain Chris S led by example with the
bat, scoring an unbeaten 53 and brought the team home in an
extremely close battle. In the Under 15A match Angus H (3rd Form)
hit a superb 53 before being caught at mid-on but Jamie C (2nd
Form) topped the individual performances by scoring his first
unbeaten Merchiston 100 for the Under 14 A team.
Athletics - HMC Track & Field
On Wednesday 3 May, Merchiston for the first time, were
invited to the HMC Track & Field Independent School
Invitational at Monkton Staduim, Jarrow. This prestigious
competition brings all the best athletes in the area together and
allowed our top athletes to gauge their ability against the very
best opposition south of the border. Schools competing included
Ampleforth, Sedbergh, QEGS Wakefield, Barnard Castle and Oldham
Hulme.
It was a fantastic competition with extremely high standards in all
the track and field events. This inspired the boys to raise their
standards and helped them achieve in a variety of events.
Medalists
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HMC North of England Championships |
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Senior Javelin - Chris S |
Gold |
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Senior 110m Hurdles - Toby S |
Gold |
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Senior 400m - Gavin P |
Silver |
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Junior 1500m - Benn M |
Silver |
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Senior Shot - John G |
Bronze |
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Senior 100m - Claude M |
Bronze |
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Senior 4 x 400m Relay |
Silver |
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Senior 4 x 100m Relay |
Bronze |
National Schools Fives
Due to Teddy's
injury, Angus S was the only senior representing the school in the
Open Singles competition. After playing in the Rosslyn Park 7s on
Thursday and Friday morning, we rushed him across to play in the
Fives, which unfortunately was probably too tall an order. He lost
both of his group matches. However, this saw him placed in the
Second Plate competition. Returning with renewed vigour over the
weekend, he defeated boys from Alleyn's, Whitgift and St Paul's,
before winning the Second Plate, 11-4, 11-5 against a boy from
Bradfield. The standard of the final was particularly impressive,
and Angus should be aiming to qualify for the Cup next year.
On Saturday the boys were not involved in any matches so we went to Wembley to watch Saracens v Harlequins with 83,000 other people. It was a great day out and the boys enjoyed the experience.
On Sunday, the Junior Singles took place. Lewis B and Benn M won
their respective groups and therefore both went into the Cup. Benn
was particularly comfortable, winning 11-0, 11-1 in the group.
Lewis lost narrowly in the last 16 and Benn in the quarter finals,
both of them to the two eventual finalists! It was brilliant that
they both qualified for the Cup and this will give the boys
confidence for future years.
This left the Junior Doubles competition, where we had great success. The boys hadn't lost a game all season in Scotland and this is definitely where they were most confident. However, I didn't expect them to play quite as well as they did! They had a comfortable first few rounds, beating Sedbergh II, Malvern College I and Winchester II. The semi-final brought them up against St Paul's I, who they impressively beat 15-10. The final was against Whitgift I, best of three games to 11. The boys really rose to the occasion and played the best fives I have seen them play, losing very narrowly in an epic deciding game, which could have gone either way.. 12-10, 6-11, 9-11. It was the final match to finish out of the whole tournament, so the gallery was absolutely packed! The tournament organiser described it as the match of the whole tournament and said it was the highest standard of Junior Fives he had ever seen. The boys were devastated, but I could not have been more proud of them.
Matthew Hillier
Master i/c Fives
Rosslyn Park Sevens
In the first week of the
Easter break the 1st VII travelled to Roehampton to play in the
National Schools Sevens at Rosslyn Park Rugby Club. The National
Sevens is reported to be the largest schools sevens competition in
the world involving over 7000 players in 6 different competitions.
The Open Boys Competition fields 105 teams and as only one team
qualifies from each group, it is important to get off to a good
start. In our first group game we were successful against King John
School, winning 35 - 7 and the team were pleased to get over a
nervous start in the game. After a good break we played Queen
Mary's, Basingstoke and scored 45 points against their 10 points.
There are always a number of Welsh Schools in the competition and
they are always very competitive matches so the boys were delighted
with a 56 point win over Ysgol Gyfun Y Strade. Two years ago we
drew Wimbledon College in the knock-out competition and we knew
that they are a well-organised side and therefore the final group
match against Wimbledon would decide our plans for day 2. We were
also surprised to be welcomed onto the pitch by Wayne Barnes who
had popped into the competition to referee a few matches. After a
nervy start and conceding the first try we organised our defence
well and secured the top place in the group by winning 40 - 10.
This meant for the second time in three years we qualified for the
second day at Rosslyn Park RFC. the second day produces some
outstanding teams and we were drawn against Filton College from
Bristol, a school with an excellent reputation on the rugby field.
After conceding the first two tries of the game the boys gathered
their shape to compete just before and just after half time scoring
two tries of our own, but the strength of the Filton side shone
through in the final stages winning the game 31-12. Merchiston was
the only Scottish representative in the competition and we have
been delighted with the results over the last three years, reaching
the semi-finals in 2010 and the last 16 this year.
Results
Group Matches
King John School w 35-7
Queen Mary's Basingstoke w 45-10
Ysgol Gyfun Y Strade w 56-0
Wimbledon College w 40-10
Last 16 v Filton College L 12-31
Archive of Sports News from previous terms.
