End of Summer Term

Cricket

The 2008 season has been a good one for the Bryanston cricket teams. The 1st XI have had a particularly good season and produced some fantastic results. The team played 10 matches winning 6 and losing just 3. The match against Wells Cathedral School produced our closest finish, with Rory Turner helping Bryanston chase 171 runs to win the game with just 3 balls and 2 wickets to spare. We produced our best cricket of the year against the MCC. We restricted their very strong side to just 188 runs and were cruising to victory at 142 for 1 before, frustratingly, rain ended play. Other good results were against Monkton Combe, King Edwards, Poole Grammar, The Forty Club and Victoria College.

Oli D'Erlanger-Bertrand, Jack Peck and Dean Pearce all produced good batting performances, each scoring half centuries. Freddie Raben, James Ladd Gibbon, Jack Peck and Harry Parnell did the majority of damage with the ball, with Harry Parnell securing 5 wickets for 48 runs against the Butterflies. However, the Vice-captain (Nick Marshall) and Captain (Baz Street) were the consistent high performers. Both proved to be excellent role models to younger members of the squad and are therefore re-awarded their colours. Nick opened the batting and scored 324 runs at an average of 37.2. His best performance with the bat came against King Edward School, Southampton where he scored a faultless 100. He also recorded the best bowling figures of 5 wickets for 8 runs. An excellent reward for all his hard work whilst at Bryanston. This was the 5th season for Baz in the 1st team and over those 5 years ha has averaged 35 runs when batting and 11 runs a wicket when bowling. This year he took 28 wickets and scored 566 runs, incredible figures that highlight his quality on the pitch. However, it was not until his last innings for the School that he scored his first, thoroughly deserved, hundred. Then in the same match he produced his best ever bowling figures of 6 for 64, a superb way to finish a truly wonderful Bryanston cricket career. Baz is therefore awarded the Player of the Season.

The 2nd XI were a young side that improved over the season. There were very rewarding victories against King Edward School, Southampton and Milton Abbey 1st XI. Iain Fleet is awarded Player of the Year, as he worked extremely hard all season.

The U15s demonstrated superb team spirit all season and this helped them to produce some excellent results. The team had a tremendous cup run. Their best results came against Sherborne, Blandford, Ballard, Clayesmore, Poole Grammar and Milton Abbey. Jack Armstrong, Chris Nicholas and James Shuster-Bruce performed well but Raff Cross was most consistent and is awarded Player of the Year. The U14s had a fantastic year winning lots of matches with lots of players contributing to the team success. Henry Turpie and Charlie Dickson were the most consistent players for the A team and Charlie Wilkinson proved a tremendous bowler for the B team. It is very pleasing to see what talent we have at the lower end of the School.

And finally, Shaftesbury won the Senior house cricket whilst the Junior competition was won by Beechwood. Well played to all the competitors.

Colours
1st XI colours re-awarded to: Baz Street, Nick Marshall
Ist XI colours awarded to: Dean Pearce, Rory Turner, Harry Waterton, James Ladd Gibbon, Jack Peck, Harry Parnell and Freddie Raben

Awards
Bat to Nick Marshall for 100
Bat, trophy and 1st XI 'Player of the Season' to Baz Street
2nd XI 'Player of the Year' to Iain Fleet
U15 'Player of the Year' to Raff Cross

Girls' Cricket

The girls also had a tremendous year. They learnt the rules and skills of the game very quickly and had two competitive victories. Purbeck won the house competition after the final ended in a draw. Emily Atwood was the named player of the competition.

Athletics

This has been one of the strongest athletics squads for several years, with the D year proving to be particularly successful. The teams performed well in competitions throughout the season, always finishing in the top three places. 12 of our athletes represented Dorset at The South West Championships with two pupils, Alice Pyrgos (Javelin) and Charlie Helsby (Hurdles), going on to the Nationals.

Rowing

It has been a busy and successful term for the Boat Club. Last weekend several crews raced at Reading Town Regatta and we had three event wins - the D Boys A quad against Radley, and both the D Girls A quad and C Boys quad against Cheltenham.

Over the term, the Senior boys and B boys raced in coxed fours, and occasionally combined to make an eight, which won a very exciting final of mens novice eights at Putney Town Regatta. The Senior four also won its event at Borne Regatta, and Cedric Stonex and Will Bertram came close to a win in double sculls. The Senior and B Girls also combined forces and competed in several types of boat. They continued to train during exams and raced well, but were unlucky not to win any events. The first four finished runners up by one foot at Borne Regatta.

At the Wessex Junior Regatta, Bryanston were second out of twelve clubs competing; our highest ever result in the event, with winning performances from the C and D Girls doubles, Sam Geake in the C Boys singles, and the D Boys B quad and singles. The D boys form a large and talented group making up seven quads, and all have done well in the regattas, with wins at the Wessex Junior, Tewkesbury and Reading. The A crew went to the National Schools’ Regatta at half term and did very well to finish in the top half of a very large field.

The Club would like to wish a warm farewell to the leaving coaches, Bryce Moffett, Mike Pitts and Martin Hill.

Girls' Tennis

Tennis has once again proved a highly popular summer sport for the girls. Certainly, at the junior end, our overall results are benefiting from the time that many of the players are putting in during winter squad training in the Autumn and Spring terms. This, together with the established Easter training camp at Vale de Lobo in Portugal, gives us a far more productive start to the season than has been the case in the past.

The enthusiasm for tennis starts with the U14s where we have been able to run 4 teams. The players in the C and D teams were less experienced at the start of the season and have developed in confidence and competence through hard work in training and matches. Between them, they have won six of their nine matches. The A and B VIs have played some highly competitive matches with the A team losing just two matches all season. A particular highlight for them was their 1st place in their section and semi-final place in the U15 County League - no mean feat considering they are a year younger than the other teams. The successful theme continues at U15 level. With the B team undefeated and the C team losing just one match, there is plenty of talent here. The A team also fared well and reached the final of the County League. In a nail biting match, all players performed with great panache to beat Talbot Heath by 6 games. Congratulations to Georgie Groves, Dida Ritchie, Beth Heald and Laurie Angeli. Special mention must also go to Lara Crofton, who with Georgie Groves gained the prestigious title of U16 County Doubles Champions.

At the Senior end, we have fielded four teams on a regular basis. Our 2nd and 3rd VIs were impressive, remaining undefeated, with the 4th VI not far behind, winning 3 of their 4 matches. The 1st VI had a slightly frustrating season. After a strong start with wins against Sherborne and Canford, the exam season kicked in and we suffered due to a lack of continuity in pairings. This meant that the middle phase of the season was less impressive. Special mention must go to a number of A2s who have contributed a great deal to the 1st and 2nd teams tennis over the past three years. As this year's Club Captain, Tamsin Hartley leads from the front but she has been able to rely on the commitment of Sam Innes, Emily Crutcher, Daisy Wall, Juliet Wesley, Tatty Woodhouse, Wheezie Newman and Laura Charles. Next year Tamsin hands over the captaincy to Ellie Shaikh, who will be supported by her vice-captain Becca Scott.

Colours
1st VI colours re-awarded to: Tamsin Hartley, Emily Crutcher, Juliet Wesley, Sam Innes
1st VI colours are awarded to: Tatty Woodhouse, Laura Charles, Ellie Shaikh, Rosy Ingleby, Charlotte Blick, Jessie Reynolds
Club colours are awarded to: Wheezie Newman, Daisy Wall

Trophies
U15 County League Shield to: Lara Crofton, Georgie Groves, Dida Ritchie, Beth Heald, Laurie Angeli

House matches
Junior House Tennis won by: Greenleaves
Senior House Tennis won by: Purbeck

Boys' Tennis

The Boys Tennis Club had a season which promised much but flattered to deceive with a final tally of: Played 34 matches, Won 15, Drew 4 and Lost 14. The 1st VI had a very strong squad but it was one which did not seem to travel well and with two thirds of our matches away this season, wins were hard to come by. On several occasions they manoeuvered themselves into a winning position but could not finish the job off. Piers Jennings and Harry Clarke, playing at third pair, were the exception and they recorded some very good wins, especially against Sherborne and KES Southampton. The 2nd VI were our most successful team, winning 5 of their 7 matches and many of their younger members will be in the senior side next year. With a large number of boys playing, we were able to field a 3rd VI for the first time and they had an even season winning three of their six matches. The Tennis Club may have not had a particularly successful season but it was one in which all the A2 boys, particularly Charlie Howarth as Captain, made strong contributions and we hope to see many of them back in the near future playing in the reinstated OBs' fixture.

The Colts played some excellent tennis and many of their players could be up for ‘The most improved player of the year’ and they, too, had a winning season with the most impressive result being the reversal of an 8:1 defeat last season against Dauntsey’s, winning in 2008 by the same score. The Junior Colts had a tough year but fought hard against strong opposition and made vast improvement over the twelve-week season and saved their two wins for the end of term.

The House Tennis was a closely fought competition and in both the Senior and Junior events it went down to the last match of the day, with Salisbury being victors in both.

Polo

The Bryanston Polo team won its first ever tournament last Sunday, against three other schools including Marlborough. At Druids Lodge Polo Club, Max Cramer, Jordan Lees and Captain Rex Woodhouse beat Dauntsey’s and then St. Mary’s Shaftesbury (in a two chukka final) to take the trophy. Rex Woodhouse also won the award for the ‘Player of the Tournament’.

Riding

Congratulations to Madeleine Breen who is awarded the cup for the 'Most Improved Weekly Rider'. Maddie also won the Inter-house Show Jumping as an individual this year.

Week 11

Cricket

The final week of cricket fixtures proved to be very successful for Bryanston. The U14s visited Milton Abbey on Thursday and finished their season with a convincing win. Henry Turpie produced the best innings of the year for the team, demonstrating his excellent improvement with 72 runs and 4 wickets. The excellent team performance is a reward for the hard work that the team has shown all year. Well done!

On Saturday and Sunday the 1st XI hosted Victoria College, Jersey in a two day game. The first innings produced a magnificent moment for Baz Street who, at the last attempt, scored his very first hundred for the 1st XI. He has been a tremendous captain for two years and has shown excellent commitment, skill and leadership. He shared a partnership of 170 with Nick Marshall as Bryanston posted 326. Some good bowling helped us win on first innings by 32 runs. A quick 50 from Jack Peck allowed us to put Victoria College under pressure but time ran out with the opposition 7 wickets down. A tremendous performance and a very good way to end an excellent season. Special note must go to Charlie Dickson in D and Chris Nicholas and Raf Cross in C who all made their 1st XI debuts. First team colours are awarded to Jack Peck and Harry Waterton for their excellent contributions this season. Many congratulations!

Week 10

Cricket

The frustration of the start of the season returned as the weather prevented any matches being played on Saturday. A great shame as all the teams aimed to end the season on a high. During the week both the U14A and the U15 teams lost in the semi-final of the County Cup. Facing strong opposition both teams performed well but failed to close with a victory. However, both teams must be congratulated for reaching this stage of the competition. They both played some fantastic matches and improved significantly as the season progressed. Well done!

Athletics

On Saturday Bryanston took part in a six school match at Marlborough. Overall we came second to Wellington, a good result considering we had 12 athletes away at the South West Championships and several others absent from the competition for various reasons. Results of the South West Championships were as follows:

Jan Streblow	4th	Senior Boys	3000m
James O'Kane	3rd	Junior Boys	Shot
Jake Jenkins	3rd	Senior Boys	Triple Jump
Hermione Cox	2nd	Junior Girls	Discus
Alice Pyrgos	1st	Junior Girls	Javelin
Charlie Helsby	1st	Junior Boys	Hurdles

Congratulations to Alice Pyrgos and Charlie Helsby who have been selected to represent the South West at the National Schools Athletics Championships at Gateshead on July 4.

Rowing

Five D quad sculls performed very well over the weekend - all of them reaching the finals of their events. At Tewkesbury Regatta the D Boys B crew won the B event and the C and D crews finished 1st and 3rd in the C event. The D girls dead-heated for the runners-up place with a crew that had beaten them in an earlier round.
At Thames Valley Park Regatta the D Boys A quad showed their class by winning through two rounds convincingly, thereby finishing 2nd out of no fewer than 24 crews.

Girls' Tennis

On Thursday two senior teams played mixed matches v Canford and the results could hardly have been closer:
A VI narrowly lost 4:5 and B VI drew 3:3.

Four teams braved the rain and made the worthwhile journey to Kingswood on Saturday, with three of the teams returning with wins. Special mention must go to a number of players:
(a) Rosie Ingleby, Charlotte Blick, Amelia Henderson and Stess Graves for turning out to play when many players were not available.
(b) Georgie Groves and Livvy Sperring for winning two out of their three matches in their debut for the 1st VI.
(c) Laurie Angeli and Dida Ritchie for holding their nerve in a nail-biting climax to the U15 game. With the score at 4 matches all and 5 games all in their final set, Laurie needed to hold her serve to take the team to victory. Despite being 15-40 down, Laurie and Dida showed great tenacity to take the set 6:5.

Last week also saw the semi-final stage of the U15 County League. Our U15 team secured a comprehensive victory over Leweston on Tuesday to be the first to qualify for the final. Our U14 team then played Talbot Heath on Thursday. A win for the U14s would have meant an all Bryanston final and the result could not have been closer. With the score at 3 matches all it went to games won, where Talbot Heath went through by just a single game. The County final will be played at Bryanston next Monday and any support would be welcome.

Kayaking

In sunny but windy conditions a small team from Bryanston drove to the Exeter Circuit Kayak Marathon. James Lancaster won his final race at the school by a good margin. In the lower division race, Ciaran O'Toole came an impressive third and Alex Kirke a very respectable sixth.

Riding

Bryanston riders secured excellent results at the Gillingham School Inter-Schools Jumping and Style (JAS) competition on Sunday. Olivia Hamilton came 2nd in the Open Individual event, and Philippa Kerby won the 2'9'' class event.

Week 9

Cricket

The U14As were the star team this week with two excellent victories. On Tuesday they played in the quarter finals of the county cup against Clayesmore School. A good bowling performance helped restrict the opposition to 133, with Bertie Bannerman the pick of the bowlers. Marcus Warden-Owen, Henry Turpie, Charlie Dickson and Harry Tenwick all batted well, but it was left to Harry Hosford to hit the last ball of the match for four to complete a dramatic victory. The team then carried their form into a 20 over match against Canford. Batting first we made 135 runs with the main contribution coming from Charlie Dickson (41 not out). Bryanston then bowled and fielded superbly and run out comfortable winners. The U14Bs played some very good cricket but lost by just 3 runs in their game. Charlie Wilkinson and Will Vaughan-Edwards both took 2 wickets. On Saturday, the U15s had a good victory which will give them a lot of confidence going into their county cup final on 16 June. An excellent bowling spell from Jack Armstrong (5 overs, 5 wickets for 7 runs) helped bowl Milton Abbey out for 41. Hugo Mayhew and Jermaine Mason scored the required runs to secure a comfortable 9 wicket win. The seconds also recorded a victory against Milton. Coming back from injury Dean Pearce batted and bowled well, and a good team performance in the field set up a 19 run win in an excellent game of cricket.

Athletics

On Thursday the North Dorset Team Championships were held at Bryanston for U15 and U16 Boys and Girls. There were nine teams entered in the competition and Bryanston performed very well:
U16 Girls: 1st
U15 Boys: 1st
U16 Boys: 2nd
U15 Girls: 3rd
On Saturday twenty of our athletes competed in the Dorset Schools Championships and there were some outstanding performances from Bryanston pupils:

Ed Graves	U15	Long jump	1st
Hal Brotherton-Ratcliffe	U16	400m	1st
Alice Pyrgos	U15	Javelin	1st
Charlie Helsby	U15	Hurdles	1st
Jan Streblow	U19	3000m	1st
Jake Jenkins	U19	Triple Jump	1st
James O'Kane	U15	Shot	1st
Marlies Morgan	U17	1500m	2nd
Jess Clark	U15	High Jump	2nd
Rhian Richardson	U17	200m	2nd
Harry Jenkins	U17	Hurdles	2nd
Jake Jenkins	U19	Hurdles	2nd
Hermione Cox	U15	Discus	2nd
Tabby Cameron	U17	300m	3rd
Tina Oundjian	U17	100m	3rd
Oli Sherborne	U15	Discus	3rd
James Sherborne	U17	Discus	3rd
Ed Angeli	U15	Triple Jump	3rd

Rowing

Bryanston finished 2nd out of a total of 12 clubs at the Wessex Junior Regatta on Sunday 8 June, our highest ever position. Good performances came from Sam Geake in the J15 singles and the D Boys double, and the C Girls double of Suzy Duggan and Hannah Caplin got through two rounds. The D Boys second squad won four races to win their event, and Harry Hill and Fabio Turner finished 1st and 2nd in the Singles. The D Girls performed best in doubles, with Naomi Richardson and Mia O'Toole winning the event and Olivia Boote and Daisy Fernandez finishing runners up. Several crews competed at Marlow Town Regatta on Sunday 15 June, producing some good races but no event wins. Oscar Petit reached the final of the J15 Singles and Will Bertram and Cedric Stonex were unlucky to miss out in their semi-final by just two feet.

Kayaking

A group of C kayakers competed in the Bristol Canoe Club Marathon Race on Sunday 15 June. The standout performances were from James Duncan, Jack Grainger-Adams and Ciaran O'Toole, who did extremely well to come 2nd in their divisions.

Week 8

Cricket

It has been a successful week for the Bryanston teams. On Thursday all the junior teams won their fixtures against Ryde School. Good batting from Charlie Dickson and Harry Tenwick helped post a good score for the U14As. Bertie Bannerman then bowled well to help the team win the game by 40 runs. The U14Bs won by 8 wickets. Bruce Goddard-Watts and George Butler scored good runs and Charlie Wilkinson claimed 4 wickets. The U15s also produced a good win thanks to a fine team bowling and fielding display.

On Saturday the school had a group fixture against King Edward VI school. The 2nd XI showed determination to win with just 4 balls to spare. Joe Weld was the star with the bat, guiding his team to victory scoring 46 not out. He had great support from Joe Galton and Ed Davison. The U14Bs continued their excellent season with another fine win by just 2 wickets. Charlie Creagh-Barry scored 43 and Jago Poynter 29 to help win the game. The U15s lost in another very close game but special mention must go to two players. Firstly the captain, Raff Cross, who returned with astonishing bowling figures of 6 overs, 5 maidens and 2 wickets for just 1 run. Secondly, Max Greenfield, who took his first wickets for the school, a fine reward for all his hard work. The 1st XI played some very impressive cricket to win their game by 110 runs. The star of the show was Nick Marshall who scored his first 100 for the school, showing superb shot selection and application at the crease. Baz Street then took 5 wickets to help bowl the opposition out. For their continued outstanding performances in the first team, Harry Parnell, James Ladd-Gibbon and Nick Marshall are awarded their first team colours. Well done!

Karate

On Sunday a grading session was held at Salisbury and Alex Ansell, Lucy Stoddart, Luke Holman and Alex Dunn-Sale all achieved their karate grades and gave performances that were a credit to the school. Many congratulations.

Week 7

Cricket

The U15 team continued their good run in the county cup with a very close win over Sturminster Newton. Chasing a high score Bryanston batted very well with the star performance coming from Chris Nicholas who timed his innings superbly under great pressure helping his team to win with a ball to spare. The U14As produced another good display beating Poole Grammar School by 6 wickets. Henry Davies-Evitt showed the value of accuracy and consistency taking 3 wickets for just 12 runs. Henry Turpie and Charlie Dickson then batted well. On Thursday the 1st XI played a very strong MCC team and produced an excellent performance. The opposition were reduced to 188 due to some excellent pressure and a fine spell of left arm seam from Nick Marshall who ended with 5 wickets for just 8 runs. Bryanston were batting well, with Baz Street scoring another 50, and were on course to record an excellent victory at 140 for 1 wicket when the English weather again frustrated and rain ended play early. Against the Bryanston Butterflies the team lost by 10 runs in a very close game played in excellent spirit. The highlight was Harry Parnell's off spin that took 5 wickets and is good reward for all his hard work.

Croquet

The House Croquet competition was a day of unpredictability, thrills, spills and occasionally, some high quality croquet playing. As Sun Tzu declared in the Art of War, "A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective". On the croquet lawns of Bryanston, practice, training and turning up on time did prove effective independently of some erratic dress sense! The final was contested between surely the two best teams on the day. Portman and Dorset players provided a nail-biting finish which transcended the increasingly inclement weather. Fighting hard until the dying seconds of the match, a margin of 24 points to 22 saw Portman home to a fine victory. Dr Kearney would like to thank Mr Bourne for his umpiring and all who took part in the event.

Half Term

Rowing

At half term the D Boys A Quad consisting of Jo Geake, Tom Hughes-Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Harry Aitchison and Max Cramer competed at the National Schools' Regatta. The first round was a time trial, with only 12 crews out of 22 going through; the boys did very well to finish 7th in this and progressed to the semi-final side-by-side race. In that, they were 5th out of 6, but to finish comfortably in the top half of the national event is a great achievement. Well done!

Week 5

Cricket

It was a frustrating weekend for Bryanston cricketers. On Saturday all the teams lost in their fixtures against Canford. Poor batting displays by the senior teams and the U15s left the bowlers with very little chance in
their games. However a special mention must go to the Under 14 teams who once again played some very competitive cricket. Unfortunately both the A and B teams lost in the last over of their games but all the players will benefit from the pressure and excitement of a close finish. Charlie Dickson and Henry Turpie produced a brilliant partnership to almost win the A game. On Sunday the school played Dorset Development XI and produced a very good performance against some of the best under 21 players in the county. The game was narrowly lost but all the players showed that they have the ability to play at that level in the future. Baz Street again proved his class with both bat and bowl. On Friday the Girls' Cricket team played and won a great game against Bryanston staff, many thanks to everyone involved.

Rowing

Most of the Club's crews competed at both the Putney Town Regatta and Thames Ditton Regatta on Saturday, achieving our best results so far this term. All the girls' crews at both regattas performed well but most could not get through their heats. Lucy Antrobus and Chloe Whitfield finished runners-up in their Womens' Novice Doubles event, beating Vesta Rowing Club to reach the final. At Thames Ditton the D Boys B and C crews were beaten by A crews in the first round, which put them into a separate event called the 'plate'. The C crew then won their next race and the B crew won two more rounds so that they ended up facing each other in the final, which the B crew won. The D Boys A crew were on very good form, beating Tiffin School and Kingston Grammar School to reach the final of the A event. They fought hard against St Georges, and finished runners-up out of a total entry of 7 crews. The double of Sam Church and Fabio Turner were also runners-up.

At Putney, the B Boys four did well in their first round to beat HSBC, but were then knocked out by only one third of a length in a very hard-fought semi-final. They doubled up with the senior boys to make an eight which won two rounds to face Wadham College in the final of the Men's Novice Eights. In a thrilling race, Bryanston had a great start and got a length ahead, then Wadham came back very strongly in the last 200m, but Bryanston held on to win the event. In recent years the boys have mainly competed in smaller boats in the summer, so to have a win for an eight is a welcome change. Well done all.

Boys' Tennis

It was a good week for the Boys' Tennis Club. On Thursday we hosted Milton Abbey, with the Bryanston 2nd VI winnning 8:1 and the U16 VI winning 7:2. On Saturday we travelled to Dauntsey's where our 1st VI took away their opposition's unbeaten record, winning by six sets to three. The 2nd and U16 teams won by the same margin and the U15 team enabled us to have our first clean sweep of the season when they recorded a 7:2 winning margin.

Girls' Tennis

On Tuesday our U14 Dorset League team of Ella Hartley, Eliza Plimmer, Miranda Sunnucks and Kate Blevins fought hard to win a very close battle against Leweston. The U15 team of Lara Crofton, Georgie Groves, Laurie Angeli and Beth Heald played equally well on Thursday to beat Talbot Heath. Both teams are now top of their respective leagues with one game to play. Thursday also saw a friendly fixture v Godolphin:
U14A VI drew 3:3 but won on games
U14B VI lost 2:4
U14C VI lost 1:5 (against Godolphin U13A VI)
U15B VI won 4:2

On Saturday we played a block fixture against Clayesmore, winning all seven matches:
2nd VI beat their 1st VI 7:2
3rd VI beat their 2nd VI 9:0
4th VI beat their 3rd VI 9:0
U15B/C VI beat their U15A VI 6:3
U15C/D VI beat their U15B VI 6:3
U14C VI beat their U14A VI 9:0
U14D VI beat their U14B VI 6:3

Athletics

On Saturday we attended a 10 schools match at Millfield. Sadly, we were missing a large number of athletes, however those who were there competed well. There were some exceptional performances from Hal Brotherton-Ratcliffe in the 400m, Ed Groves in the Long Jump and 800m and Charlie Helsby in the 100m and the Hurdles. On Thursday a total of 21 of our athletes qualified for the Dorset Schools Championship to be held in Bournemouth on the 14th June.

Riding

A team of 4 riders competed at the prestigious Independent Schools One Day Event at Stonar School on Sunday. 42 schools entered teams and the Bryanston team came a very creditable 7th. Team members were Phillippa Kerby, Jessica Clark, Olivia Hamilton and Thomas Fortescue. Phillippa Kerby gave a superb performance when she went clear show jumping and cross country to win her section and finish on an amazing dressage score of 16 (in one day events the lowest dressage score is judged the best). Congratulations to all competitors.

Week 4

Cricket

It was a mixed week of results for all Bryanston cricket teams this week. The 1st XI produced a very disciplined performance to beat Poole Grammar School, with Baz Street claiming 4 wickets for 4 runs and Harry Waterton and Oli D’Erlanger-Bertrand batting well. Although the team lost their first game of the season against Portsmouth Grammar School on Saturday, special note must go to Baz Street who batted 50 overs in hot conditions and the team moral which made the game a very close one. The 2nd XI played some good cricket but lost to both Clayesmore 1st XI and Portsmouth Grammar School. The 3rd XI also played some good cricket but lost to Clayesmore 2nd XI. The under 15’s continued their good start to the season with a 62 run win over Clayesmore with Oli Boulton scoring 47 and Jermaine Mason taking 4 wickets. They lost to a very strong Portsmouth Grammar School. Both the under 14A and B teams played some excellent cricket again this week. They both beat Clayesmore but unfortunately both lost their first game of the season to strong teams from Portsmouth Grammar School. Both teams must take heart form their performances against very good sides and it is pleasing to see contributions from all players in D.

Rowing

Several crews raced at Borne Regatta on Saturday. Despite some organisational problems on the day, there were some performances to be proud of. The C boys and D boys quads acquitted themselves well against tough opposition and the D boys A and B crews both won their heats and were narrowly defeated by strong crews in their semi-finals. The Senior Boys double of Cedric Stonex and Will Bertram did well to reach their final and only very narrowly lost it. The best result of the day came from the Senior Boys four who outclassed their opposition to win the Novice Fours event.

Boys' Tennis

On Thursday the 1st VI and U15 VI played King Edward VI School at Southampton:
1st VI won 7:2
U15 VI lost 4:5
This was the first time that we have played King Edward's and the 1st VI recorded a good victory with Piers Jennings and Harry Clarke winning all of their matches.

Saturday saw us take on Millfield and despite some close matches, the 1st VI lost 7:2. The 2nd VI, U16 and U15 teams all lost 6:3 but this time we managed to win a couple of tight sets with pride of place going to Bertie Gready and Sam Adams who came from four love down to win 10:8 in the tie break.

Girls' Tennis

On Tuesday our Aberdare Cup four lost to Parkstone Grammar but Thursday saw a solid win for our U15 County League team against Queen Elizabeth's School, Wimborne. On Saturday morning we hosted the Dorset County Girls' Schools Doubles event. With a total of 10 Bryanston couples entered across three age groups, we had the largest entry. Notable performances came from three couples who reached the semi-final stage. These were Tamsin Hartley and Emily Crutcher at U19 level, Anna Jay and Annie Hosford at U16 level and Ella Hartley and Eliza Plimmer at U14 level. Ellie Shaikh and Rosie Ingleby went a stage further to finish with runners up medals at U19 level. However the award for most outstanding achievement goes to Lara Crofton and Georgie Groves who won the U16 competition, were awarded the cup and winners medals and crowned County Champions!

On Saturday afternoon we played a block fixture against St Mary's School. With our strongest pairs in action in the morning, we were playing our B teams against their A teams and produced some excellent results:
2nd VI beat their 1st VI 5:4
3rd VI beat their 2nd VI 6:3
U15B VI beat their U15A VI 9:0
U15C VI lost to their U15B VI 3:6
U14B VI lost to their U14A VI 4:5
U14C VI lost to their U14B VI 3:6

Athletics

On Saturday we had a 10 schools, boys and girls match at home. Everyone worked very hard at the event, from helpers and officials to the athletes themselves. Bryanston performed very well and the results were as follows:
Senior Boys: 3rd
Senior Girls: 3rd
Intermediate Boys: 2nd
Junior Boys: 1st
Junior Girls: 1st

There were some excellent individual performances too:
Shot & Javelin - James O'Kane
Discus - James Sherborne
Hurdles & High jump - Charlie Helsby and Jess Clark
Hurdles & 300m - Tabby Cameron
Long Jump & 200m - Rhian Richardson
400m - Lara Hollond and Hal Brotherton-Ratcliffe
800m - Livy Antrobus

Very well done to all the athletes involved.

Week 3

Cricket

The weather continued to frustrate this week. However in the seven completed fixtures we produced some excellent cricket against strong opposition and had a number of very close finishes. The under 14As continued their good start to the season with a tight 10 run win over Wells Cathedral, Tom Vaughan-Edwards hitting 35 not out. The under 14Bs highlighted the strength in depth in the year group with a nail-biting two wicket win over Sherborne in the last over of the game. The under 15s showed excellent team spirit and produced two excellent performances. They reversed the result from last year to beat Sherborne by 8 wickets then, on the following day, beat a very competitive Poole Grammar School by 5 wickets in the cup. The seconds played some very good cricket but lost to two very strong sides in Sherborne and Bournemouth University. Against the university Max Logsdail scored 66 runs. The 1st XI continued their good start to the season with a two wicket win off the penultimate ball with contributions throughout the team. Rory Turner paced his innings superbly to help us over the line.

Rowing

Six crews competed at Chiswick Amateur Regatta, the first event of the summer. There were no event wins but plenty of very spirited racing from the C boys squad, B boys four and double, and Senior girls double. The Senior girls novice four had a bye to the second round and did very well to knock out two good crews that had both won their first rounds. In the final they came third out of a total entry of 14. The Girls Senior four had a straight final, coming back from 3/4 length down in a nail-biting race against Twickenham to lose by just one foot on the line.

Boys' Tennis

The First Six played Bournemouth School and lost 3 1/2: 5 1/2. Bournemouth brought three nationally ranked players in their team and it was great credit to our players that we made it such a close encounter which, for the second week running, was decided on a tight set.

Girls' Tennis

On Monday the Dorset League U15 team of Lara Crofton, Dida Ritchie, Georgie Groves and Beth Heald played in their first match against Bournemouth School for Girls. With both Lara and Dida winning their singles matches and both pairs victorious in the doubles, the overall result was a 4-2 win.

On Thursday we played a block fixture against Canford, with a total of 7 wins and 3 losses. A special mention must go to the senior teams, who enjoyed a clean sweep - the first against Canford for a long time.
1st VI won 5-4
2nd VI won 7-2
3rd VI won 6-3
4th VI won 8-1
U15A VI lost 3 1/2 - 5 1/2
U15B VI won 8-1
U15C VI won 5 1/2 - 3 1/2
U14A VI lost 2-7
U14B VI lost 3-6
U14C VI won 3-1

Despite no interschool fixture on Saturday, it was great to see up to 72 players in the boys and girls tennis clubs playing some great tennis in an internal tournament.

Netball

Congratulations to Jess Clark, who has now won her way through two demanding sets of trials to gain a firm place in the U14 County Netball Academy.

Athletics

On Saturday the junior boys and girls competed at Millfield. We don't yet have the results of the team event but there were some excellent individual performances. In the girls events Tina Oundjian in the 100m and Hurdles and Tabby Cameron in the 800m performed well and there was an exceptional run by Rhian Richardson in the 200m. Jess Clark ran well in the Hurdles and performed well in the High Jump. In the boys events in the field, Rob Crupps, James O'Kane and Oli Sherborne performed very well and on the track Ed Angeli, Sam Barkham and Harry Stirling ran well. However, pride of place must go to Charlie Helsby in the Hurdles and the 100m and to Ed Graves who ran an amazing 2mins 17secs in the 800m.

Week 2

Cricket

After a frustrating start to the season owing to the English weather, Bryanston's cricket season finally got into full flow with some excellent results and encouraging performances. On Thursday the 1st XI played against the Forty Club. The opposition used all their experience to post a challenging score of 178 for 5. James Ladd-Gibbon and Jack Peck produced good spells of bowling. Bryanston then successfully chased the total achieving victory with the second to last ball. Baz Street and Nick Marshall demonstrated excellent composure and concentration, sharing a 135 run partnership. Meanwhile, at Ballard School, the 2nd XI and the Under 15 XI won their fixtures. The 2nds produced an all-round display in the field with all bowlers maintaining pressure throughout. Joe Weld was the star with the bat, scoring a solid 43. The under 15s restricted Ballard School to 90 with economic bowling, particularly from Jack Armstrong. James Schuster-Bruce scored for 41 as Bryanston passed their target and recorded an 8 wicket victory.

On Saturday the U14, U15 and 1st played fixtures against Monkton Combe School. The 1st continued their good start to the season with an excellent performance. Batting first, Dean Pearce (80) and Oli D'Erlanger-Bertrand (48) helped post a very good score of 233. A very professional display in the field frustrated the opposition and we eventually bowled them out for 147 to win by 86. Baz Street took 4 wickets and was very economical whilst Freddie Raben got two important wickets. The U15s bowled Monkton Combe out for 100. Hugo Mayhew took 4 for 17. In reply, Bryanston were cruising to victory on 83 for 3 before suffering a batting collapse to 89 all out. The U14s produced a very encouraging first performance, bowling Monkton Combe out for 64 with all bowlers showing promise. Elliot Boothwright and Sam Leigh picked up 3 wickets apiece. The two opening batters, Marcus Warden-Owen and Harry Hosford carried their bats to record a 10 wicket victory.

Boys' Tennis

On Thursday the Boys' Tennis Club played Canford in a block fixture:
1st VI lost 4:5
2nd VI won 5:4
3rd VI won 8:1
U16 VI won 8:1

The U16 and 3rd teams won easily but the 1st and 2nd VI both had matches which went to the final rubber. The 1st were unlucky to lose out in a tight set but Gus Cross and James Gill saw the 2nds through to victory.

v Winchester College on Saturday
1st VI lost 3 1/2: 5 1/2
2nd VI lost 1:8
3rd VI won 5:4
U16 VI drew 4 1/2: 4 1/2
U15 VI lost 5:4

With both the boys' and the girls' teams in action, all but one of our 37 courts were in use. The boys were up against Winchester College, a school which our 1st team has never beaten. They came close this year but lost some tight sets and ended up losers by 5 1/2 to 3 1/2 points. The 2nds were on the wrong end of a big score but the 3rd VI won 5:4 and the U16 team again played well and won the last set to draw.

Girls' Tennis

After the disappointment of wet weather putting a stop to last week's fixtures, it was good to get the girls' tennis season off to a start on Saturday against Sherborne.
1st VI lost 4:5
2nd VI won 5:4
3rd VI won 8:1
4th VI lost 3:6

U15A VI lost 4:5
U15B VI won 8:1
U15C VI won 9:0

U14A VI won 6:3
U14B VI lost 4:5
U14C VI lost 2:7
U14D VI lost 2:7

Overall it was a successful afternoon with the 1st and U15A VIs unlucky to lose as they were both 4:2 up going into the final round. Special mention must go to the 3rd, U15B and U15C VIs for convincing victories and also to Iona Moody in the U14B team who, when her partner was taken ill at the last minute, played singles all afternoon!

On Thursday, our senior girls played in the first round of the Aberdare Cup v Godolphin. This was a great team effort, with scores level on sets and games at the end of a long afternoon of tennis, Tamsin Hartley and Ellie Shaikh secured our route to the second round by winning a closely fought championship tie break.

Athletics

On Saturday the athletics team took part in their first meet of the season and faced Canford, Clayesmore, Bishop Wordsworth's, Milton Abbey, Sherborne Boys and Sherborne Girls. As this was the first meet of the season, many of the team were competing in events in which they had not competed for some time, if ever before! However, the team were fantastic and the results were as follows:
Senior Boys: 1st
Senior Girls: 1st
Intermediate Boys: 4th
Intermediate Girls: 1st

Individual medals were also given to athletes for notable performances on the track and in the field events:
Senior Boys: Rory Trow - best field event performance for his javelin throw
Senior Girls: Nina Brooke - best field event performance for her discus throw
Intermediate Girls: Tabby Cameron - best performance on the track for her 300m race

Very well done to all of the athletes involved.

Easter

Kayaking

Over the Easter weekend, four Bryanston crews competed in the 4-day, 125-mile Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race - the longest non-stop canoe marathon in the world. Conditions were very challenging. High winds, heavy rain, snow, sleet and hail battered the competitors relentlessly throughout the race. At night temperatures dropped to minus 10. On the Henley Straight, the headwind was so strong and the waves so large that crews were forced to leave the river and run up the towpath for two and a half miles. In the senior overnight event, more than half the crews retired - mostly through hypothermia.

In the senior 4-day event, 40 crews started but only 27 finished. Mr Colcott and Mr Hill were placed 4th. Of the 84 junior crews that started, 73 finished. Baz Street and Brad Jarvis were placed 40th, Jay Yates and Iain Fleet were placed 26th and Max Milward and Charlie Markus were placed 22nd. Max and Charlie were also awarded the shield for the fastest Bryanston crew.

End of Spring Term

Rowing

Near the end of term, the Senior Boys competed in the Schools' Head of the River race in London, and rowed extremely well to win the Novice Fours event; Bryanston's first win in the Schools' Head for many years. This was a great achievement for a set of boys who have dedicated many terms to the Boat Club: Cedric Stonex, Ben Morgan, Theo Hammond, Will Bertram, and their cox Harry Broomfield.

Boys’ Hockey

This has been a short, yet very busy and largely successful season for boys’ hockey. In terms of results, the U14C team has had a superb record with six wins and a draw in their seven matches and scoring 33 goals! Charlie Creagh-Barry and novice keeper Rob Felsing were the pick of an excellent bunch. The U14Bs were an enthusiastic group who played with passion in winning four of their eight fixtures. The U14A team distinguished themselves by achieving 2nd place in the Dorset U14 championship and then reaching the semi-finals of the Regional Finals; they lacked a consistent goalscorer but show high promise and none more so than their captain Harry Tenwick. The U15B team developed as term progressed and always looked to play attacking hockey. The U15A team suffered some defeats, but the best of their three wins was against Sherborne. Their captain, James Schuster Bruce, was good enough to play regularly for the 1st team as an Under 15. The U16Bs also played some exciting hockey, including four wins in six matches.

In the senior school, the 4th team played with intelligence and maturity, being involved in a number of exciting matches which included a last minute victory by 4:3 at Dauntsey’s and a last minute defeat against Warminster 1st team by the same score. Their coach, Mr Casely, remarks on what an enjoyable season it has been and what an inspiration Ollie Cassels has been to his fellow players. The 3rd team were involved in some high-scoring matches and their top performers were keeper Ru Cassels and the captain George Petrie. The 2nd team, which as always produced several players who earned promotion to the first team, had a tough start to the season, but finished strongly with three consecutive victories, including an 8:0 drubbing of Sherborne. Ben Barkham’s captaincy and significant contributions by Will Blevins, Mark Thompson and David Gibbs were notable factors in the team’s ultimate success. The 1st team, superbly captained by Piers Jennings, developed into a most effective unit, especially adept at counter-attacking. In Jon Percival, Vincent Küppers and Freddie Strange, they had three very strong midfield players capable of carrying the attack to the opposition, whilst Ed Allison could be relied upon to supply pace and punch in attack. The team played excellently in some matches, none more so then when beating a powerful Dauntsey’s team by 2:1 and twice losing narrowly to the West Champions, Millfield. The U18 team won the Dorset U18 Final of the National Schools Cup for the fourth time in five years by beating Sherborne 3:1 and Clayesmore 4:1. However, in the Regional Finals the team did not have a good day and failed to get out of a strong group, headed by Millfield.

Hockey Club colours have been awarded to Ben Barkham, Nick Marshall and Ollie Cassels. First team hockey colours have been awarded to Ed Allison, Vincent Küppers, Baz Street, Nat McConnell and Rory Murdoch, and re-awarded to Piers Jennings, Jonny Percival and Freddie Strange.

Senior house matches won by Shaftesbury, captained by Nat McConnell. Junior house matches won by Connaught, captained by Sebastian Lear. Junior boys’ house matches won by Cranborne, captained b, Harry Tenwick. Congratulations also to Harry on his selection for the South-West U14 Boys’ team at the forthcoming Divisional Tournament.

Cross Country

A term in which 6 of our runners ran for Dorset in the English Schools Championships must have been a good one but this has been a frustrating one in which talented runners including Alice Kelway-Bamber, Emily Boon and Georgia Strange have effectively been injured all term which has been so disappointing for them. Imagine what our girls' teams would have been able to achieve if all had been fit! Even so, others have risen to fill the gaps they left with Sam Innes and Olivia Antrobus showing real quality in the Seniors, and with Anna Jay running strongly for the Inters backed up by runners of much potential including Tina Oundjian, Anty Paget and Marlies Morgan.

If the highlight of the girls' season was winning the Wellington Relays, the highlight for the boys was winning our own Bryanston Relays. Again injury played a part with Captain, Tom Smith, missing crucial races but our seniors have shown clearly over the season that they are the best school relay team in Dorset but, irritatingly, only the second best when six count. With so many of our top runners in A3 and with them set to be joined by talented runners Camran Irvani and Jevans from the Inters, it is lovely to dream that next year we could be the best in both categories. Pete Haywood has been at the heart of the team with his dogged determination never to give less than his best. He was quoted in the local press as saying after his run in the English Schools that he appreciated the driving rain as it made the event a real challenge! So often the drive has also come from Tom Smith whose commitment, leadership of others and fine runs have been exemplary and now can be recognised by the award of his Colours.

Through the season, ahead of all of these have been Jan Streblow and Phil Park. If only Jan were here for another year, what a runner he would be! We will certainly miss him. Phil will be.

DISCCO, the Dorset Independent Schools Cross Country Organisation, monitor performances throughout the season. For her many fine runs, Olivia Antrobus has been judged 3rd best girl runner from the 6 schools, Jan's results placed him 2nd= in the Senior Boys but Phil Park having achieved the rare feat of being unbeaten by any DISCCO runner in any school race through the season is the runaway winner and still has another year to go. Please could they come and receive their awards.

The same weather that forced the cancellation of the Ken Baily race forced a late change of course for the inter-House which this year became the House Road Relays. While the first team home for the boys' event was the staff team of Andrew Lawrence, Andrew Lawrence, Andrew Lawrence and Andrew Lawrence, impressive indeed, it was the Salisbury House quartets that came 1st and and 5th behind him that won Salisbury the magnificent Senior Boys House Cross Country cup. Shaftesbury just won the Inter Boys Cup but Salisbury won the overall competition. For the Junior Boys Houses, it was a Cranborne quartet that was the first home but Beechwood had greater depth and won the Junior Boys Cup.

Amongst the girls, there was an outstanding performance by Rhian Richardson of Hunter who ran almost 30 seconds faster than any other Inter Girl which helped Hunter to win the combined Junior and Inter category. In the Senior and Open Girls category, even though Harthan's Open team finished first, it was Purbeck who won this combined event and Purbeck who won the girls' overall competition.

Finally there are three moments to recall which together capture the season. The biggest splash was undoubtedly made by Aenaes Murray at Clayesmore. The biggest mystery was how did Sam Stewart manage to lose his sock but not his shoe in the mud at Bruton and the biggest smile of the season, by far, was Maddy Hills' after her finish at Milton Abbey.

Week 9

Boys' Hockey

v Warminster on Thursday
4th (v their 1st) lost 3:4
Bath Schools Festival on Saturday
1st v King Edward’s, Bath drew 1:1
1st v Newcastle-under-Lyme lost 2:6

Cross Country

The Canford Relays on Thursday saw our Senior Girls' trio finish right in the middle of the seven schools in their event with Olivia Antrobus the seventh fastest of the 26 runners. The Inter Girls managed to embarrass their coach when our B team beat our A team partly thanks to a fine run by Marlies Morgan who is still recovering from injury. While our Inter Boys, depleted by Art exams for B and tired from the C year exams, did not impress, our Senior Boys certainly did, finishing 3rd of the 12 schools, beaten only by a French quartet and by Marlborough, with Phil Park the 5th fastest of the 60 runners.

With 6 runners to count at Bruton on Saturday, Sherborne frustrated our efforts by pushing us back into 2nd place despite Phil's winning run, a top 10 finish by Pete Haywood and a top 15 finish by Jevans running in his first race as a Senior. In his last race as a Senior, George Elliot finished strongly having recovered from a mid-race crisis.

A week ago medals could not be presented to our four runners who won the Senior Boys event at the Bryanston Relays four days previously as two of them were elsewhere. For the same reason, one of them, Pete Haywood, could not be awarded his Colours. All four are here now so please could they collect their winners' medals.

 

Week 8

Rowing

Last week, some of our best crews competed in their National Head races. At Henley, the C boys performed well, and the D boys octuple scull put in a very strong performance to finish 17th out of 34 crews. Allowing for flooding, this result came after only 5 weeks' rowing, and they were competing against many crews with a lot more experience.

The boys' and girls' 1st IVs competed at the Schools' Head of the River. The girls' IV endured a two-hour wait on the river before racing, but achieved a creditable 13th place. The boys' IV rowed extremely well to win the Novice Fours, Bryanston's first event win in the Schools' Head for many years.

On Saturday, almost the whole club raced at Avon County Head. We entered 19 crews and many raced twice. Ella Marchment coxed three times. Oscar Petit and Bertie Meyer were thrilled to be invited to row in a mixed quad with two Avon County girls.

There were five event wins, including the girls' VIII and boys' IV. Medals were awarded for events which involved more crews, and Bryanston won the J14 Boys' Quads, J16 Boys' Fours and Men's Novice Fours, beating a total of 9 other boats.

Boys' Hockey

v Ballard School on Thursday
U16B (v their U16A) won 2 : 0

v Clayesmore on Thursday
U14A won 2 : 0

Cross Country

The competitive week started on Thursday at the Bryanston Relays with Hettie Hill delightfully running the anchor leg for the first team home in the Senior Girls' race. Unfortunately this cannot count as a win for her or the team as the other two runners were from a different school, Thomas Hardye's. It was though a splendid run by Hettie who was our 4th fastest girl behind our own trio whose team came home in 3rd place. Pride of place though went to our Senior Boys' quartet who, after a nail-biting first three legs which left us trailing Sherborne by about 70 metres, were brought home in 1st place by Phil Park who himself ran the fastest lap of the day by nearly 30 seconds.

The race was ideal preparation for our 6 runners who competed in the English Schools' Championships in Liverpool on Saturday. You have heard that it takes a very good runner to finish in the top 300 here and Tina Oundjian and Pete Haywood were frustratingly close to reaching this target. Jan Streblow did well to finish 288th. He would have done better had he been able to see where he was going. Running in glasses, he was seriously handicapped by the blinding, driving rain which fell during the Senior Boys' race. Olivia Antrobus, 236th, and Sam Innes, 255th, can certainly be proud of their results while Phil Park's thoroughly impressive 152nd gives him a clear dream of at least a top 100 finish next year. Please remember all these positions are against the top runners from the whole of the country.

While they were running with such commitment up North, the best of the rest of our runners took on the Old Bryanstonians here but were brushed aside with disappointing ease. Camran Irvani in 6th place and Oli White 8th obviously relished the challenge which included the gym path twice as did Luc Waring and George Elliot who were both in the top 10. The event is also scored using a handicap scale which takes account of both age and sex. This brought Anna Jay up to a very pleasing 13th place, ahead of all the members of staff who ran except Mrs Pople who came 9th.

Explaining why he could not be there, another OB, Fred Hills, sent an email photo of him taking part in a race in Turkmenistan proudly wearing his Bryanston Cross Country Club t-shirt, an implicit challenge to you. Possibly in a gap year, can you wear yours in a race even further off the beaten track? Indeed cross country in every sense.

Netball

On Wednesday the U15s played in the County Tournament, the results were:
v Bournemouth School for Girls lost 5-6
v Corfe Hills won 9-4
v Budmouth won 16-1
v St Mary's won 7-5
v Talbot Heath lost 5-10
v Woodruffe won 10-1
v Canford lost 2-12
finishing in 5th place overall.

Well done to all the ‘regulars’ who played their hearts out and especially to Livvy Kennard, Lizzie Post & Imi Warley who stepped up to the challenge when the rules stated that two of the regular A team were not be able to play and with one injured, we were certainly short!

On Saturday, the 1st and U15A teams played teams from The Abbey, a touring side from Reading, and Canford in a triangular fixture. All of the games were close, with little between the teams making for a good afternoon of netball.

Against The Abbey, the 1st VII played good netball in the 1st half leading by one goal into the break, but a uncertain phrase at the start of the 2nd half meant we conceded a few too many goals, and although we worked hard we could not recuperate these goals, and we lost 20-23. Against Canford we were fantastic, particularly in the 2nd half and it was brilliant to see such determination and concentration from our girls and we deserved our 17-15 win.

Against The Abbey the U15A drew 10-10 and against Canford we won 12-8. This victory against Canford was very important as they were crowned County Champions on Wednesday and we have now beaten them twice! Huge credit the U15 girls, who, with the scores level at half time, came out to play a faultless 2nd half and were certainly the better team dominating play from the moment the 2nd half started.

The U16A and B and U14A and B also faced close competition against Canford. The results were:
U16A lost 18-19
U16B won 18-12
U14A lost 22-23
U14B lost 18-23
The U14As were unfortunate not to hold onto a draw as Canford scored in the last seconds of the match. All of the U14s played great netball and worked hard, however particular mention should be made of Jess Clarke who played exceptionally well.

Week 7

Netball

On Thursday we faced St Anthony’s, Leweston. All teams played superb netball and we came away with excellent results:
1st VII won 31-20
2nd VII won 37-7
U16A won 29-19
U15A won 27-20
U14A won 41-8
Also on Thursday our U15B & C teams played Blandford School’s U15A & B teams. The U15B played good netball but Blandford’s Centre and Goal Attack were strong players and converted almost every opportunity they had and we lost 16-24. The U15C’s played some fantastic netball and really gelled together deserving their 12-10 win, with some excellent shooting from Lara Crofton.

On Saturday we were pleased to host Millfield and Marlborough for a triangular fixture. These games are always guaranteed to be strong as both teams are good netballing schools. The results were:
1st VII v Marlborough won 26-21; v Millfield lost 18-23
2nd VII v Marlborough lost 14-23; v Millfield won 13-9
U16A v Marlborough lost 8-14; v Millfield lost 14-21
U15A v Marlborough lost 14-16; v Millfield won 16-8
U15B v Marlborough lost 16-24; v Millfield won 25-3
U14A v Marlborough lost 15-16; v Millfield lost 11-13
U14B v Marlborough lost 6-17; v Millfield lost 12-14
•  The 1st VII played their best netball of the season and were superb. We fought back from being down at half time against Marlborough to produce a good win. Against Millfield, we kept the pressure on with just 1 or 2 goals between the teams for much of the match.
• The 2nd VII played an excellent first half against Marlborough, but Marlborough came out in the 2nd half to dominate the game. However, against Millfield, we played fantastically well and deserved the win.
• The U14A’s played extremely well in their closely fought matches and were very unfortunate to lose their matches. The U14B’s played well, particularly as injuries had reduced the squad, however the replacements were inspirational. Sophie Hawkes was a star at Goalkeeper and Lucy Woodbridge played with panache at Wing Attack.

Cross Country

The Clayesmore Relays on Thursday will not be recalled for our results as various runners were rested and our under-strength teams finished down the fields. They were though memorable for the sight of Aenaes Murray in the warm-up misjudging the depth of the water obstacle and going in up to his neck, much to the astonishment of those around, and of Sam Stewart sprinting to the finish determined not to be out-kicked by a girl runner who seemed half his age and half his size. It was good to see Sam with Freddie Raben returning after long-term injury, while Anty Paget possibly surprised herself by finishing as our fastest Inter Girl runner.

A more genuine test of our strength came at Sherborne on Saturday in a nine-school event. Both Senior and Inter Boys finished 3rd while the Girls finished 2nd. For the Inters, Camran Irvani ran well to be our first finisher, with Raf Cross producing a run of character which showed great loyalty to the team. In the Seniors, Freddie Doppertin ran with annoying but laudable determination as it meant that his coach trailed him for half the race but was still unable to catch him. For the girls, even though our final runner, Anna Jay, finished ahead of their final runner, St Antony’s total was just beyond our reach.

On Thursday, we will host the Bryanston Relays. Amongst the host of runners, you will be able to see our six elite runners for yourselves before they head off to the English Schools’ Championships in Liverpool on Saturday, where even very good runners will struggle to come in the top 300.

Rugby

On Sunday the 1st VII squad played in the Sussex Sevens at Christ Hospital. We beat Royal Hospital School 24-10, KCS Wimbledon 22-21 and lost to Christ Hospital 20-12. This put us second in the group and into the competition for second-placed teams. Ironically, we again met Christ Hospital, our conquerors in the group. However, this time we beat them 22-12. This put us into the semi, where we met Cranbrook, whom we beat 19-17. In the final we met Brighton College and although we played well we lost 31-12. A squad of mainly forwards performed very well and were ably led by Tom Smith.

Half Term

Marathon Kayaking

During half term, the DW squad competed at two events. At Thameside 2 (19 miles) the crews of Iain Fleet and Charlie Markus and Ellie Grugeon and Georgie Martin were both placed 3rd in their respective classes. At Waterside C (23 miles) Max Milward and Charlie Markus were placed 7th/35 in the Junior K2 class. Messrs Hill and Colcott were placed 10th/43 in the highly competitive Senior K2 class.

Week 6

Rugby

The 1st VII played at the Hereford Sevens on Sunday. We won our group beating Rydal 43-7 and St Edward's Oxford 19-0, which put us in the last 16, where we played Bristol Grammar, whom we beat 57-5. In the quarter final we played Solihul School and, though tired, won 34-7. This put us in the semi against Old Swinford Hospital. We did not play too well in the first half and went 14-0 down. We fought back well in the second half, scoring the only try, but eventually lost 14-5. This was a good start and with a small squad of nine, we performed very well.

Netball

U15 North Dorset Netball Tournament. Despite an extremely cold afternoon the U15 team went on court determined to do well in this tournament. During the qualifying rounds, the girls played exceptionally well, convincingly beating each of the schools in their group. Results:
v Clayesmore Won 12-6
v Gillingham Won 16-0
v Shaftebury Won 18-0
In the semi-final, we faced Sherborne School for Girls and dominated the game to win 12-1 and secure our place in the final. In the final we played St Mary’s, who were a good and well-drilled side. However, our girls kept their cool and rose to the challenge to become the North Dorset Champions, winning 13-9. Well done to all the squad involved and we wish you luck for the county finals.

Boys' Hockey

v Sherborne on Thursday
U14C won 5 : 0
U14B lost 0 : 1
U14A won 1 : 0
U15B lost 1 : 3
U15A won 1 : 0
U16B won 5 : 1
5th (v their 4th) lost 2 : 3
4th (v their 3rd) won 7 : 1
3rd (v their U16A) lost 1 : 2
2nd won 8 : 0
1st drew 2 : 2

This was a very good set of results against a strong hockey school, headed by some resounding wins by the 2nd, 4th and U16B and U14C teams. A good way to end the first half of term!

Cross Country

On the Thursday before half term, five Bryanston runners finished in the top three places as Milton Abbey hosted a six school event, in which the courses are traditionally the toughest in the annual calendar. They include one hill, indeed two for the Senior Boys, which dwarfs our Gym Path, and long stretches of shoe-sucking mud.

Late difficulties led to Kate O'Connor scoring as our last runner in the Inter Boys category, bringing the team home in 2nd place and beating Canford, Kingswood and Sherborne, thanks in no small part to excellent runs by James Evans in 3rd place with Luc Waring in 9th, close on Tom Harris' heels.

Our Girls team, brought home by Hettie Hill and Maddie Hills, won the Girls race with Olivia Antrobus and Sam Innes in 1st and 2nd places. As this was taking place, some of our other girls made a big statement by going for a training run, starting by running non-stop up the second of the Senior Boys' hills in full view of those competitors, most of whom found such a feat impossible a short while later.

In that Senior Boys race, Bryanston produced another one-two as Phil Park and Jan Streblow led the field home in style, with Phil frustratingly close to the course record: maybe next year he will manage it. They were backed up with brave runs from Pete Haywood and Tom Smith. We would have won the event if it had been only four to score but "if" is such a large word and, with the first six places counting, we were 2nd to Sherborne.

For their succession of fine performances, colours are awarded to Sam Innes and Jan Streblow.

Kayak Marathon Racing

In our third of the six race build-up towards the Devizes to Westminster four day marathon, four kayaks completed the 18 mile 'Waterside B' race on Sunday. Max Millward and Charlie Markus paddled brilliantly, outpacing Jay Yates and Iain Fleet, who narrowly finished in front of Baz Street and Scott Egelhoeffer. Mr Collcott just about managed to hang onto his head start on this hot and difficult course alongside a few hundred other competitors.

Week 5

Boys' Hockey

v Canford on Tuesday
U14C won 5 : 2
U14B won 8 : 0

Dorset County U14 Finals of the National Schools Cup at Bryanston
semi-final v Sherborne won 1 : 0
final v Canford lost 0 : 1

v Canford on Thursday
U14A won 1 : 0
U15B drew 2 : 2
U16B won 3 : 0
5th lost 4 : 6
4th lost 1 : 4
2nd lost 1 : 4
1st lost 1 : 2

v Milton Abbey on Saturday
U14C (v their U14B) won 3 : 0
U14B (v their U14A) won 9 : 0
U15B (v their U15A) won 2 : 0
U16B ( v their 4th) won 4 : 2
4th (v their 3rd) won 7 : 1
3rd (v their 2nd) lost 2 : 3
2nd (v their 1st) won 1 : 0

v Monkton Combe
1st drew 2 : 2

Pride of place this week goes to all the D boys who are members of our three Under 14 teams. On Tuesday the U14C team beat Canford 5:2 and the U14B team did even better, winning 8:0 (with five goals from Harry Lewis), thus achieving probably the highest ever winning margin against that school! The same evening in the National Schools Cup, the Bryanston U14A team won a close semi-final by 1:0 against Sherborne. In the final against Canford, in spite of some good approach play, Bryanston lost 0:1, finishing with the runners-up medals and a place at the Regional Finals at Millfield. When the same teams met at Bryanston on Thursday in the block fixture , Bryanston reversed that result to win 1:0!

In the meantine on Saturday, our teams got some great results against Milton Abbey, especially as the opposition were playing “one-up” at every level. The U14B team beat Milton Abbey’s A team by nine clear goals and our 4th team won by 7:1 with Nick Kelly scoring FIVE of them! The U14Cs got their second three goal victory of the week and Rob Felsing made some fine saves in goal; another fine performance was from our 2nd team, which beat Milton Abbey 1st team by late of a late winner from Justin Lear. The 1st team came back to form against a very competitive Monkton Combe team and drew 2:2 with Jon Percival scoring a late equaliser after Ed Allison’s opener had been cancelled out by two Monkton goals.

And on to the West U14 Regional Finals on Sunday. Bryanston began with an impressive 2:0 win over a strong Dean Close team, then lost 0:1 to Clifton College, but secured their place in the semi-final with a comprehensive 6:0 victory over Minster School, Herefordshire. Their opponents in that semi-final were none other than... Canford! In their third meeting in five days Bryanston scored first, but ended up losing by 2:1 to the eventual Regional Champions. Nevertheless, finishing as the equal third best U14 team in the whole of the West Region is a fantastic effort by this group of boys and their coaches Mr. Long and Mr. Perry.

Fives

Bryanston took four pairs to play Eton last Thursday. Our first pair (Harry Clarke and Will Burton) won 6-12, 12-4, 12-5 and 12-7. This was the first time a Bryanston first pair had been victorious against Eton, whose standard of play is high, and Harry and Will are to be congratulated and are awarded their colours.

Our second pair (Linus Taylor and James Spearing) played only two games. They lost the first 6-12, then the second 10-12. By this stage they had really started to get the measure of their opponents and things were looking good for a firm recovery, when James incurred an injury which prevented any further play.

Our third pair (Ed Davison and James Morton) lost two games 10-12 and 9-12, and should have been entitled to further games and an opportunity to claw their way back, when the Eton pair did a vanishing trick saying they had other commitments! Maybe we should claim a moral victory for this one.

Our fourth pair (Richard Harding and Harry O'Neilly) lost 1-12, 6-12, 5-12. What was so remarkable about their achievement is that Harry has only been playing Fives for two weeks and yet managed to put on an excellent show.

Lacrosse

On Tuesday, a team of 14 girls went across for a friendly match against Sherborne. We played their second team - and this time in boots! The girls showed that their skills have progressed significantly and, although beaten by a stronger, more experienced team, should be commended on the amount of time spent in the opposition's half and a lovely goal by a surprised Anna Hesketh. Well done also to Lottie Cutrupi and Sofia Marsaglia, who consistently worked hard in midfield.

Cross Country

All runners qualified for the South West championships are banned from competing in the Studland Stampede. Perhaps it was this, maybe it was the blissful weather, possibly it was the flat calm, inviting but freezing sea into which most of our runner retreated to recover from their exertions that helped the race to be so therapeutic but therapeutic it was as could be seen in the multitude of smiles from our runners after the event. Team results have still not been published and only the individual winners were announced on the day. We emerged victorious in three categories. Catherine Cava received the trophy as first in the lady staff category, Andrew Lawrence the trophy as first male member of staff and the third winner's trophy was awarded to Olive in the canine category. Olive is the name of Mr Lockett's dog who ran the four miles with him!

We had six runners in the South West championships in Gloucester on Saturday. Unfortunately, Georgia Strange pulled up injured in the Inter girls. In the Senior Girls Olivia Antrobus and Sam Innes ran strongly, Olivia coming 32nd and Sam 51st, impressive when you remember the runners are the very best from the whole of six counties. In the Senior Boys, Phil Park's adrenaline surge helped him to lead the field for the first half-mile but, as it died down, he dropped back before fighting through into the top 20. Jan Streblow in the top 40 and Pete Haywood the top 60 rounded off a pleasing day.

Colours are awarded to Olivia Antrobus and Phil Park.

Netball

On Thursday the netball teams faced Corfe Hills; all teams played well and came away with some very impressive results.
1st VII won 30-26
U16A won 28-17
U15A won 23-16
U15B won 21-6
U14A won 40-4
U14B won 25-1

On Friday Downside’s touring U15 netball team played our U15B’s as the first match of their mini-tour. The game was played in extremely good spirits and was enjoyed by both teams and it was pleasing that Bryanston won 29-14.

On Saturday we faced Kingswood the scores were as follows:
1st VII lost 26-30
2nd VII lost 15-31
U16A won 30-14
U16B lost 25-16
U15A won 25-8
U15B won 23-10

The 1st VII were unfortunate not to convert their match into a win having played well against a well-drilled opposition. The 2nd VII played well in the first three quarters and were within reach of their opposition, but Kingswood came out with a vengeance in the final quarter to seal their win. Both teams however deserve recognition for their ability to cope with playing with different team members each week due to ongoing illness and injury and it is hoped that after half term we will have greater stability amongst the 1st and 2nd teams.
The U16A are having a fantastic season to date and once again worked well to produce a strong performance and gain another well deserved win. The U16B started off matching their team goal for goal but as the match went on Kingswood edged away each quarter and during the last quarter took control of the game to seal their win.
The U15A are also having a great season to date and on Saturday they produced their best performance to date to convincingly beat their opposition. The U15B have had a brilliant week winning 3 out of 3 matches.

Week 4

Netball

This weekend the netball teams faced King Edward's Southampton. The results were as follows:
1st VII won 29-28
2nd VII lost 29-11
U16A lost 26-11
U16B lost 18-30
U15A won 30-23
U15B won 29-11
U14A won 30-27
U14B won 22-11

On Thursday the U14B played Sherborne and won 19-15.

This week many of the teams played some very tight matches. The 1st team fixture was particularly pleasing as we were struck with injury and illness across the senior squad. The match was close throughout, but the girls maintained their concentration and determination to win by one goal. KES U16 side were particularly strong and they are representing their region at the National Finals so our girls should be pleased with their performance. The U14s have continued to produce impressive performances and are putting in superb team efforts in both A and B teams. Henny Nelson and Annie Stillman-Jones played particularly well in the U14B matches this week.

Boys’ Hockey

National Schools Cup Dorset U16 Final
U16A v Canford lost 1 : 3

v Millfield
1st lost 1:4
2nd lost 1:4
v King’s, Winchester
U14A lost 2 : 3
v Dauntsey’s
U14C drew 1 : 1
U14B drew 1 : 1
U14A lost 1 : 5
U15B drew 1 : 1
U15A lost 2 : 4
4th (v their U16A) won 4 : 3
3rd won 6 : 0
1st won 2 : 1

Ten of our eleven boys’ teams were in action last week and / or at the weekend - with a large degree of success against some very strong opposition. On Tuesday the U16A team were eight minutes away from winning the county U16 final, before losing very narrowly to Canford. On Wednesday the 1st and 2nd teams had excellent matches against Millfield, the region’s top hockey school. On Saturday, we had a block fixture against more strong opponents in Dauntsey’s, whose 1st team arrived here with an unbeaten record and two current junior internationals in their team. First half goals by Ed Allison and Dean Pearce, allied to some superb defence and midfield play, enabled the Bryanston team to win a highly competetiive game by 2:1. The other senior teams all won, with the 4th team clinching a seven goal thriller with a last minute winner!

On Sunday we played in the Dorset U18 Finals of the National Schools Cup (at Sherborne). In the semi-final, Bryanston came up against a very spirited Sherborne team, but early goals from Dean Pearce and Piers Jennings gave Bryanston a 2:0 lead and when James Schuster Bruce added a third, our place in the final was firmly booked, although Sherborne scored a late consolation goal to make the final score 3:1. Drama followed in the other semi-final when Clayesmore knocked out the once “mighty” Canford!

This set up a Bryanston v Clayesmore final. A cleverly worked early goal by Jon Percival and a Freddie Strange penalty stroke gave Bryanston a 2:0 advantage, but Clayesmore came back and scored from the penalty spot to make it 2:1 at half time. The turning point came when Clayesmore were awarded another penalty stroke, but Charlie Moore made a splendid diving save to keep it out. The nerves and the tired legs were finally relieved when Jon Percival and Piers Jennings gave Bryanston an unassailable 4:1 lead and the Dorset U18 Cup for the fourth time in the last five years! Congratulations to the whole squad on a terrific week and two highly effective performances yesterday.

First team colours are awarded to Ed Allison and re-awarded to the capatain, Piers Jennings, Jon Percival and Freddie Strange.

Cross Country

Thankfully the fierce wind and driving rain abated just before Thursday's Dorset Schools Championships, at which 12 of our runners finished in the top two dozen places in their races. Team positions have yet to be announced but our Boys and our Girls Senior teams seemed to do well, in no small part due to the selfless running of Camran Irvani, Cecelia Keating, Oli Whilte and Caty O'Connor. In the Inters, James Evans and Marlies Morgan produced memorable runs. Our best runners on the day, though, were Olivia Antrobus, who worked her way through to 6th place, and Phil Park, who was happy to settle for the bronze medal.

For the first time on Saturday, our Senior teams competed in the Wellington Relays, coming up against a host of London schools, against whom we had never competed before. Our Boys team, led off by Jan Streblow, quickly showed their town cousins that the country boys deserved respect as they fought through to a creditable 6th place. Our Girls did even better. Always in the top three, when put under pressure our runners - including late replacement Anna Jay - responded by exerting pressure of their own. Sam Innes tightened the screw with a gritty run, preparing the way for Olivia Antrobus to come through in style, taking us to a delightful win on a day on which both the boys and the girls showed just what individuals can achieve when they work as a team.

Rowing

Six crews raced over 4.5km at the Wycliffe Head on Saturday, one of the longest races of the season. They performed well despite having to wait an hour for the race to start in very cold weather.

The strongest results came from the senior girls quad, who were 3rd in their event, and the B boys and senior boys coxed fours, who were 6th and 7th.

Riding

Congratulations to Siena Knight Bruce, Catherine Kidd, Samantha Goldsmith and Philippa Kerby, who won the Inter-School Jumping and Style Eventers' Challenge at Millfield on Sunday. Philippa Kerby was also 5th as an individual. The team has qualified for the National Schools Equestrian Association Championships later this year.

Week 3

Boys’ Hockey

v Clayesmore on Thursday:
3rd(v their 2nd) won 2 – 1
v Dauntseys:
2nd won 3 – 1
v King Edward VI, Southampton on Saturday:
U14C (v their U12A) won 7 – 3
U14B (v their U13A lost 0 – 4
U14A lost 0 – 1
U15A lost 0 – 5
3rd lost 1 -3
2nd lost 0 – 3
1st lost 0 – 1
Dorset U16 semi-final of the National Schools Cup on Sunday v Clayesmore
U16A won 3 – 1

Nine of our ten boys’ teams were in action on Thursday, Saturday and or Sunday – with mixed success.

On Saturday, against a very strong opposition fro King Edward VI School, Southampton, most of the matches were lost. In the closest matches, lost by 1 – 0, the goalkeepers Nick Marshall (1st team) and Matt Vincent (U14A team) were both in top form. The U14C team, the only team to win on Saturday, scored seven goals and their best performers were Alex Paget and Alex Emmanuel-Jones, who each notched a hat-trick.

On Sunday the Bryanston team reached the final of the Dorset U16 Championship by beating Clayesmore by 3 – 1. Jo Galton scored all three goals, but in a good team performance, the Lear brothers, Bertie Jones and Charlie Moore also played significant parts in the proceedings, especially in the second half, after a goalless first half. The team will play Canford in the final on Tuesday evening.

Cross Country

The teams of twelve schools, from Cheltenham in the North to Canford in the South, gathered at Kingswood on Thursday where they faced a challenging and varied course. Indeed the course was more varied than was intended as the eccentricity to one or two marshals meant that different runners in the same race could be and were sent in different directions. Runners were red faced from exertion, coaches from exasperation and organisers from embarrassment. Through the fog of chaos in this sunny day, was heard the announcement that our Girls’ team came second overall, most encouraging. Our Inter Boys results remain a shrouded mystery. Fortunately the Senior Boys race was trouble free, particularly for Phil Park who convincingly showed he was the best runner of all, winning in style with a classy performance. Backed up by amongst others by Jan Streblow in about 8th with Pete Haywood not that far behind, Phil’s run led our Senior Boys’ team to third place, certainly pleasing but leaving room for improvement.

Netball

This has been a busy week for the netballers!

Thursday: 1st v Portsmouth Grammar, this was a tough game against an impressive Portsmouth side. The girls kept fighting and learnt a lot from the game but lost 35-60.
The 3rds and U16A played some close and exciting matches against St Mary’s, with the 3rds losing 12-13 but the U16A’s winning 18-17.
The U14A and B, U15A and B sides produced superb team efforts to convincingly beat Clayesmore with the scores being 4 -10, 40-7, 46-12 and 20-15 respectively. The U14C were unfortunate to lose 15-16 having led throughout the match. The 2nds played a good match drawing 18-18 against Clayesmore 1st VII. The U16B and U15C played well against Clayesmore 2nd and 3rd teams but the age difference between the teams was too significant and they lost 18-21 and 1-12.

Saturday: U19 Regional Netball Finals – the standard of play was particularly exceptional in this tournament and even though we made an excellent start and demonstrated some superb passages of play, the opposition were just too strong. The results were:
v Farmors School won 17–11
v Exeter College lost 4-23
v Truro College lost 7-10
v KES Bath lost 6-18
v Yeovil College lost 8-15
v New College Swindon lost 5-12

v Portsmouth Grammar
The rest of the netball teams faced tough opposition against Portsmouth Grammar. The results were as follows:
U16A lost 24-26
U15A lost 28-40
U15B lost 19-25
U15C lost 6-20
U14A lost 21-31
U14B lost 17-18
but were unlucky to lose on the final shot of the day
U14C lost 1-37
The U16B team however played exceptionally well to beat their opposition winning 30-16, very well done!

Rowing

The senior and B girls raced at the Thames Valley Trial Head on Sunday, which takes place over 2 km on the Eton Rowing Lake.
The girls’ quad finished 5th out of seven J18 crews.
The coxed four had to cope with their rudder breaking soon after the start, but still managed a respectable time.

Week 2

Fives

Bryanston took two pairs to play Fives at Marlborough last Thursday. Our first pair won with ease (3 – 0), and the second pair lost (0 – 2), but each of these games was only lost by a close margin. Their match could not run to a third game as James Spearing had incurred a painful finger injury in the course of his games. Overall we were the stronger side, but the agreed scoring system produced a draw.

Squash

Last Thursday the Boys’ first and second squash teams played Milton Abbey. In the event the opposition were totally overwhelmed with Bryanston recording a clean sweep of victories. Players of note include: Tom Lee, Pip Banpabutr, James Lancaster and Ed Pycraft. The auguries bode well for the term ahead.

Cross Country

Sadly the Tempest ensured that Thursday’s Ken Baily Trophy races became Much Ado About Nothing. However, All’s Well That Ends Well. On Saturday, after a Comedy of Errors due to a missed turn on our way to the seven-school match at Downside, Phil Park won the senior boys’ race followed by Jan Streblow in 3rd place and Tom Smith in 10th. Definitely As You Like It! In Shakespearian style, the return trip contained both a tragic ending and a happy one.

Netball

On Thursday the U16A and U15A teams played Leweston. The U16A team put in an impressive performance to beat Leweston 28 – 11, demonstrating some fantastic netball. The U15A unfortunately did not click together as a team and lost 21-12.

Saturday saw some exciting and close score lines against Canford. The scores were as follows:
1st team lost 31 – 26
2nd team drew 24 – 24
U16A won 21 – 15
U16B won 18 – 16
U15A won 18 – 16
U15B drew 23 – 23
U15C lost 2 – 21
U14A won 25 – 22
U14B lost 8 – 22

The 1sts were a little slow to get started and although went on to play some good netball; they could not quite pull back from the goals conceded during the first quarter.
The 2nds did brilliantly to come back from 7 goals down in the first quarter and were losing right up until the last quarter to produce the draw.
Both U16 teams played some great netball and particular mention should be made of Izzy Jenkins and Sasha Kosminsky.
The U15As were one goal down until the last quarter during which they played flawless netball, showing excellent teamwork and determination.
This was the first match for the U15B and C teams but they played well and the B team fought hard to create the draw in the last quarter.
The U14As worked well and learnt a lot in their game, Natasha Howden played outstandingly well.
The U14Bs found the match hard work but particular mention should be made of Miranda Sunnucks and Chloe Jacout.

Boys’ Hockey

v Blandford HC Men on Thursday
1st team won 5 – 4

v Warminster on Saturday
U14C (v their U14A/B) lost 0 – 1
U14A won 3 – 2
U15B won 2 – 0
U15A won 4 – 2
U16B (v their 2nd) lost 1 – 4
3rd (v their 1st) drew 3 – 3

v Chafyn Grove School
U14B (v their U13A) lost 0 – 4

The 1st team’s attack looked promising in a goal feast against Blandford HC Men last Thursday, but we did let a 5 – 2 lead evaporate after some scintillating hockey in the first half. On Saturday our 3rd team had an exciting draw with Warminster School’s 1st team and other matches against that school were fairly even contests. Special mention for Charlie Wilkinson, a novice goalkeeper, who made some great saves at Warminster for the U14s.

Week 1

Boys’ Hockey

The boys’ 1st team began the season with a most promising performance against Salisbury Men’s Hockey Club. Alex Gready scored the Bryanston goal, after a fine passing movement, in a 1 : 1 draw.

Last Monday the 1st team lost a close match in a new fixture against Abingdon School, mainly because the Bryanston team could not covert some fine approaches into goals. Result: lost 1 - 2.

On Saturday five wins and three defeats made for an interesting afternoon in the block fixture with Clayesmore. All the matches were closely contested, including the 2nd team’s defeat to Clayesmore’s 1st team. The results were as follows:
U14C won 1 – 0
U14B won 1 – 0
U14A won 4 – 1
U15B won 3 – 1
U15A won 2 – 1
Our U16B v their 3rd lost 0 – 1
Our 4th v their 2nd lost 1 – 3
Our 2nd v their 1st lost 0 – 4

Netball

On Thursday the 1st and 2nds played St Mary’s. The 1sts played exceptionally well and controlled much of the game to win 24 -15. The 2nds played together as a team for the first time, which is always difficult and although the girls fought hard we lost 16-25.

The U16A and U15A played Talbot Heath for their first matches. The U16s game was a closely fought affair, final score 19-19. The U15As played their U14 County Champions, which was a tough game, but they kept their spirits high and won 12-10.

On Saturday the 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams faced Dauntsey’s. The opposition was physically challenging and the pace was fast. Despite good performances by the teams we were unfortunate to lose 19-27, 15-18 and 18-25 respectively.

The U15A, U14A and B teams also faced Dauntsey’s at home and produced a superb set of results. The U15A team won 27-22, U14A won 39-11 and the U14B won 25-1. Particular mention should be made of Eliza Fabbri and Miranda Sunnucks.

The 4th team and U16B faced Downside and considering some of the girls had not played in a netball match for a couple of years they produced excellent results with the U16s beating their 1sts 20-13 and the 4ths beating their 2nds 31 -12.

These are fantastic results and it was great to see so many girls involved in netball over the weekend. Very well done!

Cross Country

The six-school event at Canford on Saturday was designed as a training race without winners or losers, an occasion to risk and to gain experience. For example, every single one of our three lap runners made the mistake of going too fast on the first lap and must learn from this. Others had pleasing runs, including Olivia Antrobus and Sam Innes amongst the girls along with the Boys’ Team Captain Tom Smith and James Evans.

The hastily re-arranged House Relays seemed a success, a success due entirely to a bit of luck with the rain holding off and to the determination of the Bryanston community to make it a success. Thank you and congratulations. I was asked to single out particularly the Marshals, pupils and adults alike. Their job can be a miserable one but yet all were cheerful and efficient throughout I am told. I would welcome any thoughts that you, the runners had about the course.

Ahead on Thursday, we host the Ken Baily races, which should involve around 600 racers. Let us hope the weather is kind.

Lacrosse

We played our first game on Saturday against Marlborough. Unfortunately we lost due to muddy conditions and a lack of boots! Also we were playing a school that has been playing lacrosse since September! Rose Ford showed dedication throughout the game and Jess Denny showed that we have some new talent coming through. Well done girls.

End of Autumn Term

Stour Descent

On Saturday evening the River Stour was on the verge of flooding, with a nine inch gap under one of the bridges. However, against all the odds, the river level dropped by 2 ½ feet overnight, allowing the race to go ahead, albeit in very fast and challenging conditions.

Gale force winds, torrential rain and falling trees were but some of the hazards braved by the three pupils and two staff that eventually started the 14 mile race from Sturminster Newton to the Boathouse and Bryanston. At one point Baz Street was swept under a fallen tree and consequently capsized , losing valuable minutes as he struggled to rescue his boat from the swirling water.

The results were as follows:
Open touring K2
1st place: Jay Yates and Mr RJ Colcott
2nd place: Iain Fleet and Mr RJ Perkins
Junior Wild Water Racer
1st place: Baz Street

Rowing

The smaller groups we have in the Autumn term have been very hard working and dedicated, competing at three Head Races and two friendlies with Canford.

There were event wins at Monkton for Lucy Antrobus, Chloe Whitfield, Theo Hammond, and Ben Morgan, and there have been other strong performances from Toby Illingworth, Peter Thorp, Sam Hoare, Leo Kassimatis, Caitlin Ervine, Pandora Palamountain, and Alex Beeley.

In the final race of the term at Wycliffe, the girls’ quad did well to finish 4th out of seven in their event.

The Club is looking forward to the bigger squads next term, with over 100 rowing.

Rugby

This has ben another very exciting season in the Rugby club. The 1st XV had anothet successful season losing only 2 of 15 games and only 2 of our 12 sides did not have winning seasons. It is perhaps unfair to single out teams but the U16A have shown what can be done with good coaching, technique and desire and determination and they have beaten six sides this season who beat them at U15, congratulations to all involved.

The U14s, that is all three sides, have had an excellent season, on what, is a very difficult circuit. They are going to be a formidable year group in the future.

I would like to offer my thanks to all the coaches and players from all the teams and congratulate them on another excellent season.

Squash

In yet another busy term the Squash club fielded eight different teams. The Girls’ 1st V battled well and registered good victories against Canford, home and away. The Girls’ top 10 gave Sherborne a good run for their money but lost narrowly, proving that they are catching up to their arch rival.

The U14 Boys enjoyed a competitive first term of squash and despite going down to Winchester in their first match they managed to win against Milton Abbey ending the term on a high.

The Boys’ U16 won most of their fixtures but lost to Winchester in a closely contested match, while the Boys’ 2nd team remained unbeaten.

The Boys’ 1st team had another impressive term with a clean sweep of victories against: Canford, twice, Winchester, Sherborne, Bishops (Salisbury) and, spectacularly, Millfield.

This term the school has three county representatives in the Boys’ U17 age group: Rory Cameron, Harry Waterton and Elliot Bourge. These three competed in the Guernsey Open with Elliot coming 3r, Rory 4th and Harry 5th in a competition entered by nationally ranked players. Quite an achievement.

Well done to all members of the Squash club for fostering a friendly environment and for the support shown to colleagues during inter-school matches.

A big thank you too to Busani who is largely responsible for these successes. We shall miss him but we wish him all the very best for the future.

Colours are awarded to: Yasmin Mirdamad, Tim Hume, Harry Waterton, Rory Cameron and Elliot Bourge.

Girls’ Hockey

This has been an outstanding season for girls’ Hockey and this has been evident through the 75 matches played. All the girls have worked with a positive and motivated spirit, which has been shown in all matches. It is exciting that we are beginning to show our dominance throughout the age groups, from U14 level right through to seniors.

Once again, we regularly played three teams form the Under 14 squad. The U14A team have done extremely well this season, having gelled together quickly at the start of the season they went onto win 7 out of their 10 matches convincingly. In the County Tournament the girls played solid hockey and cruised their way to the finals where they were extremely unlucky to lose on ‘Sudden Death’ penalty flicks. A special mention should be made of Alice Pyrgos who represented the 1st team at the West Tournament, where she held her own on the pitch. The B squad was also very successful losing only 3 of their matches this season. The C squad stayed positive despite having a number of tough matches. Congratulations to Alice Pyrgos for being selected for the final County squad this season.

The U15 squad have had a good season with the A team losing just 2 matches out of the 10 played. The girls have worked hard and it was pleasing that all the efforts put into training this term really came together in the final match of the season. The U15B team had a strong start to their season winning their first 3 matches, although unfortunately the winning streak did not continue! The C team have trained hard and enjoyed the matches they have played. Congratulations to Laurie Angeli, Pippa Kerby and Daisy Macaskie for being selected to play representative hockey for Dorset.

The U16 XI came together for the County Tournament. Although practice times were limited and the girls were from three different age groups, they proved how strong they could be in the County qualifying round beating three schools to be top of the group. Unfortunately, in the County finals it did not come together as we had hoped and we failed to make the semi-finals.

The senior squads have continued to set the example and demonstrate the importance of a positive approach to both training and matches.

The 3rd team have shown real focus to gain the results in matches and, on a number of occasions have come back from being down at half time to turn it around during the second half. The 4th team shoe the depth of standard that we are able to play and have more than justified the continued growth in the number of 4th team fixtures being played. This season they played 6, won 4 and scored a healthy 19 goals and conceded just 6.

The 2nd team have had a superb unbeaten season. The team has gone from strength to strength with Daisy Wall scoring many of the goals for the 2nds. On occasions the girls have played the 1st team of opposition schools and each time they have risen to the challenge.

The 1st XI has had the most outstanding season and their best to date. For the second year running they were crowned County Champions, representing Dorset at the West Tournament. At the start of the season they also won the Sherborne Invitation Tournament against some of the top schools in Dorset and Somerset. However, the most impressive achievement is that they have won all of their matches this season, scoring 36 goals and conceding just 7. The team have approached training and matches with real dedication and they have worked exceptionally hard for their achievements this year.

Congratulations to Sam Innes, Ellie Shaikh, Kim Pearce,Alice Whitlock and Rhian Richardson, who have represented Dorset this season. Also to Emily Crutcher who has played regularly for the West of England.

Colours are re-awarded to Emily Crutcher, Sam Innes, Tamsin Hartley, Tatty Woodhouse and Rosy Bell, and awarded to : Laura Charles, Juliet Wesley, Ellie Shaikh, Kim Pearce, Rosy Pain, Becca Scott and Rhian Richardson.

Trophies and Awards:
Players’ Player (voted for by the 1st XI): Emily Crutcher
Outstanding Achievement in Hockey: This is awarded to Emily Crutcher for her superb captaincy of the 1st XI, playing County Hockey for 5 years and West of England for the last 3 years.

The House Hockey was played in excellent spirit once again this year, with the Junior Competition being of a particularly strong standard. The results were as follows:
Junior House Competitions was won by Hunter
Senior House Competition was won by Harthan

A huge thank you must be given to all of the staff and coaches who have given so much time this season and who have input into the continued growth of girls’ hockey. However we would like to say a special thank you to Mrs Daynes who has completed her final season of Girls’ hockey with us. Mrs Daynes had been involved in girls’ hockey for many, many years. She has run the Club successfully in the past and can always be relied upon to not only give top quality coaching to the girls but also to motivate and encourage each and every one of her players. We will really miss her next year and thank her so much for all her efforts with girls’ hockey over the years.

Netball

This term we were delighted that all three age groups qualified for the County Netball Finals. However, we were particularly pleased when last week the U19s became County Champions. This is the 3rd successive year we have ben County Champions in this age group and the girls in A2 have now been County Champions very year they have been at Bryanston.

Week 11

Rugby

On Thursday the school played Canford. The results were as follows:
U14C won 57-0
U14B won 27-12
U14A won 29-5
U15B lost 0-22
U15A lost 0-27
U16B lost 0-27
U16A lost 21-29
3rd XV lost 10-14
2nd XV won 28-7
1st XV won 56-7
It is always satisfying to beat one's local opposition and there can be no year group more satisfied than the U14s. Not only did they all win but also they all won away from home, the first time in the last 20 years that this has happened. The U14Cs need congratulating not only for a resounding win but also for their winning season. The U15s played well but knew the task would be difficult with so many players missing. The U16s once again closed the gap on a team that had beaten them comprehensively in previous seasons and it is very good to see how well they have developed this year. The 3rds battled well to lose narrowly and the seconds played with authority to win.

The 1st XV game was played in fits and starts but we were far too good for them and although e lost our concentration in the second half we ran out easy winners.

U14C team rugby

A glorious end to the season: three victories!
10-5 v Castle Court Prep School
27-0 v Milton Abbey B team
57-0 against Canford C team
A special mention goes to Hugo Sykes (three tries against Canford) and captain Charlie Creagh-Barry.

Fives

Thursday: Bryanston played 3 pairs away at Lancing. The two hour journey together with Lancing’s very different courts meant that we got off to a slow start. After we had played ourselves in we started to pick up and we had some excellent rallies. The third pair (Rupert Cassells and James Morton) won their match 2-0 whereas our first and second pairs (Ollie Cassells, Harry Parnell, Linus Taylor and Tom Lee) lost in some very tough matches.

Saturday: Bryanston played an Eton Fives Association side at home.
The Eton Fives Association is an organisation of mature players whose role is to foster Fives within schools and to provide competition and coaching. They sent 3 pairs (with a total of 250 years of Fives playing experience between them) to Bryanston to put our lads through their paces. As usual this was immensely worthwhile and many useful tips were given and games were most enjoyable.
Colours: In recognition for their services and for their fine example, Fives colours are awarded to Ollie Cassells and Harry Parnell.

Squash

The boys’ top seven and the girls’ top five recently played Canford. The boys won 4-3 and the girls 3-2. Special mentions to Sam Sykes, Alice Fourrier and Davina Pownall for winning tough matches.

More recently the girls’ top six played Sherborne and despite some valiant attempts they eventually lost 5-1.

The boys’ top six played a Jesters team made up of ex-armed forces. After a thrilling contest honours were even at 3-3. Harry Waterton, Rory Cameron and Piers Jennings are to be warmly congratulated for famous victories against much more experienced opponents.

Hockey

Prior Park were strong opposition and played good hockey. The results were as follows:
1st XI won 3-2 scoring the winning goal in the final minutes of the game.
2nd XI drew 2-2 Daisy Wall scored 2 great goals but unfortunately Prior Park equalised in the final minutes of the game.
3rd XI lost 1-5
4th XI lost 2-3
U15A lost 1-5 in a physically demanding game.
U15B lost 1-2 having had the lead at half time through a well worked goal, we were extremely unlucky to lose.
U14A won 4-1 Bryanston produced possibly their best performance of the season and played some fantastic hockey, resulting in a well deserved win.
U14B won 6-0 The U14Bs dominated the game keeping Prior Park very much in their own half.

Against Leweston: The U15As played some of their best hockey of the season in a well-matched game. Bryanston took the lead and then Leweston came back to equalise and this proved to be the sequence throughout the game with the final score 4-4.
The U14As unfortunately did not play to their potential during the match, final score lost 0-2.

Against Canford, the results were as follows:
U15C lost 3-1
U14C lost 0-6
Canford always prove to be tough competition and showed the depth of their squads in these matches. The U15s played much better hockey in the second half and deserved to score more than the one goal that they did.

Week 10

Rugby

On Thursday, the 2nd XV played Hardye's 1st XV. This was a very close encounter. Hardye's scored early to lead 5 – 0 and although we put them under a lot of pressure we could not break them down. We finally scored an excellent try five minutes from time to lead 7 – 5 but Hardye’s immediately returned to our end and scored a try to win 10 – 7. A good match!

Also, the rest of the school played Clayesmore. The results were as follows:
Our 3rd XV v Clayesmore’s 1st XV lost 5 – 2
U16A won 19 – 5
U16B won 31 – 0
U15A won 41 – 3
U15B won 24 – 0
U14A won 24 – 0
U14B won 48 - 0
The 3rd XV played very well against Clayesmore 1st XV and were always in the game and all the other matches were dominated by our teams.

On Saturday the school played Portsmouth GS and the results were as follows:
U14B won 28 – 0
U14A won 32 – 5
U15B lost 0 – 28
U15A lost 15 – 27
U16A lost 12 – 20
2nd XV won 12 – 0
1st XV won 26 – 7
These were a good set of results particularly from the U14s who were playing teams that had already been together for two years. The U15s are still struggling with injury and put up a good show and the U16s once again closed the gap on their opposition. The 2nd XV played well against a great deal of pressure to win and the 1st XV scored four really nice tries in a comfortable victory. Jonathan Purvis is awarded his 1st XV colours.

Fives

On Thursday we played Marlborough (away). This was a clear win for Bryanston. The first pair Ollie Cassels and Harry Parnell won 3 – 2 in a fiercely fought contest against a very skilful Marlborough pair. The second pair Linus Taylor and Will Burton won 2 – 0 winning each game decisively. The third pair Rupert Cassels and James Morton drew 1 – 1. Their games were so close and took so long that there was insufficient time for a decider although they were clearly in a dominant position towards the end.

Sunday saw an all day ladder match between Aldenham, Q.E. Barnet, Stowe and Bryanston, held at Aldenham school. There were 26 individual players and Bryanston ended up with three of our six players (Ollie Cassels, Harry Parnell and Rupert Cassels) in the top six. This served as valuable match experience for all and was much enjoyed.

Rowing

Most of this term’s scullers competed at Pangbourne Junior Sculls on Saturday. They sculled well but found it hard to get any top placings, because the standard was very high. The best result in terms of rank order came from Leo Kassimatis and Sam Hoare, who finished in 5th place in the J16 double sculls.

Week 9

Hockey Report

Thursday v Clayesmore
The 2nd team played the best hockey that they have played all season and consequently deserved their convincing 5 -2 win, very well done. The 3rd team however played some of their worst hockey of the season, throwing away the training manual and any good possession, gifting the ball to Clayesmore too often. Tabby Loyd was awesome in goal. Final score 0 – 0.

Saturday v Sherborne
The first team played fantastically, demonstrating why they are unbeaten this season, winning 4 – 0. The second team’s match was closely contended – final result 2 – 2. A sluggish first half saw the 3rd XI 2 – 1 down, once again excellent goalkeeping by Tabby Loyd kept us in the game. After the break the team were more switched on and worked out where their wingers were. Goals were exchanged and the final whistle came with the score at 4 – 3 to Bryanston. The 4th XI played a rather scrappy game lacking pace with too much bunching on the right hand side of the pitch. Nevertheless we scored in each half and held off an improving Sherborne attack in the last ten minutes to win 2 – 0.
Despite good passing and movement in midfield, the U15B team couldn’t penetrate the opposition defence, leaving Sherborne the more pleased with the 0 – 0 result, since they were on the back foot for most of the game.
In the U14B match Miranda Sunnucks worked very hard at centre half and Eliza Fabbri made good clearances in the 1st half. However we were unfortunate to conceded two goals in the second half from intense pressure from Sherborne and numerous short corner attempts – final score 0 -2.

U14 County Hockey Finals
The U14A team played outstandingly well, cruising their way from the group stages into the semi-finals, beating Talbot Heath 1 – 0, St Anthony’s Leweston 1 – 0 and Gillingham 3 – 1. In the semi-finals we played a strong Sherborne team but a goal from Eliza Plimmer secured our place in the final against Canford.

The final was a great game with very little between the two teams resulting in a 0 – 0 draw after both full and extra time – it was down to penalty flicks. After the five flicks the scores were still equal a t 3 – 3 so it went to Sudden Death, which sadly Canford went onto win.
Penalty flicks are always a tough way to end a competition, especially when teams play so well and give everything to the match. Each of the U14 players should be congratulated for playing so fantastically and with real determination – w