This season, our Year 8 football team have produced a number of fantastic performances. Team manager, Mr McAteer, said “All of the players have grown in confidence and ability which contributed to another successful season.” He added “during the English School’s Cup competition, the players showed a maturity with their performances by keeping possession for the majority of the games and as a result did not concede a goal at all.”

In the West Midlands Cup, the team cruised to the semi-final by winning comfortably against some outstanding schools. However, they were unfortunate to lose 1-0 to the eventual winners Thomas Telford School. This was only the first defeat in open play since they started at The Woodlands School and they were unfortunate not to take the game into extra time and penalties. Despite this setback, the team progressed into the final of the Coventry Cup, beating last year’s joint cup winners (along with The Woodlands School) Cardinal Wiseman 3-0. Learning from previous mistakes they produced a great team performance in the final, not by only showing their ability, but also by demonstrating values such as sportsmanship, encouragement, friendship and determination, which made them great representatives of The Woodlands School.

Year 8 Coventry Cup Semi Final Result

Cardinal Wiseman 0 – The Woodlands 3

A big well done to the Year 8 boys who have reached the final of the Coventry Cup for the second concessive season. The Year 8’s were once again a credit to the school with the manner they approached this game.

Woodlands showed to dominate with James Costelloe having little to do for most of the game, due to a great work ethic from every single player. Woodlands went 1-0 up after 10 minutes of the first half with a looping header from Kane Thomas. With a well organised defence and fantastic football Wiseman struggled to cope with our attack which resulted with them repeatedly using the long ball. Close to the interval Kane Thomas added another goal with a great chip from 18 yards which caught the goalkeeper off his line to make it 2-0. In the second half it was the same story with Woodlands putting together a number of attacks which the Wiseman defence performed very well to prevent us from scoring. That was until the David McAteer scored against his former school and to celebrate he rolled on the floor for some reason!

A big well done to the Year 8’s who deserved nothing less than getting to the final due to their commitment, effort and perseverance in every game they have played this season so far.

The date of the final is to be confirmed.

Mr McAteer     

This was a fantastic game of football. The Year 8's began very well with the entire team playing entertaining football by keeping the ball and creating a vast number of goal scoring opportunities. The scoring was opened by Charles Faulkner who placed the ball into the top right hand corner after a through ball by Kane Thomas. The game continued in the same fashion with the Year 8's creating chance after chance and not allowing the opposition to have time on the ball. This hard work was rewarded by a long range effort by Sam 'UNBELIEVABLE TEKKERS' Bethell who found the top left hand corner. With the score at 2-0 the whole team worked solidly with the defence working very well together and a great work rate by the midfield. With the constant pressure the Year 8's were rewarded with a free kick which was bent into the top corner by Charles Faulkner for his second of the match.

Besides the excellent football and score the players can be very proud of how they represented the school yesterday as they showed great sportsmanship, fairplay, behaviour and respect towards their team mates, opponents and officials throughout the whole game.

Well done!!! (Mr McAteer)

The Woodlands Year 7 football team progressed to the 5th round of the English Schools Cup with a win over Thorne School in Stourbridge.

Despite taking a 0-2 lead with goals from Liam Todd and Cam'ron Barrett, Thorne struck back after half time with two quick goals of their own and eventually took the lead when we were forced to make changes at the back due to an injury to Liam Holta. (3-2). A tactical switch saw Captain, Corey Blackwood, slot in at centre half and Jack Cook move into centre midfield. It would have been easy for The Woodlands boys to let their heads drop but they showed remarkable character and managed to force a late equaliser through Jack Cook, turning inside the box. With virtually the last kick of the match Liam Todd pounced to fire home a difficult strike to win the match 3-4.

Man of the match – Corey Blackwood for an outstanding all round display. Well done to the whole squad. (Mr Evans)

THE WOODLANDS 2 George Elliot 2 (Woodlands won 4-3 on penalties)

After a thrilling game where both sides were equally matched the Woodlands went 1-0 down early on in the second half. This early goal was a wake up call to the year 8’s who stepped up and equalised from a fine lob by Kyle Cigleris to make it 1-1.The second half started the same with both sides equally matched. With 10 minutes to go the Year 8’s played some excellent football to release Kane Thomas to put us 2-1 up. After this goal the pressure piled up from the opposition with them committing a lot of players forward. Eventually this pressure paid off with their midfielder scoring from a long distance to make the full time score 2-2.

Due to the poor weather conditions the game had to miss extra time and go straight to penalties. All of the penalties were fantastic with players like Ellis Layfield finally scoring a goal for the school. James Costelloe saved 2 of their penalties to put the Year 8’s to the next round of the West Midlands Cup.

Well done to every single player and especially to Lewis Normoyle, Kane O’Hagan and Michael Kelly who stepped in at the last minute.

THE WOODLANDS 2 Oldbury School 0

The Woodlands played the third round of the English Schools cup yesterday. The first half was very quiet with very few chances created despite the Year 8’s played some excellent football. Towards the end of the first half the chances started to appear through a lot of hard work by the whole team which eventually led to Oldbury resulting to fouls outside of their area. Woodlands were awarded a free kick from 20 yards away from the opposition’s goal. Up stepped Sam Bethell who curled a Beckham style free kick into the top left hand corner of the goal to put the Woodlands 1-0 up.

The 2nd half was started very well with the Year 8’s in search of second goal as Oldbury started to press our defence. After a fantastic display by the defence preventing any attempts at goal Woodlands counter attacked the opposition which ended up with Charlie Faulkner lobbing the goalkeeper with the outside of his foot to secure the win and put the Year 8’s into the 4th round of the English schools cup.

A massive well done to every player as they have not conceded a goal in this competition and have performed in the poor conditions without any complaints. Thank you to Jordan Anoszczenko, Jack Haydon and Lewis Normoyle for assisting with the game.

Mr McAteer (Team Manager)

Our Year 7 rugby team had another very good 19 – 5 win against Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School on Friday. Tries were scored by Corey Blackwood (2) and Justin Maiden but man of the match was Jack Cook for his outstanding work at rucks where he stole opposition ball at least 10 times! 

Bishop Ullathorne 3 WOODLANDS 6

The Year 8 Woodlands team have progressed to the next round of the West Midlands Cup after a thrilling game with Bishop Ullathorne. Woodlands started off quietly with Ullathorne constantly hounding our defence. Eventually their persistence payed off as they went 1-0 up after a penalty. This changed the Woodlands attitude and effort as they started to play the football they were used to. As a result Sam Bethell struck a beautiful lob from 30 yards to even the score. The Year 8’s continued to press and after a well crafted through ball Kyle Cigleris found himself through on goal to put the score 2-1. The Woodlands let their standards drop and after an open 2nd half we were 3-2 down with 10 minutes to go. With constant pressing and an amazing strike from just inside the oppositions half by Sam Kirby the score was 3-3 and extra time had to be played. During extra time Ullathorne players started to get frustrated by The Woodlands attack with us striking the woodwork twice. Eventually we found the net three time in the space of 5 minutes with Sam Bethell, Yahiya Todd and Tayler Blyth all bagging to send the Woodlands to the next round. Well done to every player.

Our Year 7’s achieved a stunning result last night against one of the top schools in the country. Playing uphill a 60m breakaway try from Sonny Young gave us a 7-0 lead at half time.  In the second half outstanding tackling from Sonny, Shane O’Donnell, Shathees, Corey Blackwood and Man of the Match Doug Clarke kept our tryline unbroken.  With 5 minutes to go Shane made an excellent break to allow Corey to sprint home to seal a well-deserved 12-0 win after an outstanding effort from all 15 boys.

Our Year Sevens played A and B team games at Finham on Saturday.  The A team won 34-5 with tries from Corey Blackwood (2), Jack Cook, Sonny Young, Sam Allen and Doug Clark.  The B team also won 22-15 with tries for Reece Cummings, Nathan Checklin and Shamus Ahmed.  Well done to all who played.

13 October 2010 - English Schools Cup Result

This was the Year 8’s first English schools game of the season, which could not of started any better. After only two minutes Woodlands were 1-0 up after showing a great display of one touch football which resulted in Kane Thomas having a simple tap in. The entire first half continued with The Woodlands pressing the Q3 defence and dominating possession creating a number of chances. Eventually through another great example of one touch football Charlie Faulkner received the ball at the far post for another tap in. The second half continued in the same fashion with the Year 8’s continuously pressing the opposition, however we were unlucky to not increase the lead. All of the players had a fantastic game in both games and we are now through to the next round of the English Schools cup.

A big thanks to Josh Henry who refereed both games, Corey Cook, Jacob Parris-Jones and Joshua Sutton who ran the line this week.  

Mr McAteer (Team Manager)

A comprehensive 48-5 win over Coundon yesterday showed the continuing superiority and dominance of Woodlands Rugby over our nearest rivals.  A side lacking two county players could have put itself under pressure, but a dodgy start, where players tended to forget that there were 14 other players in the team, was soon forgotten and the tries began to flow.  Year 11s Josh Palmer and Tyler Price each dotted down – Tyler being denied a brace which would have been a very impressive debut b y an overzealous touch judge who had spotted a foot in touch two minutes previously - and James Clifford, Cory Radford, Tim Whitfield all played their part in the victory.  It was a return to the ‘old days’ of the upper sixth team as our handling was, at times, outstanding.  One try, in particular, which nearly the entire team involved in a series of handling plays, was as good as you will see at international level.   Josh McNulty put in an impressive display in the loose and was our best carrier. Great stuff – thanks to skipper Kyle Timms for organising the side.

Goalscorers:
Kane Thomas x2
David McAteer x1
Kyle Cigleris x1
Own Goal x1

Year 10 Won
Year 9  Won 17-14
Year 7 Lost

Year 9 Rugby

A brave and heroic rear-guard action from our Year 9s saw us defeat a big Kenilworth side, even though we played the game with only 14 players throughout.  The headlines will go to Dan Bramley who stretched over for a last minute winning try after a great run following some super team play, but the last ditch tackle by Brad Callan 15 minutes earlier stopped Kenilworth from going two scores ahead at that stage, which could have been the end for us.

I have nothing but praise for the 14 lads who tackled, chased, ran and worked together as a team, so well done to the whole squad of : Josh James, Seb Harrison, Nick Harrison, Josh Kent, Joel Price, Matt Liggett, skipper Jack Tolley, Elliott Sheepy, Declan Miskimmon, Isaac McNulty, Brad Callan, George Curtis, Dan Bramley and Tom Bicknell.  Take a bow, fellahs!  Dan B and Matt L both scored a try, with Isaac M skilfully converting one.

Mr Harrison    

Despite twice going a goal behind, Woodlands managed to create and convert enough chances to finally win in extra time against Belgrave School from Staffordshire. A fine goal from Shane O’Donnell brought the score level after Belgrave took an early lead, but this only lasted a matter of minutes as Belgrave caught the Woodlands back four napping(!) and managed to nudge ahead once again (1-2). Cam’ron Barratt then scored a fine individual goal by beating two defenders and tapping the ball home from five yards. (2-2 at half time). Woodlands then twice took the lead in the second half through an excellent goal from Liam Todd, rounding the keeper and coolly finishing into an empty net, and then from an absolutely stunning strike from Shane O’Donnell from outside the box. Belgrave twice came back though to take the game to extra time (4-4). Both teams seemed tired as mistakes started to appear and during the last minute of the game the dynamic Jamie Bird won the ball in midfield and released Liam Todd on the edge of the box to fire home with the last kick of the game.

There were many notable performances including that of Captain Corey Blackwood, Cam’ron Barratt and Kris Roscoe in goal who produced some excellent saves. But the man of the match award goes to Jamie Bird for his tireless and excellent displays at centre back, left back, and then centre midfield throughout the match. Well done to all.

Mr Evans (Team Manager)

Year 11 - Won     12 – 5
Year 10 - Won     12 – 7
Year 9 - Won     12 – 5

Our Year 7 team began their season with a good 25-20 win against Coundon on Saturday.  Elliott Brooks scored one try and Man of the Match Corey Blackford scored four.  Liam George and Reece Cummings also played well in a very encouraging first game for the team.

In the wind and the heavy rain, and running up the hill on Coundon Court’s so-called 1st XV pitch, our brave Year 9’s had all the elements against them.  A first half of some considerable bravery saw us take the game to Coundon and play at a high level.  In spite of conceding a wide-out try, much against the run of play, the lads responded with a drive upfield, after which Josh James dotted down a find forward’s try, which was expertly converted by George Curtis.  The wind and rain abated a little in the second half, and Coundon came back into the game a little.  Our defence was excellent, however, and we gradually imposed our superiority again.  Substitute back row Jordan de Vos began to have an impact, and on the third of a series of powerful runs, he broke the Coundon defensive line and dotted down.  There were many excellent persona performances, too many to detail, and the team was well led by skipper Jack Tolley.  A 12-5 victory was well-deserved, and it set the team’s marker down for the season.  Well done everybody for an excellent squad performance.  It was good to see 21 players there, with a few more still to play.

Woodlands produced an excellent performance to beat Coundon on Saturday.  The first try came through the forwards as Alex Rollins (CRE) found his way over the line from a driving maul.  The second score came through Jake Smith (TH) as he sidestepped over from close range after good work from the Woodlands forwards.  Joe Kinnersley (STR) landed the difficult conversion.  Although Coundon came back in the second half they left it too late and with the last play of the game their player was held up over the line to secure victory.