Sport: Cross Country - All age groups
Date: 14th November 2009

Welsh Schools Cross Country Championships held at Brecon

With many runners unavailable due to other sporting activities, the school entered 5 teams for these championships.

Year 7 & 8 Boys

In a field of over 100 runners, Captain Tom Owen led the team in 23rd position followed closely by year 7 Ellis Rosser 28th, Tom Lucas 42nd, Huw Bennett 68th, Hywel Williams 79th

Scott Thomas 80th. The team finished 6th overall.

Year 9 & 10 Boys

Tomos Kamal 58th, Scott Fleming 62nd, Daniel Owen 68th, Luke Aspinall 73. The team finished 9th.

Year 11-13 Boys

An excellent run by year 11 pupils Elliott Mears 15th, Jonathan Esquirol 36th, Dillon Morgan 39th, but unfortunately did not have another team member for a team score.

Sport: Cross Country - All Years
Date: 14th November 2009

On a wet & windy day in Brecon Cowbridge took part in the Welsh Schools Cross country Championships.

In the U14 girls race (yr 7 & 8) Annabel Curle (yr 8) led the team home in 16 th place. This was an excellent run for Annabel who has just recovered from being ill & struggled with her breathing on the day.

Next to finish were the year 7 contingents of Elinor Bishop 33 rd, Rebecca Thomas 45 th and Alice Tudor 48th to complete the team. The team finished in 4th place.

Elinor Morgan (yr 8) competed in the school team for the first time and ran well to finish in 60 th place with Laurie Thomas finishing in 62nd place. A great effort by all the girls.

In the U16 girls race (yr 9 & 10) Fiona Bray (10) finished in 16 th place again another great performance by Fiona in a National race. Miriam Bennett (9) finished 21st place which was a superb race for her and third to finish was ever improving Rebecca John in 34th.

Unfortunately due to injury, illness and other commitments a further runner did not compete to make a team.

For the same reasons a senior team could not be found.

Member of Staff: Glan Williams

Sport: Football - Year 7
Date: 20th November 2009

Indoor 5 A Side Tournament - Held at Llantwit Major Comprehensive School

Cowbridge and Llantwit provided 3 teams each for this round robin tournament with all teams playing 5 games.

Cowbridge A won 1, drew 2, and lost 2, Tom Lucas 4 goals, Oliver Pyke, Max Ragan, Elliott Rosser, Ben Jones 1 goal.

Cowbridge B won 1, drew 3, lost 1,

Team: Ieuan Ridout, Harvey Stockford 2 goals, Kristian Jones 1 goal, Louis Phillips, Owen Alexander.

Cowbridge C won 3, drew 2, lost 0. Lewis O’Brien 1 goal, Matthew Harper 1 goal, Tom Day-Davies (Capt.), Joe Davies, Jonathan Harvey 3 goals, Jack Anderson.

Team C won the tournament.

Team B 4th
Team A 5th

Sport: Gymnastics
Date: November 2009

Cardiff & Vale Schools Novice Gymnastics Championships held at Mary Immaculate Roman Catholic School, Cardiff

These championships attracted over 150 gymnasts who have not competed for school or club at National Championships. The school entered team’s at all four age groups. The Under 14 Boys team came 2 nd 97.50 points, Under 14 Girls 5 th 98.00 points, Under 12 Boys 3 rd 98.20 points and Under 12 Girls 2 nd 101.60 points.

The Boys Under 14’s and Girls Under 12 teams will represent the County at the Welsh Schools Novice Championships to be held at the Welsh Institute of Sport, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff next week.

Individual Results

Sport: Hockey - Year 8
Date: 17th November 2009

Cowbridge year 8’s played Bryn Hafren in two 7 A Side matches due to Bryn Hafren’s astro turf still not complete and no astro turf at Cowbridge. The game was played on the wet, muddy grass on lower school fields. Both teams had to battle against the conditions where the ball became stuck to a stick with the mud, the girls sliding on the mud and the heavy rain to spice things up! Despite the conditions fun was had by all and at least the girl’s managed to play a game. Cowbridge came out on top in both games with team 1 winning 6-0 with all 6 goals from Hannah Woodwood. Player of the match was Katie Llewellyn.

In team 2’s match the score was the same with Cowbridge winning 6-0 with Georgia Lott scoring 4 goals and Megan Warburton and Eliza Smith one goal each.

Player of the Match:
Kate Llewelly (Team 1)
Megan Warburton (Team 2)

Sport: Netball - Years 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13
Date: 19th November 2009

URDD TOURNAMENT

On Thursday, November 19 th Cowbridge took 3 netball teams to the Welsh Urdd Tournament.

The Year 8 team played at UWIC. A combined 9 & 10 team played at Tal-y-Bont and a Year 11,12 and 13 team played at Sophia Gardens.

Urdd Netball Tournament -Year 8 SHINE

The year 8 netball team had a fantastic day and achieved Cowbridge’s best results in this tournament to date!

They played 9 games during the day – winning 7 games and scoring an impressive 38 goals, despite the games being of short duration (only 5 minutes each way).

During their first game, Cowbridge made a strong start and quickly capitalised on Glan-Y-Mor’s mistakes to lead 4-0 at half time. Excellent linking play from Jo Wilkins at GS and Hannah Woodwood at GA saw the final score rest at 8-0 to Cowbridge. Eliza Smith at WD was voted player of this first match.

During their 2 nd match, Cowbridge came up against reigning champions Corpus Christi and were out classed by their exceptional skill and pace. Despite some outstanding defence and interceptions from Olivia Brown at GD and Sarah Lewis at GK, the Corpus Chriti team finished the game winning 7-1. Sarah Lewis was voted as our player of the match.

Despite this initial knock back the Cowbridge Team remained high in sprints and picked themselves up to win the next five games. Scores were as follows:-

• Cowbridge won 6-1 v Cwm Rumni. Player of the match = Jo Wikins.
• Cowbridge won 10-4 v Bryn Hafren. Player of the match = Olivia Brown.
• Cowbridge won 4-2 v Gwyr. Player of the match = Amy O’Donnell.
• Cowbridge won 2-0 v Gwyn Llyw. Player of the match = Georgia Lott.
• Cowbridge won 7-3 v Pen-y-dre. Player of the match = Lillie Evans/Katie Llewellyn.

An exceptional team performance throughout saw the girls finishing as runners up in their pod and qualifying for the ¼ finals.

In the ¼ finals the girls come up against Coed Cae. It was Cowbridge who scored the first goal, enabling them to settle into the game and focus on the task ahead. Annabel Curle controlled the game excellently from the C and together with Amy O’Donnell, fed some lovely balls into the shooting circle for Jo Wilkins at GS and Hannah Woodwood at GA taking the score to 3-2 to Cowbridge at half time. The girls knew they had to come out fighting in the 2 nd half and Sarah Lewis put in an outstanding performance at GK to ensure Coed Cae’s scoring opportunities were kept to a minimum. An exceptional team performance saw Cowbridge win 6-3 to qualify for the Semi Finals!

Cowbridge drew Corpus Christi again in the semi final, and despite their earlier loss, the girls were in high spirits going into the game. Unfortunately it was not meant to be and Cowbridge went out in the semi finals losing 9-1 to Corpus Christi, who then went on to win the final of the competition.

Achieving a semi final place in a Welsh Competition is something the girls should be very proud of. Well done!

The squad was:

Jo Wilkins, Hannah Woodwood, Amy O’Donnell, Lily Evans, Annabel Curle, Eliza Smith, Georgia Lott, Hannah Gaslan, Sarah Lewis, Olivia Brown, Kate Llewellyn and Lydia Hitchings.

Urdd Tournament Year 9 and 10

Cowbridge Year 9 and 10 netball team played in the annual Urdd Netball Tournament at Tal-y-bont.

First game was against Cardinal Newman where Cowbridge won 5-0. Mairi Boxall scored 3 goals and Katie Wynne 2. There was great defence from Caitlin Allin and Bethan Sloan and centre Liz Whitehouse played well feeding the attack strong balls to shoot.

Second game was against Corpus Christi second team. Corpus a renowned team for excelling in netball beat Cowbridge 6-0. A difficult game for Cowbridge where Beth Sloan and Caitlin Allin did well in defence but unfortunately later, Cowbridge did have the opportunity to attack Corpus but their defence were too good and won the ball back.

Third game was against Maes Gorman with a change in the team. Nancie Edwards came in as Shooter, Nadeni GK , Romi WA and Amy WD. Again all girls played well with Katie Wynne and Nancie scoring one each however Maes Gorman scored 3.

Fourth game was against Glan y Mor and it was a victory for Cowbridge winning 3-2 with one goal from Mairai Boxall and two from Nancie Edwards, despite a messy game with many mistakes from the quick pace.

Fifth game was against Cwrt Sart a strong tall team, centre Liz Whitehouse struggled with a calf injury and had to be taken off but the girls held on to finish the game in a draw of 4-4.

Tonyrefail then dropped out during the day which left Cowbridge with a big gap in play. In the sixth game, Cowbridge faced another strong team Queen Elizabeth; Cowbridge lost 6-0.

Last game of the day was against Gwyr. A tired Cowbridge team let Gwyr get the better of them by making silly errors and eventually lost the game 6-0.

A good day was had by all the team, despite the injuries to Liz & Amy Wallis who we wish them well in recovery.

Well done!

Seniors 11 – 13

In the first match of the tournament, Cowbridge got off to a strong start with an early goal from goal shooter Amy Goodfellow. Despite many interceptions made by the Cowbridge defence, Ogmore stepped up their attack and won 11-1.

The second match was definitely one of the most fast-paced! With an early goal from Alice Thomas matched with some fantastic interceptions by Bethan Moorcraft & Emily Renwick, we went into half-time with 2-1. After some extremely exciting narrow misses from our goal shooter Charlotte Taylor, we narrowly lost by 3-1 to Bro Myrdin.

In the third match Cowbridge achieved many goals from Alice Thomas & Amy Goodfellow, to make the score 4-1 to Cowbridge. In the second half, Cowbridge defenders made many fantastic interceptions to make the final score 6-2 to Cowbridge. The team played a fantastic match, well done Cowbridge!

In the 4th match Cowbridge made use of their new found confidence continuing on their winning streak with an 8-4 victory over Amman Valley. Cowbridge started off strongly and confidently with some excellent goals from Amy Goodfellow leaving Cowbridge 4-2 after the first half. They stayed on form in the 2 nd half resulting in an all-round great team effort.

Cowbridge got off to a slow start in the 5 th match against Llantwit Major our local rivals, but Cowbridge soon began to pick it up showing moments of brilliance but due to some strong play from the Llantwit shooters Cowbridge lost 2 – 9.

The last match of the tournament saw Cowbridge up against Maes Yr Yrfa. The 2 teams were well matched in the 1 st half with near misses from both teams making the score 1-1 at half time. Cowbridge attack kept the ball in 2 nd half adding 4 goals to the score by Charlotte Thomas & Alice Thomas. The defence kept them out of their half and the final score was 5-2 to Cowbridge. The girls finished 3 rd overall.

Team: Amy Goodfellow, Charlotte Martin, Charlotte Taylor, Emily Renwick, Bethan Moorcraft, Jordan Guard, Louise Edwards, Alice Thomas

Sport: Netball - Year 7A & B
Date: 18th November 2009

Year 7 Netballers off to a flying start!

After a strong half term of training, the year 7 netball teams took to the court for their first match against Brynteg Comprehensive School and their performances did not disappoint!

The 7A team got off to a flying start with some great linking in attack between Hanna Lister-Sims as C, Ellie Davies at WA, Kim Jerwood as GA and Emily Davies as GS. They quickly settled into the game and were leading 6-0 at half time. Going into the second half, a solid defence of Katie Kell at WD, Rebecca Thomas at GD and Gemma George at GK, ensured they kept a clean sweep and prevented the Brynteg team from scoring any goals. The game finished with a final score of 12-0 to the Cowbridge girls.

Player of the Match: Kim Jerwood

Well done girls!

The B team continued with this fine form and stormed ahead with goals thanks to Megan McNamee at GS and Jo Hannaby at GA. Lowri Allen at WA, Stephanie Sanderson at C and Catherine Rees at WD ensured the ball was brought steadily down the court and fed to the shooters to give the girls a 7-0 lead at half –time. In the second half Laurie Thomas came onto GS, Megan McNamee went to GA, Jo Hannaby went to WD, Catherine Rees went into C and Stephanie Sanderson came off. The defence of Caitlin Jones as GD and Paige Williams at GK continued with their campaign to keep Brynteg’s score board clear and the game finished 12-0 to Cowbridge. Megan McNamee was voted as player of the match.

Well dong to all the girls.

Sport: Rugby - Year 9 & 10
Date: 17th & 18th November 2009

Cowbridge year 10 continued their fine form with a convincing 55 - 7 win over Stanwell. In difficult conditions the boys showed some excellent handling skills often running the ball from inside their own 22m line after turning the ball over as a result of some strong defensive tackles. Jack Wilcox’s well controlled backline finished off the majority of tries with Christian Roberts Walters and Harri Hitchcock scoring a brace between them. Up front, skipper McPherson led by example along with some sterling performances from Will Antoni and Evan Phillips. The boys face St Cyres away this Thursday 26th Nov. The year 9 clash with Stanwell was a contrastingly different affair. In a very tight game, again in adverse conditions both teams battled hard, in a game more for rugby purists. Up front Stanwell continually forced Cowbridge to tackle, but the defence held strong only to be breached once in the first half and once in the second half both converted. In reply Cowbridge scored twice in the first half to lead 10 – 7 at half time. The second half showed no rest bite with Stanwell scoring first to lead 14 – 10. This remained the score until 5 minutes before the end when a barn storming run from number 8 Cameron O’Sullivan leading to his try, followed quickly by an excellent finish from wing Harri Thomas with the last play of the game.

Final score 20 - 14

Sport: Artificial Skiing
Year Group: 8-13

British Schools Artificial Skiing Championships held at Pontypool Park, Pontypool

The school teams travelled on the morning of the competition for the first time that these championships have been held in South Wales. Sponsored by ‘Coyoti’ of Cowbridge, many of the skiers train and regularly compete at this ski centre and we were hopeful of a successful weekend. Unfortunately experienced skiers in their quest for success suffered with non scoring runs.

In the girls competition Cowbridge had 10 skiers who had qualified from the Welsh Schools championships. Captain Alice Hales had a brilliant 1st run to lead the 100 competitors in a time of 19.22 seconds over the 28 gate course, but came unstuck as she failed to complete her second run missing out on becoming the British Schools Champion.

Emily Hopkins who fell on her first run, made up for the fall in completing her 2 nd run to help the school register a team score despite injuring her knee. Sarah Williams lying in 12th position after her first run of 21.22 seconds fell on her second run but managed to regain position to first.

Megan Allman completed both her runs to help the school to finish in a disappointing 12th overall after being 4th after the 1st run. Many of the B team skiers experienced more than 10 gates for the first time and struggled with the length of the course. Skiing at such a fast pace, some skiers missed gates and were therefore disqualified. This will give the younger members of the ski team valuable experience next time around.

The boy’s team looked hopeful to get into the top 3 position but mistakes cost the team. George Spill needing to stay on his feet after the disqualification of William Tinkler in the 1 st run fell but managed to finish registering a team score. In the second run both boys were back to normal registering two good times. Year 13 Scott Sanger competing in his last British Schools Artificial Championships made amends with tow quality runs to finish overall 4th out of 100 boys’ competitors and Bronze Medal in his age group - Junior 2.

Year 12 Sam Stephens had an excellent day with two top performances finishing 2nd in Run 1 and Run 2. This gave him a Gold Medal in his age group – Junior 1 and a Silver Medal in the overall competition. The team finished in a disappointing 10 th position.

A big thank you to all parents for their continued support. Many thanks also to ‘Coyoti’ in Cowbridge for providing all team members with shirts.

Sport: Tennis - Under 14
Date: November 2009

British Schools South West of England Regional Championships held at David Lloyd Centre, Long Ashton, Bristol

The school Under 14 team sponsored by ‘Jensen Sports’, travelled to Bristol as South Wales Champions to compete at these regional championships. Drawing top seeds Backwell Comprehensive School in the semi-final, gave the team a taste of the tough battle ahead. Captain Jonathan Humphries as No.2 seed made an encouraging start leading 3-1 but eventually lost 6-3 to a strong opponent No. 4 seed Theo Mann and No. 3 seed James Caseley struggled against stronger opposition losing both their singles 6-0.

It was left to Matthew Kamal to win the No. 1 seed singles 6-2 and with partner Jonathan 6-3 in the doubles, losing 4-2 overall in the team events.

The boys have had a very good season and have done well to reach this far.