Stopfordian 2010–2011 - Stockport Grammar School

The Stopfordian 2010–2011
Against Arnold School we batted first and amassed a huge
total of 174 thanks largely to Yates whose score of 75 was one
of the best innings I have ever seen at U12 level. With some
good accurate bowling all round Arnold never looked like
getting close and a victory by 78 runs was well deserved.
As always seems to be the case we met King’s Macclesfield in
the next round of the Cup and the team were itching to make
amends for their early season defeat. We managed a
creditable 112 from our 20 overs with Towle making a
typically rambunctious 50. Our hopes that lessons had been
learnt from our previous outing were quickly dashed as their
star player was dropped off the third ball of the innings, and
with it went our hope of victory as King’s won by 6 wickets.
On a gloriously sunny day at Sandbach we needed 115 for
victory batting second. This was managed with ease mainly
due to another impressive innings of 64 not out from the
captain Francis Yates.
Against the usually strong King’s Chester we bowled poorly
allowing them to score a huge total of 178 from 25 overs with
their diminutive no. 3 bat scoring a classy 86 not out. Most
supporters thought it too much of a tall order to better their
score but enter Ollie Towle….. with one of the best
exhibitions of savage hitting I have seen by a 12 year old he
scored 114 in no time at all. He was ably supported by the
other Ollie (Finch, that is) who hit the winning runs and
finished on 32 not out. Exit a shell-shocked King’s.
This was our final game before the season ended with the
King’s Macc Sixes. This proved to be a very enjoyable and
successful day where we won all but one of our matches
losing only to the aforementioned Sandbach. A suitably
successful end to a great season enjoyed by a team with much
promise.
R. W. Wallington
C. J. Wright
GIRLS’ FOOTBALL
The girls take a break from training
Spot the ball
Georgia and Rachel practise their
goal celebrations
Girls’ football resumed in September, with an enthusiastic
group of young players eager to learn more about the game
and improve their skills. Our coach, Lewis Grimshaw from
Manchester City, provided the technical know-how and put
the girls though their paces. A typical session involved skillsbased
training, shooting practice and then a match. Anyone
passing the hockey pitches on a Monday evening could not
have failed to notice the level of skill on display and the
enjoyment had by all; there was often a great deal of laughter
and high spirits. Although some players came and went
during the season, a nucleus of energetic girls attended week
in, week out, rain or shine. These regulars really improved in
the course of the year and they should be proud of their
achievements. Special mention must go to Georgia Burns,
Ellie Rogerson, Freya Ferguson, Eleanor Crawford, Alice
Coombes, Natalie Clarke, Zoe Harris, Jessie Brook, Olivia
Hurst, Megan Jones and Rachel Fitzsimmons for making this a
memorable first season in charge for me. I hope to see them
all back next year and would encourage all girls of any age or
ability who are interested in playing the beautiful game to
join us.
S. M. Gibson
ATHLETICS
This has been anther great year for Athletics at Stockport
Grammar and one which has seen us develop from a big fish
in a small pond into a major player at regional level. We
realised two years ago that SGS pupils needed a new
challenge away from the Stockport Schools’ competition but
little did we think that in our first year involved in the English
Schools’ Cup we would make such an impact.
The season as always started very well. In some beautiful
weather in late April, the traditional First and Second Year
92 Sport