Full Sporting Colours have been awarded to the following pupils:

Cherry Morris
Angharad Davies
Amy Harris Jones
Sophie Openshaw
Katja Paine

Sport report: week beginning Mon 12^th May

Unfortunately the Christ College fixture was postponed due to heavy rain and waterlogged pitches.  However, for the visit of Hartridge Academy on Wed 5^th May, skies were clear and the sun shone brightly.

Hartridge were asked to bat. And although John Thorley and Harry Burnett made early in roads with the ball, at 112 for 3 after 20 overs Hartridge looked well set for a large total off their remaining 15 overs.  However three quick wickets for James Harvey bowling his fiendish leg breaks meant that Thorley was able to mop up the tail and leave Hartridge on a respectable but not insurmountable total of 166 all out.

The Hartridge bowlers made life very difficult for the Llandovery openers Josh Basey and Ceitho Anwyl Williams.  Both were back in the pavilion with only 11 on the board.  This brought Jaen Botes and Captain Thorley to the crease who then proceeded to put on a partnership of over 100 for the 3^rd wicket.  Botes clubbed the ball over the boundary with brute force while Thorley played the more measured innings.  Botes was caught out on 45 and then shortly after Thorley was bowled for 88 – a great effort – but how he must rue the missed chance of a deserved century.  This left Llandovery needing 27 runs for victory.  An assortment of singles, edges and golf shots from the likes of Dec Sharma, Gwyn Edwards and James Harvey left us needing 5 runs to win off the last 6 balls.  Gruff Jones got on strike which meant 4 runs were needed off 5 balls.  He played and missed 4 times which meant a 4 was required off the last ball to win.

Gruff will tell you that he played a lofted straight drive back over the bowler’s head to seize victory.  In fact the thickest of edges saw the ball bounce twice and then clear the boundary for 4.  No one cared how we got there as Llandovery had won.  Pandemonium ensued and it proved that cricket can be exciting.

At under 15 level Llandaff Cathedral school sent their under 16’s to play our under 15’s and a mismatch occurred.  However, well done to all who played and stuck at it.

In Golf, Richard James came 4^th out of a large field in the Dyfed Schools championships.  He now represents the Dyfed team in the Welsh school’s championships.

Sport report: week beginning 3^rd march 2008

In what was a busy week our netballers travelled to Queen Elizabeth High on Monday 25^th February.  Against QEH the seniors ended up on the wrong side of an entertaining 27 – 16 loss.  The under 15’s also suffered a reverse with their first loss of the season 12 – 11.  In contrast however the 15b’s won their first game of the season with outstanding play from Emily Thompson and Jessica John in a 17 – 15 win.  The U.13a and b both lost narrowly.

Against Rhydywaun, the under 13a and b teams both lost.  A failure to score was a large problem for the teams.  Bethan Hope Bell did however catch the eye with good play.  In a one off hockey match against the same opposition the U.16’s won 5 – 0 with goals from Nina Brown, Ami Thomas, Izzy Pemble and Angharad Davies.

 
On the Saturday against Malvern it was disappointing to suddenly find teams depleted for a number of reasons.  The u.13 and u.15 sides lost heavily against more experienced opponents but the seniors saved Llandovery’s blushes with a 20 – 7 win in the senior fixture.  Despite some of the losing results great improvement is still being made amongst all the squads.  Well done and good luck to the junior netball sides competing in the Brianne tournament on Wednesday

 
The second XV played Maesyryrfa in midweek.  Although the scoreline of 36- 12 does not reflect how close the game was in the end.  In the first 20 minutes the opposition seized control of the game, from which Llandovery were always on the back foot.  At half time the score was 28 – 0.  An inspirational team talk from Huw Thomas turned things around however and College won the second half 12 – 8.  Superb interplay between the pack and the backs led to a score each for centre Richard Reid and Winger Daniel Beynon.  Man of the match was Declan Sharma for showing an uncharacteristically high work rate.

 
The senior sevens squad travelled to Birkenhead for their second tournament of the season.  The team won their pool at a canter racking up well over 100 points in 4 games.  Unfortunately, Llandovery came unstuck against Hymer’s College in the quarter final.  Still the experience is all good in preparation for the Llandovery sevens on Wednesday and the national schools sevens at Rosslyn park next week.

Mr Phil Davies will be stepping down as Head of Rubgy and coach of the First XV at the end of the 2007-2008 season.  His contribution to rugby at the College has been immense and his impact on players considerable.  Phil's support for the school has been unserving for many years and even though there will no longer be a Head of Rugby position at the College he will continue to provide invaluable help.

In the new season responsiblitiy for overseeing all rugby will once again fall under the jurisdiction of the Director of Sport, Mr M Williams.  The is the conventional structure within schools similar to ours.

I am delighted to announce that the new coach of the First XV will be Mr T Bayley.  He will be assisted by Mr P Davies.  Mr Watts will also be changing roles and coaching rugby elsewhere in the school.  The full details of changes to coaches in other ages will be announced in due course.  I would also like to express my gratitiude to mr Watts for his significant to the First XV in recent years.

Mr Bayley will take full responsibility for the First XV squad in the new season.

P.A. Hogan

Sport report: week beginning 28^th January 2008.

 The spectators who braved the chilly air on Saturday were treated to a top class game of rugby on Tredegar as the 1^st XV took on a much vaunted Millfield side.  There was no quarter given in the opening exchanges, and the rucks and mauls were no place for the faint hearted.  Llandovery clearly had the upper hand in the first half but it was Millfield who took the lead through a break away try.  Richard Read equalised with a well worked score and perhaps Llandovery should have gone in 12 – 5 up at half time.  A tantalising gap opened for fly half Gruff Jones with men outside but once he had made the decision to go for it, it had closed and the opportunity was lost.

In the second half Millfield took more control of the game.  Eventually after stopping wave after wave of attacks Llandovery finally ran out of defenders and Millfield scored a deserved try.  But Llandovery did not buckle and came roaring back. Quick ball and slick passing saw Jon Botes receive the ball in space, he sold a dummy but the defender took him high around the neck.  The referee quite rightly awarded a penalty try.  With the score now at 12 – 12 it set up an exciting last 15 minutes.  No side could gain a clear advantage and the match finished appropriately as a draw.

The 2^nd XV played a much bigger Millfield team containing 7 players who had represented their 1sts.  The final score of 32 – 0 was no shame, although perhaps better tackling in the backs may have kept the score line down.

Earlier in the week the College netball teams enjoyed much success against their counterparts from Gwendraeth school.  The under 13’s had a hard fought game with Bethan Hope Bell outstanding in defence.  Lauren Stoneham enjoyed 100% shooting accuracy, but unfortunately Llandovery couldn’t hedge ahead and lost 5 – 4.

The under 15 A’s were a class apart from Gwendraeth in terms of skill and fitness.  Sam Quinnell had a shooting success rate of 88%.  Solid defence from Hannah Mitchell meant that Llandovery ran out comfortable winners. The 15 B’s drew 2 – 2 with Emily Thompson and Liz Rees outstanding.

The 1^st VII finally settled in to a good pattern of play with Cherry Morris outstanding in defence.  However, Llandovery made the game harder than was needed before running out 5 – 3 winners.

SPORT REPORT: week beginning 14^th Jan 2008.

There was just the one fixture on the opening weekend of the Lent term and it saw the 1^st XV take on Plymouth College.  With all the inclement weather that was forecast the Gods smiled as the afternoon stayed dry and even bright.  This enabled the Llandovery back division to play with style and flair.  Flanker Jason Ronowitz managed to keep up with the backs to score the first try of the game but a dogged Plymouth performance meant that at half time the score was only 7 – 5 to Llandovery after they had driven over from a lineout.

The second half saw Llandovery gradually seize control of the forward battle and further tries came for Gruff Jones, Thomas Thomas and the abrasive Jon Botes.  Neil Davies kicked 2 conversions and a penalty to make the final score 27 – 5

 
Gruff Williams and Tess Noreiko spent the weekend in Paris representing the GB u.15 sabre team at an Anglo – French tournament.  Gruff came in 24^th out of 100 participants and Tess came 30^th out of 50.

 
Good luck to Yr 10 pupil Mia Martin who represents Wales u.17’s at football against Australia this weekend.

DMW.