National glory slips away

All Saints School's Under-14 netball team made a sparkling debut in the All England Schools Netball Finals at Ipswich.

Representing Yorkshire and Humberside, the York school were leading their group at the halfway point and were in with a genuine chance of becoming the national champions.

But three successive defeats - couple with an injury to captain and county player Katie Teasdale - meant they had to settle for ninth overall.

All Saints got off to a fantastic start when they came from 6-3 down to beat Central High School from the North Region 9-6.

Their second game against Wycombe from the South followed the same pattern. This time they went down 6-1 but pulled back to 6-4 at half-time, nudged ahead to 7-6 and then went on to win 13-8, with captain Katie Teasdale making some superb interceptions and Katie Bell feeding well into the circle.

With confidence growing they hammered Hayes School from the South East 13-5 with shooter Lisa Norman in fantastic form.

In their first visit to the nationals a couple of wins would have been a great achievement but it soon became apparent that they were in with a chance, although their fourth game saw some loose play against St Edwards from the West.

Eventually, good defensive play from Rachel Harlow and Julia Kaufman saw them to another victory by 10-9.

A hard fifth game saw them take on Bablake School from the West Midlands. All Saints were down 3-1 but managed to take a 6-4 lead at half time. Short passes and some controlled netball in the second half saw All Saints pick up another win by 11-7.

That left All Saints in first place in their section, just ahead of Hainault Forest, their next opponents. The teams were level, 5-5 at half-time, but Hainault went ahead in the dying minutes to win 10-8.

Victory in the last two games would put All Saints in the semi-final. In the penultimate game against Bacup and Rawtenstall, Bacup took a 2-1 lead when Teasdale went off with an hamstring injury. Audrey Outhwaite came on in her place and desspite a hard fight, All Saints lost 11-5 and finished fifth in their section and ninth overall.

All Saints' final match was against Nottingham Girls High in a tussle for third place in the section.

A team reshuffle saw Katie Bell take on centre role and Hannah Kaufman move from defence into attack where she had a superb game, but All Saints went down 12-6.

Three of the All Saints team - Lisa Norman, Ellie Hoyle and Katie Teasdale - caught the eye of the England selectors with a possibility of a call up for training at a Netball Centre of Excellence.

All Saints Under-14s: Lisa Norman, Ellie Hoyle, Katie Teasdale (Capt), Katie Bell, Hannah Kaufman, Rachel Harlow, Julia Kaufman, Audrey Outhwaite. Reserves were Sarah Jones and Helen McDonald.

All Saints' delight was in contrast to Joseph Rowntree School's disappointing day, especially at U14 level.

Joseph Rowntree started well in their first match against Our Lady Chetwynde from Cumbria, holding them 3-3 at half time. An injury to Helen Cordell in the first eight minutes meant she was unable to continue for the whole day.

She was a key member of the team and Joseph Rowntrees displayed nerves after her departure from the action and eventually finished 17th overall.

Joseph Rowntree U14s results were: v Our Lady Chetwynde lost 10-4, v Glossopaule won 10-8, v Millfield drew 8-8, v Loretto lost 12-4, v Broxbourne lost 11-7, v Croydon lost 13-6, v Fairfax lost 16-8, v Wildern lost 7-6.

The experienced Joseph Rowntrees U19 team had a great start to the day, winning their first two matches, but could not sustain their fine start and had to settle for 13th overall.

Joseph Rowntree U19 results were: v Woodford won 10-9, v King Edward won 8-6, v Taunton lost 13-7, v Cardinal Newman lost 11-2, v Minster lost 9-4, v Barton Peveril lost 14-7, v Croydon lost 14-10, v City of Sunderland won 10-9.

England scouts were watching all games and were interested in three Joseph Rowntree girls, Under 14 player Gemma Shaw and two of their Under 19s, Claire Hudson and Laura Carroll.

The York and District Schools' Under 13 Netball Tournament will take place this coming Saturday, March 21, at Joseph Rowntree School.

The annual Primary Schools' Netball Rally will also be held on Saturday. The Large and Intermediate Schools will play at Hob Moor School, while the Small and Mini Schools will play at Lowfield School.

Hockey

READ School 1st XI came from behind to beat Worksop College 3-2.

Worksop went ahead just before half-time against the run of play. Read pressed forward in the second period and Mike Smith levelled the scores.

Soon after the Worksop defence got in a tangle and Hardeep Singh took advantage to put the Drax school ahead with a simple tap in.

Read soaked up pressure before a poor free hit presented Worksop with an equaliser, but with time running out Singh was left alone to net his second goal to give Read victory.

Read School Under-15s travelled to beat Hull Grammar School 2-0. Read's relentless pressure eventually brought goals for Bharat Singh and Ben Armstrong.

Read's U13 team travelled to St Olave's, York, and recovered from conceding an early goal to win 2-1 with Luke Lodge and David Bowker on target.

Football

ESFA Wagon Wheels Indoor 5-A-Sides

Manor School's Under-12 Five-a-side soccer team narrowly missed out on reaching the regional semi-finals of the English Schools FA Wagon Wheels Indoor competition at Barnsley.

Representing York and District Schools, they won two matches 4-1 and 2-0, drew another 2-2 and lost the other 1-0.

York Boys U15s were beaten 2-0 in quarter-finals of the Yorkshire Trophy competition by Leeds at Wigginton.

The City Boys U14 has reached the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Cup competition and they will play Doncaster at Wigginton on Saturday, March 28.

This coming Saturday, March 21, the U13s, U14s and U15s - are all at Huddersfield in friendly matches.

York Under-13s: John McIlroy, Matthew Walsh, Dale Waddington, Tom Vasey, Andy Smith, Lewis Seeley (all J Rowntree), Richard Taylor, Joe Ravenscroft, Graham Law, John Swift (all Tadcaster), Carl Walsh, Jamie Elcock, Mike Mackenzie, James Clamp (all Lowfield), Craig Atkinson (Oaklands), Andy Grainger, Craig Johnston, Chris Pierce (all Canon Lee), Martin Corr (Millthorpe).York Under-14s: C Code (Brayton), M Hampshire (Selby High), C Stuart (J Rowntree) (Capt), I Calpin (Burnholme), J Paxton, J Bell, C Kamara, L Ibbetson (all Millthorpe), L Chapman, A Sadler, (both Sherburn), L Atkinson (Oaklands), A Haskins, M Fannon (both Canon Lee), A Hetherton (Huntington), A Bushby (All Saints), M Andrews (Fulford), M Kilgallon (Tadcaster), D Smith (Barlby).York Under-15s: Darren Adams, James Gibson, John Moore, Aidan Ross, Peter Vasey, Paul Young (all J Rowntree), James Anderson, Darren King, Glenn Milner (All Millthorpe), Mike Barnett, Stuart Ryder (both Brayton), Jonathan Conde (Manor), Kieran Darlow, Matthew Dobson, Simon McNamara (all Tadcaster), Chris Holmes (Canon Lee), Ben Rhodes (Lowfield), Jonathan Ross (Huntington), Mike Walker (Fulford), Andrew White, Leigh Wood (both Selby High).

Football Fixtures

THE final league fixtures of the season, to be completed by Saturday, March 21 are:

Primary B: Knavesmire v Headlands; Ralph Butterfield v Riverside; Tang Hall v Wigginton 'A'.

Primary C: Bishopthorpe v English Martyrs; Derwent v Hob Moor; Haxby Road v St Aelred's.

Primary E: Heworth v Tadcaster East; Lakeside v Skelton; Wigginton 'B' v Kingsway 'B'.

Lower Primary League fixtures for March 21: Copmanthorpe v Haxby Road; English Martyrs v Poppleton Road; Kingsway v Headlands; Westfield v Dringhouses.

U12 League: All Saints v Manor; Archbishop's v Oaklands; Lowfield v Burnholme; Millthorpe v Canon Lee; Queen Anne v Fulford; Tadcaster v Huntington.

U13 League: Archbishop's v Oaklands; Lowfield v Burnholme; Canon Lee v Millthorpe; Queen Anne v Fulford; Tadcaster v Huntington.

U14 League: Archbishop's v Oaklands; Millthorpe v Canon Lee; Huntington v Tadcaster.

U15 League: Oaklands v Archbishop's Canon Lee v Millthorpe; Fulford v Queen Anne; Huntington v Tadcaster; J Rowntree v Lowfield.

U16 League: Huntington v All Saints; Archbishop's v Oaklands; Millthorpe v Canon Lee.

Football Results

Harry Pannell (U15) Trophy Semi-final: Fulford 4, Millthorpe 5 (aet and penalties).

Wilf Meek (U14) Cup Semi-final: Tadcaster 2, Fulford 8 (Mark Andrews 5).

U15 League: All Saints 2, Burnholme 1; All Saints 3, Huntington 2; All Saints 4, Oaklands 2; Fulford 0, Millthorpe 0.

U14 League: Burnholme 2, All Saints 3; Huntington 0, Canon Lee 0; Fulford 3, Millthorpe 5.

U13 League: Burnholme 3, All Saints 2; All Saints 3, Fulford 4; Fulford 6, All Saints 1; Fulford 10, Millthorpe 1.

U12 League: Burnholme 2, All Saints 4; Canon Lee 3, All Saints 2; Huntington 4, All Saints 1; Millthorpe 2, Fulford 10 (Arthur 4, Payne 2, Bailey 2, Robson 2, Medley 1).

Primary Leagues: St Aelred's 4, Bishopthorpe 1 (S Astbury); Wigginton 'A' 5, Knavesmire 4; Wigginton 'A' 3, Poppleton Road 2; Derwent 0, English Martyrs 2; Knavesmire 1, Riverside 5; Poppleton Road 2, Tang Hall 0; Tang Hall 0, Poppleton Road 0; Lakeside 1, Skelton 9; Tadcaster East 4, Skelton 3; English Martyrs 4, St Aelred's 1; Rbt Wilkinson 2, Kingsway 'A' 2 (Darren Brandon, Paul Laurence); Knavesmire 4, Tang Hall 2; Kingsway 'A' 4 (Darren Brandon 3, Ben Simpson 1), Westfield 4; Haxby Road 2, Carr 0; English Martyrs 3, Haxby Road 3.

Annual Meeting

The annual meeting of the York and District Schools' FA will be held at All Saints School at 4.30pm on Friday, April 24.

St Peter's School, York

St Peter's school, York, get an early chance to erase the memories of their first rugby union defeat for three years last weekend.

The Under-15s have home advantage when they tackle Prince Henry's Grammar School in the Yorkshire Schools final on Saturday (noon) - just seven days after being knocked out of the Dail Mail Schools Cup.

The York boys had high hopes of a place in the final at Twickenham when they met RGS High Wycombe at Castlecroft last Saturday.But their dreams were dashed by a cruel bounce of the ball which contributed to a 13-5 defeat.

St Peter's came back from a 3-0 deficit to snatch the lead with a try by skipper and scrum half Alex Drysdale, but a kick-and-chase try, aided by that harsh bounce, by flanker James Astbury restored High Wycombe's advantage and Tom Whitehall made victory safe with a late try.

High Wycombe will play Queen Elizabeth's GS, Wakefield, who beat Whitgift 22-10 in the other semi-final. Ironically, St Peter's had knocked QEGS out of the Yorkshire Cup at the semi-final stage.

Of the High Wycombe defeat, St Peter's rugby master Maurice Monteith said: "The lads were bitterly upset. I think we left Castlecroft with a lot of admirers of the way that we play and we are lucky in a way that Saturday provides us with a chance to get some frustration out of our system."

St Peter's will be playing Prince Henry's for the Ian Briars Cup - one of four finals being staged at St Peter's on the Halifax/Sportsmatch-sponsored Yorkshire RU Schools Day.

The other finals are:

Under-14s David McCarthy Cup final: QEGS v Hymers College, Hull (10am)

Under-14s Jack Hempsall Cup final: Benton Park, Horsforth v Castleford High (11am)

Under-16 David Liddington Cup final: Crossley Heath v Harrogate GS (2pm)

Under-18 Duke of Wellington Shield final: Prince Henry's Otley v Wath Comprehensive (3.15pm)

Lacrosse Queens Rule

Queen Margaret's School, Escrick retained the North of England Under-15 lacrosse title with an excellent series of results in the tournament at Wirral Grammar School.

They lost only one of six section matches to reach the semi-finals, where they beat Queens, from Chester, 1-0.

In the final St Margaret's beat Harrogate Ladies College 2-0.

The school's lacrosse first team are seeking national success on Saturday when they take part in the schools finals at Milton Keynes.

The team lost to St Swithuns in a bad start to the competition's preliminary round but went on to win the remainder of their games, scoring 20 goals while conceding just three.

They were then successful in the semi-finals to reach the finals for the first time in three years.

ABOVE, Queen Margaret's School U15 team. Back from left: Emma Summers, Sarah Webb, Ellie Kerfoot, Victoria Argyle, Sarah Cutt, Martha Noel-Paton, Frances Bell, Patience Stirling. Front from left: Marie-Claire Prust, Helen Archbell, Lorna Kennedy, Rebecca Hepworth and Camilla Graham-Enock.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.