Success at school, county and national level is on the menu this week, with wins being recorded in both junior and senior age groups in a variety of sports. Week 4 also gave rise to a fairly unique occurrence – one senior boy returned to house on Sunday, had tea and sat down to watch a bit of television, only to find that one of the players in the National Indoor Hockey final being broadcast live on sky sports had played against him on Saturday for Seaford! School sport is definitely getting more serious!

Football
No matches to report on, but congratulations to Gbohun P-I and Joe T who have kept their places in the U14 County squad. Tomorrow they travel to take on Kent in the latest round of the Inter-Counties Cup.

Hockey
The U14 age group continue to lay out an entertaining brand of hockey. The B team narrowly lost a nerve-jangling encounter 1-0 to Seaford, with the A team going down 3-1. Henry M was goal scorer and man of the match.

The U15A team made it three wins from three with a well-earned 2-1 victory over a Lewes OG team that contained a number of county players. Man of the match was goalkeeper Henry B. This again marks the progress that the team are making and the potential they possess. Just for the record they have now scored 17 goals in 3 games and let in only 2! An awesome return.

After a heavily disrupted start to the season, the 2nd team finally had their first match of the season against Seaford. An inexperienced side, with three members of the squad playing their first ever competitive match of hockey, defended admirably to keep the score 0-0 at half time. Unfortunately, very sloppy goals allowed Seaford a 3-0 victory but there were encouraging signs to take from the performance. Fitness didn’t seem an issue as several decent chances were created with Milan M testing the keeper and Ali H going close from successive short corners. The positive mentality throughout and after the game was commendable. Most Valuable Player went to Ali H who was a driving force in midfield and surprisingly managed to last the whole game!

The 1st XI approached Seaford College with apprehension. With a new half court tactic being employed the team were seeking to force the opposition into mistakes before catching them on the break. Lancing’s inability to utilise possession contributed to this system not working quite as well as it could have. If the two internationals had not been playing, it would have been a very tightly fought match. Watching players of that calibre provided extremely good motivation for the boys to improve their own game.

On Wednesday the 1st XI took on a strong Collyers side in the County Cup. A number of well worked passages of play provided Lancing with a number of early short corners. The team did not capitalise on these opportunities, but at the start of the second half, Jono C finished well after a well worked short corner routine. The second followed shortly after with George H finishing off from a great cross from Dylan K. Collyers then pushed hard for a goal back and they eventually did this, scoring from a short corner. However they were unable to equalise due to a great work ethic from the Lancing team and some dogged defending. Man of the match was George H for some excellent defensive work that helped to shield the back four and a composed finish that helped win the game. This win makes it back-to-back Semi Final appearances in the Sussex Cup where they will now meet…for a change... St Bede's!

Netball
The Netball club is a good place to be at the minute, with all teams creating a real buzz about the sport. Yesterday against Brighton College both the 1st and 2nd teams produced a quality of play that meant matches were the closest they have been for many years. Player of the match in the 1st VI game was Coco A. Mr Wilkes commented that the 2nd VII pushed an increasingly worried Brighton all the way. The MVP accolade was shared by Hattie T and Millie H. A measure of the success of this block was that the Sussex coach who was present at the games has made enquiries about taking Lancing girls on trial, with a view to them representing their county. This is a huge step forward for Girls' Games and one that should be celebrated.

Lower down the club, Sophie P was named as MVP in the U16 game where Ria A and Paige S scored 13 points between them. The U14B team faced Shoreham College last Tuesday with Jasmine Y and Penny Y starring. The MVP award went to Lucy M for her determination at Goal Attack.

Rugby
Last Tuesday the U16 Rugby team travelled to Angmering School. From the kick-off it was obvious Lancing faced a bigger and more drilled opposition and were quickly behind. Despite some good defence from Josh F and Basil Y, the trend continued for much of the match with little opportunity to attack. Franklin N and Jack D ran the ball strongly tried to take the match to the opposition. The final score of 35-0 was a true reflection of the dominance of the opponents and gives our players something to consider before the upcoming 7’s season.

On a brighter note Basil Y was selected to represent the District in U16 Rugby this week and played in a match against the county team on Wednesday. James W is also in the final squad for the U15 county Rugby team and faces fixtures in the near future against Hampshire and Surrey.

Prior to the U16 game, the 1st XV also played Angmering. With the wind blowing in their favour, Lancing swiftly attacked the opposition with hostility and dexterity. Ali H and Dylan K maintained constant pressure throughout the game. Special mention should go to Nick R for a try-saving tackle upholding the Lancing clean sheet. New players to the game Gadaf M-A and Alex S contributed to the success of the team and the usual suspects of Alec R, Theo W, Tom N and Dan T all played well. Player of the match in the 34-0 win was Ali H.

League Run
Congratulations to the vast numbers who went round the league run again this week in some glorious mud. There was a particularly spectacular effort from Ed G who lost a shoe in the horses’ field whilst leading the race. At first he thought he would leave the shoe behind and carry on regardless, but then thought better of it and doubled back to rescue it out of the mud. There was not time to put it back on, so carrying the shoe in one hand he leapt through icy puddles, hopped over stiles and battled through knee deep slime with just one sock on his right foot, before sprinting up the drive to win the race in fine style, thus providing the master in charge of cross country with another running anecdote to add to his seemingly endless list.

Squash
The squash club has had one of its busier weeks of action. Tuesday brought the annual Prep Schools tournament which attracted 6 schools with 13 teams in competition. It also brought squash legend and OL Brandon Hanley back to the college with his Westbourne House teams.

On the court, the news of the week was the progression of the U15 team in the National cup. A narrow 3-2 win over Charterhouse means that finals week in Manchester is one step closer. Player of the match was Joel C for his audacious match winning shot to clinch not only the rubber, but the overall victory.

Yesterday, the club hosted Harrow in a block fixture. There was more good news to report with the U15 team winning 3-2 (player of the match Nick B) and the 1st team winning in convincing style by 4 matches to 1. Most valuable player here was Ryan W. The team still remain unbeaten in all competitions.

Swimming
Last Thursday Ardingly came to Lancing for a junior team swimming gala. The Lancing team started well with a convincing win by Henry Y in the 50m front crawl. Lancing continued well with strong performances from Kenny W, Vincent L and Alex B in all strokes; indeed the boys went on to win every event. For the girls, superb swimming came from Jasmine Y and Ivy N and despite fewer participants they gained enough points for Lancing to win overall. The overall tally was Lancing 30 - Ardingly 26 with swimmer of the meet being Jasmine Y.