Belhaven Hill School

Co-ed Boarding & Day School for ages 5-13

Match Reports for Netball and Hockey against St. Mary's

Match Reports for Netball and Hockey against St. Mary's

Belhaven Hill's Girls' Netball and Boys' Hockey match reports for games against St. Mary's

Wednesday, 29th January 2025

BOYS' HOCKEY

1st Team

This week saw the 1st Boys record their second convincing win in two weeks as they slotted six goals home against St. Mary’s, at Tweedbank.

With seven senior boys away with the lurgy currently running through the school and almost all the rest feeling well below par, I wasn’t entirely sure who would be in the 1st team until we took to the pitch. As it was, the only new cap gained was Tristan’s - he slotted in at right wing back.

Once again, a slightly less than ideal warm-up meant that the boys were not quite functioning at full speed when the start whistle blew and within the first couple of minutes, the opposition had run through the middle of the pitch and slotted one past Harry to take an early lead. Cue horrible flashbacks to the Strathallan game...

As it turned out, that was the last time St. Mary’s came close to scoring for a good while as the Belhaven boys woke up and launched into attack mode themselves. Wilbur was first onto the score sheet in the 7th minute and Ollie pounced on the ball from their restart and scored less than a minute later to see us go into the first quarter break 2 – 1 up.

An unlucky deflection off his own stick saw one of the St. Mary's boys go off injured and as they had no subs available, we turned it into a six-a-side match. Not ideal preparation for next week, but it did mean that there was lots of space on the pitch. It was Belhaven who utilised the space most effectively, getting into wide channels and Ollie added another to his earlier goal.

At half time, I asked the boys to focus on two elements: bursting forward in attack and finding space ahead of the ball-carrier; and showing a bit more confidence and calm when on the ball. I was pleased to see them act upon both of these and I was delighted with some of the leads that the boys ran, getting into good areas that stretched the St. Mary’s defence and forced them to make difficult decisions. It also led to goals for Hector and Wilbur in the third quarter and then another for Hector in the fourth.

Though he didn’t manage to get on the score sheet, Rollo was instrumental in many of the attacking surges, carrying and passing effectively. Charlie took free hits quickly, not giving the opposition time to realign and made some excellent carries. And all the while, the debutant, Tristan, grew in confidence. He made numerous excellent tackles and intercepts and began driving into space out wide when it was available. Impressive.

St. Mary’s showed excellent spirit, despite being down and never gave up, scoring a well-deserved goal late in the match which was a reminder to the boys to never lose concentration.

Overall, a slightly strange match but some excellent play and continued improvements being made by the team. Next week we hit the road with the IAPS Regional Qualifiers at Fettes on Wednesday which will be a real challenge and then straight from there down to the Ampleforth Tournament on Thursday – lots of exciting hockey to come!

Final Score: Belhaven Hill 6 - 1 St. Mary's

Player of the Match: Hector – pressed forward effectively and got his reward with a brace of goals.

Mr. T

U11A Team

Belhaven U11 boys put in a fantastic performance in a thrilling match against St Mary’s, narrowly missing out in a hard-fought contest. The game started with a strong opening from St Mary’s, who managed to score two early goals in the first quarter. Despite the setback, the team regrouped during the break, reinforcing our key focus for the match – communication.


Heading into the second quarter, Belhaven responded with renewed energy. Monty scored, to bring us back into contention, reducing the deficit to 2-1 at half-time. The team continued discussions about strong passes out wide and carrying the ball forward, key aspects of our attacking play.


The third quarter saw St Mary’s extend their lead with another 2 goals, taking their tally to four. However, Belhaven kept pushing, and Xander capitalised on a well-worked short corner, finishing with a perfectly placed tap-in at the post.


The final quarter was packed with drama, as the intensity of the match reached its peak. St Mary’s remained on four goals, but an unfortunate own goal from their side brought Belhaven even closer. Xander came agonisingly close to levelling the game, but his goal was ruled out for dangerous play.


A huge thank you to captain Innes for leading the team through this exciting battle. A special mention to Leo, our outstanding goalkeeper and Player of the Match, who made some brilliant saves and showcased incredible diving efforts to keep Belhaven in the game.


Well done, boys! A great performance full of resilience and teamwork. Bring on IAPS!
Final Score: Belhaven 3 - 4 St Mary’s

2nd Team

With the promise of a dry afternoon which was filled with spots of sunshine the boys approached today's match against St. Mary’s with focus. Due to several team members being struck down with illness throughout the early part of the week, the 2nds had some new and eager recruits.

The first quarter started quickly with our boys working well as a team, moving the ball around the pitch and creating lots of space. It wasn’t long before Noah took control of the ball driving into the D and taking a cracking shot on goal which was quickly deflected by their keeper. However, Noah didn’t give up and continued to put pressure on the keeper with the help of Lucas although was clear from the onset that the St. Mary’s keeper was a force to be reckoned with and much to the frustration of our boys, remained this way throughout the whole match. In the last 1 minute of the first quarter, St. Mary’s finally broke through our defence and scored.

The boys began strongly in both the second and third quarters with Juan continually dominating up the left wing, culminating in countless shots on goal and Kasper also demonstrated excellent skill and control of the ball in his position as a forward but to our continued frustration we just couldn’t get the ball past the St. Mary’s keeper. However, each time the opposition broke free and drove towards the D, Jack took control and instructed his defensive team into their correct positions while both Kasper and Bertie remained strong and consistent, deflecting the opposition's ball away from the D.

In the early part of the final quarter, St. Mary’s popped another sneaky goal behind Will. However, our boys continued to communicate well, and the match ball yet again ended back in our D with more skilled but sadly unsuccessful shots on goal from Noah, Juan and Lucas. With 2 minutes to go, St. Mary’s managed to score the final goal of the match making it 3 - 0 to St. Mary’s.

A huge well done to the boys. Although it wasn’t a win on this occasion, the team should be immensely proud of their performance.

U11B Team

The U11B team took on St Mary’s in a thrilling and fast-paced encounter, playing four ten-minute quarters that allowed the boys to catch their breath and maintain high energy throughout. A special mention to the four boys who sportingly stepped up to play for St Mary’s when needed—well done and thank you for your sportsmanship.

St Mary’s started strongly, playing some excellent hockey to take a 2-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. However, Belhaven responded well, with Toby, playing outfield this game, smashing home a powerful shot to get us on the scoreboard. As the match progressed, Atticus, Andrew, and James grew in confidence in midfield, linking up well and threading some excellent passes through the centre of the pitch.

At halftime, the score stood at 3-2 to St Mary’s, with Atticus scoring a well-placed shot through a defender’s legs. Our defence was outstanding, with Robin, Noah, and Dougal all making crucial tackles at key moments to keep us in the game. By the end of the third quarter, the match remained on a knife edge at 4-3 to St Mary’s.

The final quarter saw one last big push from Belhaven. St Mary’s struck first with an excellent goal to make it 5-3, but the boys showed tremendous determination and resilience. William F responded immediately, pulling a goal back, and in the dying moments, Toby finished from a tight angle to bring the game level at 5-5. As soon as the ball hit the back of the net, the final whistle blew - sealing an exciting and well-fought draw.

A fantastic performance with plenty of positives and learnings to take forward. Thank you to all the spectators who came to support!

Result: Belhaven 5 – 5 St Mary’s

Mr Brown

U9 Team


The squad was split into two equal teams and played two matches each. There were signs of some encouraging play but all too often we tried to clear the ball out of defence by playing the ball up the middle of the pitch and giving it back to St Mary’s. It was always going to be a struggle.


We did have a couple of excellent goals when we passed the ball out wide and played in space – I will keep on repeating this!


I was really impressed with Elisey who was determined in defence and managed to try some strong passes to the winger; Sam persevered too and kept pressing the opposition when they had the ball and Max worked hard too.

Result:
1-3, 0-2, 1-2, 0-2

 

 

 

 

GIRLS' NETBALL

1st Team

Belhaven 23 – St Mary’s 37

Our 3rd match of the season was another away fixture for the team. The team found the first quarter difficult to get going as St. Mary’s were strong right from the first whistle. It took us time to settle down to a rhythm, but we started to fight harder for possession. The St. Mary’s team has some tall attackers who were able to loop the ball over the heads of our defence. Florence did well to intercept at times to feed the ball back out to Wendy. Maggie and Clemmie positioned themselves well in the shooting circle to aim for goal. By the end of the first quarter, it was still close with Belhaven 5 – St Mary’s 7.

During the second quarter, we let the St Mary’s team dominate the court and make the most of the space available. Eloise marked their centre well to fight for possession, whilst Emily tried hard against a taller opposition. By the end of this quarter, St Mary’s were firmly ahead.

Our aim for the third quarter was to ensure we scored from our centre passes and try to create space. Clemmie switched to centre and played well in the middle of the court whilst Ottilie was the driving force for our team in attack. Maggie and Eloise worked well in the circle taking shots at goal, scoring a further 5 this quarter.

For the last quarter, the sole aim was to narrow the difference in scores. St. Mary’s swapped their players around and the Belhaven team were determined to fight to the end. The team played far better this quarter, communicating with each other and not making forced errors. Eloise and Maggie were certainly on a roll with their shooting scoring an impressive 11 goals between them. Florence and Emily marked their opponents well in defence, whilst the mid court players Wendy, Clemmie and Ottilie passed the ball well between them. Despite a great final quarter, it was not enough to match the St. Mary’s score.

This was a frustrating match to watch as the girls found it difficult to mark their opponents and get free for the ball. We have been working hard on creating space and moving towards the ball and they couldn’t get free from their markers today.


Three wishes and a star:
💫 you need to start moving forwards more and get in front of your opponents
💫 we need to watch the loopy passes
💫 we need to ensure we don’t run into someone’s space
⭐️ some amazing shooting today from Maggie
Player of the match voted by St Mary’s was Eloise

 

U11A Team

St Mary’s U11A 17 - 8 Belhaven U11A

As we wave goodbye to January it seemed fitting that the sun came out and the skies were blue – a promise of Spring was in the air.

Despite missing some key players due to illness, the U11A team approached the match with the same enthusiasm and determination they always show. After some warmups with Bronte, Isobel, as our captain, started off the match in Centre. St. Mary’s got off to a strong start in the first quarter scoring in opening minutes.

Play improved in the second quarter however, once Belhaven had orientated themselves and started catching up with St. Mary’s pace. Belhaven began to work as a team and started getting the ball up in into the shooting circle. This was mainly thanks to Sophia, Chloe, Isobel and Meme working together in the centre third to push the ball up to the Belhaven scoring end.

Once the ball was in the shooting circle, Eliza scored some brilliant goals for her debut A-team performance and Holly impressed us with her shooting accuracy and determination to ‘snatch’ the ball on the rebound.

A particular well done to Imogen (also her debut A-team performance), Cecily and Sylvia who showed determination and resilience in defence but unfortunately St. Mary’s ability to get the ball up to their shooting circle meant that the opportunity for scoring was in their favour.

Holly was deservedly named player of the match by St Mary’s - she was always looking for space and did a great job of always being ‘on’ the ball.

 

Full Time: St Mary’s 17 - 8 Belhaven

A very good result against a slick opposition, well done girls. Things to work on next week are to pass accurately (not to the opposition!) and to run into space when asking for a pass.

My thanks to Mrs Haddon for helping keep the score and her advice between quarters.

U9 Team

On what was supposedly a cold day out on the hockey fields and netball courts, Belhaven under 9s were in the relative warmth of the heated sports hall for their second fixture of the season. St. Mary's were the travelling opponents who uniquely turned up with 15 players. As a result, Belhaven were able to field two teams of rotating players with each 6-minute quarter seeing a total change in the playing roster.


Belhaven got off to a strong start in the first quarter during which they dominated possession and scored 3 goals to 0. The second quarter saw a change in personnel and a quick reaction from the incoming players who took their chance to shine and scored 5 goals to 0. The third quarter saw the original team take to the court again and while St. Mary's produced a sterner test, Belhaven still came out on top with a single goal to nil. St. Mary's were in the match though and fought harder in the final quarter to gain a creditable 0 - 0 draw. Belhaven though refused to settle and dominated the final two quarters winning 3 - 0 and 5 - 0 respectively.

While each quarter was scored individually given the rotation of all 24 players, Belhaven won five of these and drew one with a final goal tally of 17 goals to nil.

Coach’s thoughts:
The team marches on with another win under their belt. The passing and moving between players was very good today and something the opposition could not live with. Most pleasing was the pressure Belhaven applied without the ball, something which was worked on this week. The team is yet to be tested but the energy they are putting in is great and something I hope will continue.