KFSAC Year 3 /4 Girls Unihoc
Monday saw our A and B teams competing in the annual KFSAC Unihoc tournament. The girls had trained really hard for the past 3 weeks, giving up multiple break-times in order to prepare themselves.
A Team - 2nd Place
The A team did exceptionally well in their group stages scoring 8 goals and conceding 0. Zarah did an amazing job in goal, albeit she had little to do thanks to the amazing defence of Isabella, Tabitha and Filippa - ensuring that going into the semi-final, we kept a clean sheet. Nunu and Sophie did excellent jobs as our strikers for the afternoon, ensuring that we sailed safely through to the semi-final against KES. The girls started strong and were dominant throughout. The ball came into our half only once during the whole game - a superb effort by our girls! We managed to win the game 1-0, however, we could have had so many more. The girls remained undefeated and were looking strong. We were undoubtedly the strongest team in the tournament, being the only school to win all of our matches going into the final and keeping a clean sheet throughout.
Into the final the girls went, facing NES. During the group stages, the girls had beaten NES convincingly 3-0. So they went into the game full of confidence and bursting with excitement. We scored our first goal within the first ten seconds. The girls were dominant throughout and kept threatening the NES goal, with numerous shots fired testing their goalkeeper, or narrowly missing the bench. With just 2 minutes left of the game, NES managed to sneak a goal past Zarah, meaning it was 1-1. However, our girls didn’t give up and fought back to score making it 2-1 to TES. With only one minute on the clock, we thought the game was ours, but in the final few seconds, NES’ equaliser came making the final score 2-2, and meaning the champions were to be decided on the dreaded penalties. Despite some great saves from Zarah in goal and a wonderful strike from Isabella, it was clearly not meant to be our day and the girls came away in second place. The girls deserved the win, but lady luck was not on our side. Well done girls - you did yourselves, your coach and the school proud!
B Team- Champions
The TES Unihoc B team played a total of 3 matches on Monday evening. They were the winners in all three games beating ATIS 2-0, BSK 4-0 and NES 3-1. These wins resulted in a resounding victory in the B-Team Tournament. Well done girls! The top goal scorer for the evening was Erin but all players were focussed and driven in the games. A special mention should go out to the captain, Orla, who earlier in the day, during training, split open her chin and required 4 stitches only to pick her stick up later and play even harder during the tournament without one tear being shed! A fantastic effort by her and the team - champions for the second year in a row in the B team tournament! Well done everyone!!
KFSAC Year 3 /4 Boys Unihoc
After superb performances by our girls on Monday, the boys were looking to match or even better their results. And match it exactly they did!
A Team- 2nd Place
The A team won all their group games beating ATIS 1-0, TEA 4-0, NIS 3-0 and KNES 2-0. Arlo, Rakan, Ali and Harry all played very well throughout. In the semi-final we came up against KES and drew 0-0 after full time but managed to win on penalties. Sam in goal made a couple of great saves, which saw the team safely through to the final. In the final we played very well against the host team and managed to finish the game with a 0-0 draw. That meant, just like the girls, that the champions were to be decided on penalties. Unfortunately we lost the final on penalties. However, just like with the girls, our boys were the strongest team on the day and were extremely unlucky not to bring home the trophy. Fantastic job boys!
B Team- Champions
The B team won their competition after winning 2-0 versus TEP and 1-0 against ATIS before losing 1-0 to NIS. In the semi-final, we beat ABS 2-0 and went on to win the final 1-0 against NES. Well done to Andrew, Luke, Boris, Ben, Tristan and Rory for winning the B competition - a fantastic result and great performances by all of the boys, showcasing the hard work they had put in during training.
ISACK U13 Boys Football- The Final
TES 3 - 2 KES
Tuesday was the U13 Boys football final. Our boys have had an excellent season so far, surpassing expectations and putting in great performances each week. The only team who had beaten the boys during the group stages was KES and they were our opponents once again in the final. We started the game well and put KES under pressure right from kickoff, creating a number of chances and working the KES defence early. We had a number of shots and put the ball in the KES box regularly, but did not really trouble their goalkeeper. We had a number of half-chances but were unable to capitalise when Danny, Max and Orestis were all unlucky. KES had a number of attacks as well, but the strong defence of Cassius, Jack, Matthew and Omar limited KES to shooting from long distance which did not trouble Benjamin in goal. We started to have more possession and territory midway through the first half and began to get on top. We went a goal up when we worked the ball wide with Owain and Max before a cross was flicked on by Orestis to Danny at the back post who had a good first touch and volleyed past the keeper. At that point we were deserving of the lead but KES managed to strike back within a minute when, from a corner, the ball evaded the near post defender and the goalkeeper before trickling over the line for a somewhat softly conceded goal. The score remained 1-1 until half time.
The second half was very similar to the first, with both teams competing for every ball and TES pushing to attack the KES defence. Owain in the centre of midfield was winning a lot of ball and starting the attacks for the team, as he did in the semi final against NES. The TES players were pressuring constantly and KES had to rely on long goal kicks by the keeper to move up the pitch, which were largely well dealt with by the defence throwing their bodies in front of the ball and clearing the danger before it got to Ben. KES were given a number of free kicks around the edge of the box and one of them paid off when the KES player hit a brilliant shot into the top corner of the net which Ben had no chance of saving. We nearly equalised when Orestis found Shareef on the back post with a brilliant cross but unfortunately Shareef could not find the back of the net. TES kept pushing and managed to score from a corner of our own when Cassius struck the ball from distance and it beat the KES keeper who was under a lot of pressure from our boys attacking the ball in the air. Each of the attacking players made good runs up the pitch with the ball but were just unable to get a shot or effective cross in towards the goal. KES finished the match on top with TES having to make a number of blocks and clearances to keep the score 2-2 at full time.
In extra time TES were on top and had a number of scoring opportunities and set pieces around the KES area. Late in extra time we went 3-2 up when Max hit a great corner into the box and Cassius attacked the ball on the far post to score our first goal from a corner all season. KES pushed hard for an equaliser in extra time but we managed to hold on to the lead and limited them to long range shots and free kicks, which were largely blocked by some brave defending.
We saved our best performance of the season for the final where the boys displayed great character and work ethic to pull through and win the ISACK championship for 2016-17. I would like to say a big thank you to Mr Watts for the amount of time and effort you have committed to the team with training and matches. A big thank you to all the boys for the amount of effort they have put in this season and a thank you to all the parents for supporting the team; all of your hard work and effort paid off with a winning season - congratulations boys!
ISACK U13 Girls Netball- The Final
TES 14 - 25 NES
Alongside the boys, our Netball girls were back in action once again, and what a clash of the titans this game was! Both teams threw themselves into the match and gave it everything they had. TES started strong, sinking the first 2 goals of the game. Unlike the last time these two teams faced, the TES girls came out fighting from the beginning making excellent interceptions and working the NES attack really hard. By the end of the first quarter, NES had taken an 8-4 lead, with work to do from our girls. What was so pleasing to see however, was the focus and determination our girls showed, even though they were behind. Into the second quarter, and NES began to find their rhythm, putting us well and truly on the back foot, thanks to some sublime shooting from the NES shooter - despite the fantastic efforts of Maisy, who managed to keep the GS away from the post - this girl could score from just about any distance or angle. At halftime, the score stood at 15-7 to NES. Despite being behind for the majority of the game, the determination of the girls never went away. Zeina, Sienna and Josefin through the centre of the court kept the momentum going for the team throughout and the three of them made life very difficult for the NES’ central players, forcing them to work hard for the entire game. Going into the final quarter, we knew the game was lost, but our girls dominated, scoring 4 and conceding only 2 - these 2 goals were the only 2 occasions when the ball entered our shooting circle.
This was an extremely tough game for our U13s but, nevertheless, they should be immensely proud of the performance they gave on Tuesday and indeed throughout the whole season. Unlucky girls, be proud of what you have achieved - your coach, parents and indeed the school are proud of how far you have come. All of the girls gave it everything they had until the final whistle - Darcy, who earlier had taken a huge blow to her wrist - Angelina, Emily and Mia should also be mentioned for their improvements made during the season, playing in new positions or in some cases, playing for the first time. A huge thank you must also be given to Ms Byng, for her diligent umpiring and support. Well done girls - second place is truly fantastic! Good luck this weekend when you take on the Middle East’s best in the BSME Netball tournament in Abu Dhabi.