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THE ALLEYNIAN 710
In the Middle and Upper Schools, the squads entered the Southern Independent Schools Lent Term League, which saw results counted in a league format with some exciting fixtures against new opponents, such as Abingdon, Harrow, Epsom and Haileybury, as well as the regular blocks against St Paul’s, St John’s, Tonbridge and Berkhamsted. In Year 9, the U14A team led by example, playing some attractive football with a new back three formation. This seemed to work, as the team won eight games, drew one and lost twice. Going into the last day of the season the team were joint top, and a final-day loss to league winners Epsom showed how tight that league was. Year 9 is always a year of change, as the pupils develop at different rates, but it was wonderful to see pupils moving between teams each week and taking on board feedback, looking at developing vfor the future, and not focusing on short-term wins. We must also mention the U14E team who went unbeaten, winning their league in the process. Year 9 as a year group also win the award for the highest numbers at training, with sessions regularly seeing over 70 pupils attending: such a pleasing sight! Year 10 saw the A, B, C and D teams all win their respective leagues, which is some achievement, showing the strength in depth of the year group. Highlights were the A team’s response to losing early in the season to St John’s and then going on a league-winning run, winning their next six league games on the bounce and beating Hampton along the way too. A special mention must also go to the impressive unbeaten seasons for the Bs and Cs, who won ten and drew one and won nine and drew two respectively. The U15 year group were the top scorers in the College this year, with the year group averaging over four goals a game: more than both Liverpool and Man City! The Year 11 teams had a slightly tougher campaign, with several close, late losses, but the squads worked hard, showing tremendous improvement across the term and, with some work defensively, they will look to add to the senior setup next year. The U16C and D teams must also be mentioned for their play: getting it wide and into the box certainly did the trick as they saw some fantastic results against Harrow and Haileybury, with the Cs winning their league. In the Upper School it was wonderful to have so many pupils wanting to represent the College, creating selection headaches for the coaches. Strong performances against Abingdon, Berkhamsted and St John’s saw all squads make a good start in the league campaigns. Both the 2nd XI and 4th XI seemed to save their best football for the league, winning their
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