Sporting News

Cricket Tour to South Africa
The 1st XI cricket squad toured South Africa at the beginning of the Easter holidays in preparation for the coming season. In hot conditions, the squad were excellent ambassadors for the College, and the standard of cricket they played improved dramatically as the tour went on.

Wins against Edgemead School, the Langa township and, most impressively Western Province Cricket Club gave good impetus for the season, and there were some impressive individual performances, notably from Harry Clark (50 against Langa), Josh Higgins (55 against Langa), James Howard (47 against Western Province) and Henry Sims (51 against the Paul Phillipson XI). On the bowling front, Josh Higgins and Abi Sakande impressed with their new ball partnership, putting many opening batsmen under pressure; and Jason Hong, Harry Clark and Alan Taffinder supported well and took wickets.

Football
Four boys from Ardingly College represented the Independent Schools F.A this Easter in their tour to Poland. Playing against some quality opposition, this is the culmination of the ISFA National season at U16, and preparation for the England vs Scotland game played next week for the U18s. Charlie Hunter represented the U18s with quality and drive, and performed well in all three matches for the National side. This has led to him being selected for the National side to face Scotland next week and we wish him all the best for this.

At U16 level, Monty Gimpel, Matt Daniel and Jon Dollery all represented the National side. They put in high quality performances as the U16s won all of their games. The coaches were impressed with all four of the Ardingly boys, and it has been impressive to see the level that they have been achieving.

Portugal Rugby Tour
At the end of last term, our under 16s team played a full 15 a side match against Box Hill School in preparation for their forthcoming tour to Portugal. A real dogged affair, in failing light, saw Ardingly snatch victory from the opposition in the dying moments, when Billy Newman went over for the winning try. This victory gave our team a real boost in confidence that would inspire them when they departed for Lisbon on the last Friday of term.

On the first day of the tournament our boys showed signs of fatigue as they left the hotel for the journey to the tournament venue. However, the sight of the Portugese National Rugby Stadium, and the hordes of players and supporters there, served to focus minds on the hard task ahead.

That day we were matched against strong teams from Spain and Portugal and, as expected, our boys put in a superb performance in both matches. Tries from Jack Harrison, Wilf Bridges, James Palmer, Josh Barber, Alex Maynard, Cass Saint and Josh Williams, resulted in victories in both games and Ardingly deserved their place as group winners.

The following day, Ardingly went into the quarter finals where they played a strong French international school based in Madrid who put up a very determined battle but who finally succumbed to constant pressure from our team.

In the semi-final we played the ‘President's Fifteen' who, it turned out, were in fact the Portugese National Team. As you would expect, the opposition were physically intimidating. However our boys, confident from earlier victories, took the match to them and, although we were defeated, did not concede a point in the second half and we continued to attack their line right up to the final whistle. Ardingly certainly gave the President's Fifteen (who became tournament champions) the toughest game of the tournament and it came as no surprise that a well deserved overall final place of third in tournament was secured by our team.

Many boys stood out for their commitment and determination to make this tour successful, both on and off the pitch, but special mention must go to George Clutton who, as Captain, presented as one of the very best that Ardingly has to offer

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