Taylorian 2020

88 Sport Sport Hockey Hockey review 2019 - U14D F our good games and four good wins: a very pleasing season for the U14D team. Highlights were two goals apiece by Samuel O’Tuminu and Aarav Chadha (v. Reed’s, won 5-2), the three excellent goals fromAngus Whiteside (v. Eton, won 3-0), some fine saves by Gautham Anpalagan (v. The Perse, won 1-0), two excellent goals by Dylan Brady, and the coolest finish by Affan Kundi (v. Magdalen College, won 4-0). It was most pleasing to see the boys develop throughout the season. After some excellent demonstrations by Mr Alexander, the boys developed their reverse-stick passing, and it was good to see the boys using these skills in the final match. The standard of hockey improved with every match, and it was telling that we conceded only two goals. Our grateful thanks go to Mr Hoyle for all of his support and work, and to Paul Loudon, the professional hockey coach, for all of his expertise and coaching. Mr C R Evans-Evans Squad: G. Anpalagan, N. Flanagan, D. Brady, S. Desai, S. Shah, Z. Huda, A. Kundi, S. Thakrar, A. Whiteside, N. Choy, R. Gowribala, C. Limki, C. Murphy, S. O’Tuminu, V. Palekar, A. Chadha, A. Sangha. 1st XI The 1st XI once again had a remarkable season, going unbeaten in all matches. With an extremely tough fixture list including matches against Eton, Sir William Borlase, Felsted, The Perse, and MCS, it is testament to the young men below that they managed to win every game on their fixture card. The opposition simply couldn’t cope with our attacking pace and pressure combined with our fierce defence, who constantly put their bodies on the line to prevent the Taylors’ defence from being breached. Led by captain Finn Edwards, who was a phenomenal leader all season, Merchant Taylors’ simply had too much firepower for teams. Ten of the twenty different players contributed to the scoresheet across the season. Standout mentions must go to Sam Bickerstaff and Sachin Shah in attack, who both played amazingly well, scoring goals at will. In defence, the partnership of full backs Samir Sardana and Ush Murphy was a sublime pairing which halted numerous attacks from the opposition. The midfield battle was won each game by Finn Edwards, Dylan Byrne, and Archie Brown, who complemented each other superbly. Sadly, the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 outbreak, so the remaining local derby matches against HABS and St Albans will have to wait till next season. The Cup saw Taylors’ on the road, playing all their games away from home. Tough midweek games against the likes of Stowe made this a truly tough campaign. Taylors’ rose to the challenge, winning their way through the first three rounds. The fourth round proved one match too far: Taylors’ couldn’t finish off their chances, drawing the game 1-1 in normal time and, agonisingly, being knocked out on penalty strokes. Altogether, the team played eleven games, of which they won ten and drew one. This is statistically our best season to date as school hockey continues to go from strength to strength. A great season cut short before the cherries could be added to the cake. Mr R I M Alexander Squad: F. Edwards (Captain), S. Sardana (V. Captain), S. Bickerstaff (V. Captain), A. Shah, A. Brown, D. Byrne, L. Davies, M. Horne, U. Murphy, M. Alexander-Bryan, C. Byrne, A. Ingate, S. Shah, R. Nicholls, E. Poole, C. Horridge, M. Crow, K. Chauhan, D. Rowlands, Q. Wang, M. Barnfather. 2nd XI The 2XI is always an exciting team to coach, and this year was no exception, with many of last year’s players moving up to the 1XI and a wealth of talent arriving from the Fifth Form. Captain Niam Patel (U6) and Player of the Season and Vice-Captain Matthew Barnfather (U6) held the whole team together from the back, using all their experience and nous to form a brilliant defence, enabling an exceptionally creative midfield and forward line to flourish. From the outset, they were spectacular, showing their ability in only the second game to dismantle Reed’s, one of the finest hockey schools, 5-3. This victory was built around the midfield of Matthew Crow, TomGroves and Harry Bridgewater, whilst Daniel Rowlands’ hat-trick showed how dangerous he is in front of goal. From this point on, to play better each game was a difficult task and one that was not always quite achieved, particularly with the half- term break and Upper Sixth exams. With