Taylorian 2020

90 The 5th XI were truly a credit to the school and played outstanding hockey. They were everything we would hope for in a Taylors’ boy: gracious in defeat (although that was a rarity), determined, driven, and collaborative. It was a pleasure being their coach, and it was a real shame that their season was cut short due to COVID-19. In the matches that were played, the boys were relentless in their attack, always pressing, quick in counter attacks, and ruthless in front of goal. The matches never failed to be very entertaining with high- intensity hockey. Aman Grewal proved to be a great captain and led the boys to their many victories, but of course none of these wins would have been possible if it wasn’t for the rest of the squad. A particular well done to Imran Karawalli, who stepped in as goalkeeper to help out one weekend and then became our number one choice! I would also like to highlight Atharv Meshram for his outstanding defensive skills in addition to his wonderful long runs down the wings during attacks. Ishan Patel must also get a mention for his brutal and relentless shots on goals, scoring a huge number of goals in the games played including six in a match against UCS. A great season for the boys! Mr S J Reid Squad: J. Grimes, Z. Anwar, C. Hassan, T. Murphy, I. Aggarwal, S. Aggarwal, K. Dogra, J. Fitzgerald, K. Patwal, N. Thakkar, Z. Torns, A. Baldwin, I. Karawalli, A. Grewal, A. Meshram, J. Fraga, I. Chandoo, D. Kukoyi, Z. Ahmed, D. D. Patel, N. Hazan, A. Patel, K. Madra, J. Mathan, I. N. Patel, R. P. Patel, M. Mangat, T. Mangat, O. Hamilton, A. Yaqoob, S. Shankar. U15A Areduced six-game season concludedwith three wins, a draw and two losses. With offensive hockey the name of the game, the forward line wreaked havoc against every opponent. Qinuo Wang proved too much to handle for most sides, notably against Caterham, where he slammed home a reverse-stick goal from a ridiculously tight angle, and in a thunderous strike against Aldenham which beat the stranded keeper before bursting through the net! Special mention must also go to midfield trio Alex Bickerstaff, Dom Joslin and MD Laryeau- Adu, who worked tirelessly to keep the forward line well supplied whilst showing superb work-rate in preventing opponents from reaching the Taylors’ defensive line. Bickerstaff, who co-captained the side with defensive stalwart Charles Waddington, lit up the pitch across the season, demonstrating mesmerising stick skills and superb range of passing; apparently the Magdalen College defenders were complaining of headaches after Bickerstaff had run circles around them during an epic 2 – 1 battle away in Oxford. Despite the two draws leaving a slightly sour taste, this was overall a fun and positive season, with both hockey skills and Oscar John’s dance moves showing great improvement as the season went on. Mr M Flower Squad: L. Alonzi, S. Amdor, A. Bickerstaff (Capt.), S. Bonnett, F. Combe, J. Hooles O. John, D. Joslin, B. Kleiner, M-D. Laryea-Adu, S. Mansfield, A. Moneke, S. Mukherjee, J. Odegbami, R. Palmer, S. Patel, V. Saluja, R. Thapar, C. Waddington (Capt.), K. Wadjiani, Q. Wang. U15B In the final analysis it might come low down the list of its sins – a footnote to a footnote – but I will remain angry that the global pandemic denied the U15B team the chance to finish the season with a positive record. Up to the point fixtures were cancelled, we had generally beaten the sides we were better than and lost to sides that were perhaps a touch better than us. In short, we hadn’t had that game that the chaps would look back on in thirty years while showing the scars won that day. The highlight was a 3-0 win against Caterhammarked by attacking hockey and ruthless pressing, which gave a glimpse of what we could be. There was much to like about this team: a solid defence was well marshalled by Tayvon Folami and Adam Knowles proved a hard-hitting revelation; Niels Redman, Sebastian Mansfield and David Adeeyinwo were a feisty midfield trio; and Sahil Patel, Ben Hellewell and Ari Moneke were consistently threatening up top. With a little more ‘end-product’ these chaps would be a threat to anyone on the circuit. A number of these boys have the talent to play for the very top school teams in future years and, if they keep up their work ethic, they will certainly do this. It was a pleasure to be involved with them, albeit for a shorter than expected period. Mr M T Herring