Unfortunately this week is a tale of more cancellations in our Rugby Sevens programme as well as home football fixtures being called due to Grists being underwater for a good month (water polo would be more apt…). However, we have managed to travel to Emanuel, Hampton & Box Hill to play football fixtures across the age groups, Richmond Park to play at Ibstock 7s and we have some positive news for our senior Tennis programme in their first round of the National Cup against Emanuel.
To start the week in football, our U15s travelled to Emanuel School to take them on. It was the first relatively close match the U15A’s took part in and put a really good shift in and should be proud of their performance despite the 2-1 loss, it is certainly coming together with more time on the pitch and that win will eventually come. Gabriel, the captain, undoubtedly had the moment of the game with a great show of quality to score a free-kick just outside the area. The U15B’s had the majority of the play but were unfortunately not as clinical as their opponents, falling to a 3-0 defeat.
Hampton then beckoned at the weekend, with a really tough block of fixtures ahead of us. The task was too much for our 1s, 2s and U16B’s all being well-beaten. The match of the day however was the U16A’s who put in a brilliant performance to draw 1-1 with their B’s – Tiffin were aggrieved at the fact we also had the ball in the net two more times but was ruled out for offside both times, one of which was particularly dubious!
The U16A’s at half time vs Hampton.
After Hampton came the midweek fixtures at Box Hill, where our 1st XI came up against none other than the son of former Chelsea captain and legend John Terry – he was very courteous and was even happy to take a picture with our team and then share it to his nearly 9 million followers! Unfortunately Box Hill 1’s were too strong for the 1st XI, resulting in a 4-2 loss – however the result from the 2nd XI was much more positive where they got their first win of the season, a well-deserved 4-3 scoreline!
“The Three Fish 2nd XI made the trek down to Dorking, to face off against Box Hill School. After arriving at the sub-par quality pitch, we lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, with a mixture of Year 12 youth and Year 13 experience. After going 1-0 down from a scrappy corner rebound, Tiffin 2nd XI hit back after some pressure on the keeper from midfielder Gabriel and Theo converted duly and confidently to make it 1-1. A beautiful long ball over the top from centre back Jack Spicer placed it onto Sam’s head to make it 2-1 heading into half time. Soon after the second half restarted, the Three Fish dashed into a 3-1 lead as Sam played it through to Theo who had a beautiful finish after a brilliant sequence of play. Box Hill scored to make it 3-2, however Sam scored again to make it 4-2 and a brace for himself with a composed finish. Tiffin conceded a dodgy penalty due to an incorrect refereeing call, yet Saketh stood tall to save the penalty from a certain Box Hill player who had been giving it large all game, yet didn’t have the skills to back it up evidently. Box Hill resorted to attempted murder on about 4 occasions in order to bring them back into the game, including one player forcefully subbed off after attempting to John-Mcginn-Vs-Spurs Dominic. Soon after, Box Hill scored another scrappy goal to make it 4-3, but this did not matter as after an extended period of stoppage time where the ref found time out of nowhere, Tiffin held on to win their first match of the season, with everyone putting in a shift and leaving everything on the pitch. Standout performances today came from Jack, Gabriel, Theo, Jasper and Sam, with Jack winning the vote for man of the match”. – Gabriel Mills (Coach’s Man of the Match)
Left – The 1st XI after their match vs Box Hill School, with Chelsea legend John Terry. Right – The 2nd XI after their 4-3 victory against Box Hill.
Less Rugby Sevens has been played this season than hoped, with the 12s and 13s Ibstock Sevens and Borough tournaments both cancelled due to underwater pitches. However, with the rest of the week looking drier it’s hoped that more tournaments will be on, and on Wednesday the 2nd VII managed to get a run out at Richmond Park for Ibstock 7s. Despite calling up a number of Year 11s gave a really solid effort against teams much stronger than them, losing three games but winning once against Ibstock Place. The 1st VII also have Halliford floodlit 7s on Friday night, the last chance to build towards the famous Rosslyn Park sevens tournament next week.
The 2nd VII in action against Ibstock 7s.
Our senior Tennis programme kicked off this year being drawn against Emanuel in the National Cup. With a few really strong sixth formers we have high hopes to progress far in the Cup this year. They didn’t disappoint, resulting in a really good performance from all four competitors representing Tiffin. The first pair Ewan and Kai went to a ten point tie break in their all important match, winning 10-5 ultimately meaning they’re progressing through to the next round of the cup – massive congratulations, we eagerly await the draw for the next round.
That finishes our sports roundup for this week, we’ll be back next week to report on the beginning few days of Rosslyn Park sevens as well as more football fixtures at the weekend!