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National Schools Cross Country Finals - 24 March 2018:

Having finished in a top 10 position in the Bucks Schools’ championships, Marea L, Will SC-B, George C and Penny D were selected to run for the county in the national competition.

Most of this group, along with others Gateway runners, had been very disappointed when the ISA National XC finals had been postponed twice due to snow, especially as this same event had been cancelled last year due to waterlogged ground. And now, finally, they had the chance to prove themselves, unfortunately things didn’t go to plan.

Marea ‘recovering from a nasty cold, almost withdrew the night before the run as she really wasn’t feeling fully fit but didn’t want to let the team down; George and Will had represented the school in the National Football finals, the previous day, playing over 1 hour and 40 minutes of high intensity football which had left them drained to say the least. As the seconds ticked down as they stood on the line with 280 other top runners from around the country they tried to look confident.

The runners were competing over 2.2km, it was a daunting task that lay before them. The start line looked like any great war movie with a long line of ‘warriors’ stretched across the horizon but what was more concerning was that after 150m of very uneven tufted grassland the course narrowed to a 15m bottleneck that ‘U’ turned back and out into muddy farmland. This course meant that it was imperative to sprint the first 150m to avoid the blockage at the first turn.

Despite some really fast starts none of our runners really rounded the first turn in a position that allowed them the freedom to progress quickly enough to do really well. Most were caught in the congestion reminiscent of the Grand National or London Marathon. All the runners, throughout the field, gave it their best shot and it was encouraging to see so many youngster competing and ‘enjoying’ this gruelling course, supported by thousands of spectators.

Penny D was distraught when she fell and ‘lost’ her shoe but had the determination to haul herself up, out of the mud, finishing with a final burst of energy. All of our runners completed the race but such was the challenge that some ‘collapsed’ on the finishing line without the energy to stand or go even a few metres further. It was a tremendous effort and although none of the Gateway runners scored points for the Bucks team, it was an inspirational performance, given the circumstances and they should be really proud of this achievement. Well done! HJ

ISA National Finals - 23 March 2018

Having won the U11 London North finals, Gateway travelled to Dixie Grammar School for the National ISA 5-A-Side finals.

28 teams from 8 regions competed in 4 leagues, with the top two teams qualifying for the next round. Games lasted 9 minutes. With the point system awarding 5pts for a win, 2 for a score draw and 1 for a goalless draw the team had little option but to go for broke and attack, not worrying unduly by any losses on the way. It was a strategy that brought dividends.

League C
Hull Collegiate 0 Gateway 1 George C
Hale Prep 4 Gateway 1 Will SC-B
King Alfred 1 Gateway 3 Will SC-B 2 George C
Copthill 1 Gateway 2 Henry G, WSC-B
Claires Court 0 Gateway 1 Henry G
Rosemead 1 Gateway 2 Henry G, Will SC-B

The team amassed 25pts, playing some extremely good football during the morning session. There were some stunning goals. Will SC-B fired a free kick home from 20m, Henry G showed sublime skill when he latched onto a long through ball, with his back to goal, back heeling the ball into the corner of the goal past the helpless keeper and raising rousing cheer from his the parents, including Henry’s dad. The squad worked well in all areas of the pitch and finished 2nd in the league, progressing to the quarter finals.

The quarter finals were decided by a second league of 4.
Results

Radnor House 0 Gateway 0
Old Vicarage 1 Gateway 0
Gateway 0 Lady Barn 6

Despite the score lines Gateway played really well in the first two matches and should really have won both games. Events conspired to deny some great opportunities and luck was definitely not on their side. In the second match Gateway hit both posts and skimmed the cross bar and always looked threatening in attack. It was a bitter feeling to lose at this stage of the competition. In their final game, Gateway had two fantastic chances to score but bodies were thrown in the way, to deny these goal bound shots. After going two goals down Gateway’s ‘legs’ finally gave way and they were outplayed by Lady Barn who gave them a master class in one touch passing.

Congratulations to Lady Barn who not only went on to win the cup 4-0 but didn’t concede a goal all day!

Gateway, although disappointed with their final position, were pleased and proud with their overall performance and agreed it had been a great day out; seeing Troy Deeney from Watford FC and having a team selfie with Michael McIntyre.

Thanks to all the parents for travelling to Market Bosworth and supporting the team! HJ/TB

Squad: Freddie H, Fred W, James B, Henry G, Will St C-B, George C, Harrison J, Oscar V-B

Gateway hosted their 10th annual Year 4 football festival in conjunction with Chiltern and South Bucks District Football Association

The aim of the festival is for the children to play and enjoy football, against other school opposition, without the distraction of points, medals or cups. Even the scores are quickly forgotten as the next game begins.

Gateway played 4 games and this allowed players to change position and get use to different aspects of goalkeeping defence, midfield and attack. There were some pleasing performances and the boys enjoyed their afternoon, with the added bonus of a couple of wins, remaining unbeaten.

Squad: Jack S, Charlie D S, Zach C, Sam B, Ted Marshall, Zac Y, Johnny G and Ed S

All Stars Cricket Programme

This week started with a bang as Emma Boswell from the Bucks Cricket Board came into school to deliver cricket sessions to all children who had PE or Games on Monday. The sessions were extremely enjoyable and the children remained engaged throughout. Emma was promoting the All Stars Cricket Programme which is aimed at providing children aged five to eight with a great first experience in cricket. It would be nice to see some Gateway children become involved in cricket as a result of these sessions and more information can be found at https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/all-stars.