THAME Town Cricket Club will be starting their Youth Indoor Winter Nets on Saturday, January 2017. Separate sessions are geared towards both primary and secondary school age children.
The sessions will be held at Lord Williams’s Lower School Sports Hall. Full details and an enrolement form can be found in the cricket club’s website: LINK
HE last 16 tie of the U18 Natwest Schools Rugby Knockout saw Lord Williams’s School team travel down to Dorset to take on Bournemouth Grammar School.
With a blinding low sun and a slope on the pitch ensured that this was going to be a game of where use of the elements and conditions were pivotal. Lord Williams’s kicked off with the slope and win at their backs and were instantly able to pressure the Bournemouth defence.
Forward dominance and a lot of committed defence saw Lord Williams’s turn the ball over in several important areas of the field. The consistent pressure supported with the astute tactical kicking from Sam Nicholls at Fly Half saw Lord Williams’s camped in Bournemouth’s half. A well composed backs move on seven minutes saw the pace of Alex MacDonald round the centre and fullback to finish neatly in the corner, this was converted by Nicholls.
From kick off, several phases of disciplined forward play saw Lord Williams’s immediately apply pressure to Bournemouth again. From a line out display that took control of the game away from the home team, Charlie Wooster was able to secure a platform that allowed Dan Pearce to crash over the line after a period of disciplined and sustained attack to make it 12-0.
Bournemouth came back at Lord Williams’s with a determined and physical approach in the tight. However strong counter attacking from the Lord Williams’s three quarters and discipline at the breakdown ensured the penalty count was low and pressure was relieved from some Bournemouth attacks. On 28 minutes, another well-constructed move in the backs game MacDonald space to score his second in the corner to make it 17-0.
From kick off, the forwards built a strong platform through the middle of Bournemouth’s committed defence which saw several patient phases rewarded with number 8 Will Kent break off the back of a ruck and dive over the line, Nicholls converted. 24-0.
In the second half with the slope and conditions in their favour, Bournemouth laid siege to the Lord Williams’s 22 for 14 minutes. A succession of determined defence and disciplined tight play restricted Bournemouth from scoring for a long time, this was to prove vital in the outcome of the game. On 49 minutes, finally Bournemouth’s dominance saw them go over in the corner which was converted to make it 24-7.
Within this determined defence Lord Williams’s lost both Kent and Nicholls to injury which meant that the bench was going to be put to the test. Sam Coldicott stepped up from another impressive display at full back and ran the back line with confidence to help relieve pressure and maintain the defensive intensity to close the game out.
Discipline and fitness in the forwards saw Lord Williams’s gradually push the determined Bournemouth pressure back into their own half, credit must go to the whole squad for the commitment that each player showed to the defence.
Finally the referee blew the final whistle which saw Lord Williams’s go through to the national quarter finals. We will look forward to the quarter final draw in January.
SOURCE: Contributed
THE Thame Swimathon is coming back! Thame Rotarians are looking for teams of four to six people to attend the fifth edition of the Thame Swimathon which will take place at the Thame Leisure Centre on Sunday, February 26, 2017, between 11:00 – 15:00.
This is a fun and fundraising event organised by the Rotary Club of Thame. The event is made possible by the generous local sponsors who kindly cover most of the costs: Thame Leisure Centre, Park Street Dental Clinic, Aston Hearing, Booker Tate, and Ignite Sport.
Take on the challenge! To participate is easy as 1-2-3:
1. Get a team of 4-6, download Team Entry Form from www.thame.rotary1090.org and send it to thame.swimathon@btinternet.com
2. Raise funds for charity
3. Swim for 1 h.
All ages from 8+ are invited to enter. The Team Entry Form, Info Pack and Sponsorship Form are available on www.thame.rotary1090.org
It is not too early to book now, as 7 out of the 20 time slots have already been taken by teams.
The participants have got the option to allocate 50% of the money raised towards the charity of their choice or 100% towards Rotary’s charities. The swimmers at the previous edition of the event have raised well over £5,300 earlier this year.
SOURCE – Contributed by Rotary Club of Thame. See the group’s facebook page HERE
A young brother and sister, who play squash and train at Racquets Squash Academy in Thame, both achieved considerable success at the recent South East Regional Junior Squash GB Tournament 2016.
The event was held at Winchester Tennis and Racquets Club, where juniors from across the whole of the South Region traveled to compete for their place in the South Regional squad.
Oliver Coulcher-Porter pulled through to win the Under 11 boys, taking the title of South Regional Champion 2016. Oliver’s younger sister Emily, aged only eight years old, achieved second place in the Under 11 girls. This secures her spot as second seed in the South Regional squad.
Coach Sue Martin Downhill, said: “Both were feeling confident and prepared, Oliver having won the age group above (under 13s), the same as Emily in the Abingdon Junior Open the previous week.
Despite being ill with a sickness bug a few days prior, Oliver battled his way through the top 14 opponents in the region. He proved far too strong and didn’t drop a game throughout the whole tournament. In the South Regional boys under 11s final, he played an ‘old’ rival who has an England Squash Ranking of eight in the country. This was a test of Oliver’s mental strength, however he won 3-0, scores being 11-7 11-7 11-7. His opponent stated: “I simply didn’t know how to beat him.” At the end of the match, a rather thin and pale Oliver was able to say: “I was feeling really tired, but all the training at Racquets and in county training gave me the confidence and self-belief that I could pull through.”
Eight year old Emily beat her rival in the Semi finals comfortably, showing how quickly her game has come on in such a short period of time. In the South Regional girls under 11s final, Emily lost the first game 12-10. Her opponent was two years older and much more experienced; Emily was definitely the underdog. This was Emily’s first major final. Her coach Ben Hedger said: “She showed excellent determination and focus during her match, and I am extremely pleased with her performance even though the result didn’t go her way. However the England coach watching felt she was more than capable of winning next time.”
THROUGHOUT our lives our activity levels go up and down. We might be very active when we are young, then the kids come along and our time is squeezed so our level of fitness drops. We get into the habit of lower levels of activity and then, when we enter the ‘silver years’, the time comes when we really need to think how to increase our mobility and improve our fitness levels.
Racquets Fitness Centre in Thame is now offering more opportunities for healthy fitness options for the older generation, with its Healthy Hearts gym circuit on Monday mornings at 11am, which consists of easy exercises to improve mobility with Claire Finch. Members work at their own pace and their own level. Claire caters for any injuries, for instance, seated leg raises for those with balance issued or light weights if the exercises are too easy. Whatever your level, you’ll be catered for and given help you achieve more mobility and fitness to make your life a little easier throughout the rest of the week. And, you can have a nice cup of tea and a chat afterwards!
On Tuesdays at 10am, Racquets has a Silver Servers racketball group where members can chose to either run or walk around the court ‘chasing’ after a big bouncy ball with a racket. For those with some mobility this group will ensure you get your heart and lungs working. Again – a nice cup of tea and a chat afterwards.
The third option is on Fridays, 12.30pm – 2.30pm – Ballroom Tea Dancing. Joanne Gresty has been ballroom dancing since she was 11 years-old. Tea Dancing is a great social way of keeping active. It’s not just the physical benefits dancing offers, but dance is now known for its benefits of increasing cognitive acuity (sharpness of the mind – memory, focus, concentration, and understanding).
“So,” says Sue Martin Downhill of Racquets: “Come tea dancing and stay smart and healthy. We have a huge variety of age groups that use Racquets, from babies in the crèche right up to our over 80s who regularly use the gym.
“We hope that our new groups will help mobilise the older generation of Thame who’ve forgotten the great feeling of well-being that physical and mental exercise can produce.”
RACQUETS Fitness Centre in Thame has this month (November) launched its #SquashGirlsCan campaign to introduce squash to ladies in and around Thame.
This is a national campaign by England Squash to show ladies how great a game squash is for them and their lifestyles. Since its launch at Racquets, 25 new ladies and girls have tried out the game. Nationally, 285 ladies have been enticed on to the court. Racquets now has four adult, ladies only sessions running every week, one adult mixed session and two junior girls sessions.
Eloise Hepple, who is a self proclaimed squash player now, said: “After some cajoling by my friend, I finally agreed to a trial lesson with Sue Martin Downhill and since then I haven’t looked back. I’d forgotten how much fun and how exhilarating squash can be, and I’m really enjoying learning how to play it correctly, having never had proper lessons before!
“Sue is a dedicated, patient and thorough teacher who has managed to test our mettle every week! I get a great workout with friends and learn something new every time, even if all the exercises feel counter-intuitive to begin with!
“When life is taken up with the everyday business of looking after small children and always being the boss, it’s surprisingly rewarding to give up the decision-making for an hour and simply follow instructions on how to boast, lunge, volley or serve, or simply run faster around the court. I couldn’t recommend it more.”
Debbie Evringham was cajoled by the same friend! She said: “I have recently started playing squash again after a 25 year gap. I’d forgotten just what an exciting game it is and really ticks all the boxes as a fun, but full-on, whole body work out!
“It’s good to have started this time with some excellent tuition from Sue to help me start to play again and hopefully get me to a reasonable standard so I can start to play games with some confidence.
“Overall, I am really enjoying the game and really can’t understand how I left it so long!”
Sue Martin Downhill, herself an ex England player, said: “Squash might seem like a game that is ‘too fast for me’ but you’ll soon find that you are as fast as you need to be for it. We’d love to get more ladies playing – it’s fun, indoors and a great workout !
“So, come down to Racquets and try it out. Until the end of December 2016, the adult ladies sessions are free to everyone if there is one new lady attending. Bring your friends!”
Contact info@racquets-fitness-centre.com or 01844 261754 for more information.
THE trip to Canterbury was not expected to be easy as the Canterbury team had recovered from a patchy start to the season and were playing and winning against some good opposition.
In a game of high drama, the boot of fly half Tom Best with his two second half penalties and a dropped goal proved too much for Chinnor on the day. It was a competitive contest and Canterbury tackled and defended well as one unit. Playing down the slope and with the wind Chinnor pressured the set scrums but only managed a first half lead of 5 points. This was to prove crucial.
Chinnor scored two well worked tries to lead by 12 points as the half time whistle approached. The scores were both set up by forward power that forced penalties. Driving hard at Canterbury in the right-hand corner a catch and drive sucked in the defenders before a blind side overlap was worked for fly half Bertie Hopkin to score but failed to convert. The second try, after half an hour, was created as Chinnor drove the Canterbury set piece into retreat and No 8 Tom Burns scored off the back, with Bertie Hopkin adding the conversion. Canterbury, after a period of sustained Chinnor pressure, took their chance a minute before half time to go into the break at only 5 points behind. Chinnor lost possession at their lineout and Cameron Townley took the ball on, his forward colleagues piled into to retain possession and it was whipped wide for Martyn Beaumont to score. Tom Best kicked a solid conversion into the wind. This left Chinnor much to do in the second half as the slope and wind were a distinct advantage to Canterbury.
The second half was a hard-fought contest with little give or take on both sides. The decisive period came early in the final quarter as pressure built and Chinnor’s Tom Burns was yellow carded for a technical offence. Tom Best kicked the penalty. A minute later the fly half gave his side the lead as he hit a long, low drop goal which crept over the bar by inches. After a long consultation, the referee said yes. Referee Manley was accidentally knocked out but recovered and Chinnor put in a furious late assault which they hoped would prove decisive. However, in the 78th minute Tom Best was handed the penalty chance which he duly converted to give Canterbury a 16 point to 12 victory.
Although Chinnor dominated the scrums, Canterbury became adept at depriving Chinnor of possession by stealing their lineouts. This became a contributory factor for Chinnor’s first defeat of the season. It hurt and hopefully Chinnor have learned a few lessons that they can take back to fortress Chinnor and get back to winning ways. It was not Chinnor’s day in many ways but Canterbury deserved the win and Tom Best deservedly was man of the match.
Chinnor play Clifton at home next week and hope to get back to their winning ways.
FENCERS from Thame Duellists Fencing Club were in action on Sunday, November 6, at the Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire County Championships in Langley.
Thame fielded four fencers including two who were competing for the first time, and all achieved success.
Competing were Hal Seed (12), Isaac Sallé (11), William Nethercleft (8) and Katie Oliver in the adults event. Seed and Sallé both have plenty of competition experience and it showed, with Hal winning the Under 14 boys event and Isaac picking up a bronze medal in the Under 12 Boys event. Katie Oliver, who only started fencing in September, entered the Women’s Championships. The senior and Under 18 events were grouped together this year at the group stage and Katie was faced with the daunting prospect of fencing a number of much more experienced opponents and was beaten in each of her bouts. However she managed to score hits against all of her opponents and managed to collect some silverware of her own, becoming champion by default as the only entrant in the Women’s event this year.
Thame’s youngest competitor this year, William Nethercleft, also fencing in his first competition, also managed to pull off an upset, winning a bronze medal. He won three out of his six bouts in the group stage of the competition and so was seeded in the middle of the draw for the knockout phase of the competition. Nevertheless he managed to reach the semi-final where he came up against an opponent who, at the top of the age range, was over a year older than him. He fenced bravely but couldn’t beat his opponent, the eventual winner of the Under 10s event.
Club coach James Kingston said: “I was really pleased with all our fencers. Even some friends of the club who train with us occasionally, Darcy Herring-Johnson and India George, who were competing in the girls’ Under 12 and Under 14 events, were successful. For me though the best moment of the day was William’s performance in his semi-final. He had to be brave against a bigger and stronger opponent; but, as well as that, he was able to change his tactics in the second half of the fight after we talked through what to do during the one-minute break between rounds. He started to move better and scored an additional hit almost straight away.
“It’s difficult to alter your style but to do that at his age and under pressure was fantastic. His teammates gave him lots of support too, which was great to see. He really earned his medal.”
Thame Duellists fencing club meets on Thursday evenings from 6.45 p.m. in term time at Thame Leisure Centre. For more information, contact club coach James Kingston on 07947 049511
SOURCE: Contributed
THAME Swimming Club doubled its attendance from last year at the South East Region Winter Championships over the weekend of November 5 – 6. This is an elite gala given its ‘open’ nature of entry, meaning that only the top swimmers within the region can qualify.
“It was fantastic that we had Ben Williams, Marcus Birmingham, Harry Block and Josh Williams swimming for the Club,” said Club spokesperson, Helen Williams.
· Ben tripled the number of events he qualified for, swimming in the 50 Back, 100 Back, 100 IM, 200 Free and gaining PB’s in his 50 Fly and 200 Back.
· Marcus doubled the number of events he qualified for, swimming in the 100 Breast and gaining PB’s in his 400 IM, 200 Breaststroke & 100 Fly (having only just PB’d in these events at Wycombe only a couple of weeks earlier!).
· Harry qualified for Winter Regionals for the first time and swam fabulously in his 50 Fly.
· Josh also qualified for the first time and gained a personal best in his 200 Back.
“Thank you to Ian Blyth for supporting the boys over the weekend,” Helen concluded, “..especially as he was coaching without a voice!”
THAME Town Cricket Club moved one step closer to realising a long-held dream of a new clubhouse this week when South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) approved a grant application towards the project of £250,000.
The application was scored highly for ‘Providing new facilities and activities’ and ‘Community benefit.’ The clubhouse will be suitable for multiple sports and community use for a range of activities and uses. It will have ground and first floor function rooms available for hire and equipped with kitchen, bar and office facilities.
The club now has 80% of the funds it requires and met with the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) on Friday, October 28, to discuss the plans. Chris Whitaker, who is the Facilities and Investment Manager with the ECB, said: “you have done an excellent job in working through your project to reach this stage and we would like to use Thame Town CC as a case study for other clubs to follow.”
The planning application was approved in May this year and the club has been busy ever since raising the funds required to deliver the project for which construction will commence in September 2017, ready for the start of the cricket season in April 2018.
Matt Swain, TTCC Vice Chairman, said: “We are delighted with the grant approval from SODC and would like to thank Thame Town Council for their support with the application. This grant means delivering the project is now wholly achievable. We will continue to execute our fund raising plan with both National and local organisations and individuals in order to secure the remaining funds required. We would welcome any further support for the project and have a number of schemes including ‘BUY A BRICK’ in which individuals or organisations can contribute to the fund raising effort.
“The new clubhouse will make a huge difference, not just to the members of the Cricket, Hockey and Netball clubs but the broader community of Thame, who will be able to enjoy the facility in the heart of town at one of the most idyllic settings that Oxfordshire has to offer. We are a charitable organisation run by volunteers who have the club’s best interest at heart in everything we do. We have worked really hard over the last few years to develop the club and make it something that more and more people can enjoy. The new clubhouse is part of our future aspirations to become one of the best clubs in Oxfordshire which will help provide sustainability for many years to come.”
The club, which currently has over 200 members, is based in the picturesque setting of Church Meadow in the heart of Thame, Oxfordshire, with the church of St Mary the Virgin as a backdrop. The club moved to Church Meadow in 1975 where the ground and clubhouse were created from existing low grade agricultural land and derelict farm buildings. The existing clubhouse has out-lived its useful lifespan and whilst it has ‘lots of character’ is not fit for purpose to cater for three adult Saturday league teams, 94 juniors in five age group teams, a hugely popular Women’s section and aspirations to develop a junior Girls team starting in 2017.
The new clubhouse has been designed by local architects Holland & Green and will meet ECB technical specification for new Pavilions and Clubhouses. It is designed in a way which is sympathetic to its beautiful surroundings next to the Grade I listed Church and Grade II listed Dovecote. Thame Hockey Club will share the building and use it during the Winter as their clubhouse, whilst still playing their matches at Thame Leisure Centre. Thame Netball club will also use the new facility.