Sports Festival Saturday 13th April


Fives Report Played 21 Won 8 Lost 12 Drawn 1


Another enjoyable season for the OI fi ves club and the fi rst without a single appearance from Mike Fenn (the fi rst time not on court since he was 15 – don’t dare ask how long that is!)


Another fi rst (almost): the School managed to beat the OI club in a tight match for the fi rst time since the 1960s.


The annual OI Sports Festival took place on Saturday 13 April this year. The major change to the Festival this year was that it took place at the new Rushmere Sports Centre. We were blessed with blue skies on the day, and Old Ipswichians, pupils, parents and staff competed in football, hockey, netball, table tennis and badminton.


The Old Ipswichian team won the main hockey match on the School’s new astro turf and an OI team won the football tournament (3-1 on penalties after it ended 1-1 at full time against a Sixth Form pupil team). The netball match was a nail-biting occasion with the scores ending 14-14 – the OIs retained the trophy, having won it in 2012. Table tennis and badminton were available during the day with two School pupils taking the two top places in the table tennis.


Our thanks to the staff of the Ipswich School Rushmere Sports centre for all the work they did to get everything ready for the day. Also thanks to the School maintenance team for transforming the Sports Centre in a very short time to its current excellent condition, and Jamie Lee Smith Catering for providing an excellent lunch.


The Graves Cup was its usual excellent affair being won by Tim Fletcher and Sam Clarke in a tough fi nal against Steve Burnell and James Gray. Several off-court injuries through Saturday and a signifi cant amount of Portuguese grape juice led to a slightly weakened second day. Even so Seb Cooley and George Frettingham made off with the plate.


League position for the year was a solid 8th. As always a huge shout-out for all of the friends of the OIs who provide additional fi re-power for the league side.


Next season’s motto – more of the same, but better!


Tom Fletcher and Mike Fenn


OI Golf Thursday 9th May


Left to right: Steve Burnell, James Gray, Sam Clark and Tim Fletcher


The Barber Cup and EFA Trophy this year are best forgotten – however, a signifi cant contingent made it down to the Northern Tournament with notable performances from Tony Stubbs and Sam Clarke in the Festival. The “grudge” match between the Fletcher brothers, Dave Leach and Will Gibbons was won 2-1 by the Fletchers, allowing them to cruise to victory in the main plate fi nal. This one could be a rivalry to match Nadal/Federer!


Peter Boughton and Simon Woolfries once again proved they are young at heart, making the fi nal of the over 50s but were overpowered by Davies and Lloyd.


On what turned out to be a lovely (exceptionally windy) afternoon at Woodbridge, seven fully fi t OIs and one damaged (David Cordle) made it out to play for the Stuart Betts Trophy Competition. The wind seemed to blow against us 90% of the time, but the sun shone...


John Edwards won with a very exceptional 31 points, with Bryan Caley and Shyam Patel joint second. Liquid prizes were handed out to the top three players from Alchemy Wines Ltd. It was noted that John Edwards won this Trophy 13 years previously – though this was overshadowed by the fact that David Cordle had won his fi rst Stuart Betts Trophy a brief 32 years ago.


Well done to all for the effort (especially injured Mr Cordle) and we look forward to seeing a larger gathering on 4th July at Purdis.


David Rowledge


Old Ipswichian News


7


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8