Sport Update: Week Ending 26 February

Football

It was another win for our Senior Football team on Wednesday, this time against Bearsden Academy which has ensured their place in the last 8 of the Scottish Cup. What an achievement for the boys! It was made evident how hard the task of winning would be when Bearsden scored within the 5 minute mark after an incisive attack; however, the heads didn't drop and Gordon's started to look the more dangerous of the two sides when attacking. Two superb goals eventually came to put Gordon's ahead with about one quarter of the game played. A third goal before half time gave the team some extra confidence going in at the break. Bearsden had a clear height advantage and managed to grab the first goal of the second half from a corner kick, bringing it back to 3-2. The boys fought back and scored on the counter while Bearsden were pushing forward, looking for an equaliser. The cycle continued when Bearsden again scored from their corner kick, followed by another Gordon's counter attack and goal. Mr Kirkwood reported there were some tired legs after the game; the boys put in a lot of effort and played with pride, deserving everything they got. 

 

Basketball

Senior Basketball continued their Scottish Cup journey on Wednesday with a win over Arbroath Academy in the knockout round. Their next match will be in Inverness, with the opponents to be confirmed and this will be the decider for which team will advance to the National Final 4 event.

 

Netball

Tuesday was a great day for S1 Netball who came out on top against Brechin Academy to progress through to the semi finals of the Scottish Plate. It was a very physical game for the girls, but they worked hard and demonstrated excellent passing, defending, winning lots of interceptions and fantastic work in the shooting circle. Players of the Match were Macy for her shooting accuracy and Joanna for her excellent interceptions and pressure in the circle. 

The 3rd VII played their last league fixture of the season against Hazlehead Academy 1st VII on Tuesday, narrowly losing the match. Player of the Match was awarded to Crystal who worked tirelessly in C against very physical S6 competition. The girls have finished the season with 10 league points so may yet qualify for 2nd place in the League.

It was a long road trip on Wednesday for the 1st VII and S1-3 Junior A teams who travelled north to Alness to play Kirkwall Grammar School. Junior A were playing in their Scottish Cup quarter final while it was a last 16 match for the 1st VII. Both teams worked so hard and the coaches could not have asked anymore of them, but it wasn’t going to be for either team. Junior A battled for every ball and it was a close game. They were within 4 goals at quite a few points and were under a lot of pressure but kept going to the final whistle and had beautiful passages of play. Miss Stephen said she was so proud of the girls and for a young team they did so well against the S3 team from Kirkwall Grammar. For us to have S1, S2 and S3 representation at this level is fantastic. Players of the Match for Junior A were Zara, Megan and Lexie who fought for the whole game and showed great ability under pressure in both attack and defence.

Mrs Hardie was equally proud of her 1st VII team who started strong and after a brief dip in the 3rd quarter came back in the 4th, but it wasn’t quite enough for the win. The girls played a great game of netball and really enjoyed being pushed. Player of the Match was team captain, Kirsty D, who was calm, controlled and motivational throughout. Mrs Hardie has been delighted with Kirsty’s skills and qualities as 1st VII captain this year.

S2 Netball travelled to the Regional Performance Centre in Dundee on Friday to play Monifieth High School in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup. The girls matched up really well to a very tall, physical Monifieth side and warmed up well and with great intensity. A closely contested 1st quarter got them off to an exciting start, but a slow 2nd quarter allowed the gap in the scoreline to widen. Sadly it was a loss for RGC but Mrs Fraser was full of praise for the girls’ effort saying how hard they worked all game and she couldn’t have asked for any more from them. The team really learnt and understood what it meant to work hard until the final whistle and showed some really lovely passages of play. Unfortunately, they just  couldn’t quite close the gap. Players of the Match were Ria for her outstanding work in defence which was clean and disciplined and also Bea, who was fantastic in defence and great at supporting the ball through the court. 

On Saturday morning there was a great turnout at our two Netball sessions at Countesswells. The focus was on footwork, pressuring the ball and match play.

 

Girls Hockey

It was a busy morning at Countesswells on Saturday morning as we hosted the S1 North District Tournament. Our S1s were included along with P7. Both P7 teams had an excellent morning of hockey and between them they played 12 games, winning 8, drawing 1 and losing 3 which is not bad considering they were a year young! They played with energy and enthusiasm and scored some excellent goals. S1A were delighted to be the runners up, coming 2nd to a strong St Margaret’s team who did not concede a goal all tournament.

S3 also played in their North District Tournament which was much curtailed this year with only ourselves and St Margaret's taking part. RGC was up against arguably the best St Margaret’s team in many years and struggled to get control of the ball throughout the game. Fleur was Player of the Match and Mr Scorgie was happy to see 16 players out participating in Hockey.

It was a tough test for our 1stXI Girls who were up against the Merlins Gordonians 1st XI club side. This was a great experience for the girls to get exposure playing a strong club team and it was a win for Merlins. The RGC 1st XI gave some good performances, especially both goalies Sophie and Maddie, who Miss Howie said were ‘exceptional’.

 

Boys Hockey

On Saturday morning S1-3 Development Boys were up against an experienced and physical Aberdeen Grammar School side. It was a loss for RGC where two of the three goals were conceded as we didn’t mark at the back post. Marking and game experience will develop further with more games and Mr Taylor is pleased to see a number of talented players in the team who he knows will only get better with time. He was happy to see how the players improved as the game went on, having more penetration in the D and possession. Ely scored the only goal in the final quarter and Player of the Match went to Kevin. 

The Junior S1-3 boys team were low on numbers for the game against Granite City Wanderers and played the entire game with only 10 players. It was a close match and a loss for RGC but missing some key players and being a player down meant it was an uphill battle from the start. However the boys on the pitch gave their all in what was a thoroughly entertaining game of hockey. 

Innes C in S5 has provided us with this report from the 2nd XI match vs Aberdeen Grammar at Rubislaw Pitches: 

‘Our game against Grammar was close and well played throughout. Our Grammar hosts took the lead, but Gordon’s were level roughly halfway through the match after a good team goal scored by myself. However we were unfortunately not able to win in the end, after Grammar scored a well worked second. Overall, both teams played really well so thanks to Grammar for the good game.’

 

Boys Rugby

On ThursdayS2B travelled to Lathallan in an enjoyable midweek fixture giving lots of boys who haven’t had as many playing opportunities as we’d hoped, the chance for a game. We started really slowly and it took us until half time to get going. There were some good turnovers and transitions in the second half but we were just 2 or so tacklers short and the game ended in a win for our hosts. .

S1B played Aberdeen Wanderers on Saturday morning with a number of boys making their first appearance in a Rugby match. All the new players really impressed with Zane O leading the tackle count and Joshua J incredibly committed in support of the ball carriers. Quality of tackling was the difference between the two teams with Aberdeen Grammar winning the game. Mr Buckley commented that with the pool of S1 players growing it’s exciting what the future holds for these boys.

S2 played in a really good competitive game against Aberdeen Wanderers at Countesswells. Some of our attack is developing nicely and we are getting better in defence every week although our width in defence still needs work. It was a close game played in good spirit with great performances from Oran, Magnus, Cameron and Daniel. Somto played his first game and did very well. The team was pleased to win the match.

The 1st XV gave a really strong team performance built on hard work and solid defence from every member of the squad in their Saltire Caledonia Cup quarter final against Dunfermline RFC. We were much more clinical in the first half than we have been and finished off the second half strongly. This was a very positive performance from the boys and a comfortable win to see us through to the semi finals.

The Caley Cup matches continued on Sunday with U15s beating a physical Howe of Fife RFC in the Bowl quarter final. The score-line didn’t do justice to the Howe defensive effort which was excellent, and strong, elusive support lines from RGC along with a hunger to keep the ball alive meant we stayed in control of the game. Credit must go to the host team’s efforts and the part they played in a great game of rugby.

Strathmore RFC were U16’s opponents where a slow start gave the opposition field position and they powered over the line early. RGC picked back up and started playing with more tempo immediately. Once we scored the first try, the floodgates opened. We played some very good attacking rugby within our shape, tipping and tugging the ball to go through and around Straths defence. We adapted our defence to their offensive weaknesses well and our jackal threat at the breakdown resulted in several turnovers. A good win for RGC.

 

Team of the Week

Our TOTW this week are the S3 Rugby boys who, with a small squad missing some key players, travelled to Howe of Fife on Sunday in the Caledonia Bowl quarter final. Howe were a physical team and we lost a player in the warm-up to a niggly injury followed by the team captain to injury in the first half. Overall, this was a resilient display coupled with some excellent tries to run out 38-7 winners.

 

Sporting Achievements from Outside School

Congratulations to the pupils across the school on their following achievements:

  • Autumn T (S4)  has now made full selection for the Scotland Ski Squad as well as the GB Children's Ski team this season.

  • Abigail G (S3) who is enjoying international success with ponies George and Basil. Abigail is now a part of the Great Britain Pony Dressage International Squad having achieved the required qualifications at competitions to make the squad. She has also  been long listed for the European Dressage Championships 2023. 

  • Emma S (S3) is part of the Aberdeen Football Club U16s National Performance team and over the past few months has played against teams like Rangers, Glasgow City, and Hibs.

  • Amy R (S4) recently took part in the Scottish Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She competed as a senior, up against tough established internationals, and placed 6th overall, also qualifying for finals on beam and bars.

  • Victoria M (S4) also competed for the first time in the same competition as Amy. She finished 7th overall out of 26 gymnasts, qualifying for finals on floor & vault. Their team came 3rd overall in Scotland.

  • Ava (S5) and Zara (S3) continued in their journey with Aberdeen District Performance Netball U17 and U15 respectively, playing great games against Orkney at the weekend. Also well done to Lexie (S2) and Abbie (S3) (U15 Development Squad) who took to the court on Sunday versus 6 other Districts

  • Vincent C (S6) finished 1st in a recent National Powerlifting competition. Competing as a 66kg lifter weighing in at 61kg he totalled 475kg (squat, deadlift & bench).

  • Isabella A (S4), Callum G (S4) and Ben M (S5) who were part of a team of 16 swimmers selected to represent the SASA North District at the McCullagh International in Bangor, NI, at the weekend. Isabella and Ben both made finals with Ben placing 3rd in Men’s 4x200 Free relay & 2nd in 1500m freestyle.