Basketball

The fixtures this week started with the RGC Senior Basketball team defeating Alford Academy 82-14 in their first of two matches in the first round of the Scottish Cup. It was a great team effort led by high scorer David A and some fantastic passing from Juan A-C.  A win in the second leg next week will put RGC through to the next round.

Netball

The 2nd VII were up against tough opposition Lathallan 1st VII on Monday in the Aberdeen League. After managing to keep the game within 10 goals for the whole fixture we lost a very competitive game. We knew Lathallan would be very strong. The team fought for every ball with some great defence from Rosa, Mama and Izzy. The final 5 minutes saw us lose too much possession leading to Lathallan taking each scoring opportunity and taking a stronger lead. Our focus for the upcoming Senior A tournament shall be tighter marking, not allowing players that small space they needed to break free from our defence. Reducing the use of a high ball which slowed down our attacking play is also on our improvement points for our next fixture. Players of the match were Mama and Rosa.

On Wednesday it was the turn of our 1st VII to meet Lathallan 1st VII in the Aberdeen League. Here is a summary of the match from the team captain, Kirsty D:

‘The 1st VII played some great netball and with speedy drives and some excellent defence we were able to come out on top with an impressive 34-12 win. Our aim was to experiment with tempo and work on controlling the pace of the game. This was helped and achieved because during the whole match we communicated well! POM from Mrs Hardie was Kate D for her incredible interceptions and keeping in front of her attacker to cut out the quick ball and force an overhead. Lathallan voted POM as Francesca D for her speed around the court and accuracy in passing. Well done, let’s keep up the great work!’

S2/3A Junior Netball team won 29-8 against Lathallan in the Aberdeen District League. The team have secured 3 out of 3 wins so far this term! They were challenged in the first quarter and then pulled away to take an impressive win. The girls worked hard in both defence and attack and created lovely passing options down the court. 

The S1 netball team played a friendly fixture against St Margaret’s on Thursday at co-curricular training. It was great to see all players getting the chance of some match play and they seemed to take a lot from it. Thanks to S3s Zara & Lily who umpired the match and were a big help.

Skiing

It was an early start for our skiers on Wednesday as they left Countesswells before 6am to reach Snowfactor in Glasgow for the SSSA Autumn Series Dual Slalom Ski Race Final. Our Senior S1-S6 Team came 1st in their pool to qualify for the finals where they came 4th overall. This fierce competition was against 17 Open Senior School Teams from across Scotland. The S1-S3A Team was 3rd in their pool and our S1-S3C Team was 8th in their pool. Again they faced fierce competition against 16 S1-S3 Teams from across Scotland. Well done to all our skiers on what was an enjoyable day of ski racing. 

Boys Hockey

S1-3 Junior Boys Hockey played fearlessly against the more experienced Strathallan side in their Schools Plate Round 2 fixture on Tuesday and were unlucky not to see some of their great team play result in a goal during a tight first half. Strathallan scored a goal on the counter attack to see them reach the half way mark a goal up. Going into the second half the boys continued to play some excellent hockey and were again denied by some good saves from the opposition keeper. Ultimately, it wasn’t to be and Strathallan began to pull away with it as their experience showed. The result was 5-0 to the visitors but that does not paint an accurate picture of the game as a whole. The game was a learning opportunity from which many positives can be taken.

The Boys 1st XI travelled to Gordonstoun on Wednesday to play their first round fixture of the Schools Plate competition. Here is the match report from S6 player, Fraser M. ‘This match was an excellent display of our skill and teamwork, where we took advantage of every mistake the opposition made and kept pressing until the very end which resulted in a great 7-1 victory. All the boys put a good shift in with a debut performance from Harry W (S5) who showed great composure and confidence. Daniel R and Lewis M (both S5) scored twice, Nilav C (S4), Calum B (S5) and myself scored once as well. Thanks again to Gordonstoun for a great match and their hospitality afterwards.’

The S1-3 boys team were up against St Margaret’s 1st XI on Saturday morning and were unfortunate to lose 2-0 after a closely fought match. The boys did very well to transition the ball from side to side and use the full width of the pitch, something that we have worked on in training. They were very unlucky not to see one of their many chances go in the goal and just before half time the experience of the opposition showed as they caught us on the counter attack and scored. The story of the second half was similar but there were many positives to take from an interesting match.

Swimming

On Thursday the RGC swim team set off to Aberdeen Aquatics Centre with a team of 60 pupils from every year upwards of primary 6, to compete at the Scottish Schools Swimming Virtual Final. RGC swimmers were present in every event ranging from 50m Freestyle to 400m Individual Medley. The day was extremely successful with pupils beating their personal bests, demonstrating high quality skills and showing their commitment and passion for the sport. For the younger primary pupils, it was a fantastic opportunity for them to race in this event for the first time and have a front row seat to watch our senior swimmers execute their race strategies. Now, we wait patiently for the results to be collated and published in December. Well done and congratulations to all pupils that took part in the day. 

Girls Hockey

We welcomed Glenalmond to Countesswells on Saturday morning to play against our girls hockey teams. A goal in each half saw S2A record their third victory of the season with Player of the Match going to Lottie M. It was also a win for S2B where a goal in each half saw the team record their first victory of the season. Player of the match was Abby C.

S3 played two matches, against the Glenalmond A and B teams. There was a win against the As with Fleur as Player of the match, and a loss against the Bs 

Sophie M in S4 has provided us with this report for the 2nd XI vs Glenalmond:

‘It was a sunny morning up at Countesswells for the 2nd XI, starting off strong. Despite being 1-0 down at half time, we upped our game in the second half ending in a 1-1 draw against Glenalmond. Everyone worked well together making improvements throughout the game, and created lots of chances. Well done 2nd XI!’

For the Girls 1st XI it was a tight match that ended in a 1-1 draw at Countesswells on Saturday. RGC started strongly with a good amount of possession and some chances to take an early lead but weren’t able to capitalise. Glenalmond took a lead in the first half and RGC worked really hard to get back into the game through Anna W who scored a well-deserved equaliser. Going into the second half RGC took more control of the game, reducing Glenalmond to a few chances, but again were unable to capitalise on the great outfield play. A more clinical edge in front of the goal would have helped RGC take the win.

Rugby

It was a busy day for Rugby on Saturday with RGC playing against four different oppositions. 

P6 were away in Edinburgh and were beaten by an aggressive and well organised Stewart’s Melville side. The boys struggled to match their physicality in the first half but began to improve as the game progressed. P7 were beaten by a skillful and well organised Stewart’s  Melville team. The first half was close and some great team tries finished by Maxwell and Kenzie kept us in the game. Their discipline and composure in the second half meant they scored many more tries.

Meanwhile the two S1 teams were away at Merchiston. S1A recorded a strong win against the Merchiston Bs but despite the scoreline, it was an even contest with RGC defending for long periods in their 22 and showing real tenacity to knock their ball carriers backwards. Some of RGC’s ball carries were really strong but the speed of movement of the ball is a definite work on for future training sessions. It was a loss for the S1B team to Merchiston Cs.

S2A won away at Glenalmond in a really good, competitive game on a very heavy and difficult pitch. The boys played very well in the heavy conditions. 

S3A won at home versus a physical Glenalmond team despite never really hitting their straps fully. The boys played well in parts scoring some excellent opportunistic tries but in reality we weren’t accurate enough at the ruck nor composed enough between Scrum Half and Stand off to build any phases of play and put the opposition under pressure. S3B secured an excellent win against Aberdeen Wanderers scoring some great tries in the process. Due to injury and availability a few players were playing their first game of the season and really impressed on their return. There was excellent go forward, support play and chop tackling throughout. Areas for improvement are being able to play with width in attack and defence.

The U16s won strongly against Glenalmond. A shaky start and stubbornness to run everything out of our own half probably allowed for the first half to be tighter than it should have been. The second half was better where we played with more shape and in their half of the pitch resulting in some good scores including a first phase strike move which worked very well. Our defence was ruthless and solid as always. Two dominant wins on the bounce means we’re building nicely for our Shield quarter final on Wednesday.

2XV lost against Deeside at home where their performance really only started to show in the last 15 minutes or so when we put a few phases together and scored our points to draw the second half. Execution could have been better along with our defence, but it was great to get out everyone who has not been a regular 1st XV player this term. The boys, as always, played with heart but really wasn't our day and Deeside really wanted it. Three of our boys played for the opposition each half with Peter N and Jamie T scoring for them in the first half.

Team of the Week

This weekend TOTW are the S2/3A Junior Netball team following their excellent 29-8 win against Lathallan in the Aberdeen District League on Wednesday. 

Sport Achievements from outside school

During the week we wished best of luck to Magnus H, Ella B & Maggie S as they took part in the British rowing trials in Boston. Rowing a 5km race is the start of a long trial process for the GB U19 teams. 

Well done to Abbie H (S3) and Lexie L (S2) who were part of the Aberdeen U15 District Development Netball Squad who played Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverclyde at the weekend winning 2 out of their 3 matches.

Well done toS3 pupil Emma S on her selection for Scottish Schools North Region U15 Football Squad. What a great achievement & a fitting reward for all her hard work. 

Congratulations to Daisy C, Michael M, Louisa M, Grant M & Blair M  who have all been selected for the National Schools Alpine Ski Squad 2022-2023. Well done to all of you and good luck this season.