Basketball

Our boys played an outstanding and challenging match on Tuesday to win 107-101 in overtime over Millburn Academy to win the North Regional round of the Scottish Cup. It was a close, back and forth battle throughout with neither team ever up by more than 8 points. Both teams had their chances at the end of regulation as each had a lead with under 3 minutes to play. In overtime Millburn scored a couple of quick baskets early, but RGC kept their composure and took control thanks to a strong defensive effort the rest of the way. Ross G led the team in scoring with 68 points and Jack M with 21. The win qualifies RGC for the National semi finals with the final four event to take place in Dundee at the end of March. The winners of the semi finals will play later that same day in the final and the losers will play a 3rd place match.

Football

The Senior Football team ensured qualification to the quarter finals of the SISFA Cup quarter-finals with their strong win over Glenalmond on Thursday. It was a good performance from each member of the team. Thanks to Glenalmond for making the journey up to Countesswells. 

Hockey

On Tuesday a squad of girls and boys hockey travelled down to Edinburgh to take part in the Caritas Hockey 7s at George Watson’s College. In 7s hockey each team has a goalie plus 6 outfield players covering a full pitch, with each game lasting 12 minutes. The boys team played some great hockey with 3 clean sheets in their group showing how good defensively they were. They made it through to the final but sadly lost by a goal to Edinburgh Academy, with their goalie making 3 outstanding saves to deny us. Mr Walker couldn’t be prouder of them all. The girls drew 2 and lost 3 matches with Mr Stuart full of praise for them competing well in a very tough group. 

Saturday morning brought the last fixtures of the season for our teams, where it was a beautiful sunny day at Countesswells. Mrs Roberts thoroughly enjoyed her morning with P6 and P7 who had three teams out against Ashley Road School. She ran a hockey festival with lots of great play and goals scored. The three team captains Ines, Ronetta and Grace were super and got their teams warmed up and into positions. 

Miss Howie was delighted with her S1B team who she said were ‘absolutely fantastic’ against St Margaret’s. They haven’t scored any 11 a-side goals all season and on Saturday they achieved two. They were unlucky to lose a goal in the dying minutes but the game ended with a well-deserved draw. Yasmina was Player of the Match with some excellent tackles and play going forward. The S1A team secured some great goals on the board with a strong win against Aberdeen Grammar. There were lots of different scorers which was nice to see. The girls played some lovely attacking hockey including down the wing which worked well. They were all delighted and deserved their Lindt chocolate treats from Miss Howie!

S3 faced a stronger than anticipated St Margaret’s side who put forward their 1st XI for the fixture. It was a good experience for the girls and despite losing, as always they gave their all and they should be pleased with their effort.

A mixed team of the 2nd & 3rd XI lost to the Albyn 1st XI. The girls showed throughout the game the development and progression they have made this season. A sensational performance by Maddie T in the nets was a particular highlight. Mr Stuart commented that it was a wonderful game to end the season.

Scottish Hockey National Finals

Friday was a very exciting day with both our boys and girls 1st XI Hockey teams travelling to Peffermill Playing Fields in Edinburgh to compete in the Scottish Hockey National Finals. Our team of supporters was made up of S1, S2 & S3 hockey pupils with everyone in full voice to cheer on the teams. Many parents and relatives of the team members were also there in support with many more at home watching the live stream. 

The boys were first up, playing in the Plate Final against Strathallan School. Hopes were high going into the final, but unfortunately the boys found themselves down 2-1 at half time to strong and well-organised opponents. Louis R (S6) scored the goal that brought the scores level at 1-1 midway through the first half. The second half was a very similar story with Strathallan controlling parts of the game whilst the RGC boys tried to play on the counter. After a second penalty flick for Strathallan, the boys managed to claw their way back to a 3-2 deficit late into the game, a fine move was finished off by Lewis M (S4). The team pressed for the equaliser, but were unfortunate to be on the end of a short corner for Strathallan, which they dispatched to finish the game 4-2. Mr Walker commented that although a highly disappointing way to finish the season, there are a lot of positives going forward into next year. He said that the whole team should be proud of their efforts in finding their way to the final, and should use this as a springboard for their own individual hockey future, as well as that with the school.

The girls 1st XI followed on from the boys, in the inaugural Challenge Cup Final against Kelvinside Academy. They took the field urged on by an amazing RGC crowd and started the game incredibly well on the front foot. Slick passing and quick pressing resulted in the first 5 minutes of the game being played entirely in the Kelvinside half. All the pressure finally told and RGC went 1-0 up through a well worked goal by Anna W. A momentary slip in concentration by the defence resulted in an equaliser against the run of play. The game was extremely tight towards the end of the first half until Kelvinside scored a well worked penalty corner to lead 2-1 at half time. The second half was a fiercely close battle and the RGC girls gave absolutely everything they had in a wonderful display of quick passing, go forward hockey. Despite their efforts, there was no additional scoring and the final finished 2-1 to Kelvinside. Mr Stuart commented that the girls represented themselves and the school superbly throughout this competition and season, and should be incredibly proud of everything they have achieved. He thanked everybody who supported us at the venue and online, it meant a huge amount to everybody involved. 

Netball

The first round of Senior House Netball took place on Monday with plenty of participation from girls across all 4 Houses. The finals will take place on the last Monday of term with Blackfriars & Straloch fighting for the gold medal and Collyhill vs Sillerton for bronze.

Rugby

With the end of the rugby season fast approaching, the coaches have been doing what they can to put some extra matches on the fixture list. On Wednesday afternoon the 2nd XV travelled to Lathallan School for a friendly but sadly the planned S3 trip to Deeside RFC was cancelled. 

On Saturday morning we welcomed Dollar Academy back to Countesswells to play P6, P7 and S1 while S2 & S3 travelled down the road for the away fixtures. P6 stripes had an excellent game against strong opposition where we dominated the contact area and kept the ball alive with our support runners to win the match. P6 reds showed resilience to come back from a half time loss to eventually win the game by 2 points. We had a great turnout of P7 boys for their match against a Dollar side who had strong runners which led to their win. We played mixed games where the players took away lots of learning points. 

The opening 10 minutes of the S1 game set the tone for the match with the RGC boys able to carry over the gainline and keep the ball moving. Dollar tackled well but succumbed to overwhelming numbers. Lots of strong performances including Archie H and Magnus B who carried the ball brilliantly with Ruaridh H setting the standard in defence. This was a great way to end a very enjoyable season.

S2A had a cracking game in beautiful conditions at Dollar. Right at the end when pushing for the equaliser in their 22, they went the length to score. It was a very close match and an eventual win to Dollar but our boys showed some good work in both attack and defence. We got our numbers in the ruck wrong a few times but overall it was a really enjoyable morning.

S3A got straight into the game and showed good organisation in attack. Our defence let us down a few times and we were caught too narrow. Our tackling and handling has progressed well in the last month and we dominated a lot of the game. Overall a great game which allowed us to work off the rust after a number of cancelled games. A great performance from Luke W on his debut at flanker. 

The 2XV match containing a mix of S4-6 boys lost to a really strong Dollar team. We struggled a bit with their physicality at times but the boys stuck in manfully and made Dollar work for their tries. Jamie R and Max T played their first and second (and final) games of the season respectively. Stewart S and Sol S debuted for the 2XV and put in a great shift. Sami B, Ross B and Will W kept us going and showed their quality.

Team of the Week

Our TOTW this week are the S3 Rugby boys. Mr Beattie was really pleased with their great performance and win against Dollar. This was the first match the boys have had since 22nd January due to cancellations. A number of them were playing out of position, but they stuck in and it paid off with a great result. Well done boys.

Click here for a full breakdown of the week’s results.

Sport Update: Week ending 20 March