Basketball

The RGC Senior Basketball team won their match on Monday against Alford Academy 47-21 backed by leading scorer Abdul O and excellent rebounding from the entire team. This win qualifies the team for the next round of the Scottish Cup. We wait to find out our next opponent which will be either Montrose or Arbroath.

Netball

Our RGC 3rd VII and 4th VII were part of 9 schools competing in the ASSNA Senior B Tournament on Monday at RGU Sport. This tournament was made up of 1st and 2nd VII Netball Squads. Our RGC 3rd VII went through to the semi finals against Bucksburn 1s which ended in a 3-3 draw. Extra time was played for a golden goal which saw RGC 3rd VII progress through to the final against Albyn 2nd VII. Our girls won a very close and competitive final 3-2! Team captain, Georgia P (S6), was visibly delighted with the result! The team had entered the tournament with reserved expectations as they knew Bucksburn 1st VII and Westhill 1st VII would be very strong sides. For our 3rd VII to win this tournament is a fantastic reflection of the strength and depth in our Senior Netball Programme. Our Netball Programme Development Plan (2020) aspirations were to provide as many playing opportunities for our girls as possible whilst promoting a positive ethos to strive for excellence. To have five competitive senior squads, four of which now compete in local competitions, is a target we are all very proud we are meeting. 

S3 Netball were up against Aberdeen Grammar in their Scottish Cup match this week. It was a win for RGC with the girls playing some lovely netball. Westhill Academy are our next opponents. Well done to Lily C who was Player of the Match for her controlled footwork, accurate passing and hard work on court to win some fantastic interceptions.

It was a challenging game for S3B against Mackie Academy on Wednesday in their Scottish Cup fixture. A win for Mackie but RGC fought for every ball and right up to the final whistle. We are so proud of the progress this group is making.

On Saturday morning Miss Stephen and Miss Duddy held another successful Netball session under the stand at Countesswells. This is giving even more pupils the chance to experience the positive atmosphere at Countesswells on a Saturday. 

Swimming

RGC pupils returned to ASV on Monday to take part in the annual Senior School Swimming Gala Championships 2022. The day consisted of individual events, House relays and of course, the Captains’ relay. The pupils took to the poolside to cheer and support their teammates and Houses. In the individual events we had Isabella A in S3 taking new records in 50m backstroke and 50m Freestyle which had both stood since 2011. Ceri G in S5 took the 50m breaststroke record held since 2019. All races were full of determination with many year groups using the last individual event as the decider. The last event of the evening was the House Captains’ race. Our S6 Captains strolled onto the poolside wearing their leis, hula skirts and Hawaiian shirts to finish off the evening in true style! Well done to all pupils who participated in this event. Your attendance at the Gala is greatly appreciated and we look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Boys Hockey

On Saturday morning our S1-3 Junior boys welcomed Granite City Wanderers to Countesswells where RGC won 2-0. The boys maintained control of the game well by remaining calm under pressure and playing simple hockey. This resulted in plenty of chances going forward and had it not been for some excellent goalkeeping there would likely have been more goals. Granite City also had chances but in the end strong defending and more great goalkeeping prevailed and RGC managed to keep a much deserved clean sheet. 

We also hosted Aberdeen Grammar to play our S1-3 Boys Development team, with Grammar winning 4-1.

Girls Hockey

Well done to our P7 Girls hockey team who picked up another trophy at Wednesday’s Morrison’s Academy P7 Hockey Festival. They drew against The Glasgow Academy and won against Kilgraston, Morrison’s and Mary Erskine to lift the trophy. There were some great performances against some very strong sides. Mrs Roberts was delighted with her team!

On Saturday morning we had fixtures against High School of Dundee which produced a mixed bag of results in the very wet conditions. Our P6 teams kept fighting till the end and enjoyed their games despite the A and B teams losing to Dundee. There were strong wins for P7A & B and a loss for S1A. The S1 girls tried really hard to get in Dundee's goal but the goalkeeper was very good. There is lots to work on but mostly on team spirit. S2B lost in a closely fought encounter. Both sides had opportunities to score but our opposition took their chances and won the game. A great effort by the 11 players that braved the elements and played. Player of the match was our captain, Emily O.

S2A faced their toughest game yet where both sides had several opportunities to score in a very even game. The first goal was going to be so important and this was scored by Lexie L. We then started to grow in confidence and eventually Elise M scored our second goal to make the victory more comfortable. Player of the Match was Emma D. This team are having a great season so far with 4 wins out of 4 games, 10 goals scored and none conceded! Next week will be another tough test away to Strathallan.

The 2nd XI brought a huge deal of work rate to their game away at High School of Dundee. They battled from start to finish and were unfortunate to concede 2 goals. Alice R worked extremely hard all over the pitch and goalie Morven B produced some great saves to keep us in the match until the very end. 

The 1st XI started their match well with a couple of chances, then Dundee brought a few attacks in a row and we had to do some very good defending. Kate D was exceptional in defence and Maddie T made some brilliant saves keeping the score level in the first half. Near the end of the game Dundee converted a good chance quickly followed by another to take the win. We will look to keep working on our attacking set plays and using the width when going forward. 

Rugby

It was a tough day on the road for the U16s on Wednesday in their National Shield Quarter Final away against Bell Baxter High School. RGC lost 34-7 to a very physical and well drilled opposition. The scoreline didn’t reflect the game and we showed moments of brilliance but ultimately it came down to matching them up front and stopping their go forwards and momentum. This was something we couldn’t really get a hold of until the second half.

Meanwhile further south the senior boys came second best to a very pumped and well supported North Berwick team. RGC went down early to two well composed tries by the hosts to approach the half 12-0 down, but a try by fearless leader Alfie G kept us in the game, the extras added by Matthew L. The second half was a far better performance from both teams with the RGC undergoing large periods of pressure in their own half, only to concede 26 minutes into the half to take the score to 17-7. Spurred on fresh legs and a sniff of getting back in the game the boys got within striking distance, with Archie L going over in the side channel, the extras again added. With 3 minutes of time to play we chased the game hard with the pressure causing us not to execute on numerous occasions. The final score was 17-14 to the hosts, leaving a very disappointed RGC 1st XV to make the long trip home. 

On a brighter note, there was a long awaited addition to the Rugby programme at RGC with the first girls’ session taking place during S5/6 Sport. This has been introduced as part of providing an increased variety of choice during Sport. It was well attended by a group of very keen girls.

Sadly all our rugby fixtures against The Glasgow Academy were cancelled on Saturday morning due to waterlogged pitches.

Team of the Week

Congratulations to this week’s TOTW who are the 3rd and 4th VII Netball girls who took part in the ASSNA B team competition. The 3rd VII came through to win the final against Albyn 2nd VII and it highlights the great depth in the Senior Netball squads.