Football

The Senior side managed to escape the clouds and rain in Aberdeen as they travelled South to play in sunny Dollar on Tuesday afternoon. The boys got off to a good start, creating plenty of opportunities and converting the first within the 10 minute mark. Two goals followed before the end of the first half. The pitch muddied as the second half went on, but the boys fought well and continued to pursue more goals. The game finished with 9 goals for 5 different players. Striker Charlie R was in a particularly generous mood, with 6 assists. Muddy knees and plenty of smiles for the long journey home.

Netball

Our S2/3 Junior team played their Scottish Cup match against Westhill Academy on Wednesday. There was very competitive play from both sides with RGC taking the win. Captain Shawna S was Player of the Match for her brilliant play and leadership on court.

Two exciting S1 games were played on Thursday with RGC A vs Albyn B and Albyn A vs RGC B. S1 Netball is about friendships, growing confidence and a love for the sport. There was a great buzz on the court at RGU Sport. Players of the match were Katie and Faridah.

Our S3B put up a good fight against Albyn A in the Scottish Cup also on Thursday. The team made great progress from their last game and played with more confidence. It was a win for Albyn and the end of the S3B Scottish Cup run for this year.

Boys Hockey

The boys 1st XI were 3-0 victors after a mature display away against Dundee High 1st XI. Excellent levels of composure and calmness allowed the boys to come away with a comfortable win. The first half started off tight but after sticking to the game plan and playing simple hockey it didn’t take too long for the first goal to be scored just before half time. Dundee did have some chances that were bravely defended by the back line and goalkeeper. Going into the second half RGC continued to put on heavy pressure and scored 2 more goals coming directly from playing out the back through the aggressive Dundee press. Again RGC were very good defensively and managed to keep the clean sheet which will be a big source of confidence going into the next fixture. 

The S1-3 Junior boys battled it out in a nail biting 0-0 draw. Often considered a bore draw this was anything but. There were end to end attacks and had it not been for some great defending and goalkeeping the score could have easily been 6-6. In the first half both teams had many chances with short corners being earned from either side. Everyone was holding their breath as the ball struck the post and bounced everywhere on the pitch other than across the goal line. The second half was a similar story, by the final whistle the team was relieved to have kept a clean sheet but also disappointed not to have scored a winner. Coach Mr Davidson was delighted to see that the Junior boys have shown immense improvement in both their basic skills and tactical awareness since the start of the season. 

Girls Hockey

On Saturday morning we had an excellent run of fixtures against Strathallan School. P6 enjoyed their great first away fixture and started off with enthusiasm and energy. They were  playing the ball wide and passing early. An early goal calmed their nerves and from there on played some exciting hockey with lots of excellent defending as well as shooting opportunities. Mrs Roberts was a delighted coach as the team applied the three Thebes to their game which was Enjoy, Urgency and work hard.

P7 once again had a dominant performance with a comfortable 3-0 lead at half-time. Their three themes were Urgency, Width and Decision-making and they displayed all of these things on the pitch. This was a real team effort with some excellent attacks on both sides of the field. It was really exciting to watch and the girls were delighted with a 5-1 victory.

S1A had a tough match where Strathallan had more possession of the ball and we struggled to get the ball. It ended in a loss for RGC with lots to work on in training. S1B started the game very focused and with the help of P7 players we managed onto the scoresheet. Strathallan were strong opposition and won the match. They kept Yashica, our goalie, very busy and she was named our Player of the Match.

There was a comfortable away win for S2A with RGC scoring 8 goals from 5 players. Some of our passages of play were very good. Player of the Match was Elise M for her three goals. After five games this season S2A have scored 18 goals and conceded none. Great work team! S2B also enjoyed a win in their match. They started off at a great pace and the work rate of midfield and forwards was brilliant. They passed well and created some excellent goal scoring opportunities. The Strathallan GK was player of the match as she certainly kept the score respectable with a huge amount of saves.

An overcast day interspersed with the sun breaking through at times was indeed similar to how the S3 game played out; patchy at times with brighter prospects at times, very much a work in progress with high pressure and a tail wind in the offing. Sophie S was our Player of the Match.

It was a mid morning start for the 2nd XI girls against Strathallan and team member Helen K has provided us with this report. 

‘Even though we were 1-0 down for the majority of the first half, we managed to get a great goal from Helen K to tie the game. It was a tough match with a final result of a 2-1 win to Strathallan School. Everyone worked very hard despite the cold weather and each girl improved throughout the game. Thank you Strathallan for coming up to play on a cold Saturday morning. Well played 2nd XI!’

1st XI Captain, Emily W, gave us this report on her team’s match.

‘On Saturday the 1st XI hockey girls played a great game against Strathallan, keeping a strong defensive line and high energy throughout the match. The team persevered through the wet and windy conditions and continued to make better connections and more attacking opportunities, leading to a brilliant goal by Claire J. Unfortunately, the game ended with Strathallan winning 3-1, but RGC kept their heads held high and are excited to get back on the pitch next Saturday.’

Rugby

We had a fantastic programme of rugby fixtures against Dollar Academy on Saturday starting with P6 who had their best performance of the year so far. They made huge steps in their tackling technique and strong running when attacking. We have the opportunity to target the breakdown now. We only had 9 available players which ultimately became a problem later in the game against the 16 of Dollar. P7 had more players and enough for two teams. Both played very well and showed progression to moving from attack to defence quickly. Both games were closely contested with excellent performances from Ryan K, (even though he was borrowed by Dollar to help their numbers!) and Lachlan C who scored his first RGC try.

The S1A team lost in a very competitive game. RGC scored early on to draw the first 10 minutes of the match and really pressed the hosts with some strong ball carries. Retention of the ball on a rainy day became an issue after this and there were too many poor static offloads which were intercepted or spills in the tackle. Lots of chances to regain the ball gave Dollar too much possession. The big positive here was that the boys tackled all the way through the game and right to their own try line. Overall this was a very good learning experience for a team who competed with a very classy outfit. S1B also lost their match but managed to give a great second half performance. Sadly our numbers were lacking due to injuries. Ivan O was our Player of the Match. 

S2A had a cracking game against Dollar. It could have gone either way with both teams running strongly and tackling well. The last 10 minutes was particularly exciting, with Dollar eventually winning by a score of 24-29. The boys took a lot from the game and have lots of things to work on. S2B lost by just one  try, 41-36. We dominated the first half with some great runs from some of the team’s newest players. The second half went to Dollar and unfortunately RGC got back in the game just at the end of the half just a little too late. Mr Anderson said there were lots of postives to take and the boys worked hard.

It was a tough day for S3A who lost out to a physical Dollar team. We were well beaten in all the physical contest areas except the scrum and that put us on the back foot all day. We had moments where we were able to compete and string together phases but they were few and far between. The positives were putting out two teams and an honest appraisal post match from the group. S3B won 41-29 in a very entertaining affair. We lent Dollar 3 players and the 3 we gave them in the first half ended up crossing the whitewash against us 3 times! We took them back in the second half and our energy and  our ability to use the full width of the pitch helped us close out the game. Highlights were Dan M being an absolute machine for 60 minutes in attack and defence, a Christian B intercept try from inside his own 10m line and Fraser R knocking the ball on over the line trying to do an Ashton splash with no one near him!

2XV lost out to a very accurate and well conditioned Dollar side. The boys had a good spell towards the end of the first half where we played much tighter and exerted pressure on the fringes of their ruck to come away with our only points. A number of injuries made it even more challenging and we finished with 12 players on the field. At the end of the day, we lost to a much better team.

1st XV lost to a physical Dollar team. There were some stand out defensive efforts from the forwards but ultimately we lacked firepower and accuracy in the wide channels. In the end it was a fair result in a game played in good spirit.

Skiing

After finishing in 1st team place at the recent Scottish Schools Snowsports Association (SSSA) Dry Slope Championships at Hillend, our Senior male team qualified to represent Scotland and RGC at the 2022 British Schools' Dry Slope Championships in Stoke on Trent on Sunday, racing against the best of the best in Scotland, England and Wales. Having been the overall winners last year in Wales, the same team of four pupils, Grant M, Blair M, Finlay C & Jamie R were hoping to retain their title and they were delighted to do so! The boys displayed phenomenal ski racing and were crowned British Champions again. To achieve top team honours again in this British Final with 3 of our racers finishing in the top 7 out of 180 racers was truly outstanding.

Team of the Week

Congratulations to this week’s TOTW who are the Senior Boys Ski Team after retaining their British Schools Dry Slope Champs title.

Sporting Achievements from Out With School

Congratulations to Tanish K (S3) who received the Junior Batting Award at the North East Cricket Association Dinner. He was among the best batsmen in Grade 1 & 3 Leagues.