11 September 2023
Hockey
KGS U13 Hockey v Stockport Grammar School - Independent Schools National Cup Round 1
The U13 squad (pictured above) got their season off to a flying start in the first round of the Independent Schools National Cup v Stockport Grammar School. Not long into the first half, Imi Osborne opened the scoreline with a great strike from the top D. The goals started to flow with Hollie Guthrie slotting the next away and Ava Godbold converting a further two to take us into the half time break. Great link up play from Maclean-Bristol, McGarry and Osborne resulted in goal number five. Great work at the back from Dunne and So stopped Stockport in their tracks and resulted in a further three goals to take an 8-0 win and a place in round 2 of the national cup. Well done, girls.
Rugby
KGS 1st XV v Wirral Grammar School
The 1st XV played their first fixture of the season away at Wirral Grammar School. Kirkham had five players making their starting debuts for the side which included Jack Chapman, Saif Amr, Alfie Guthrie, Sebi Krippner and Ben Firth. Kirkham started strong with fly half Ollie Davies getting plenty of quality ball from the forwards. Harry Reay looked good on the right wing and he picked up a couple of tries after some well-worked handling from the backs. Krippner showed everyone his pace, running in a score following a well-executed set piece move. Morgan Dryhurst-Jones worked hard in the back row and was always close in support. Kirkham won 59-3 and look forward to playing Llandrithlo College from North Wales on Wednesday.
KGS 2nd XV v Wirral Grammar School
The 2nd XV started their campaign with an impressive win away over Wirral Grammar School. After a tough pre-season, the boys got to show off all of the hard work they had done by starting the scoring early after only a couple of minutes. Some great work by the forwards, led by Cam Blamey, meant the backs had quick ball which gave the brilliant centre partnership, and co-captains, Vinney Durkin and Luke Denn, the ability to exploit the Wirral defence. An outstanding line from Vinney meant he was the first on the score sheet. Kirkham showed the dominance by putting pressure on Wirral forcing a turnover which then went wide and into the danger man Durkin again who showed great footwork and pace to cross the line again after a 50 metre run. The next try came from Alex Greenhalf who found himself on the edge to finish off some lovely fast hands from Sam Littler. More tries came thick and fast with some excellent runs from newbies, Timi Martins and Jamie Atherton. Special mention to another debutant for Kirkham, Harrison Causey, who was fantastic all-round. The running of tries finished with an individual effort from Sam Dixon and a try from debutant, James Pickering, who came on at scrum half. All-round a great effort from all involved and a strong start to the season. Kirkham now look forward to this weekend's fixture against St Ambrose which will be another chance for Kirkham to show their skills. Final score: 53-0.
KGS U16s v Wirral Grammar School
Kirkham under 16s travelled to Wirral Grammar School for the first game of the season with a large squad for plenty of game time for everyone. It was a chance for everyone to get used to the style of play that they will be playing this year. There was some well-produced tries with both outstanding effort from both backs and forwards. It was a positive game to see so much depth in the squad with a positive win under their belts for the first time playing together. Thank you to all the boys and parents that made the journey to Wirral. We look forward to a home fixture against St Ambrose next Saturday.
KGS U14s v Wirral Grammar School
The U14s had a strong start to their season with a good 34-10 victory over Wirral Grammar School. In the first half KGS showed their excellent ball movement skills resulting in some good tries for Jack Gillett, Leo Paraskeva and debutant, Jonny Wright. Skipper, Jonty Faith, added two conversions to make it 19-0 at half time. In the second half, Kirkham continued to control much of the play, but Wirral defending admirably. On forty minutes, Kirkham executed their attack well to see the skipper Faith dive in for the home sides bonus point try and they soon scored their fifth after some excellent work from Louis Gildea and Oli Hartley-Pagnillo to see Seb Clarke stroll under the posts. Wirral ended the game well with two tries of their own but Kirkham will be happy with their first run out of the season.
KGS U13s v Wirral Grammar School
The Under 13 Squad got off to the best possible start for the 2023/24 season with an excellent home win over a powerful Wirral Grammar School team. The visitors took the lead after two minutes to put Kirkham under immediate pressure but Kirkham hit back with a try from Tom Medhurst which was soon followed by another by Marwan Hassan. Kirkham tackled ferociously after Wirral began to fight back but the defence held firm to take a 10-5 advantage into the second half. At the start of the second half, Kirkham lost Charlie Robinson to a fractured collar bone but rallied with James Wileman filling in calmly at fly half, Kirkham continued to take the game to Wirral with several flowing movements causing the visitors to eventually crack. Harry Lawson, who had a sublime second half, added another try to increase Kirkham's advantage and then scored Kirkham's fourth try to take the game out of sight. However, Wirral scored two late tries to make the score line unreflective of the Kirkham dominance, particularly in the second period.