Date: Saturday 18^th May 2019

Venue: WAIS 

On Saturday 18^th May, Dulwich College, Dehong travelled from Shanghai to compete in a friendly netball and football fixture. It was agreed that when the teams had finished the boys and girls would come together to have a mini athletics meet. 

For the netball teams this was the perfect preparation for the tour to Beijing. The girls had two teams of eight girls. The A team were without their regular GA and GD and would need to be at their best to compete against Dehong who came third in SSSA competition that the grade 5 girls won. The B team were represented by six grade 4 girls and two grade 5 girls which bodes well for the grade 4 team next year. The match was divided into 8 minute thirds and was end to end action with both teams creating chances and with neither side taking an early advantage. Eventually Dehong scored but WAIS come back strong and leveled the score. The match ebbed from one end to other and it was not until the last third that Dehong stretched their lead to finish the match 5 goals to 3. All the girls showed excellent character, understanding of principles and tactics and passion. A. Wang was a particular revelation who showed speed, agility and excellent marking skills.

Dehong’s football team were greeted by our A and B football teams in honorable fashion. Our boys were friendly and professional when they arrived on the pitch, showing great effort to make them all feel welcome to Wycombe Abbey, and Changzhou.  

In the “A” fixture, Dehong proved to be difficult opponents to break down and score against. We played a strong attack with D. Hu as right wing back and L. Angheben as left wing back, B. Pan starting in central midfield and J. Yu (Fish) up front as a lone striker. Although Wycombe Abbey played well in Dehong’s half, Dehong proved to be too strong in defence. D. Hu showed great trickery and skill to take on his opponents, with one of his shots hitting the post. Both J. Yu and L. Angeheben had shots saved by Dehong’s goalkeeper and a couple of shots went wide. WAIS brought on K. Martin and E. Zhu at half time to add power, stamina and vision to battle Dehong, however were unable to find a breakthrough, with the match finishing 0-0.

The positives to take from the opening game was our passing as a team – X. Clarke, L. Wang and B. Pan, BRAVO!!! All three could have walked off the pitch with the Man of the Match award. X. Clarke and L. Wang both showed strength in tackling for our defence, winning and controlling the ball without panicking when a player came to try and win the ball back off them. They looked to pass the ball down the wing to L. Angeheben or D. Hu, finding their man each time. This is an outstanding footballing skill for defenders, they felt no pressure and dictated the pace of the game. B. Pan played one of his best game in a Wycombe Abbey football shirt this match. He ran at defenders with the ball, played passes into space for J. Yu, L. Angeheben and D. Hu to run onto to and shoot, as well as doing his duty in getting back to defend and controlling the middle of the pitch.  

On the other pitch Wycombe Abbey B v Dehong B went all the way down to the wire. With a last min goal our B team won the match 1-0! Dehong in both games showing strength and excellent footballing ability to defend and attack against our boys.   

Our last match was against their B team. In the final game we rested L. Wang and J. Yu and started with E. Zhu in defence alongside X. Clarke. K. Martin went up front as lone striker. 

Once again Dehong proved hard to break down and started the game solid in defence. In our team talk after the first match we analysed how we could improve to score and discussed tactics for the second game. This proved vital for the players understanding going into this next game against another strong defensive Dehong. Goals from K. Martin and L. Angeheben had us leading 2-0 by halftime. In this game our team were picking out passes and through balls to our attackers, who used skill and pace to shoot on goal, aiming for the corner of the net to score, eventually winning the game 4-1. 

Unfortunately, Dehong’s A team proved eventual winners against our WAIS football B team. Winning 0-1 by scoring a penalty. Our B team gave them a good game - defending well, but also getting a lot of shots at Dehong’s goal. Once again Dehong A’s proved too strong in defence for our boys and they should be applauded for their efforts here at WAIS. 

After the conclusion of the netball and football fixtures, both schools took part in a mini athletics meet, with sprints, middle distance runs, throws and jumps all taking place.

Overall, a fantastic morning of sport that took place at school last week – well done to all involved!