Before Christmas we had a number of fixtures taking place and have highlighted a couple of them below:
Year 7 Boys Football – County Cup Plate:
After what seemed like an age since our last match and almost daily enquiries from the boys asking when their next match is, we finally arrived at our much anticipated second round fixture in the District Plate. The Year 7 Boys have been improving with each performance this season as we learn about them as players. Crucially there is a lot of enthusiasm in the Year 7’s for representing the School and most of the squad play for local football clubs at the weekend. Our second-round match in the District Plate competition offered another opportunity to slightly rotate our squad to give as many students as possible an opportunity to wear the shirt with pride. This match saw Lucas C make his debut in Purple for the School and a strong debut it was too as he never gave up the ball and always look to make the right pass.
Our opponents were Hertswood Academy, who with a school roll of over 1,200 students were nearly double our size and with an onsite 3G also boasted superb training facilities. With their imposing modern building and spacious car park the boys asked if Hertswood were an independent school. The boys felt like they were in a 3rd round FA Cup clash where they were non-League outsiders arriving at the World-famous state of the art Hill Dickenson Stadium. We took a strong squad of 12 to Hertswood for this fixture to give us plenty of energy off the bench.
Townsend opted for a 3-4-1 formation against what looked like an attacking 2-4-2 from Hertswood. It was clear the game would be won or lost in the center of the park. Thankfully Trey B-L and Dario P both started exceptionally in centre midfield. Their energy and strong tackling, combined with quick passing out wide, meant Townsend started the stronger of the two sides. Along with Isaac M who also stepped into midfield when needed from his center back berth their combined dominance in centre midfield gave flashbacks of Joe Parkinson, John Ebbrell and Barry Horne during their ‘Dogs of War‘ era during the mid 1990s under the legendary Joe Royle. Our third corner of the game saw right back Jacob N cleverly offering himself a short corner to keep our deception levels high. His whipped in ball was dangerous, and Trey B-L was on hand to smash home a sliced clearance to open the scoring for Townsend.
We know from previous games it is going to take some top level defenders to keep top scorer Nathan P quiet and he was soon released down the right hand side by captain Joshua N’D where, advancing to the corner of the penalty box, Nathan unleashed an angled right foot thunderbolt of a strike that gave the goalkeeper no chance from 15 yards and the goal needing to be put back into position such was the power. It was a strike Yakubu Aiyegbeni in his Goodison heyday would’ve fully appreciated. Trey B-L is now purring in the midfield engine room and bristling with confidence. A few minutes after Nathan’s first strike he disposed his opposite number, skipped round two players before getting his head up and releasing Nathan down the left-hand side this time. After driving into the box Nathan then used his left foot to angle his shot across the keeper and into the far corner. 3-0 up and Townsend looked strong!
On came our own version of the bomb squad halfway through the half, but it was Hertwood who got the next goal. They refused to give the game up and won a couple of freekicks on the edge of the box that saw Rhys E-T fly through the air to save the first at full stretch and then make a Jordan Pickford-esque double save for the second. The second half saw Hertswood start positively and they were rewarded for their endeavour when the referee gave a dubious goal that Rhys E-T seemed to save before it crossed the line. However, the referee’s opinion is the only one that matters so with the goal given Townsend needed to regroup quickly to avoid Hertswood getting the wind in their sails. Luckily Josh N’D was on hand at the kickoff to once again release the impressive Nathan P down the right-hand side where, from slightly further out and from an even more acuate angle, he unleashed a second thunderbolt to seal his hattrick and put Townsend 4-1 up and firmly back in control. Nathan now has 6 goals in 3 appearances for the School. With Trey B-L moving back into defence, Dario P and Isaac M provided took it upon themselves to continue to dominate the midfield and after yet more good working regaining possession Dario drove forward before sliding a pass into the path of the ongoing Isaac L down the left who finished with aplomb. At the other end Rhys E-T managed to thwart the Hertswood striker on 3 separate 1v1 situations that drew applause and appreciation from the Townsend players and subs. With 5 minutes to go Dario P deservedly got his goals he pounced on Nathan P’s pass following more good work from captain Josh N’D to cap off his own strong performance before Hertswood got a late consolation. The Year 7 boys were deservedly very happy with their performance at the final whistle and crucially had a little more self-belief in themselves and their squad. Happy faces all round.
The match ended with a superb 6-2 win for Townsend and a place in the quarter final against either Monkswalk or Stanborough to be played before 6th February 2026.
Goals:
Nathan P – x3
Trey B-L – x1
Isaac L – x1
Dario P – x1
Player of the Match – Rhys E-T for a series of fantastic saves.
Mr P Dawson
Year 10 Boys Football – County Cup Plate
The year 10 boys faced Reach Free School in the second round of the county cup plate competition. The game started in favour of Reach Free as they converted their chances and went 2-0 part way through the first half. The Townsend team fought hard throughout the rest of the game, equalising to make it 2-2 during the second half of the match. There were then plenty of chances for both teams to nick a winner before the end of the game but neither team were able to do so, which meant the game went to penalities.
Last time out, Townsend were on the losing side of the shoot out but this time out with some great saves from Josh, they were able to win 3-2 on penalties with Morgan scoring the decisive one.
We are through to the quarter final of the county cup plate where we will play wither Sir John Henry Newman or Onslow School. Keep an eye out for this upcoming fixture.
Upcoming fixtures:
Below are the fixture that are coming up in the next 2 weeks:
Below are also the upcoming county cup and district cup draws that have been made:
U12 Boys
County Cup Plate Quarter Final vs either Monks Walk / Stanborough – deadline 6/2/26
District Cup 1st Round vs Roundwoodpark School – Thursday 29th January
U13 Boys
District Cup Quarter Final vs Verulam – deadline 27/2/26
U14 Boys
County Cup Plate 2nd Round vs Bushey Meads – deadline 17/1/26
District Cup 1st Round vs Sandringham – deadline 13/2/26
U15 Boys
County Cup Plate Quarter Final vs either Sir John Henry Newman / Onslow – deadline 6/2/26
District Cup 1st Round vs STABS – deadline 13/2/26
U16 Boys
County Cup Plate 2nd Round vs Ridgeway – deadline 17/1/26
District Cup 1st Round vs Marlborough – deadline 13/2/26
U18 Boys
District Cup Quarter Final vs either St Columbas / SJL – deadline 13/3/26
Keep an eye of for more details soon.
Miss M Jones
Head of Physical Education
