AGoodSport's blog

Firwood 23 - 0 South Failsworth

After the last performance it is obvious to see why Firwood went into this match with great confidence. They definitely did the school and themselves proud once again.

I probably will be stating the obvious with what I write but I'm happy to do so.

AS and EC were lethal in attack. AS wasn't once put off by the height of the opposition defence, as every time she found a way past them to score.

In the centre of the court was the supply to attack, OG, OB, AB and LM were outstanding. Again the speed and accuracy of the through balls was sensational and the number of interceptions which led to attack was extremely impressive.

The defence was water tight once more and to not concede is wonderful. RS, FM and SS provided the perfect base for the team to mount their attacks.

Well done again girls. A special mention must go to SS and LM who both made their debuts.

The Firwood Manor football team travelled to Grimsby on a freezing cold Monday morning, to play in the northern section of The National Independent 5 a-side Competition. They were hoping to qualify for the national competition in Suffolk, like the team did last year.

We were drawn in what proved to be the toughest group, playing Beech House B (won 12-0), St. Martin’s, (won 3-2), Hull Collegiate, (drew 1-1) and Scarisbrick, (Lost 3-1). These results put us in second place in the table and meant we had qualified for the semi-finals, and therefore the national tournament. The boys were understandably delighted!

Unfortunately, we ended up coming in fourth place, as tiredness and the extremely cold conditions seemed to affect us later in the day, but it was a fantastic achievement nevertheless.

The team will now be travelling down to Suffolk for a stay over on Thursday 4th March and competing on the Friday at Stoke College. Many thanks to Mr. F for helping on the day and giving up his time and I’m sure you’ll all be routing for the team.

Mr. Lengden

Firwood 17 - 4 Limehurst School

The girls set off to this netball match with great confidence and after this performance and scoreline it is clear to see why.

Firwood showed their superiority early in the match and this was the key to victory.

EC and FM's shooting was exceptional as always and to score 17 points in one match is fantastic.

RS and OB were magnificent in defence and formed a solid base for Firwood to attack.

In the centre of the court was AB, OG and AS. They marked aggressively when defending but dominated possession of the ball. This enabled them to constantly feed the ball through to attack, which was done with unbelievable speed.

Well done girls, Firwood Manor is very proud of you!

Our Cross Country Team took part in the ISA North Area Cross Country competition in Cheadle on Wednesday. Mr. Lengden and I accompanied a very plucky group of children from Years 4,5 and 6 on a very cold and snowy afternoon. As we got off the coach, it was evident that the competition would require guts and determination. The course was long and quite slushy in places and, with about ten schools participating, we knew the going would be tough but nothing was going to deter our youngsters. There were four races – Year 6 boys, Year 6 girls, Year 5 and under boys and Year 5 and under girls, with over 100 children in each race.

Our Year 4 and 5 girls were first away and they certainly laid down the ground rules. The girls fought their way through the start and all completed the course. This race was followed by the Year 4 and 5 boys. TB led the way for the first part and eventually finished a very creditable 16th. He was closely followed by TD, GR, WA and WL and HM from Year 5 and JG, TB, JS and ET from Year 4. Our Year 6 girls were valiant in their efforts. Congratulations go to AB, OB, DR, RS, FM and EC. Finally, came the Year 6 boys race and we are so proud to let you know that CC came 2nd. He was ably supported by HK. CC received a beautiful silver medal and will go on to represent ISA North in the National Championships later in the term. This is a wonderful achievement. Well done. We are looking forward to supporting you in this competition. The standard at this competition is always high and we are very proud of all of our pupils.

Our boys’ football team go to Grimsby soon to take part in the ISA North Football Tournament. We wish you every success boys!!

Firwood 11 - 9 Hull Collegiate

8 - 8 (after 50 mins)

11 - 9 (AFTER EXTRA TIME)

Not even Nostradamus could have predicted the final result of this game, which did nothing for Mr. Lengden’s health!

A sticky pitch and unknown opposition were just a couple of the factors which resulted in one of the most ridiculous score lines I have ever been part of. The boys got off to a bit of a sloppy start, gifting Hull a 2 - 0 lead through a lack of concentration, however it was just the kick they needed as they drew level 5 minutes later. Throughout the course of the game, Firwood scored some exceptional goals, through slick passing and movement, only to gift goals back to Hull from set pieces time after time. The half time score line was 4 - 4.

More of the same after the break did see Firwood take the lead for the first time in the game, but another goal conceded from a corner let them back into the match. By now the better football was being shown by Firwood and one touch switching of play resulted in the goal of the game from GR. Several goals from CC and AS amounted to the full time score of 8- 8.

Extra time saw Firwood take the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring after 4 seconds and then adding another to give us a 2 goal cushion for the first time in the game. They weren’t about to let me relax though and with 30 seconds of extra time left, Hull pulled one back. However, it was AS who finished off the game with a great long range effort to finally kill off a spirited opposition, with the last kick of the match.

The third round beckons. Please do not do that to me ever again!

Well done, boys!

Thursday 10th December 2009

Firwood 0 - 0 St. Patrick’s

This was a game that Firwood dominated but couldn’t score in. The passing play and movement off the ball was very pleasing on the eye and was one of the best games they had played all season. From defence, through midfield and into attack, the boys maintained their discipline and were denied by a very good St. Patrick’s goalie, who seemed to stop everything. Hard luck boys!

Firwood 2 - 4 Stanley Road

This was a more frustrating performance from the team. Although they started strongly, Stanley Road were a tough team with lots of running in their legs and our team, hit by illness, were unable to keep pace with them. Flashes of quick passing were shown, summed up by a fantastic couple of one twos between AS and CC late on. The boys knew where they had lost the game and all plan to put this right on Monday.

The GEM’s U9 Football Tournament took place on Tuesday 2nd December and nine of the Year 4 boys were very excited about taking part in the event. (They’d been asking when it was since September)!

They played seven a side against Abbortsford, Brabyns, Clevelands and Moor Allerton schools during the course of the afternoon down at The Soccerdome at Trafford Park.

Although the boys had only really played together on the yard at break times, it was clear to see good teamwork and excellent discipline in positional play. Their overall record was: Won 1, Drawn 1, Lost 2.

There were many positives aspects of the afternoon and all of the boys enjoyed the experience. The future of the school team is in safe hands, Year 4. Well done.

Thank you to all the parents who turned up to support, and buy Mr. Lengden a coffee!

Firwood Manor took place in the Independent Schools Swimming Gala on 17th November at Rochdale Swimming Pool. We were up against 4 other schools and the children were very excited. Each year, the team had made good progress and it was to prove the same again. Firwood finished second overall, a fantastic achievement.

There were several individual golds, including the Year 4 backstrokes. Several more silver and bronze individual medals were won as the children cheered each other on with great enthusiasm.

Finally, the relays were completed with 3 second places and a third completing a very satisfactory haul for the team. With the improvement they’ve shown, we may be ready to win it next year.

Thursday 19th November 2009

Firwood 2 - 0 Hulme Court

A game against Hulme was something Firwood had not yet tasted success in to date. They were top of the table at the start of the day and so the boys knew it was going to be a tricky match. The game started brightly for Firwood. The midfield worked hard and JD stood strong in goal due to TA’s illness. Defending in numbers kept the opposition at bay and it was link up play from CC, AS and GR which saw the first goal come, scored by CC. A quick second killed the game and Firwood were able to play the game out. A great performance.

Thursday 5th November 2009

Firwood 2 - 2 Chadderton Hall

Our first game of the season was against one of the stronger sides in the league to whom we had lost all our previous games, but Firwood were in confident mood after winning and drawing their 2 pre-season matches.

The match started with Chadderton Hall attacking and only brave defending and cool goalkeeping kept them at bay. On 5 minutes, Firwood broke the deadlock with a fine individual goal from CC. This lead was stretched to 2-0 moments later after the opposition had almost equalised.

Chadderton Hall came back strongly and clawed one back in the last 5 minutes and then disaster! A dubious penalty resulted in the points being shared.

A great first game, though.

Thursday 12th November 2009

Firwood 1 - 1 Yew Tree

This game had provided great entertainment over the last couple of seasons and it was to continue! Although their team seemed to be twice the size of ours, (I must check dietary information for some of these schools), it didn’t faze our boys and we got straight into what was to be a game played mainly in midfield.

Good wing play and battling performances all over the pitch pleased the crowd despite Firwood going 1 - 0 down. But the fighting spirit the team had shown all season was about to be shown again as a neat dribble and finish from CC got Firwood a deserved draw.

Firwood 1 - 1 Corpus Christi

Firwood continued their unbeaten start to the season with a draw that could have so easily have been a win. Firwood took a deserved lead with great pass and move from GR and WL leading to a very smart goal. Tiredness then seemed to creep into the team as they had played 2 games on the bounce and we had to defend manfully.

Corpus equalised after they had previously hit a post but the defence regrouped and stopped the threat for the rest of the match.

A little more awareness of our team mates could have released a couple of players for a 1v1 on their goalie but I’m sure these lessons will be learned for the next match.

Well done Firwood.

The school football team played away at Mills Hill on Tuesday 20th October in a friendly game. The players knew it would be a tough match and were ready to defend and attack in equal measure as they kicked off.

The first half saw us mainly defending and throwing everything we could in front of the ball at times. Excellent positional play from our midfield allowed us to relieve the pressure whenever we won possession back and our lone centre forward ran tirelessly to keep their defenders occupied. Half time saw the score 0-0.

Firwood had more chances to score in the second half but it was Mills Hill who broke the deadlock with a well taken goal half way through. We continued to defend bravely and with a minute to go HK move into right midfield. Another Mills Hill attack broke down through an immense JD tackle and TA save. The ball was fed down the left wing and crossed into the area. The ball was missed by all of the Mills Hill players, and HK side footed the equaliser with virtually the last kick of the game.

A fantastic effort from all the boys was richly rewarded. Thanks to AS’s granddad for transporting some of the team.

Firwood Manor played Bridgewater Hall in the first round of the Umbro Cup on Monday 12th October. This was the first game of the season with 3 boys making their debut for the first team. The game started well with Firwood hitting the woodwork twice in 3 minutes. Bridgewater also hit the post and the game was quite even. That was until GR scored in his first game for the school with a neat turn and finish. Bridgewater never really recovered from that and Firwood extended their lead through a goal by CC in the second half as the team grew in confidence. Great passing on the left wing created several chances and it was eventually rewarded through AS scoring the third and final goal.

Strong performances throughout the team were seen. WA and JD protected the ever-reliable TA. The midfield was complimented by WL and TB. A great result and performance.

Thank you to SL for refereeing the match.

Firwood Manor took part in the U7 and U11 Girls' tournament last week. It proved to be a very enjoyable experience for the children, some of them playing in a competetive game for the first time.

The U7 team started brilliantly, winning the majority of their games and finishing 3rd overall. A post was between that and winning it. They played some remarkably good football, passing and running with the ball effectively.

The girls also finished 3rd overall, scoring and drawing against the eventual winners. They gelled well and gave every school they played a tough match. Thank you to all the parents who came and supported, and well done to all the children involved.

It's been an incredibly busy few weeks for the Firwood Manor footballers. Last week the U11's and U9's took part in the GEMS tournament at The Soccerdome. The U11's came a respectable third, while the U9's were a post away from winning their competition and finished runners up by a point. A great effort!

Last Thursday the U11's took six points out of six by beating Yew Tree and Corpus Christi in The Oldham Schools League; another great achievement.

This Thursday, (20th Nov), they drew 0-0 with Mills Hill and lost to Hulme Prep. Our team had the better chances and the boys can't wait to play them again to put the record straight!
Tonight, the Ull's play in the Oldham 6-a-side competition. A full report will be posted next week.

Firwood Manor's football team will be playing the first 2 fixtures of the season before half term. The first will be a friendly at home against Mills Hill on Thursday 9th October. Kick off 3.45. The second game will also be at home, against Beech House on Tuesday 21st October. Kick off 3.20. This is the first round of the national Umbro Cup. We hope parents can come and support us. Good Luck boys!

Match Report by Tom

Firwood kicked off and remained in possession for a good five minutes. Joshkun ran up the wing past each defender then to the goalkeeper where he shot and scored. At the start of the second half, Firwood weren’t on top form which meant that St. Lukes were able to sneak a goal.

It was 1-1 and both sides were desperate to win. By now, Firwood were as sharp as ever and were having shots galore but St Lukes’s keeper was too good. With two minutes left, people were rushing with the ball but Firwood kept cool heads, unlike the weather which was scorching. As the keeper for St. Lukes kicked the ball out, Tom headed it with his nose into the area where Joshkun, for a second time, did a half volley and got it in the back of the net. The whistle blew and Firwood had won 2-1.

Match Report by Michael and Matthew

Five minutes into the game, Josh was running down the wing and crossed the ball, the keeper pushed it out but Josh was there for the rebound, shot and scored. Firwood 1 – Chadderton Hall 0!!

A while later Chadderton Hall shot, Michael saved it and Tom whacked it……… into his own net. Firwood 1 – Chadderton Hall 1. By half time Chadderton had scored again. After half time, Chadderton managed a sloppy goal. Then Sam shot – just over the bar. Chadderton were running down the wing and Matthew did a sliding tackle and knocked the ball out for a throw. The match finished 4 –1.

We would like to say a big thank you to Mr. Lengden for organising the match and to Chadderton Hall for coming. We had a great time playing.

Match Report by Jordan and Matthew

The game kicked off at 3.45pm when the rest of the school was packing bags for home. From the start, we ruled the game and nearly scored with Sam just missing the net. Later, St. Herberts scored the only goal of the first half. At half time Mr. Lengden said, “The team that scores the next goal will win the match.” Early in the second half, Matthew hit the bar and it bounced to Arron who smashed it into the net making it one all. Five minutes from the end, Jordan crossed the ball into the box, the keeper saved it but it hit the post and GOAL!!!!!!!!!! 2-1 to Firwood. Everyone dived on Jordan and Matthew did back flips while Jack, our keeper, went mad. To our relief, the final whistle went. Firwood won 2-1. We then offered refreshments to the parents and boys.

SWIMMING

Gems Schools’ Swimming Gala
We thoroughly enjoyed our debut in the Gems Schools Swimming Gala held at the Aquatics Centre in Manchester on Thursday. All of our children swam magnificently and we did achieve some firsts in some of the races, not quite enough to win, but we nevertheless had a wonderful time.

NETBALL

Netball Club begins next Friday for all boys and girls in Years 3,4 and 5 with Miss Byram and Mrs. Wild.

Cross Country

We are so proud of all of our children who ran in the Cross Country Competition at Bridgewater School. The team came third overall. We have to give a special mention to TB in Year 3 who won the Bronze medal in his age group. Thank you to all the Mums, Dads and Grandparents for your support and to all the children who took part and supported their team-mates so enthusiastically. The photographs are in the entrance hall.

Swimming

Gems Schools’ Swimming Gala

This gala takes place on Thursday, 1st May at the Commonwealth Swimming Pool. It will involve pupils from Years 3 – 6. The children involved in this event will bring home a consent letter today.

Cross Country

Good Luck to all our runners in tomorrow’s competition at Bridgewater School in Worsley!!

Swimming - Gems Schools' Swimming Gala

This gala takes place on Thursday, 1st May at the Commonwealth Swimming Pool. It will involve pupils from Years 3 – 6. So that we can choose the team, swimming for Reception and Miss Monaghan’s class has been cancelled on Tuesday, 22nd. Please would all Year 5 & 6 pupils please bring their swimming kit on that day.

Football

Our boys experienced mixed fortunes this week on the football field. On Monday on a very boggy pitch, which did nothing to enhance our style of passing the ball, we lost to St. Aidan’s Primary School. However, on home ground on Thursday, we beat St. Herbert’s B team. Goals from JB and AS and safe goalkeeping by JF clinched the game for us.
Our home fixtures are listed on the Diary Dates. Please support us if you are able.

Football

Firwood Manor’s football team begin their journey in the Chadderton Schools League Cup on Monday the 14th April. Over the season, the team has grown in confidence and they are now playing some excellent passing football. The progress made was reflected in their performance in the Oldham’s School League, last term, when they were desperately unlucky to lose 1-0 to the eventual league winners!

The team, made up of boys from Years 4, 5 and 6, are really fired up for the new challenge and can’t wait to get playing. Good Luck boys!

Cross Country

The annual competition at Bridgewater School takes place on Saturday, 19th April. We have a strong tradition of individual medal winners over the years and last year won our first team trophy of the competition – the Year 4 Shield.

Our team has been practising since September for this year’s competition. Year 5s are hoping to retain their title and our current Year 4 team is very reluctant to let the trophy go elsewhere.

Good Luck to all our runners!

Swimming

In May we shall be entering the Gems Schools Swimming Gala. The teams will be chosen over the next two weeks. Choosing the team from our wonderful swimmers in Years 3-6 will be difficult.