30
ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
Football
By Nicholas Bond, Master i/c Football
The football 1st XI started the season
well, attending Rugby School’s pre-season
tournament, and recording some positive
results versus Abingdon and Oakham.
This was a great chance for the new Head
Coach, Chris Hackett, to see the boys in
action. Chris joined the coaching team
having recently retired from professional
football, playing at clubs such as Millwall
and Oxford City.
The start of the season brought
some tough fixtures for the senior teams.
Despite playing some fantastic football,
goals were few and far between. It quickly
became apparent that the senior teams
were struggling to hit the target during the
early part of the season. It wasn’t until
the latter half of the season versus Stowe
when both the 1st and 2nd XIs found their
scoring boots, with the 1st XI putting six
past a strong Stowe team. The goal-scoring
continued with a strong win versus the
SES Martyrs XI during the penultimate week
of term.
1st XI captain Rawdie Marks (
Leighton
Park
) had this to say about the season:
“The season was a tough one, made harder
by a few injuries. However, the boys continued
to put the effort in throughout the season and
played some good football, even though the
results did not always go our way. The boys
were able to tap into some great coaching
during the season, though we struggled with
our finishing at the top end. The season
ended with a great home win, which the team
thoroughly deserved.”
2016/17 1st XI awards winners:
Players’ player:
Rory Saldanha (
Dragon
)
Coach’s player:
Rawdie Marks
(Captain)
Golden boot:
Maximilian Heil
(
St Alban’s College
) and Dekoye Coker
(
Summer Fields
)
As we look forward to next season,
the U16s showed some great footballing
prowess, with a great result versus MCS
on Corfe, and a narrow loss to a physical
Stowe team away from home. This
sets the football club up for a positive
2017/18 season.
Alex Holding (
Swanbourne House
)