School Sports Update

School Football

A busy half term for school football has seen our three teams suffer mixed fortunes in the Sunderland Schools FA leagues.

The Under 13's have found the going tough in a strong league, as have the Under 14's. The Under 15's have made a solid start, with two of our players making debuts in the Sunderland Schools FA representative side.

Kieran Gething and Joe Bell have appeared twice with Kieran bagging two goals already.

All the team's results and league tables are available via the Sunderland Schools FA website at http://www.sunderlandschools.org/ssfa/

The Under 16's have progressed to the 3rd round of the County Cup, their latest success coming at home to Wellfield where they ran out 4-3 winners in a closely fought contest.

The girls Under 13's have again been the most consistent performers, currently sitting second in their league which is contested at Houghton Kieper School every Thursday evening.

School Rugby

Two festivals have been held at Horden Rugby Club in the past week. The Year 7's put in a creditable performance last Thursday winning one and losing one, whilst the Year 9's beat all that was put in front of them in a commanding display at Welfare Park.

The performance of the rugby teams is indicative of the enthusiasm for the sport that has been displayed during lessons this term.

District Rowing

Our school hosted the annual Easington Indoor RowingCompetition, two pupils from Dene performed to an exceptional level and managed to qualify for the regional finals.

Kieran Gething (Year 10) and Josh Wright (Year 11) will now go on and represent Easington in the Durham County Finals later in the year.

Year 10 Football Update

Southmoor Comprehensive v Dene Community School

First away game of the season new team to play against and with a couple of key players out Dene started the match well.

Playing an attacking 4-4-2 formation and playing into a uphill wind the game was in control Kane Iceton slotting past the keeper to put Dene ahead. went close on several attacks the closest a glaring miss comparable to that of, Fernando Torres, by Regan Taylor should have put us 2-0 up this never disturbed his mind and he volleyed home from close range after good work by Gething.

Sloppy work at the back let in the Southmoor boys to get a goal back which was soon cancelled out by a magnificent curling effort from 25 yards out by hardworking David Mcloud. Dene went into the 2nd half 3-1 up with the wind and back for the 2nd half it was inevitable there would be more goals.

Joe bell was pushed u the field with Jordan Fenwick sitting to partner Peter Moore at the back, Joe with all the tricks of George best jinked his way into the box on the left hand side to coolly slot into the far corner with ease. 4-1 should have seen us to the end but 2 mistakes from the usually dependable Kidman saw the score pegged back to 4-3. Gething went clean through and was stopped by a great save when it looked easier to score we then attacked deep in their half, good work by Kirkbride who replaced Mcloud saw Iceton score his 2nd and Denes 5th.

15 minutes to go and the industrious Joe Bell grabbed his 2nd a carbon copy of his first. Dene were awarded a penalty which the keeper save from Gething who rammed the deflected save into the corner taking Dene 7-3 up. It was all one way traffic and the score could easily have been more. 2 wins from 2 for the y10 boys is the start we wanted and will install a confident team to take on Thornhill next week.

Joe Bell was given the Man of the Match award which no one could have argued against.

Year 10 Football Update

Dene Community School v Sandhill View

The first and highly anticipated match of the season took place at home with Sandhill View. The game was started with caution, both teams attacking and defending with Dene coming out on top. The game was taking some sort of shape after 15 minutes with the ball being played out wide by the industrious Kyle Bagnall in midfield supplying the lone striker Keiran Gething who went close on several occasions. After 3 corners off the trot Joe Bell who had stayed up front from defence smashed the ball into the roof of the net to see Dene 1-0 up. Some good work followed from Taylor who supplied Bagnall to smash home the 2nd and take Dene Comfortable home at half time.

The 2nd half started with a change Dene adopting a more attacking line up with Bell partnering Gething up front and Kirkbride sitting in defence. The move paid dividends with Gething lobbing the keeper for his 1st and our 3rd, this soon followed with him outpacing the defence and slotting past the keeper with ease. 4-0 up and Dene started to gain more momentum good work from both Ramshaw and Kidman linking well down the left causing more problems for the tiring Sandhill. Bell added his second after squandering many missed chances opting for power more than placement, he then set up Gething who had tortured the defence all game with a powerful display to take his hatrick and put Dene 6-0 up.

Sloppy work at the back by the keeper let Sandhill in for a chance to break the clean sheet 6-1 up The keeper Danny Carr to be fair had not much to do all game, due to the defensive work of Cory Fenwick and his twin Jordan breaking up play in the midfield. This was a great all round performance a result to hopefully build on for the coming games.

Man of the Match awarded by the Sandhill team Coach went to Keiran Gething.

Year 9 Football Update

St Bedes 4 v Dene Community School 2

The Under 14’s season got under way this week with no fewer than three games for the Year 9’s. First up was the short trip to St Bede’s to play the first round of the County Cup, in monsoon type conditions the boys struggled to get a hold on the game and were 4-0 down at half time. After the break Dene came back into the game scoring two well worked goals courtesy of Darlington Academy player Kieran Cartney. The final ten minutes were pretty much spent camped in the St Bede’s half, so much so that it would have been no surprise if Baden Powell himself had not pitched up and set up camp, but alas it was to no avail. There was no way through and it was an early exit, on form for Dene were Kieran Cartney and Reece Rudkin.


Dene Community School 2 v Academy 360 3

Dene Community Schools first ever league game in the Sunderland Schools FA league ended in an agonising defeat. In an equal first half, 360 took the lead after 11 minutes, only for Dene to peg them back through Kieran Cartney’s third strike of the season. After the break, 360 took full advantage of the wind and the sloping pitch to launch a Stoke City style attack on the Dene goal. With long throws and goal keeper kicks raining in , the busiest guy around was the Carillion security guard behind the goal (and fence) who was retrieving balls with such regularity that at times he resembled an Australian test cricketer during an Ashes test.
The 360 approach, it has to be said was effective. They were soon 2-1 up and to be fair, it could have been 3 or 4, however Dene battled hard and got the scores level with Cartney scoring again with cool finish when one on one with the keeper.
All in all a point a piece would have been a fair result, however 360 with one final bombardment on Lewis Brooms goal had different ideas, snatching all the points with seconds to go. Best for Dene were Kai Watson and Lewis Broom.


Hetton 4 v Dene Community School 3

If Academy 360 was agonising this was pure excruciating. Never behind in the game Dene dominated a strong Hetton side that finished second in the league last year. Pools academy player Kai Watson turned in a star performance scoring twice from 25 yards and working in tandem with the equally impressive Sean Pratt ensured Dene stayed on top for long periods. Possession though means nothing if you don’t convert your chances and then go on to concede soft goals, ask Arsene Wenger.
With 3 minutes to play, Dene were 3 -2 up and still missing chances. Then the unthinkable happened, a break up field and it was 3-3, with 15 seconds left a free kick on the right was sent in to the box, everyone left it to each other, one bounce and almost in slow motion it was in the back of the net. 4-3, not even enough time to re-start the game. Say no more. Stand out performers for Dene were Watson, Pratt, Scott and Harbord.

Year 8 Boys Cricket – County Cup 3rd Round

The 3rd round of the County Cup turned out to be a bit of a damp squid, both weather and result wise.

English Martyrs provided the opposition and they quickly got to work with the ball once Adam Scott had called correctly and opted to bat for the second game in a row.

The Dene batsmen just couldn’t cope with the pace and seam of the Martyrs opening attack and they were rolled over for just 49 inside ten overs.

Martyrs were just as ruthless with the bat, knocking off the 49 runs for the loss of one wicket in only six overs.

Year 8 Cricket – County Cup Update

After receiving a bye in the 1st Round of the 2011 County Cup the Year 8 boys got their campaign under way at home versus Grangefield School from Stockton.

Adam Scott called correctly at the toss and chose to bat first, Scott and Adam Hall soon took the score to 70 without loss after 6 overs, with Scott recording his first of what seems sure to be many half centuries.

After Scott’s retirement on reaching 50, the scoring rate slowed, as Hall continued to be watchful, whilst wickets fell regularly at the other end. Lewis Broom struck some lusty blows late on to take the score up to 127 for 7 of the allotted 20 overs.

After a short rain delay the Grangefield innings got off to a stuttering start as Scott and Broom bowled tightly to restrict the visitors to 20 off their first four overs.

Scott struck in his third over to remove Grangefields opening batsman, LBW with the score on 24, it looked at this stage that Dene would simply cruise to a victory, as the Grangefield batsmen struggled with the swing of Broom and the pace of Scott. However, things changed dramatically with the entry of the Grangefield number 3, a county player of undoubted talent. He proceeded to smash the ball to all parts of the Horden ground, taking the score from 24 for 1 off 6 overs to, 93 for 4 when he retired for the second 50 of the game. That retirement proved to be crucial, Grangefield’s other batsmen couldn’t cope with the Dene attack and capitulated to 98 all out. The retired batsman returned to the fray to hit ten from two balls, but was caught a ball later on the boundary attempting to clear the rope for the second time in three balls.

Final score Dene 127 for 7 (20 overs) v Grangefield 108 all out

Dene now take on Hartlepool’s English Martyrs School on Friday 24th June at Horden CC, 1.30pm start.

Pictured: Left Dene Year 8 Cricket Team, Right Adam Scott 51*