The track events took center stage on Wednesday 18^th June as we focussed on Hurdles, Sprint, Beanbag and Relay. In the Hurdles we had a 1^st place from Ellie Mai Entwistle (Y5 Girls) and then 2^nd places for both Maria Craciun (Y4 Girls) and Jacob Shephard (Y5 Boys). In the Sprint races we had wins for Lyla Kosefobamu (Y4 Girls) and Greta Gregorova (Y6 Girls). We also had 3^rd places for Mayowa Adeoye (Y4 Boys) and Folosade Olumuyiwa (Y3 Girls). After these two events we were doing really well, but we lost our way a little in the Beanbag races and the Relays- our only success came in what was probably the highlight of the night, as our Year 6 Girls team blew away the rest of the field to win- a superb performance from Tayah Huskisson, Maria Boros, Ibukun Olumuyiwa and Greta Gregorova. This also helped the Year 6 team to overall 3^rd place on the track.

 

Overall we came in 5^th place, despite having a really good year in terms of inidividual results and points gained overall- we have done not quite as well as this previously and been promoted to Group B! A huge well done goes to every child who took part in Town Sports and a big thank you to all of the parents and families who came to support the children on one or both nights! Thank you also to all of the staff for their support and help with the event.

The penultimate competition of the school year was the Year 5/6 Rounders Festival at Malbank on Tuesday 1^st July. We took a squad of 11 pupils over to Nantwich, with nearly all of them playing their first competitive games of Rounders. Our first match saw us face Audlem, who racked up a decent score of 7 from their batting innings, despite 3 outs coming from catches from Lucas Scott Taylor (2) and Jacob Shephard. Despite requiring a big score to win, we batted superbly well to score 9 rounders to win by 2! Ibukun Fajemilo scored 2.5, Leo Johnson 1.5, Lucas Scott Taylor 1.5, Diego Lisboa 1.5, Ella Wood 1 and Lauren Mavhura and Bovern Tazvinzwa both scored half-rounders. 

 

Game two saw us come up against a good Pear Tree side. This time we batted first and scored a respectable 6 rounders. Ibukun Fajemilo scored 1.5, Jacob Shephard, Davood Azadmehr, Ella Wood  and Lucas Scott Taylor scored 1 each and a half-rounder for Leo Jonhson. In reply, Pear Tree got off to a slow start, as we fielded really well and restricted their scoring to just 2.5 overall, meaning we won by 3.5 rounders.

 

Our final fixture saw us face Leighton and we got off to a good start thanks to Ella Wood's rounder and halves from Diego Lisboa, Lucas Scott Taylor and Jacob Shephard. The scoring then stalled a little and we could only add a rounder from Leo Johnson and a half from Davood Azadmehr to bring us to a total of 4. We needed to bowl and field really well and Leighton creeped their way up to our score with 7 balls remaining. Only a tremendous stop from Lauren Mavhura and some great fielding from both Sienna Boon and Evie Burke stopped Leighton from scoring and we dug in for a deserved draw 4-4. 

 

Overall we came away unbeaten with two wins and a draw- a great result and we performed really well on the day. A big thank you to all of the parents and Mr Coombs that made the trip to Malbank and helped to transport the children.

 

Squad: Leo Johnson (c), Bovern Tazvinzwa, Ibukun Fajemilo, Lucas Scott Taylor, Lauren Mavhura, Ella Wood, Davood Azadmehr, Jacob Shephard, Evie Burke, Sienna Boon and Diego Lisboa.

Brierley represented Crewe and Nantwich in the girls cricket finals on Wednesday 16^th July at Warrington Cricket Club. We qualified for this on the back of coming Runners-Up in the Crewe & Nantwich Competition at the end of May. This team were a group of novices in the run up to the first competition, so to qualify for the County Finals was a major achievement. However the girls proved that this was no fluke as they were truly exceptional in Warrington! We played 4 matches, winning 3 of them and recorded the rare result of a tie in the 4^th game! Normally this would have secured a place in the semi-finals, however luck was against us as we lost out on runs scored to finish 2^nd in our group. The girls were incredible on the day and were cheered on by a number of parents and family members that made the journey to support them. We are very proud of them and they should be proud to now be known as the best Cricket team the school has produced! Well done to all of the squad: Evie Ollier (c), Sienna Boon, Iris Carvalho, Bianka Farkasova-Xhekaj, Ella Wood, Keeley Cooper, Tayah Huskisson, Marni Huskisson, Maria Boros and Lexi Mai Ashbrook. Thank you also to Mr Draper and Miss Anderton for their help with training and preparing the girls for competition.

The first competition of the calendar year saw two Hockey teams representing Brierley in the Hockey Competition. We have always traditionally been quite strong in hockey, with previous appearances in county finals. Brierley A put in another strong performance in this competition, winning 5 of their 7 matches, but agonisingly missed out on a top 2 place (which would have seen us qualify) by a single point. We played really well throughout the competition and one of our loses was probably deserved against a strong Shavington team. The other loss was the one that got away, as it was a tough battle against Monks Coppenhall but we had chances to win the game and then were really unlucky in the way we conceded the goal to see us lose out. Davood Azadmehr top-scored with 6 goals on the day and there was some excellent defending from Sienna Boon and Ellie Mai Entwistle. 

Our first football of the new school year came in the form of the FA Kids Cup, where we were pitted in a league of 7 schools from all across Cheshire. We were a little unsure of what to expect from a new team, which was very heavy on attackers and light in the defensive department! Despite this fact, we started with 3 0-0 draws (!) against The Quinta, Pebble Brook and Darnhall. The performances were excellent- in particular the first game against a very good Quinta side who went on to top the group. We were very strong at the back, with new skipper Jacob Shephard leading by example from centre-back and Daniel Fiszer-Skuratowicz, Sienna Boon and Olaf Zajkowski performing really well in the full back roles. In goal, Davood Azadmehr made 3 or 4 wonderful saves, including a brilliant save when 1v1 and tipping a rasping shot over the bar. At the other end, Devander Lisboa and Bence Hideg worked hard in the midfield and did their best to slot in Miki Slusarczyk, who's pace and work rate was causing problems for the opposition. Game 3 vs Darnhall was perhaps a missed opportunity for a win, as we gave away 2 really sloppy goals early in the game. Our response was fantastic, as Jacob Shephard scored an unbelievable solo goal and then Miki Slusarczyk slotted home when sent through by Bence HIdeg- but we couldnt find a winner.

 

Our final 3 games saw us play back-to-back with no break inbetween. This proved to be difficult and we faded slightly in games 4 and 5- albeit against good opposition who deserved their wins. Our final fixture was an absolute cracker against Acton. It had it all- goalmouth scrambles, shots smashing the woodwork, some quality goalkeeping from both keepers and some missed chances. We deserved more from this one, as Jacob Shephard hit the bar and only a top save denied Devander Lisboa. Sadly we were hit with a scrappy goal which was the final kick of the game.

 

Overall though, this was a really positive start for a new team. We will develop and get stronger as the season goes on and I was particularly pleased with how hard they worked and how they rotated positions (with some playing in positions for the first time). A big thank you to the parents who helped to transport and supported the team and to Mrs Proudman for her assistance with the team.

We entered 3 teams into the Dodgeball festival at SWS, which was a great opportunity to give lots of pupils in Year 5/6 the opportunity to represent the school in a sports competition for the first time. Brierley A finished with a fantastic record from their 9 fixtures, winning 7 games, drawing 1 and losing 1 game which was actually to our own Brierley B team. Brierley B had a perfect record going into their final fixture, having 8 wins from 8 games, however they narrowly lost their final game by just two points to Mablins Lane. Brierley C had a tougher afternoon, however they played some excellent stuff and went on to win 3 of their 9 fixtures, the highlight being a narrow win over Monks Coppenhall A. All three teams showed our strength as a school in Dodgeball and all three can be very proud of their performances. A big thank you to the hoards of parents and family members that came up to SWS to support the team and thank you to both Mr Coombs and his son Jake who both led one of the teams on the night.

 

Brierley A: Reuben Tasker (c), Ellie Mai Entwistle, Bence Hideg, Jacob Burke-Hurley, Sienna Boon, Davood Azadmehr.

Brierley B: Ansley Wong (c), Lyla Kosefobamu, Elissa Greenway, Oliver Copeland, Devander Lisboa, Lindon Walker, Kushal Gadde.

Brierley C: Junior Khumone (c), Violet Carless-Cope, Olaf Zajkowski, Luke Yeates, Hollie Cooke, Iaan Sanu, Pranav Gadde.

Our first league fixture of the year came at the Cumberland against our old friends Beechwood. We started the game with the majority of the play, with Jacob Shephard winning the ball high up the pitch and then fired home the first goal of the game from distance. Bence Hideg scored his first goal for Brierley with a well-taken finish before Miki Slusarczyk was unlucky to have handled before smashing the ball past the keeper. After this we started to take too many touches of the ball and didn't link up well with eachother. Defensively, we remained strong, with Sienna Boon and Olaf Zajkowski doing excellent jobs and Davood Azadmehr dealt well with any shot s on target. After half time we spoke about playing the simple pass and moving off the ball. Daniel Fiszer-Skuratowicz lashed home his first goal for Brierley to make it 3-0 and then Devander Lisboa helped himself to a brace- the second came from a peach of a pass from Jacob Shephard which split the defence. Beechwood grabbed a deserved consolation goal late on, but we got the win and enjoyed a much better second half performance. Thanks to the parents for their support and to Mrs Proudman for helping out with the team.

 

Squad: Jacob Shephard (c), Bence Hideg, Daniel Fiszer-Skuratowicz, Olaf Zajkowski, Sienna Boon, Devander Lisboa, Miki Slusarczyk and Davood Azadmehr.

Our first football fixtures for our girl team came on a chilly November morning, We were faced with a tough group containing 6 schools from across Cheshire. Our opening fixture against Haslington saw us fall behind early on, but we responded well and levelled the game thanks to a fantastic bit of improvisation from Ella Wood, who backheeled the ball into the goal from close range. We then took the lead, as Evie Burke's shot was too hot to handle and found the corner of the goal. We looked to be heading for a win, but a contentious decision saw us switch off and allow Haslington to equalise. Game two saw us take the lead against a strong Dingle side- Sienna Boon stroking the ball home from close range. We battled hard, but a couple of soft goals saw Dingle reverse the scoreline and come away with a 2-1 win. Sadly this theme came to haunt us- game 3  saw the same pattern- we played really well and a goal from Evie Burke put us in control until naive defending saw us surrender our advantage and we lost 2-1. Game 4 was perhaps the only game we were outplayed in, as we struggled to contain a good Davenham team. However, we kept plugging away and got our rewards early on against Quinta with a goal from Sienna Boon after some quick-thinking from Evie Burke. Again though, we made a couple of poor mistakes and were punished by good opposition. Our final game saw us continue to show great spirit and we gave Monks Coppenhall a good game in a 2-0 loss. 

 

Overall it was our inexperience that cost us- most of the other schools had at least 2/3 girls who played for teams outside of school and that extra edge was maybe the difference. We came away scoring a good number of high quality goals and we never stopped working hard for eachother- which we can be really proud of. It was a good experience for the girls and with a little bit of luck they would've come away with 2 or 3 wins today.

 

Squad: Sienna Boon (c), Ellie Mai Entwistle, Evie Burke, Ella Wood, Bianka Farkasova-Xhekaj, Maria Craciun, Lyla Kosefobamu, Maka Moyo.

The first 'big' event of the year came in the form of the Sports Hall Athletics Competition and we had 39 pupils take part. We faced Monks Coppenhall, Hungerford and Beechwood in a range of different running, jumping and throwing events. Each child had trained for 3 sessions leading up to the event and had focussed on their specific events in order to be ready for the big day. On the track we had lots of 2^nd placed finishes (12 out of 24 races!) and our only 1^st place came in the Y3/4 Boys 2x1-lap relay with RIchard Adebanjo and Archie Blackshaw running tremendously. In the field we did well too, contributing to our overall 2^nd place finishes in both the Y5/6 and Y3/4 competitions. The only field results we had were for the Javelin and this proved to be fruitful for us. Grace Gale, Richard Adebanjo, Sienna Boon, Daniel Fiszer-Skuratowicz and Reuben Tasker all achieved 1^st places, with 2^nd places going to Millie Wood, Shekinah Benzah, Carter Readdin and Maka Moyo. Well done to all of the pupils who took part and a special thank you to our Brierley staff who helped to train the children and helped out at the competition.