The Wykehamist The Wykemamist Common Time 2017 No. 1474 | Page 13

middle at every opportunity. After a
magnificent five and a half post goal from
Roderick Caperton (G) to make it 2-20, there
was a little fight back from OTH. They scored
two quick goals including a great lob from
Archie Watt (B). Commoners in turn
immediately responded with two goals of their
own to make it 8-26 at half time. OTH began
the second half much more brightly and soon
notched up 7 points. Commoners kept the
scoreboard ticking over, their strong hot
allowing Tae Uahwatanasakul (E) to rack up
an impressive tally. Although OTH were much
improved in the second half, the lead that
Commoners had established in the first proved
unassailable. OTH posted the last points of the
game with an excellent conversion from Bill
Beaves (I), but it finished 25-35 to
Commoners.
Despite poor weather and frozen pitches, the
Winkies season moved at a ferocious pace this
year. Hopper’s won Sen IXs after a nail-biting
race for top spot, while Kenny’s were
champions of Mid Xs. Hopper’s also won the
thrilling VIs Festival with several outstanding
performances. A mention must go to Toye’s
who came a close second in all three
tournaments. Winkies continues to flourish at
Winchester.
Fives
Tom Kidner (E) writes: Over the past four or
five years, Winchester has been the most
successful school in the country in fives. We
have won over twenty major titles, and it has
been the most successful sport in the school.
This season has been no exception so far, with
Winchester claiming all the major titles for all
age groups. This year began with the Schools’
Winchester Doubles Tournament. Having had
a Winchester vs Winchester final last year, the
under-eighteen competition had a lot to live up
to and it did not disappoint. Sebastian Byers
(I) and Kieran Mackison (E) (Winchester II)
won one of the closest and longest games in a
while against St Paul’s first pair, whilst Tom
Kidner (E) and Alec Younger (F), and Pete
Kullavanijaya (C) and Albert Song (E),
managed to overcome our opponents to face a
repeat of last year against each other in the
final. The quality of fives was excellent and so
was the sportsmanship shown by both pairs,
and despite Albert and Pete’s narrow victory
over us, this was one of the most memorable
and enjoyable games. From Winchester to
Sherborne where we faced schools from across
the country in the West of England
Tournament. The Colt’s category was a
Winchester show, and after a narrow victory
by Alex Poyntz (I) over Stepan Matvienko (E)
in the singles, playing together, they
comfortably took the doubles trophy as well.
Meanwhile in the under-eighteen category,
despite hard-fought matches from Alleyns and
St Paul’s, Winchester also managed to take
both the singles and the doubles trophies. Tom
Kidner (E), won the U18 singles in a hard-
fought victory over Albert Song (E), while
Pete and Albert overcame Tom and Alec in
what was a gripping end to the tournament.
We have managed to continue our winning
streak against our arch-rivals St Paul’s as well.
I would like to thank Mr Munn, and my three
first team teammates Alec, Albert and Pete for
not only our best season on record, but also for
four years of fun, excitement, and fives of the
highest quality. I wish everyone the best of
luck for next season.
Swimming
Swimming this year has been very promising.
There have been personal bests aplenty, with
times that would have been team-leading five
years ago merely commonplace now, such is
the overall standard of the team. The first
fixture of the year was against Charterhouse.
We had something to prove as we came
dangerously close to beating them the last time
we faced off. The home advantage possibly
improved our spirits, and we won, proving that
numbers do not always guarantee success.
Consequently, we were feeling confident at the
start of Common Time. We had beaten our
perennial rival Charterhouse, but this hubris
resulted in a somewhat rude awakening when
we swam in the Tonbridge Trophy, a highly
competitive inter-school competition. Our
team that day was lacking in numbers due to
illness, so many of the events were covered by
those who do not usually swim them. We
came fifth overall and so the competition will
be one of the main goals for next year.
The inter-house swimming competition,
Rendall Pot, was met as always with great
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