Both the Year 9 and Year 10 teams were coached by Year 10 student Maddie S, whose composure, leadership and excellent player management were impressive throughout the day. Maddie’s ability to guide her teams calmly under pressure was a credit to her maturity and understanding of the game.

The Year 9 team set the tone for the day with a determined and courageous performance. Despite the late withdrawal of Vice Captain Jake Holland due to illness, the team showed resilience in the face of early adversity, falling behind 16–2 in the opening quarter. Strong leadership from Adrian S, Sterling L and Zack J sparked a second-quarter resurgence, reducing the margin to 24–12 at halftime. Outstanding defensive efforts from Theo S (Year 8), Alex S and Cyrus F helped contain the opposition, however a strong JMHS attack ultimately proved decisive. St Mary’s went down 50–21 in a match that showcased grit and determination. Jacob W and Ryley B were named joint Players of the Match for their outstanding energy and effort throughout.

The Year 10 final followed and proved to be one of the most competitive games of the day. The team faced challenges in the first half, trailing 20–9 at the break. At halftime, Maddie delivered a composed and focused team talk, setting clear and achievable goals while emphasising the need for effort and belief. The response was exceptional. The third quarter saw Noah A, Hubert Z, Will H and Mati G score crucial baskets to bring the margin back to just two points at 21–23. A tense final quarter followed, with the opposition’s quality ultimately proving the difference as St Mary’s narrowly lost 30–25. Laurie R was awarded Player of the Match for his consistent impact on both offence and defence.

The day concluded with an outstanding performance from the Year 11 team, who were exemplary ambassadors for St Mary’s High School. They supported one another, showed respect to officials and opponents, and maintained a positive attitude throughout. The first half was fiercely contested, with both teams scoring freely. Jan L and Fin H were dominant around the basket, helping St Mary’s establish a 27–20 lead at halftime in front of a growing crowd. Captain Alex L then took control of the match, scoring three long-range three-pointers and two layups to create separation. Strong defensive contributions from Tom G and Tom L further strengthened the team’s dominance, resulting in a convincing 69–37 victory at full time.

Congratulations to all players on their efforts and achievements, and thank you to the staff (Especially Mike who taxied all day) and supporters who contributed to a memorable finals day for St Mary’s High School.

The new record stands at 3m31s22ms, shaving 18 milliseconds off the previous record held since 2023 by The Windsor Boys School.

In the A final, they lead the pack into the final 250m having powered ahead in a tight race with a photo finish for bronze place.  This victory was even more remarkable taking into account the prestigious rowing clubs also in the final - Leeds, Walbrook, Windsor boys sch, Marlow and Durham.

The crew, with boys from multiple schools, trained together for 16 months, dedicating over 8 hours per week to skills and fitness training.

The boys were elated and want to add huge thanks for the time, effort and dedication of coaches Ben, Liam and Giles and all who have supported them at Hereford Rowing Club.  They are so grateful for the coaching and opportunities on offer throughout the year.

Match report:  Year 9 Rugby Triangular tournament at BHBS

We missed Riley B’s presence this afternoon, but I was so pleased with our boys who played so well despite losing both their matches narrowly, by 3 tries to 2 to BHBS and by 3 tries to 1 to Whitecross HS.  Inside centre, Jacob W, was outstanding throughout and he scored our only try in the game against Whitecross HS, ably supported by Joe N and Alfie W.  Our other top performers on the day I have to say were all 6 of our Year 8 boys who were playing a year group up, with Fergus O and Ethan S our try scorers in the game against BHBS.

Match report: Year 10 Rugby v Whitecross HS

The Year 10 boys deserve great credit in playing the whole match 2 men down (13 to Whitecross' 15) and only losing by the narrowest of margins 33 - 32.  With 2 of our players dropping out on the day, the boys realised that they would have their work cut out, but I think they even surprised themselves........let alone the opposition!

Tries from Tim W x2, Hubert, Mati and James G, plus a Laurie R conversion were not quite enough to get over the line, but I am sure they will remember this performance for many years to come.  

Jon and I found it really hard to pick one man of the match, and therefore we will leave it as there being some outstanding contributions from Alex H and Isiah B, as well as the aforementioned boys, and that each and every one on the 13 boys should be proud of the way they conducted themselves in what was a difficult situation.

Match report: U16 Girls County Hockey Finals @ Whitecross HS

Our U16 Girls Hockey squad made it through to the County finals the previous week, and it gives me great pleasure to now report that they have followed this up tonight by winning through to the Regional Finals.  We drew 0-0 with Whitecross HS, having had the majority of possession/territory, but without having the quality to create many clear goal scoring chances.  We followed this up with a really good defensive effort against Hereford Cathedral School, parking the bus Man City style (if it is good enough for Pep, it is good enough for us)..........to only lose by 2 goals to 0:-)  HCS then beat Whitecross 5-0, and so St Mary's go through to the Regionals as the second placed team on goal difference.

Player of the match over the two games was Carmen for a really good performance in both attack and defense.

Match Report:  Year 8 Rugby Festival at Luctonians RFC.  

Our Year 8 boys Rugby team picked up where they left last year, producing some excellent rugby at times in their first Festival of the season.  The boys won all 5 of their games and did so impressively without conceding a single try.  Results were as follows:  v Bishops won 10-0; v Weobley won 25-0; v Fairfield won 20-0; v Whitecross won 30-0; and v Wigmore won 20-0.  Lots to work on, but an excellent start to the season.  Most praise was reserved for those tackling their hearts out, clearing rucks, and putting teammates away for tries, but for the record our tries were scored by:  Ethan x7, Fergus x4, Popey x4, Callum x1, Max x1, Aiden x1, Mason x1, Elliot x1, and Isaac x1.

Match Report: Year 11 County Netball Tournament 

We are delighted to share that our Year 11 Netball team were crowned County Champions after an outstanding performance at the tournament yesterday— winning every one of their matches in dominant fashion. 

From the first whistle to the final, the girls played with exceptional skill, determination, and teamwork. Their consistency across the court was remarkable, both in attack and defence, with every player contributing to what was a true team effort. The results speak for themselves:

• v Weobley: 18–7
• v Whitecross: 19- 3
• v Hereford Cathedral School: 13–2
• Semi-final v Steiner Academy: 13–4
• Final v Weobley: 14–4

The girls demonstrated not only physical excellence but also superb tactical awareness and composure under pressure, particularly in the knockout stages. Their ability to maintain intensity, move the ball quickly, and convert opportunities into goals was second to none.

 A huge well done to every player involved – your hard work and commitment to training were evident in every game. You’ve done yourselves and the school proud.

 Congratulations, Champions!

135 girls from Herefordshire descended on the HFA home ground for a Year 7 and 8 girls' football festival. 

ST Mary's were superb leading aspects of the day and representing the school with honours. 

Year 7 Player of the Tournament Freya H s awarded by the year 7 captain Isabelle H

Year 8 Player of the tournament Ruby Taylor and Elizabeth White Awarded by the Year 8 Captain Inala K

Gloucester Rugby Trip

The result we all wanted capped off a great evening at the Gloucester v Bristol game at Kingsholm on Friday night. 26 students enjoyed a 12 try thriller with the Bears coming out on top 49-34! We all enjoyed the electric atmosphere and photos with the mascots and players after! The students were amazing some experiencing their first school trip or first time watching live sport and were a credit to the school.

Our A team squad of Theo S (Capt), Tom D, Callum P & Ethan S went the whole tournament unbeaten, and edged a close final against Whitecross A's 6-4, in a game that went into overtime at 4-4, with Callum P scoring the winning basket from a fast break.  Player of the tournament was Theo S, who led by example in every facet of the game.

Our B team squad of Rob H, Zak A, Aidan E & Fergus O also picked up bronze medals, beating Whitecross Bs 4-0 in the 3^rd and 4^th play-off match.

Congratulations to all the boys, and naturally a nice way for them to finish off their first term at St Mary's.

However, the boys never let their heads go down, and finished on a high with a 3 tries to 2 win over Fairfield, with tries from Zac J, Joseph N and Rhys H, plus a 3 tries to 0 win over Academy with tries from Rhys H and two from Joseph N.

It is clear to see when tries are scored but, our man of the match for a lot of the less obvious work e.g. clearing rucks, protecting the ball presented by a teammate, along with some excellent tackling, was Benedict F.

Match report from James H Year 7 Match day Captain

Despite the loss, the boys should be proud of themselves, as they have come a long way from a team that had previously found performances like this hard to come by.  The first half saw Bishops take a narrow one try to nil lead within the first 5 minutes, which they held till half time.

In the second half Bishops went 10-0 up with a second unconverted try, but our St Mary's Year 11 boys have become a real 'band of brothers', and showed great spirit in coming back with two tries of their own, one from prop forward, Coburn K who crashed over from close range, and the other from inside centre, Harley S, who evaded a number of would-be Bishops tacklers to go in for a try near the posts.  Both tries were converted by scrum half, Oli E, to put St Mary's 14-10 up going into the final 15 minutes of the game.

We perhaps lacked the experience to 'game manage' effectively by simply keeping the ball and playing in the right areas of the park, and even though we had chances to extend our lead, we ended up conceding two late tries against the run of play to go down 22-14.  Naturally the boys will be a little disappointed, but all things considered this was an extremely encouraging performance.

Ned E and Ewan B made their Rugby debuts; Ben B led by example in every aspect of the game; and full back, Jake D was 'Man of the Match' for his outstanding tackling and running in broken play.

St Mary’s were slow out of the blocks, going down 1-0 within the first 2 minutes, but they came back with four first half goals of their own, a hat trick for O N-K, plus a Tom L goal just before half time.  Playing with the wind in the second half, St Mary scored another five goals, a brace apiece for Oli M and Taylor R, with a Raf J goal completing the scoring.  However, one defensive lapse did allow Queen Elizabeth in for another goal against the run of play, and this will serve as a focus to have our defence and midfield fully connected when we go into our semi-final match in the knock out stages.   

Our thanks to our Year 10 pupil team managers: Ewan B and Fin W, who did a great job in looking after the 9s, with good tactical prompts and good rotation of the substitutes.

Squad from: Will L, Harry T, Tom L (Captain), Patrick C, Charlie E, Tom G, Kiera L, Oli M, Taylor R, Oscar N-K, Oli R-G, Raf J, Callum L.

Squad:  Oli L (Junior Boys); Annabel W & Mali R (Junior Girls); Tom H & Harry P (Intermediate Boys); Macy B & Esther W(Intermediate Girls).

The Year 7s won a tight game 3-2, with Jacob Warren’s work rate a key feature of St Mary’s win.

The Year 9s had a more comfortable ride, 4-0 up at half time, and 10-0 winners by the end of the game.  Oscar stole the show with a double hat trick playing up front in a more advanced position than usual due to injury to Oli R.  Oli M weighed in with 2 goals, plus there was one apiece for Tom L (Captain) and Taylor R.  The game also featured some very good play making from Charlie E from centre midfield.

My thanks to our pupil managers James G, Fin W, Ewan B & Kai A who did a great job.

Queen Mary’s high school 11-2 (Loss)

Bromsgrove 15-1 (Loss)

Rugby School 11-5 (Loss) 

Edgbaston high school 10-8 (Loss)

Thomas Telford school 9-8 (Win!) 

Newcastle-U-Lyme School 12-7 (Win!)

2 wins over the tournament. A very close game with Edgbaston but we took with us 2 amazing wins that we worked tirelessly towards. I just want to say congratulations to the whole team for taking time out of their weekend to come and play and we are thrilled with the results. Well done once again St Mary’s! 

After 10minutes the score was 1-1, but after that the flood gates opened, and by half time we were 8-1 up, which included first half hat tricks for both Noah (Catpain) and Oli, plus a goal apiece for Alphonse and Will. 

Noah and Oli were among the first to be substituted at half time, and in spite of wholesale changes and a shortened second half, we scored 3 further goals.  Maty came out of goal to play out field in the second half and he scored one of them, plus Charlie got a brace of goals.

There will be harder tests to come, but the boys demonstrated good game understanding, allied to good technical execution, which bodes well for future rounds of the competition.

My thanks to our Year 9 pupil team managers: Tom/Harry/Raf/Alex, who did a great job in looking after the 8s.

Squad from: Maty, Will, Willoughby, Isiah, James, Will, Charlie, Alex, Oli, Noah (Captain), James, Laurie, George, Theo.

The running of a B league by the County Schools Football Association has been well received by schools, and both St Mary’s Year 7 B and Year 8 B football teams recorded wins in their opening games of the season against Whitecross this evening.

The Year 7 B team game was a 9 aside format. The boys were defensively sound at the same time as offering good passing and movement in attack.  The game was level at half time, but a second half hat trick from Maceyn saw St Mary’s come out on top with a 3-1 victory. 

Squad from: Harry, Joe, Ryley, Benedict, Jacob, Cyrus, Tom, Zac, Charlie, Maceyn, Lewis, Marcel.

The Year 8 Bs playing a standard 11 aside format beat Whitecross 4-2, with a brace of goals from Maty, and one apiece from Jack and Louis.

Squad from: Nathanael, Will, Cody, Isiah, A-Jay, Charlie, Maty, Louis, Jack, Xavier, Theo, Jack.

My thanks to our pupil team managers: James, and Tom/Harry/Owen, who did a great job in looking after the Year 7 and 8s respectively.

Jesse led by example with a personal haul of 17 points, with additional contributions to the score board from Alex L, James B, and Kacper L.  Whitecross were competitive throughout, but St Mary’s solid man to man defence, and an athletic fast break were key features leading to victory.

Squad from:  Jesse J, James B, Harry P, Chris S, Kacper L, Jack C, Wiktor N, Alex L & Fin H.

The Year 11s will now play Bishop’s in the County Final (Tuesday 23^rd January), and we wish them all the very best, along with our Year 9s who have also made the County Final in their age.

Amazing achievement!

Following a very early start, we made our way to Bristol as the only state school taking part in the tournament.

We began our first game against Kingswood quite hesitantly, as it was a new experience for everyone, but we managed to find our feet quite quickly. The team battled hard but unfortunately lost 4:0 to a well-drilled and experienced side.

Following our match off and some more advice and pointers from the teachers, the girls went into the next game with more confidence and determination. Warminster were a good side, but we managed to build up a strong defence throughout the game. It was a major step up for the girls and we only conceded two, with a full-time score of 2:0.

Our third and final game against Plymouth College took a lot of grit and perseverance, but the team stayed strong with some great defence during the short corners and some incredible saves from our goalie and overall ‘Player of the Tournament’ Mia W, for her consistent performance and fantastic goalkeeping. She made some amazing saves in every game, preventing the score line from being much greater. Well done Mia W! It was a strong performance from our girls and we managed to have more possession in their half but unfortunately, we weren’t rewarded with a goal. We finished the game losing 4:0, but the girls should be very proud of how they played.

Overall, this Regional Tournament was a great experience and opportunity for the school and we had a great day out in Bristol. The team should be so proud of how far we made it, as we put up an amazing fight against many well-drilled teams. The girls all really appreciated the effort both Mrs Walton and Mr Cox put into the team (and we would like to say a big thank you to our bus driver Paul too). 

Many of us hope this is just the beginning of many achievements for our hockey team, and we hope this is not the last time St Mary’s make it to Regionals!

Harriet A

Well done St Mary's!

-Emily T

The first half saw a strong St Mary's team defending their half well and managing to keep Cathedral out before they scored the first try of the game; this went unconverted. St Mary's didn't drop their heads and scored quickly after this with a lovely line off the nine by Zac B and converted neatly by Harry P. This rattled Cathedral who were clearly surprised at the strength in the St Mary's team. At half time, St Mary's were up by 2 points but this marked the end of the mighty Seebs' run out when he suffered a knock to the head.

Going in to the second half, one man down, meant St Mary's had to dig in deep. They played well as a unit with some great ball carrying from Coburn K and Jet Y and some skilful passing from Ben B and Hubert N. The second try was also scored by the captain Zac but sadly the conversion was missed by the nimble-footed number 9, Harry. Cathedral made good use of their extra man and it was not til the latter part of the second half that they were able to secure the win with any kind of confidence.  The three late trys (two unconverted and one converted) secured a Cathedral win. St Marys put on a high-quality performance and can be proud of their team effort.

An overall great game vs Aylestone today with an amazing 13-1 win! The girls played brilliantly today facing a strong competition and a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. The team settled into their roles over the next few quarters with brilliant movement from our goal attack and overall player of the match Annabel A. The game stayed intense until the very last second, we relied heavily on our defensive players with some exceptional interceptions from our goal defence and our team player of the match Harriet A. The atmosphere was high throughout the entire game and all the girls made countless first class passes, interceptions and shots to take home the win today. A fantastic start to the season, well done girls!!!

- Tara M

Amazing achievement boys, well done!
 

The U13 Boys Tennis team beat Bromsgrove School 5 matches to 1 in the Hereford & Worcestershire LTA U13 Boys Division 1 League tonight.  This means that all three schools in the League have tied on matches one, but Royal Grammar School Worcester will progress through to the regional stages of the competition on game countback.

None the less a great effort by the lads, and I hope this inspires them to keep playing tennis as they move on up through the school.

Harriet and her teammates played 7 games, won 6 and were narrowly beaten in the final 1-0.

Harriet was awarded Player of the Tournament for the girls U15 team. 

Amazing achievement Harriet!

St Mary’s were runners-up in this year’s U15 Boys Herefordshire Schools Jack Roberts Cricket final, which was hosted at Burghill & Tillington Cricket Club.  Congratulations to all those involved, and our thanks to Tony and Rafe Clifford-Jones for umpiring the match, and to Herefordshire Schools Cricket’s, Bob Talbot, for presenting the prizes.

Seb S led St Mary’s with great enthusiasm, and in spite of being on the back foot following Kingstone’s first innings total, worthy of mention was St Mary’s opening pair of Elliot G and Ethan B, who put on just over 100 runs together in St Mary’s total of 110 for 2 in their 20 overs.

Our 4 man team of Tom G, Gabriel D, Callum L and Adebayo O continued their good form, this time away at King’s School Worcester where they won 6 – 0, with everyone winning both their singles and doubles rubbers. 

It wasn’t completely the proverbial ‘game of two halves’, but Whitecross certainly edged the first half, not just in terms of the score board as they took a 1 – 0 lead on 18 minutes, but they also dominated possession, and adapted to playing on what is a very big pitch for this age group better than we did.  Nerves were clearly a factor, and the boys undoubtedly played the ball too long from the back, and as a result asked a lot of our midfield and front line to get the ball down and play our normal style of pass and move football.

The boys had probably worked it out for themselves, but the half time team talk back in the changing rooms provided the perfect opportunity to reset and focus the mind on playing the ball into feet, in order to retain possession and create more goal scoring opportunities.

Early pressure from such build up play won a corner for St Mary’s 5 minutes into the second half.  Set piece specialist, Taylor R, curled the ball into the near post, for Oscar N to flick on, with St Mary’s captain, Tom L, arriving at the far post to hit the ball on the half volley into the roof of the net to make it 1 – 1. 

It was so important to get an early goal to settle any remaining nerves, and now back in game, and with the momentum, St Mary’s went from strength to strength.  Fitness levels may also have played a part, with St Mary’s increasingly looking the more likely side to get a winner, and avoid the lottery of a penalty shoot-out.

Sticking to our mantra of playing out from the back, one such move down the right flank saw right back, Harry T, thread the ball through to St Mary’s centre forward, Oli R, and he struck the ball into the far corner form the edge of the 18 yard box on 15 minutes, to make it 2 – 1 to St Mary’s, and what was to prove the winning goal.

The boys showed great resilience to come from behind, just as they had done in their semi-final match against Earl Mortimer College.  Naturally there was great joy at the final whistle, and a victory made all the more sweeter for the fact that twelve months ago the boys had lost to the same opposition in a penalty shoot-out.

Many congratulations not just to the match day squad, but to all those boys who played their part in the group games of the competition earlier in the season.

Firstly a congratulatory nod should be given to 3 of our St Mary’s teams (Year 11s, Year 10s, and Year 7s) all of whom were losing semi-finalists in this year’s Hereford Schools County Cup competition.

However, going one better was our Year 8 team who made it through to the final for the second year in a row, with an excellent 4 – 1 win over Earl Mortimer College.

St Mary’s conceded an early goal, but showed great resilience to come back with two goals of their own before the half time interval.  Firstly a clever switch of play by Oscar N, put Oli M away down the right wing, who then cut inside and lobbed the keeper with a sublime finish on 10minutes.  St Mary’s continued to apply pressure, and shortly after this goal a second followed for Archie T, who timed his run to perfection to head home from a Taylor R corner to make it 2 – 1.

In the second half with the game still very much in the balance, St Mary captain, Tom L, who lead by example throughout the match, headed home another Taylor R corner to make it 3 – 1 to give St Mary’s a little breathing space. 10 minutes before the end of the game a well-struck Taylor R direct free kick from outside the box beat the keeper to make it 4 – 1, and put the game beyond EMC.

This was arguably the boys best performance of the season to date.  The defensive unit of Tom L, Joe N, Harry T and Patrick C hardly put a foot wrong all game, and they were ably supported by the athleticism of Year 7 sweeper keeper, Noah A, making his debut for the Year 8s.  The midfield trio of Archie T, Oskar N and Taylor R controlled the game with their work rate in defence, combined with their ball playing and good decision making in possession.  Up front Oli R had arguably his best game of the season, holding the ball up on countless occasions and bringing others around him into the game, and our rotation of wingers, Oli M, Charlie E, Kiera and Ryan G offered good attacking options throughout the game.

A most satisfying performance, and one which takes the boys to Edgar Street for the final next Thursday, 6pm kick off.

The Year 11 boys’ football team put in a good performance away at Wigmore in the County Schools Football League this afternoon, coming away with a 5 – 0 victory.  A goal on 15minutes set the tone with Luke F pouncing on a rebound off the Wigmore keeper from a Lewis R free kick.  Luke added another to make it 2 – 0 just before half time following good pressing of the opposition central defenders by Callum L.  In the second half Callum made it 3 – 0 on 17 minutes to virtually kill the game, and Luke completed his hattrick to put St Mary’s 4 – 0 shortly afterwards.  In the last attacking move of the game, St Mary’s captain, Lewis R, rounded things off with a goal to make it 5 - 0 .  The boys will pick up the remainder of their league games after the Easter break.

Man of the match had to go to Luke Ffor his well taken 3 goals, but special mention also to Ben T for a very solid game at centre back.

The Year 11 Boys’ rugby team, captained by Tom L, put in a great performance at the County Sevens Tournament to sign off in what is their final game of rugby for St Mary’s.  The boys won 2 out of their 3 matches, losing to Bishops and beating Kingstone HS (with tries from:  Oscar L & Tom L) and Whitecross HS (with tries from: Oscar L & Tom L).  They are a cracking bunch of lads, and I very much look forward to hearing about their future exploits on the rugby field post St Mary’s, and I wish them all the very best of luck in the future.

The Year 7 Boys’ rugby team put in a good effort at the County Sevens Tournament this afternoon, improving game by game as the tournament progressed.  After loses to Bishops and Hereford Cathedral School in their opening two games, the boys recorded two draws and a win against Kingstone (tries from: Will S, James G & Isiah B), Whitecross (Will S x2, Laurie R & Tim W) and Academy (Tim W, Rohan W & James D x2) respectively.

Special mention should go to Tim W for his excellent tackling throughout the tournament, and well done to all the 14 man squad.