We made the long journey over to Crewe & Nantwich rugby club to play 6 games against schools from the local area. We opened with an exciting draw (4-4) with Acton in which Jensen Lindsay scored 2 tries, Diego Lisboa and Harvey Allen scored the equaliser. Game two saw us beat Calverley 3-2 (Deigo Lisboa 2, Harvey Allen) before another cracking 3-3 draw with Willaston (3 tries for Jensen Lindsay). We edged Weaver 4-3 in game 4 thanks to tries from Melvin Nicol, Jensen Lindsay, Charlotte Wright and Harvey Allen and then we were too strong for Millfields in a 5-2 win (tries from Melvin Nicol 2, Harvey Allen 2 and Bovern Tazvinzwa). Our final game was a 4-2 win against Hungerford with Harvey Allen, Finley Allen and Joseph Hughes on the scoresheet. 

 

Well done to everyone who took part in the Tag Rugby festival!

 

Melvin Nicol (c), Harvey Allen, Jensen Lindsay, Amelia Banks-Scott, Finley Allen, Charlotte Wright, Diego Lisboa, Summer Ivey, Joseph Hughes and Bovern Tazvinzwa.

 

We travelled to Crewe Vagrants with two teams to play in the Crewe Hockey Competition. Previously, we have had much success in Hockey, with our A team going all the way to the Cheshire County Finals last year and finishing 6^th place! We had 7 games to play and the top two schools qualified for the Crewe & Nantwich Finals after halfterm. Jensen Lindsay finished with 11 goals, Melvin Nicol 5, Junior Woodward 3, Charlotte Wright 1 and Samanvitha Pothuganti 1. 

 

Brierley A started with a win over Brierley B and then lost out 3-1 to Highfields A in a game where we didn't get going until we were 2-0 down! We recovered with convincing wins against Monks Coppenhall B, Pear Tree and Highfields B to put us back in contention. A narrow win against Monks Coppenhall A set up a decider with Willaston. We were just about strong enough to claim a 2-1 win and Runners Up overall in the competition.

 

Brierley B had a difficult start in that we faced Brierley A and eventual winners Highfields A in the first 3 games. A much better performance came in the 1-0 loss to Monks Coppenhall B and then we recorded a fantastic 2-1 win against Monks Coppenhall A thanks to goals from Soraya Azadmehr and Micah Kosefobamu. In our final game we pushed hard but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Highfields B- Coby Utting with our goal.

 

Well done to both of our Hockey teams:

 

Brierley A: Jensen Lindsay (c), Melvin Nicol, Charlotte Wright, Lilly May Mellor, Junior Woodward and Samanvitha Pothuganti.

 

Brierley B: Coby Utting (c), Micah Kosefobamu, Amelia Banks-Scott, Soraya Azadmehr, Lexi Mai Ashbrook and Daniel Hideg.

 

  

We enjoyed a trip to the Soccer Centre for our first football fix of the new season in the FA Kids Cup. The team consisted of 7 debutants, with only Jensen Lindsay having played for the team last year. Our first game was a really tough one, as we opened with a 3-1 defeat to a strong Mablins Lane team. Boths teams had chances (including a header from Jensen Lindsay that smashed against the post), but a couple of defensive lapses let Mablins in. Our goal came from Jensen Lindsay. Game two saw us lose out 2-0 to Cranberry Academy and we perhaps didn't play as well as we did in game one- our only chances were long-range shots from Junior Groves and Jacob Shephard. Defensively we were much better, with Lewis Malam and Finley Allen having great games at fullback. 

 

Game three against Winsford High Street was another tough game, as despite a battling effort we lost 2-0, as we got caught on the break on both occasions. Game four was a good opportunity to regroup and get our first win on the board as we faced Beechwood. We were excellent in this one, as we threw everything at them but just couldn't find our way through. We hit the post twice and Junior Groves had a great chance from close range. Beechwood scored against the run of play and then we conceded late on as we chased an equaliser. This was a tough one to take, as we were the stronger side.

 

Our final group game saw us play St James Audlem and finally everything clicked!! We were fantastic going forward and took the lead through a great finish from Junior Groves. Now the condifence was flowing, he smashed one in from 20 yards and then completed his hat-trick in a 3-0 win. Defensively we were sound in this one, with Diego Lisboa, Finely Allen, Junior Woodward and Coby Utting all standing strong to repel any attacks. 

 

With the group games completed, we played a friendly match to finish the morning, against Beechwood and the boys were keen to make amends for the earlier loss. Now the goals and the confidence had returned we showed our lethal touch, as we swept Beechwood aside by 5 goals to 1. Goals from Jensen Lindsay (2), Junior Groves (2) and Finley Allen completed a great team performance in this one and it was a nice way to finish off the morning.

 

Overall we can be really positive for our next competition- with a little more luck and a bit more time working as a team, we will come back stronger from today.

 

Squad: Jensen Lindsay (c), Junior Groves, Coby Utting, Junior Woodward, Lewis Malam, Diego Lisboa, Jacob Shephard, Finley Allen.

 

Thank you to the parents that came and supported the boys- much appreciated by us all!

 

 

We entered two teams into the Crewe Dodgeball festival at Sir William Stanier School, with a total of 16 pupils from Y5/6 representing Brierley. There were 8 other teams taking part, meaning we would play 9 matches of Dodgeball, with each match consisting of 3 x 2 minute games. Brierley A were fantastic throughout and their catching skills set them apart from the other schools. Brierley A won every match and were deserving winners. Brierley B bounced back from a first game defeat to Brierley A to register a mixed bag of results, winning as many matches as they lost, but the losses were all extremely tight games. Both teams played the games in the right spirit, they were very honest when they were hit and they worked well together as a team. Thank you to all of the parents who came to support the children and to Mr Birchall for his help in running one of the teams on the night.

 

Brierley A: Harvey Allen (c), Jensen Lindsay, Nick Guevarra, Charlotte Wright, Millie Jennings, Diego Lisboa, Melvin Nicol and Lewis Malam.

 

Brierley B: Paige Haynes (c), Finley Allen, Joseph Hughes, Joseph Proudman, Daniel Hideg, Leo Johnson, Summer Ivey and David Chivu.

 

As a result of coming runners-up in the Crewe Competition a few weeks ago, we qualified for the finals where we faced Highfields, Wistaston Academy and Mablins Lane. Game one saw us make the perfect start as we were ruthless in a 7-0 win against Mablins Lane. We were at it from the off as we raced into a 5 goal lead by half time. Jensen Lindsay scored 4 of the goals and Melvin Nicol helped himself to a hat-trick. Game two was arguably our hardest fixture, as we faced Highfields who we had lost to in the Crewe Competition. We made a poor start in this one, going a goal down inside a minute, however we made a stunning comeback to lead 2-1 and then 3-2 and 4-3. Highfields were an excellent team with a few experienced hockey players in their ranks and they kept on fighting back. Despite an outstanding effort, we lost out 5-4 in the end. Goals from Jensen Lindsay (3) and Melvin Nicol weren't quite enough, however special mentions to Lilly May Mellor who was excellent in defence and to Charlotte Wright who ran herself into the ground. Our final match saw us record a comfortable 4-1 win against Wistaston Academy- Jensen Lindsay with another 3 goals and Melvin Nicol with the other. This secured 2^nd place behind Highfields and also secured a place in the Cheshire County Finals in March. The team thoroughly deserve their place and this is another great achievement for our school. Well done to Jensen Lindsay (c), Melvin Nicol, Charlotte Wright, Lilly May Lindsay, Junior Woodward and Samanvitha Pothuganti. Thank you to Mr Birchall and all of the parents who came to Vagrants to support the team.

 

We entered a Girls Football Competition at the Soccer Centre, playing 6 schools from across Cheshire East. For the majority of the squad this was their first taste of competitive football, so we went into the competition hoping to win a few games and to give our best. In game 1 we got off to a perfect start, as a Paige Haynes goal saw us beat Acton 1-0. We played a decent Middlewich in game 2 and despite some excellent defending by Lilly May Mellor and Amna Harees, we couldn't hold on and lost out 1-0. We picked up a point in game 3 v Hungerford, in a game we perhaps should have won after Paige Haynes had put us ahead from the penalty spot. Game 4 saw another draw, this time a hard-earned 0-0 vs Shavington and then we fell just short in game 5, losing out to Leighton 1-0. Our final game saw us end on a win, beating Audlem 1-0 with Paige Haynes again on the scoresheet. Our overall record of 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses was a good return and we narrowly missed out on a quarter-final place. The girls were excellent- in particular, Soraya kicked well and made some good saves in goal, Lilly May Mellor was unbelievable in defence and Paige Haynes was our biggest goal threat. Well done to Paige Haynes (c), Charlotte Wright, Sophia Beal, Amelia Banks-Scott, Amna Harees, Soraya Azadmehr, Millie Jennings and Lilly May Mellor.

 

We took 43 pupils to the Sports Hall Athletics heat at Sir William Stanier School on Monday 4^th December. The pupils had worked extremely hard to train for their different events over the previous 4 Mondays in the afterschool sessions. Most athletes had 3 or 4 different events that they competed in. We were pitched against Leighton Academy, Hungerford and Beechwood, with the winner in each group (Y3/4 and Y5/6) progressing to the finals. On the track we picked up a good number of 2^nd places, with our only track win coming in the Y3/4 Boys Hurdles race. In the field events we performed very well, with a large chunk of our points coming from here. From the field events we were able to view, we had wins in the Javelin for Eduard Ciocoi and Tymek Malecki (Y3/4).

 

Overall, both our Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 teams came runners-up to Leighton, which was a very respectable result for our school. All of the children gave their very best in each event and they supported and cheered on their friends in every event. Thank you to all of the parents who came along to support and thank you to all of the staff who helped to train the children and who helped at the competition. Well done everyone!

 

Year 5/6 Boys: 

Jensen Lindsay, Malaki Mellor, Junior Groves, Melvin Nicol, Micah Kosefobamu, Lewis Malam, Diego Lisboa, Finley Allen, Lucas Scott Taylor, James Edwards and Noah Boulton.

 

Year 5/6 Girls: 

Millie Jennings, Lilly May Mellor, Samanvitha Pothuganti, Tayah Huskisson, Greta Gregorova, Iris Carvalho, Amna Harees, Amelia Banks-Scott, Evie Ollier, Ibukunoluwa Olumuyiwa and Maria Boros.

 

Year 3/4 Boys:

Kacper Pakiela, Jacob Shephard, Bence Hideg, Davood Azadmehr, Tymek Malecki, Eduard Ciocoi, Ethan Proudman, Devander Lisboa, Luke Yeates, Reuben Tasker and Daniel Fiszer-Skuratowicz.

 

Year 3/4 Girls:

Evie Blease, Sienna Boon, Ellie Mai Entwistle, Ella Wood, Jorgie Edwards, Lucia Faddes, Lyla Kosefobamu, Ola Skorek, Elissa Greenway and Junior Khumone.

 

The final sports action of 2023 saw our football team face Beechwood in a friendly at the Cumberland Arena. In the two previous meetings this season, both schools had recored 1 win each. There were a couple of additions to the squad, as we welcomed Malaki Mellor back into defence where he played so well last year and Melvin Nicol made his debut in goal. After a hectic start, we settled down and started to link up down the right-hand side, with Finley Allen, Jensen Lindsay and Junior Groves at the heart of our good play. Junior Groves helped himself to a first half hat-trick, scoring 3 'poachers' goals from close-range. Malaki Mellor scored a cracking goal that was all his own work, as he intercepted a pass on halfway and as he ran forward, the Beechwood defence failed to close him down and he rifled the ball into the corner. We were 4-0 up at the break and it was Beechwood who came straight out of the blocks in the 2^nd half to score two quick goals and put the pressure back on. After this wobble, we started to play football again and 3 well-taken goals from Jensen Lindsay to round off good team moves involving Jacob Shephard and Finley Allen. Special mention to Melvin Nicol and Diego Lisboa who both made good saves during their half games in goal and Lewis Malam was a rock at left back. Final score: Brierley 7 Beechwood 2. 

 

Squad: Jensen Lindsay (c), Junior Groves, Malaki Mellor, Melvin Nicol, Diego Lisboa, Lewis Malam, Finley Allen and Jacob Shephard. 

 

Our first league match of the season saw us take on Monks at the Cumberland Arena. We started well, as a deflected shot from Jensen Lindsay took us take the lead and we continued to press Monks back in to their own half. Further chances came, as Junior Groves hit the post and volleyed just over the bar from a Finley Allen corner. Defensively, we looked strong, as James Edwards was solid in the middle and Lewis Malam continued his good run of form at left back. Against the run of play, a Monks corner wasn't defended well and the shot rebounded in off a Brierley player- this gave us a bit of a wake up call and we started to play again. A great move from Jensen Lindsay and Junior Groves saw the latter spin and slot home past the keeper to give us a 2-1 lead at the break. We made changes in the second half and this disrupted our rhythm a little and Melvin Nicol was called into action to sweep up and through balls. We needed a third goal to kill off the game and it was Junior Groves who turned provider this time, setting up Jensen Lindsay who calmly passed the ball home. A good win and a good start to our league campaign. Final Score: Brierley 3 Monks Coppenhall 1.

 

Squad: Jensen Lindsay (c), Junior Groves, James Edwards, Melvin Nicol, Diego Lisboa, Lewis Malam, Finley Allen, Junior Woodward and Jacob Shephard.

 

We were able to enter three teams into the Crewe Dodgeball Festival at Sir William Stanier School, which meant giving over 20 pupils the chance to represent the school and everyone playing 30 games of Dodgeball in one evening! All three teams did really well and showed great sportsmanship and respect to their opponents at all times. Brierley A were too strong for all who crossed their path and went on to win every game, including a really strong performance against a good Leighton side. Brierley B had mixed fortunes, as they won 3, drew 1 and lost 3 and Brierley C did really well to come away with 5 wins, a draw and just the one loss to Brierley A. Players of the tournament were Nick Guevarra (Brierley A), Daniel Hideg (Brierley B) and Bence Hideg (Brierley C). 

 

Well done to all that took part: Harvey Allen, Jensen Lindsay, Nick Guevarra, Lewis Malam, Eduard Ciocoi, Micah Kosefobamu, Paige Haynes, Coby Utting, Charlotte Wright, Noah Boulton, Lilly May Mellor, Joseph Hughes, Daniel Hideg, Leo Johnson, Soraya Azadmehr, Bence Hideg, Amna Harees, Dylan Sibanda, Leon Entwistle-Hill and Franek Slusarczyk.

After a little break between fixtures, our girls football team were back in action with a friendly match against Beechwood at the Cumberland Arena. We had a couple of new faces in the squad in Sasha Gregory and Tayah Huskisson and we were looking to build on the confidence and performances we put in last time out. We started the game extremely well, as we hunted the ball down inside the Beechwood half and carved out a couple of half chances. We took a 2-goal lead thanks to a couple of excellent individual goals from Amna Harees, whose physicality and speed was causing the Beechwood defence problems. Defensively, Lilly May Mellor and Summer Ivey had looked really strong, until one lapse let in Beechwood to half the deficit just before half time. 2^nd half we were positive in our start, but the game went scrappy, until a moment of brilliance pretty much sealed the win. Charlotte Wright was brought down 20m out and up stepped Lilly May Mellor to smash the free-kick into the top corner! The confidence started to flow again and debutant Tayah Huskisson went on to help herself to 2 well-taken goals to seal a 5-1 win. A special mention to Soraya Azadmehr who made some good saves in goal and was quick off her line to clear any danger.

 

Squad: Charlotte Wright (c), Lilly May Mellor, Amelia Banks Scott, Sasha Gregory, Summer Ivey, Tayah Huskisson, Amna Harees and Soraya Azadmehr.

 

We entered two teams into the Crewe Competition and both teams had looked strong in our practice sessions leading up to the competition. Brierley A started with a strong performance against a good Mablins Lane team, winning 4-0 thanks to goals from Jensen Lindsay (4). This was followed by a 6-0 win against Gainsborough, with goals from Melvin Nicol (2), Summer Ivey (2), and Jensen Lindsay (2). Monks Coppenhall A were next and goals from Millie Jennings (2) and Diego Lisboa saw us win 3-0. Millie Jennings followed this with a hat-trick against Monks Coppenhall B and two goals for Diego Lisboa saw us win 5-0. Our final game saw us play some really quick, positive netball and we were too good for Mablins Lane B. A 9-0 win saw goals from Summer Ivey (3), Jensen Lindsay (3), Melvin Nicol (2) and Amna Harees. Brierley A were WINNERS of the competition, without conceding a single goal in the tournament!

 

Brierley B also started really well in a 5-0 win against Mablins Lane B- goals from Igor Godlewski (2), Nick Guevarra (2) and Layla Mason. A tough game followed against Mablins Lane A and some early mistakes put us on the back foot. W recovered to score two goals, from Layla Mason and Daniel Hideg, but we lost out 4-2. Another A team were up next in Monks Coppenhall A- a really tight game saw us just lose out 2-1 (Nick Guevarra with the goal). After two losses, we finished the competition with two wins! First we beat Gainsborough 2-0 with goals from Layla Mason and Nick Guevarra and then finished off with a 2-0 win against Monks Coppenhall B- Daniel Hideg with a brace in this one. Brierley B finished joint 3^rd place in the competition, which was a good result overall.

 

Players of the day were Millie Jennings for Brierley A and Layla Mason for Brierley B- well done girls!

 

Brierley A: Jensen Lindsay, Amna Harees, Millie Jennings, Samanvitha Pothuganti, Melvin Nicol, Summer Ivey and Diego Lisboa.

Brierley B: Daniel Hideg, Soraya Azadmehr, Igor Godlewski, Nick Guevarra, Tayah Huskisson and Layla Mason.

 

Thank you to Mrs Proudman for her help with the teams and thanks to all of the parents who came to support on the day.

 

Our 2^nd fixture of the group saw us face Wistaston at the Cumberland Arena. From warm up, we were 'on it' and we made the perfect start as good work from Junior Groves saw him carve a way through and finish past the keeper. We kept applying pressure and Junior Groves saw a blistering shot just flash past the post and Junior Woodward struck a volley just wide. A bit of bad luck saw Wistaston equalise, as the ball bounced around and we missed a couple of tackles, leaving Melvin Nicol stranded- he managed a hand on the shot but couldnt quite keep it out. The turning point of the game then came as Jensen Lindsay smashed in two strikes from distance within a minute to give us a 3-1 lead at the break. We made a couple of changes, but started well, pushing Wistaston back and Junior Groves was as the heart of all of our good work off the ball. Wistaston brought the game back to 3-2 but we again responded well, as Junior Groves chased down a loose ball, which allowed Jensen Lindsay to poke the ball home. A fifth goal came from a Junior Groves free-kick, as Jensen Lindsay was brought down on the edge of the box. 

 

Overall, this was probably our best performance so far this season- we were strong to every tackle, worked so hard for each other and defended well. Diego Lisboa, Lewis Malam, Finley Allen and Jacob Shephard all played really well at the back, with Junior Woodward doing really well to break up play in midfield. Melvin Nicol didnt have too much to do, but kept his concentration well to make 2-3 smart saves.

 

Final Score: Brierley 5 Wistaston Academy 2.

 

Squad: Jensen Lindsay (c), Melvin Nicol, Junior Groves, Jacob Shephard, Finley Allen, Lewis Malam, Diego Lisboa and Junior Woodward.

 

As a result of winning the Crewe Competition earlier in the year, we played in the finals at SWS for a place in the Cheshire County Finals. We played 5 other schools- Leighton, Sound, Audlem, Pear Tree and Mablins Lane. We started the competition with two outstanding results- beating Audlem 9-0 and Pear Tree 7-0 to clearly top the group after two matches. Game three saw us narrowly lose out in a tight game against Leighton Academy. We were level 1-1 at half time, but missed chances and two late Leighton goals saw us fall to our first defeat this season! We needed to bounce back and we had a really tough fixture against a previously unbeaten Sound in game four. We were tremendous in this one and fully deserved our 3-1 win. We were now back in the mix and when we beat Mablins Lane 3-1 in our last fixture, we needed Sound to beat Leighton in their final fixture. Sound did beat Leighton, which then meant 3 schools were tied on 4 wins and 1 defeat!! Goal difference was used to seperate the schools and it was Sound who claimed the spot in the county finals, just ahead of ourselves. We were gutted to have lost out on goal difference, but also gutted as we had beaten Sound as well. Still, the netballers should be immensely proud of their performance and the season they have had. Runners up in the area and coming so close to the County finals is a great acheivement. Thank you to Mrs Proudman for all of her help too with the team this year.

 

Squad: Millie Jennings, Jensen Lindsay, Melvin Nicol, Amna Harees, Summer Ivey, Samanvitha Pothuganti and Diego Lisboa.

 

Our final fixture of the group stage saw us make the trip to play Mablins Lane on a tricky astroturf surface. We struggled early on to get used to the pace of the pitch, with passes needing to go into feet or else the ball was quickly running away. Mablins took the lead early on, after some early pressure had already forced a couple of good saves from Melvin Nicol. Chances were at a premium and we had only a half chance for Malaki Mellor to show for our efforts going forward. We were given an unexpected lifeline, as a bizarre own goal saw us level things at 1-1. After getting back in to the game, we missed a few tackles and allowed the Mablins centre midfielder too much time on the ball and he slotted past Melvin to give them the lead at the break.

 

We needed to up our game and we came flying out of the blocks with a little more belief and a change of system to a 2-3-1 allowed us to use the extra body in midfield. We equalised after some good work from Jensen Lindsay allowed Junior Groves to finish smartly past the keeper. No sooner were we level, we again lost concentration to go 3-2 down. We kept ploughing forward in search of the equaliser and had a couple of glorious chances- Jensen Lindsay shot just wide and Junior Groves smashed a half volley high and wide. As we chased the game Mablins looked to have sealed the win as they went 4-2 up, only for another Junior Groves goal to put us back in it with a couple of minutes to go. We kept flooding forward but Mablins hung on for victory.

 

This was a tale of two halves- we weren't great first half and lacked a bit of confidence and composure on the ball. We were excellent second half and really gave Mablins a strong test. Hopefully we can continue to improve and we can take heart from our 2^nd half performance against a really good side.

 

Squad: Jensen Lindsay (c), Melvin Nicol, Junior Groves, Junior Woodward, Diego Lisboa, Lewis Malam, Finley Allen and Malaki Mellor.