Football Report – 16 March 2022

Results in the block fixture against Dulwich College are below. Fantastic to have this historic block fixture back on a Saturday and see fixtures all through SPJ and SPS.

Tight games and mixed results for St Paul’s – the 1st XI put in their finest performance of the season, blowing Dulwich College away in the first half, a cohesive team display, showing that they had learned from Wednesday’s cup game. The victory was deserved, but they did not walk away winners – sporting injustice is felt acutely, but the merit is that it teaches boys how to handle injustice later in life. Despite some Paulines being distraught at the final whistle, the 1st XI took the defeat with dignity and encapsulated the school’s values at the end.

It was a similar story in the younger year group A teams – dominant displays going unrewarded, but St Paul’s picked up plenty of good results lower down the order.

It was certainly inspirational for pupils to see Newcastle United training on pitch one on Saturday morning – and reminded me of 20 years ago when St Paul’s would occasionally host the French and NZ Rugby teams.

The 6th XI were up for the physical battle presented by a larger Dulwich team and battled well all over the pitch – Traynor and Bailey, particularly making up for the size difference with energy, tenacity and a willingness to get stuck in.
The first quarter of an hour was tense, with the game an end to end affair, before Grimstone pounced on Doughty’s flick-on to put St Paul’s 1-0 up after 14 minutes. He added his second 5 minutes later, settling St Paul’s for the rest of the half.
The second half was full of more end to end football, with the St Paul’s defence doing well to keep out a few dangerous attacks for Dulwich, with a more attack focused midfield allowing opportunities at both ends. Traynor and Gundersen Bailey were re-introduced to shore up the centre of the park before Cina Rabin (who had been difficult for Dulwich all day) popped up to put the tie to bed with a well-taken finish on 72 minutes.
This was an excellent performance by all boys involved, but a special mention has to go to Gundersen Bailey, who showed mettle in the midfield and was an extremely effective box to box midfielder.