Footballers kick off the New Year

Holywood travelled to Bangor Football Ground today to kick off the new year in the North Down League.

Holywood were feeling fresh and started brightly in their first game against St Malachys. The boys worked well as a team and were on top for large parts of the game but just couldn’t break down the resolute defence of the opposition which meant the game ended 0-0.

In their second game they came up against a strong Ballyholme side but brought the game to the opposition from the first whistle. Holywood had some great spells of possession and had their fair share of chances. After falling behind Zac brought the sides level after a fantastic individual goal that left the keeper helpless. The game was well balanced with both teams going end to end but with a late break away against the run of play Ballyholme managed to steal a late goal and hold out for the win. A disappointing result but the boys left it all out on the pitch in a great performance.

On to the last game against Crawfordsburn and the team had gone from to strength to strength from their previous games. Holywood dominated the play and overwhelmed their opponents in the opening stages leading to a great goal from Connor who had pushed from defence into the middle of the park to drive the ball into the side of the net. Holywood continued to apply the pressure but against the run of play were caught out with a quick break away. With the game all level Holywood continued to press for the winner with some great strikes on goal but the Crawfordsburn keeper pulled off some wonderful saves to earn their side a point at the final whistle.

Overall three great performances in what was a great start to the new footballing year! Well done to all the boys involved! Time to rest and recharge before another fun filled footballing day when HPS head to the Ashfield Football Tournament on Friday.

SQUAD: CAMERON, JOSHUA, CONNOR, THOMAS, MATTHEW L, MATTHEW K, KYLE, ZAC, OSCAR AND ZAK

Footballers Kick Off League Campaign

The start of the month saw Holywood PS kick off the new league campaign at Bangor FC in what was a wet and windy day.

The team played some fantastic football and worked hard as a team in what was their first competitive matches of the season. They narrowly lost 2 of their 3 games finishing with a draw.

Well done to all the boys who represented the school so well in what was a fun filled footballing afternoon.

SQUAD: Cameron, Joshua, Thomas, Connor, Matthew K, Zac W, Oscar, Kyle, Zak and Matthew L

RESULTS

0-2 Kilmaine PS

0-2 Clandeboye PS

1-1 Bloomfield PS

Ulster Swmming Success

Congratulations to five HPS swimmers who took part at the Swim Ulster Schools Cup and Championship, held in Bangor.
Eira, Bea and Ellie competed in the morning session for 9/10 year olds, each swimming in two events. All three achieved personal best times in their races and Ellie made the final of the 10yr 50m fly where she came 9th.

Jorja and Ben each competed in two events in the afternoon session for 11/12 year olds.

Jorja qualified for two finals where she was 9th in the 11yr 50m freestyle and 6th in the 11yr 100m individual medley. 

Ben also qualified for two finals where he was 4th in the 11yr 50m backstroke and 6th in the 11yr 50m freestyle.

Both Jorja and Ben achieved personal best times in their races and have qualified for the Irish Minor Schools Championships in February, which will be held at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.

Well done to everyone, such great results all round. Sincere thanks to Mrs Starks and Mr McBride for helping on the day ensuring everyone was in the right place and ready for their races in plenty of time!

Bangor Cares Football Tournament

Today Holywood participated in the Bangor Cares Football Tournament at Bangor Fuels Arena. Holywood entered two teams, fielding 20 boys and girls across P6 and P7 in what was a super day for some sports fun in the sun.

The teams played some fantastic football showing great teamwork, work ethic and displayed some individual moments of brilliance leading to some terrific goals. Both teams registered 2 wins and 2 losses respectively in what was a fantastic afternoon of football.

Many thanks to all the parent helpers for providing transport and for staying to cheer the boys and girls on!

RESULTS:

Holywood A - Grange Park A: 0-1 (L)

Holywood B - Holywood A: 0-2

Holywood B - Grange Park B: 1-0 (W)

Holywood A - Grange Park B: 0-1 (L)

Holywood B - Sullivan: 1-0 (W)

Holywood B - Grange Park A: 0-2 (L)

Holywood A - Sullivan : 4-0 (W)

P3- P7 Sports Day action

The sun shone for our P3&P4 and our P5-P7  SPORTS DAYS this year!

A jam packed Sports Day at Sullivan Playing Fields saw the children taking part in individual finals and team events. They used a range of athletic skills to earn points for their Houses and win medals. This year the fabulous Tug of War competition was one of the highlights. 

The overall winners of House Sports Day were Blue( Ballymenoch)  House!

Our P3 & P4 boys and girls had a lovely morning at their annual Sports Day. Running, relay races, a sack race , egg and spoon and obstacle races were thoroughly enjoyed by the children and the many spectators. It was lovely to see the children leave very proud of their vast collection of competitor stickers on their t-shirts!

WELL DONE TO EVERYONE INVOLVED! Enjoy looking at some more photos in the gallery section of the website in the coming days. 

East Down Rugby Tournament

On Friday 20th April the rugby team attended their first tournament of the year. The sun finally made an appearance much to the delight of the P7 and P6 boys. The rugby that followed was a fine display of everything they have worked on in training in the last couple of months.

vs Moneyrea

4 - 1

This being the first game of the season you would think the boys would be slightly nervous, however this couldn't be seen in the way the boys began the game, with Jacob scoring a well worked try in the first few moments of the match. Moneyrea put a lot of pressure on us but we held our ground to keep them out with excellent tackling from all of the players, Bryn making several against larger opponents. Oliver then added another. Following this Moneyrea made a break on the outside and squeezed a try in the corner, bringing it to 2 - 1. The second half was very evenly matched, however Jack and Patrick both made charging runs to cross the try line within 2 minutes of each other. A fantastic win to start the tournament. 

vs Academy

0 - 3

In our second game we came up against a very strong and will organised team from Academy. We got off to a slow start with Academy moving the ball extremely well and taking advantage of their quick pace, managed to score two quick tries through excellent breaks. Unfortunately Bryn came off worse while making a try saving tackle and had to come off. We didn't drop our heads and continued to fight, coming close to scoring on several occasions, but not managing to complete the last pass. Academy closed the game out with a third try. It was a hard learning curve for the boys but they were eager to move forward and focus on the remaining games. 

vs Carrickmannon  

4 - 3

In the third game we had to give Carrickmannon one of our players, showing great sportsmanship, George and Keelin each took a half. With a point to prove coming off a loss, our captain, Jack stepped up and encouraged the rest of the team by gritting his teeth and powering over the line twice. Carrickmannon came back to bring the score to 2 -1. Their was excellent defence and rucking from Joshua, Zach and Smokey allowing us to retain the ball and allowing George to score in the second half. The final try came from a superb break from Finley, stepping round a player and giving a perfectly timed offload putting Oliver across the line. The tackle of the day was made by Jacob, chasing a player from the other side of the pitch to make a text book try saving tackle right on the line.

vs Andrews Memorial

4 - 2

The team had found their groove and were working for each other, continuing to put lots of pressure on the opposition. Jamie worked very hard to knock Andrews back through several great tackles. George showed super light feet to twist and turn his way across the try line avoiding several tackles. The P6 boys weren't holding back or afraid to have a go at the older bigger opponents, Jacob followed shortly after George with another superbly worked try. The boys were determined to keep a clean sheet but Andrews took advantage of the wide pitch and put two tries round our defence. In the second half we closed out the game with Oliver crossing over the line finishing off a wonderful 4 - 2 victory. 

(Back L to R) Zach, Smokey , Jack, Patrick, Jamie, Mr Eves

(Front L to R) Finley, Oliver, Keelin, Jacob, George, Joshua, Bryn

RBS Six Nations Trophy comes to Holywood

Thanks to one of our HPS parents, Mr Hughes, who kindly arranged for the REAL 6 Nations Trophy to be brought to our school. The boys and girls enjoyed seeing the shiny trophy and some even had time to get  photos with the trophy. We hope the next time we see the trophy on TV it will be the Irish rugby team lifting it as Grand Slam winners!

It was great to welcome Mr Smith to HPS who transported the trophy from England! Mr Peel, Mr Craig and pupils from Sullivan Upper School as well as some boys who play rugby at Holywood Rugby Club who were able to come along too.