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North of Scotland Athletics Championships

Huge congratulations should go to the team which travelled to Inverness to compete in the North of Scotland Schools Athletics Championships. The team managed to get 12 medals, with the Nicolson team shining through in the sprints.

Jenny McTaggart took double gold in the 100m and 200m and so did Andrew Horne with two very exciting close finishes.

Abbie Mackay gained an impressive 3 medals in all of her events getting silver in the 100m and long jump and a bronze for the 200m. Both Jenny and Abbie were in the same 100m and 200m so we gained many of the medals in the sprints.

Eilidh Macleod performed very well in the high jump gaining a bronze medal. Ross McTaggart stormed through in the 200m to get the silver medal as did Michael Macmillan in the 400m. Ross Budge gained silver in the 80m Hurdles and Rory Mighton took a silver in the high jump.

The pupils were a credit to the school , they behaved and performed very well. It was an excellent day at the competition and we only got rained on once, result! I also got asked if I was competing in the Under 14s long jump along with Annabel Mackay in S1!

Thanks to Mr Rowlands and Mr Campbell for driving the minibus and cheering on the kids at the competition.

Miss Arthur

Scottish Schools Track and Field Championships

Connor Maclean, Alasdair Rigby and Jonathan Morrison travelled to Grangemouth last weekend to represent The Nicolson in the Scottish Schools Track and Field Championships. The boys faced tough competition against the highest ranking young athletes in Scotland over the two day event.
Connor ran a strong race in the U17 3000m, finishing in 5th place and achieving a new PB time of  9m16.
Alasdair and Jonathan both competed in the U15 100m and 200m events. Alasdair ran an impressive semi-final in the 100m and secured himself a place in the final. He finished 8th place in a tight race. For Jonathan, this was one his first experiences competing at national level and he handled his races extremely well.
A huge well done to all three boys who represented the school fantastically in this competition.

More athletics updates to follow from the North of Scotland Schools Competition which takes place today in Inverness...

Nicolson lads suffer cruel defeat

 

The Nicolson Institute senior boys team learned first hand how cruel a game football can be as they lost 4 1 to Ellon Academy in Dingwall on Wednesday (5/6/13). The result was particularly harsh on the Lewis lads who had been the team pressing for the whole second half, whilst trailing 1 2, only to be further undone by a couple of breakaways in the last few minutes.

Prior to the match the two teams observed a minutes silence in memory of an Ellon student who had tragically lost his life the previous weekend. The Nicolson started the game brightly and went ahead after 4 minutes: Colin Maclean received the ball at the left edge of the box, cut inside on his right foot and arrowed the ball in to the far corner. It was a fantastic goal by Colin and came at the end of a good passing move involving Jake Rivett and Innes Iain Morrison. 2 minutes later Colin turned his man, straight from a throw, and hit the underside of the cross bar with a lobbed volley-if only! After 10 minutes Innes Iain had his right foot shot tipped round the post by the impressive Ellon keeper.

As the half progressed, Ellon came in to the game more, particularly down the left where their number 5 and number 9 were looking very dangerous. Prior to the game the Nicolson team were warned to try and avoid giving away too many set-pieces, given we were without two of our better header's of the ball in Calum Dola and Gordon Maclennan. Unfortunately the warning went unheeded as Ellon equalised from a header following a disputed free kick (20 mins) before taking the lead after 25 minutes from a header following a flicked on long throw. In truth this was Ellon's best spell of the game and the Nicolson were grateful to Ali Macleod in goal who made a couple of great saves to keep us in it.

After 36 minutes Innes Iain went on a run from near halfway and was only thwarted by a last ditch tackle. 3 minutes later centre back Craig Macleod came off injured following a late tackle, Cameron Macarthur came on in his place. After 44 minutes, good interplay between Micheil and Colin led to Micheil crossing to the back post where Colin saw his goal-bound shot deflected wide.

The message at half time was to relax on the ball and if we could get at the back 4 we would certainly create chances for Wally and Colin. The boys were reminded what a great chance they had to win the cup!

Unfortunately I didn't take many notes in the second half as I got too 'in to the game'. Suffice to say the boys were brilliant: Chris Dempster and Micheil Smith drove the boys on as the yellow's attacked in wave after wave. Ellon were camped in their own half for 30 minutes, but weirdly, whether by luck or Ellon's tactical design, the Nicolson couldn't get through the packed defence (think Barca v Chelsea). The Nicolson got close to breaking through a couple of times but the final pass or shot wasn't good enough. The Ellon keeper was very good at catching/punching crosses which made it tough to get anything from set pieces.

The Nicolson continued to press;Jason Guilmartin bombed on from right back whilst Jake was nutmegging Ellon players from left back-we just weren't getting a break up front! After 75 minutes disaster struck; as tiredness crept in, a ball was lost in midfield, one pass over the top and number 5 tore away to slip the ball under Ali - heartbreak! The Nicolson kept plugging away but in 88 minutes a slack pass in defence was intercepted and Ellon were able to compound the Nicolson's misery with a 4th goal.

Soon after, the full-time whistle went; there were tears, cheers, congratulating and commiserating. No matter how many times you hear "Really unlucky", "You didn't deserve that", "You guys gave us a good game", "You did well to reach the final", it just makes you more upset and angry. Football sucks sometimes. Getting to a final and getting gubbed (on paper) sucks!

Or does it? Maybe school/junior/amateur football is more about the moments; maybe it's about making the team, training in the snow, practising penalties, missing open goals and the slagging that follows. Maybe it's about trips away, great comebacks (coming from 4-0 down at Perth Grammer), improving your game and working as a team. Maybe it's about Mr Macphee singing "Angels" by Robbie Williams, Colin catching the ball instead of heading it in from an inch, Andrew Macmillan missing from a yard, never giving up in games and dominating the second half of the final. Maybe, just maybe, it's not such a cruel game after all. Well done boys.

Ali Macleod:Jason Guilmartin, Chris Dempster, Craig Macleod Jake Rivett: Kevin Flower, Micheil-Russell Smith, Calum Vann, Innes Iain Morrison: Ally Maciver, Colin Maclean. Subs: Peter Macaskill, Cameron Macarthur, Josh Harris, James "Jambo" Morrison.

Unlucky girls, sounded like a tough game! Hugs and kisses from Miss Mackenzie's higher class. We are gutted for you.xxx

Good luck to the senior girls football team who play Boroughmuir in the final of the Senior Girls Scottsih Cup. Game kicks off at 12.30 and there will be tweet updates throughout.

Come on girls do us proud!

Well done to the senior girls who beat Preston Lodge 3-0 this moring. The goal scores were Hannah Macleod 2 and Amanda Nicolson. The girls are now into the semi finals where they will play Williamwood High School.

There are a numbe of sporting events between now and the Easter Holidays including-

Tuesday 19th, Smith Av Astro 9.30 KO, Senior girls vs Preston Lodge High School
Friday the 22nd, Toryglen, 10 KO U16 Away to Holyrood Secondary, Glasgow
Tuesday 26th U14 vs Carnoustie High School
Wednesday 27th U 13 vs Musslebourgh High School

Squads will be posted before the match and Tweets throughout.

U16 boys are traveling to Cowdenbeath to play Beath High school, 9.30 K.O on Tuesday.
Squad-

James Macleod
Seumas Maciver
Iain Murdo Macleod
Stuart Macdonald
Josh Campbell
Jamie Sullivan (C)
Ross Allison
Dennis Macdonald
Ali Morrison
Wali Maciver
Scott Montgomery
Ruairidh Mackay
Jamie Leslie
Stuart Macleod

Twitter will be updated throughout the game.

Well done to the S1 boys football team who have won a place in the last 16 of the U13 Scottish Cup. They beat Banff High School 4-1 yesterday. Match report to follow.

Nicolson Senior Girls win in Scottish Cup

The Nicolson Senior Girls Team beat Webster's High School from Fife 2-0 today in the last sixteen of the Scottish Cup. Goals in each half from Christie Houston and Nicole Maclean ensured victory and a home tie in the quarter finals against Bell Baxter or Preston Lodge High School.
Congratulations girls on a hard fought victory!

Silver Medal Success for Connor

Congratulations to Connor MacLean 4G2 on winning the Silver Medal in the U-15 Boys race at the Scottish National Cross Country Championships in Falkirk on Saturday 23rd February 2013. Josh Kerr of Edinburgh won the Gold Medal in first place and is the current UK and Scottish Nation's cross country champion. Both Connor and Josh have been chosen to represent the Scottish District teams at the English Inter Counties Championships in Birmingham this month.


Connor won all his local races over the Cross Country season 2012-2013 as well as being the North of Scotland's top performer at the Scottish Inter District cross country event at Evanton in January this year where he won a silver medal.


Good luck Connor in Birmingham!!

Swimming Success

Scottish School Gold medal winner Kara Hanlon had excellent weekend at the Scottish Schools.

Kara swam in the 200 Breast Stroke final in the morning. She got a bronze medal with a time of 2.43.07. This was a PB for a 50m pool. Previously it was 2.45.49.
Kara swam in the 100 Breast Stroke final in the afternoon. She got a gold medal with a time of 1.14.53. This was a PB for a 50m pool. Previously it was 1.14.88.

Congratulations to Kara on her superb performances.

U-15 Quarter Final Victory v Tain

Congratulations to the S3 U-15 Nicolson boys team for there 7-0 victory against Tain Academy at home on Friday 01.02.13. The scorers were Connor Maciver (2), Michael Macmillan (2), Kieran Bell, Iain Maciver and Steven Drummond. The semi final is a home tie against an east coast school.

Sports Update

Now that Christmas has passed and we are into the New Year it is hoped that the Nicolson teams can continue there success in sporting competition over the coming month.

Football
The senior boys have ties in the North and Scottish Cup, at home to Charleston and away to Perth.
The senior girls have two ties in both competitions home against Mallaig in the North and Mintlaw in the Scottish.
The junior girls have a Scottish Cup tie away to Woodmill HS, Dunfermline in the Scottish and are still in the North.
The U-16 boys have a home tie against Banff in the Scottish and the U-14 have a tie on the same day at home against Banff in the Scottish plate competition.
The U-15 boys are at home to Tain in the North and await there opponents in the next round of the Scottish.
The U-13 boys are still in the Scottish Cup.

Rugby
The senior girls are in the semi finals of the Brewin Dolphin competition which will take place after the prelims away to Wallace HS, Stirling.
The junior girls are already in the final which will be held at Murrayfield.

Cross Country
North Schools Cross Country takes place on Thursday 21st January at Gordonstoun School.

Video of the week

Paul Pogba of Juventus with two cracking goals against Udinese