Sports Update
Football
Norlington School & Sixth Form
Football Match Reports | Autumn Term 2025
Norlington Year 9 vs Heathcote School
Result: Norlington 5 – 2 Heathcote
Venue: Leyton County Ground
Norlington Year 9s produced a brilliant all-round performance to secure a 5–2 victory over Heathcote School in an exciting midweek fixture.
After soaking up some early pressure, Norlington found themselves 1–0 down following a sharp Heathcote attack. However, the setback only seemed to wake the team up, and from that moment onwards, Norlington took control of the game with confidence, composure, and quality football across the pitch.
The comeback began when George Burns latched onto a clever pass from Isa Dustagheer, finishing coolly to level the score. Moments later, Burns struck again — this time set up by Ibrahim Malik, slotting home to put Norlington ahead. His hat-trick was completed in style with a stunning long-range strike from 25 yards, a goal that drew loud cheers from teammates and spectators alike.
Norlington continued to press and extend their lead. Isa Dustagheer got on the scoresheet himself, capping off a fine display with a well-taken goal after a neat assist from his brother, Laith Dustagheer. The scoring was rounded off by Elias, who calmly finished following a clever through ball from Isa.
Heathcote managed to pull one back late on, but by then the damage was done — Norlington were in complete control and saw out the match confidently.
Man of the Match: ⭐ George Burns – for his superb hat-trick and all-round attacking performance.
Special Mention: Leo Switala – stepped up heroically in goal, making several crucial saves, especially in the first half when Heathcote were on top.
A fantastic team effort, great spirit, and another impressive result for the Norlington Year 9s.
Norlington Year 9 vs Highams Park School
Result: Highams Park 5 – 1 Norlington
The Year 9s faced a tough fixture against Highams Park School, coming away with a 5–1 defeat that did not tell the full story of the game. Despite the scoreline, the team produced moments of real quality and showed plenty of promise, especially from those making their debuts.
Highams Park started brightly and converted their chances clinically, but our boys never stopped competing and continued to push forward. Tariq, Bilal, and Malik all made impressive debuts, showing confidence and composure in their first appearances for the side. Their energy gave the team an extra lift, and they’ll be important players going forward.
Norlington’s only goal came midway through the game, when Laith Dustagheer calmly slotted home from the penalty spot, giving the team a deserved reward for their attacking efforts. Further opportunities followed, but luck wasn’t on Norlington’s side.
Man of the Match: ⭐ Riley Kwaku Akhar Graham – tireless throughout, leading by example with determination, skill, and relentless work rate both on and off the ball.
Although the result was disappointing, there were plenty of positives. The team showed resilience, moments of attacking flair, and clear signs of development. With more games to come, this group is building towards stronger results.
Norlington Year 10 vs Holy Family School
Waltham Forest League | 25th September 2025 | Douglas Eyre
Result: Holy Family 2 – 1 Norlington
Norlington Year 10 opened their Waltham Forest League campaign against a strong Holy Family side who came into the match on the back of a convincing 5–0 win in their previous fixture.
From the first whistle, Norlington looked organised and disciplined, keeping their defensive structure tight and frustrating the opposition. An early chance fell to Omar Halane, who broke forward into space and found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his effort went narrowly wide.
The breakthrough came just before half time when excellent play from Owen Haye created an opportunity, and Muhammad Murad reacted quickest inside the box to slot home the opening goal. Norlington defended magnificently to carry a 1–0 lead into the break.
The second half saw Holy Family increase the pressure, forcing Norlington into deep defensive work. The boys dug in tirelessly, with countless tackles and blocks to keep their opponents out. With 20 minutes to play, Holy Family finally broke through to equalise, making it 1–1. Despite Norlington’s continued resilience, the visitors struck again late on, capitalising from a long throw to edge ahead with just five minutes remaining.
Norlington pushed right until the final whistle, showing determination and togetherness, but narrowly fell to a 2–1 defeat.
Man of the Match: ⭐ Marwan Abdul Karim – immense at the back, producing a series of last-ditch challenges and showing composure to keep the team in the game.
Despite the disappointment of the late defeat, it was a promising start to the season for Norlington. The players’ hard work, resilience, and organisation showed plenty of positive signs against one of the league’s strongest sides.
Cricket
Our U13 cricket team represented Norlington at the LSCA Finals Day, finishing 3rd overall – a strong showing at a competitive event featuring top schools from across London.
Semi-Final vs Wren Academy
A nervy start led to a below-par 89/6. Wren chased it down with ease, finishing on 90/4.
Batting: Azaan (23), Ayaan (10)
Bowling: Azaan, Ayaan, Govind and Yahya all took a wicket.
Fielding lacked intensity and pressure was minimal.
3rd Place Play-Off vs Kingsdale
Much improved second match. Kingsdale scored 114. We chased confidently and secured 3rd place.
Bowling: Ayaan 3-31, Azaan 2-13
Batting: Yahya 20*, Azaan 21
Reflections
- Excellent overall result, but we let ourselves down in the semi-final.
- Key takeaways: composure under pressure, fielding urgency, batting intent.
- Lots of promise in the squad – a valuable learning experience.
Photos from the Day
Team huddle before the semi-final – focused and ready.
Fantastic hospitality – thank you to Latymer for hosting so professionally
Proud representatives of the Norlington Cricket Academy.
Celebrating a top-three finish in London – well done boys!
Thank you for your continued support. We are incredibly proud of the team and look forward to building on this success moving forward.
Mr Abhay Bygott
Head of PE
Norlington School & Sixth Form
U15 London Cup Final
Norlington Finish as Runners-Up
After a brilliant cup run, the Norlington U15 cricket team took to the field for the London Cup Final on Thursday 3rd July, facing a strong Eltham College side.
Having already overcome high-performing teams such as Westminster College and Robert Clack, the boys went into the final full of confidence and belief. The match started evenly, with both teams on near-identical scores at the halfway mark — Eltham at 60/3 after 10 overs, and Norlington replying with 50/4.
However, Eltham began to take control in the later stages. Their batters showed discipline and composure, accelerating well in the final overs to post a total of 156/4 from their 20 overs. In reply, Norlington struggled to build partnerships and lost wickets at regular intervals, eventually finishing on 110/9.
A standout performance came from Shafiq Molvi, who opened the bowling with great control and economy. His spell of 4 overs, 1 wicket for just 10 runs helped put Norlington in a strong early position and was a real highlight of the day.
While the final result was disappointing, the squad can be extremely proud of their achievement. Reaching the final of a prestigious competition like the London Cup is a significant milestone and reflects the growing strength of cricket at Norlington School.
Waltham Forest U12 champions
Norlington U12 vs Walthamstow Academy U12
Date: 14th July 2025 | Venue: Leyton County Ground
Norlington U12 were crowned Waltham Forest U12 champions in dominant fashion, chasing down a target of 65 runs without losing a single wicket against Walthamstow Academy in Monday’s final.
After winning the toss, Norlington elected to bowl first and immediately made an impact with the ball. Opening bowler Saim Basharat struck twice in the first over, leaving Walthamstow reeling at 5 for 2. Tight bowling spells from Yusuf Iqbal (2 wickets for just 3 runs) and Muhammad Hasnain Aziz (1 wicket) ensured that wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. The Norlington bowling unit remained disciplined, backed up by sharp fielding, restricting Walthamstow Academy to 65 for 5
In reply, Norlington’s batters showed their class and composure. Haadi Ali Akbar starred with the bat, retiring not out on 25 runs from 18 balls, including four boundaries. He was supported superbly by Muhammad Hasnain Aziz (19 not out) and Azaan Ali, who closed out the match in style with a brisk 8 not out from just 4 balls.
Norlington raced to 67 without loss in just 5.3 overs, sealing an emphatic 10-wicket victory and lifting the Waltham Forest U12 trophy in style.
Standout Performances:
- 🏏 Haadi Ali Akbar – 25* (18 balls)
- 🏏 Muhammad Hasnain Aziz – 19* (16 balls), 1 wicket
- 🎯 Yusuf Iqbal – 2 wickets for 3 runs
- 🎯 Saim Basharat – 2 wickets in opening over
Final Result:
🏆 Norlington U12 won by 10 wickets
A dominant all-round performance that reflects the hard work, discipline, and talent in the Norlington Cricket Academy setup.
Athletics
Friday 27th June saw Norlington take part in one of its most successful Borough Athletics Championships to date. With temperatures soaring and over 15 schools in attendance at the Feel Good Centre, our athletes rose to the occasion with outstanding performances on both the track and field.
Led by Mr Beshir, who has worked tirelessly to drive our athletics programme forward, and supported by Mr Owusu, who has been instrumental in leading Monday training sessions, this event marked a significant step forward for sport at Norlington.
Highlights by Year Group
Year 7
- A fantastic performance from a very new team who had never competed at this level before.
- Matias Estrada – Bronze in Long Jump
- Leo – 6th in Shot Put
- Matthew Amores – 4th in Triple Jump
- Despite no medals in the 100m or 200m sprints, the Year 7 Relay Team delivered a historic moment, claiming Norlington’s first ever Borough Relay Gold — a true team effort built on determination and flawless baton changes.
Year 8
- Excellent performances across both track and field events.
- Musa Raza – Gold in 200m
- Oliver Hodgson – Bronze in Javelin
- Year 8 Relay Team – Bronze in the 4x100m Relay
- Strong contributions from across the squad including:
- Yusuf Lamin – 6th in 100m heats
- Azaan Imran – 4th in 300m final
- Mohammed Shinwari – 4th in 200m final
- Leonard Switala – 6th in Shot Put
Year 9
- Owen Haye came 3rd in the 300m heat but miss out out on qualification by a few hundreds of a second
A Day to Remember
The levels of energy, determination, and team spirit on show were outstanding. From sprint finishes and powerful throws to cheering each other on between events, Norlington’s athletes did the school proud at every turn.
This success is the result of a growing culture of commitment and training, and forms a brilliant foundation for what we hope is just the beginning of even greater things to come in school athletics.
Well done to all who took part – the future looks bright.
Table Tennis
London Youth Games table tennis
Having won the Waltham Forest Borough championships earlier in the year, 2 students from Norlington represented Waltham Forest competing against teams from other London Boroughs at the London Youth Games.
The event took place on Saturday 5 July at the Copper Box arena in the Olympic Park which meant we were almost the home team – it’s nice to have world class facilities on the doorstep.
The team consisted of two year 10 students – Eesa Thettalayil and Yusuf Hanslod.
The standard of competition was extremely high - our boys faced a number of players ranked in the top 200 in England for their age group. (I would have struggled to beat some of them!).
Placed in a group with six other boroughs they defeated Islington, but lost out in the other 5 games, and so failed to progress to the knock out stages.
Both boys played extremely well both in singles and doubles, both enjoyed pitting themselves against top players, and both will have learnt a lot from the experience.
Volleyball
Competing under clear skies and warm conditions, both teams represented the school with excellent focus, teamwork, and sportsmanship.
The tournament featured seven schools from across the borough, with a high standard of competition throughout the day.
After progressing confidently through the group stages and securing victories in the semi-finals, both teams advanced to their respective finals.
In two thrilling final matches against Heathcote School, our boys demonstrated resilience and composure to secure well-deserved wins—crowning Norlington as champions in both age groups.
