YOUNGSTERS have been swimming, fencing and kicking on to success at Monmouth Comprehensive School.

Wales U18s water polo captain Toby Chilcott was named player of the tournament and most valuable player in the Division 2 Inter Regional Junior Tournament at Watford’s Woodside Leisure Centre, as they placed second after two wins and two draws.

Wales launched their four-match series beating North East Steelers 13-6 before a hard-fought 8-8 draw with London Sharks.

They then followed that up with another battle, this time sharing the honours 9-9 with East.

And they secured second behind Sharks, who won three games, with a commanding 16-1 win over East Midlands.

Meanwhile, schoolmates Jayden Makondora and George Gouldingay both turned out for Newport Schools U16s boys’ football team as they beat hosts Rhondda Cynon Taff last week.

And both played key roles in a 2-1 win, George assisting the first goal and Jayden scoring the winner.

Jayden also made his international debut last month, playing for Welsh Schools U16s against Australia Schools at Ocean Park Arena in Cardiff, which was narrowly won 2-1 by the tourists after an exciting battle.

The school’s girls’ U13s also represented Newport County in the Utilita EFL Girls Area finals in Bristol after winning the local EFL club’s regional competition last November.

In a tightly contested opening match, they lost out 1-0 to a strong Plymouth side, but then bounced back with a 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers, Isla Davies and Elisabeth Jackson scoring the goals.

Next up they faced Swansea City, where a strike from Kacey Battey secured a 1-0 win.

And a final 1-0 victory over Portsmouth, thanks to a goal from Elisabeth and some amazing saves from Demi Littleboy, saw them top the group to make the semi-finals against Championship club Bristol City.

The girls then put in a fighting performance against the Robins, but missed out 1-0 after being denied an equaliser in the dying minutes when the goal was disallowed.

Their coach posted: “Can’t fault the effort of our girls as they didn’t stop trying until the whistle went!”

“It was a superb effort from our @LearnWithMCS U13 Girls representing @NewportCounty in the EFL Cup Area finals finishing in 3rd place after a narrow 1-0 loss in the Semis.

“Big thank you to @CountyCommunity for taking us and supporting us brilliantly as always! Very proud of all our girls.”

Goalkeeper Will Edwards also helped Newport Schools U13s boys’ team take all three points against Cardiff and Vale Schools in a 3-1 away win, while Isla Davies, Elisabeth Jackson and Myla Blatch have also seen action for Newport Schools Under 12s girls recently.

Back in the pool, Year 8 student Harry Davis made a splash winning the Gloucestershire Counties boys’ 13-year-old 50m freestyle title with a PB of 29.71secs.

Harry is now working hard to prepare for the South West Regional championships later in the year.

And Year 9 student Theo Craig was also on the podium at U17 level at the Cadet Fencing Championships in Cardiff, taking bronze, and is off to Poland in March to compete in the Challenge Wratislava and the Senior Nationals.

Meanwhile, Year 9 and 10 boys fought out a great friendly football game, ending in a 1-1 draw after goals from Albert Escott and Charlie Malsom, with the Year 10s just claiming bragging rights in a 7-6 penalty shoot out.