1st XI Boys’ Football promoted to Auckland Premier League
Posted on September 29, 2021
The Macleans College 1st XI Boys’ Football team have been promoted from the Auckland Secondary Schools Football Association’s A1 league to the Premier league after an impressive run of 12 games unbeaten.
Led by co-captains Zach Beehre (Hillary House) and Ryan Mayer (Mansfield), the team won their opening fixture at home against Western Springs College, 6-3. This was followed with a 5-0 win away at Northcote College, and a convincing 7-0 away win at Rangitoto College. A 6-2 win at home to Avondale College, a 7-0 win away at Rutherford College and a 5-2 win at Waitakere College along with a 1-1 home draw against King’s College, meant that the team were top after the first set of seven matches and promotion looked a distinct possibility.
A 4-0 win away at Western Springs College and an 8-1 win at home to Northcote College were highlights of the second half of the season with the A1 championship being secured with a 4-0 home win against Rutherford College, still with two league matches to play. With the title decided, the team had a narrow loss at King’s College; a match that marked the end of the season because of Level 4 lockdown.
The team also managed to qualify for the NZSSFA’s National Tournament in Napier with a play-off victory in Whangarei against Whangarei Boys’ High School. Unfortunately, that tournament was also cancelled due to the lockdown.
It was a remarkable season with top scorer Jordyn Vallet (Upham) scoring two hat-tricks with four more from Zach Beehre, Ben Seward (Mansfield), Matthew Manion (Rutherford) and Dylan Martin (Snell). In the 13 league matches, the boys scored 56 goals and, helped by regular goalkeeper Toby Lewis (Te Kanawa), conceded just 12.
