Strong performances by 1st XI Girls Football team at Premier National Tournament
Posted on September 08, 2023
Last week the 1st XI Girls Football team travelled to Taupo to compete in the Premier National Football Tournament.
The first game was a tough fought battle against St Andrew’s College, who won the 2023 Christchurch premier league. Unfortunately, the girls went down 2-3 but had a big confidence boost with how close they came to winning against a team of this calibre.
The second game was against an injury ridden St Cuthbert’s College side where the girls managed to put 10 goals in and continue their confidence growth.
On the second day of the tournament the team had their final pool game, and they knew a draw or a win would put them into the top 16 of the competition. Their opponent was Wellington Girls’ College, who also won their regional premier league this season. After a nail biting back-and-forward game, the girls managed to come out with a 2-1 win which put them into the top 16.
The team then had a few hours to recover before they were to play Saint Kentigern College. A win would move them into the top eight while a defeat would have them playing off for 9th-16th. Both teams were very evenly matched, and it was another end to end match, with Macleans College hitting the post three times in the second half. The girls fought all the way to the final whistle but went down 2-1. Saint Kentigern College went on to make it all the way to the final of the tournament.
The girls were drawn to play Waikato Diocesan School for Girls in their next match which would determine if they would be playing for 9th-12th or 13th-16th. In a similar fashion as their other opponents, Waikato Diocesan School for Girls were the winners of the Waikato premier league for 2023. The girls were now playing their fifth game in three days, so signs of fatigue were evident on both sides. The Macleans College girls showed some strong resilience to work through the fatigue and come out as victors with a 4-1 result and meant they would now be playing for 9th-12th place.
To keep with their theme of coming up against top oppositions, they were now matched against Epsom Girls’ Grammar School, who were the winners of the Auckland premier league for 2023. The class and fitness of the Epsom Girls’ Grammar School team were evident throughout the match and Macleans College went down 0-4.
The final match for Macleans College was now against Takapuna Grammar School who had finished the Auckland league one point above Macleans College. With a dominant performance in the first half Macleans College were unlucky to not have put more into the net and with a late equaliser the teams went in 1-1 at half time. Both teams were visibly exhausted, with physios out onto the pitch every few minutes running repairs. Takapuna Grammar School managed to score early into the second half and Macleans College could not respond before the final whistle, going down 1-2.
The Macleans College 1st XI girls football team finished the tournament in 12th place and are guaranteed a spot in next year's tournament. While the girls and coaches may have had higher aspirations, this was a very impressive feat especially considering there was only one Year 13 student (Amelia Collins) in the squad. The girls will be back next year with the top spot in their sights.
Macleans College 1st XI Girls Football team:
- Amelia Collins (Snell House)
- Morgan Attwood (Kupe)
- Zoe Benson (Te Kanawa)
- Kate Berry (Kupe)
- Navdeep Kaur (Batten)
- Kate Lindsay (Kupe)
- Millie Thompson (Batten)
- Lily West (Upham)
- Zoe Brazier (Te Kanawa)
- Brooke Martin (Snell)
- Leilani Smith (Te Kanawa)
- Alana Burn (Upham)
- Anna Keenan (Batten)
- Ruby Snell (Rutherford)
- Cera Sy Tan (Kupe)
- Scarlett Boulton (Mansfield)