Waimea College go down fighting

MARTIN DE RUYTER/Nelson Mail

SAVED: Waimea College's Emily Jensen watches as the Tawa College keeper saves her shot on goal.

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Waimea College rattled the cage of one of the tournament favourites before bowing out of title contention on day two of the New Zealand secondary schoolgirls Lotto premier football tournament at Saxton Field yesterday.

Rangitoto College, from Auckland's North Shore, had already captured everyone's attention earlier in the day after upsetting defending champions Marian College 5-0 in the final round of pool play.

Waimea had progressed to the top 16 playoffs by virtue of their 1-all morning draw with Tawa College to leave them second in pool G behind the Wellington side.

But Waimea really turned up the heat against Rangitoto to eventually lose 0-1 after a scoreless second half in another strong defensive display. With Rangitoto ahead 1-0, Waimea's Emily Jensen had a second half goal disallowed after the referee ruled she had pushed a defender.

However, it didn't detract from an impressive Waimea team effort as they shut down Rangitoto's space, with Megan and Anna Hodgson again key elements in the team's defence. Midfielder Gemma Sampson and right back Lucy Pope also had strong games.

Nelson College for Girls had a disappointing day, losing 0-1 to Freyberg High School in the final round of pool play before losing 3-2 on penalties to Hutt Valley HS in their bottom 16 playoff after finishing regulation play locked at 2-all.

Nelson had led 2-0 at halftime following first half goals to Holly Pittar and Harriet Williamson. However, Nelson coach Simon Noake said the players lost their intensity after the break and "stopped playing", allowing the opposition to steal a late draw and ultimately, the match.

Nayland College lost in bizarre circumstances after their opposition, Gisborne GHS, arrived 40 minutes late for their bottom 16 clash due to confusion with start times. But rather than claim a default victory, Nayland coach Mike Gibney sportingly decided to play the match, which Gisborne eventually won 4-1.

Down 0-4 in the second half, Nayland earned some late consolation with a superb individual goal to Laura Visser. Nayland had earlier lost 0-3 to New Plymouth GHS to finish bottom of pool C after three straight losses.

Meanwhile, Marian College's title defence got a little tougher yesterday after their shock loss to Rangitoto. After convincing first day wins over Hamilton GHS (4-0) and Rosehill College (6-0), the defending champions were overwhelmed by the Aucklanders to finish second in pool A. Marian then had to survive a penalty shoot out win against pool G winners Tawa in the top 16 playoffs before advancing to today's quarterfinals.

Results

Pool A: Rangitoto 5 Marian 0, Hamilton GHS 1 Rosehill 0.

Pool B: Epsom Girls 1 Marlborough Girls 0, Hutt Valley 3 Waikato Diocesan 0.

Pool C: St Peter's (Cambridge) 2 Cambridge HS 2, New Plymouth GHS 3 Nayland 0.

Pool D: Kamo 3 Wellington Girls 1, Avondale 4 Cashmere 0.

Pool E: Mt Albert 3 Macleans 1, Gisborne Girls 0 Hillcrest 0.

Pool F: Tauranga Girls 1 St Kentigern 1, Wellington East Girls 1 Palmerston North Girls 0.

Pool G: Diocesan (Auckland) 3 Trident 2, Waimea 1 Tawa 1.

Pool H: Westlake Girls 1 St Hildas 1, Freyberg 1 Nelson College for Girls 0.

Top 16 - pool 1: Rangitoto 1 Waimea 0, Marlborough Girls 5 Freyberg 2, Wellington 4 Wellington East Girls 0, Mt Albert 5 New Plymouth Girls 0. Pool 2: Epsom Girls 4 Westlake Girls 1, Marian 8 Tawa 6 (on penalties), St Peters (Cambridge) 1 Macleans 0, Kamo 2 Tauranga Girls 0.

Bottom 16 - pool 1: Hamilton Girls 6 Trident 5 (on penalties), St Hilda's 3 Waikato Diocesan 0, St Kentigern 2 Wellington Girls 0, Gisborne Girls 4 Nayland 1. Pool 2: Hutt Valley 5 NCG 4 (on penalties), Diocesan (Auckland) 3 Rosehill 0, Cambridge 1 Hillcrest 0, Cashmere 2 Palmerston North Girls 1.

- © Fairfax NZ News