The weekly ice hockey and boys midweek football competitions have had a break for the holidays. Both competitions are run by the OSSSA on Wednesday afternoons, with games starting at 4pm at the Dunedin Ice Stadium and various football venues around the city.
The ice hockey A grade is starting to tighten up, with leading school Kings losing its unbeaten record in a 7-5 loss to John McGlashan College on the last Wednesday of term, before being soundly beaten next day in the annual interschool feature with Otago Boys High School.
John McGlashan has cut Kings High School's lead to one point, with the two Otago Boys teams that make up the grade tied three points further adrift. All four teams are in contention for the title Kings won last season.
The semifinal night is scheduled for August 12.
In B Grade, the intermediate team - made up of players from Tahuna Normal Intermediate and Balmacewen Intermediate Schools - sits atop the grade, with John McGlashan B, Kings B and Bayfield High School tied in second place. Logan Park High School rounds out this grade.
With some skilled players showing their abilities in the grade, the competition looks on a sound footing for coming seasons.
C Grade runaway leader St Hildas Collegiate School had its first loss of the season when it was beaten 5-0 in the last game of the term by second-placed Otago Girls High School.
Taieri College and Queens High School round out the grade, although with these schools each having just one team, playing numbers can vary from week to week, causing the occasional blow-out on the scoreboard. However, all four will be in title contention until the semifinals are played.
Goal difference was required to separate the second-, third- and fourth-placed teams in the premier boys football competition. This competition will go into recess during the first three weeks of term three as the Otago Milk Cup squad is away to Northern Ireland and several squads are consequently weakened.
A knockout competition including the Taieri College and South Otago High School First XIs, which play in the completed reserve grade, will take place during this time, with the premier grade semifinals scheduled for on August 12.
In the semifinals, runaway leader Otago Boys will play John McGlashan College, and Kaikorai Valley College will take on Kavanagh College. It is hard to see Otago Boys losing the title it won last year, as it has conceded just one goal this season, on the last day of term in the annual interschool with Kings High. Otago Boys won the fixture 2-1.
With several players competing in men's premier league Saturday sides, the Otago Boys team has experience other teams cannot match. The team has received a wildcard entry into the top 16 of the boys premier tournament to be held in Nelson during winter tournament week at the beginning of September.
The reserve grade came to a bit of a stuttering finish in the last week of term, with leading side South Otago High School mirroring the success of its First XV by claiming the trophy, albeit with a default win over the John McGlashan second team.
Having scored 35 goals and conceded only three, South Otago is a worthy winner and now gets the chance, along with runner-up Taieri College, to play premier sides in the knockout competition.
Otago Boys Blue has stolen a march in section one of the junior grade, with five wins from five, and, like its First XI, has conceded only one goal. The Kings year 10 team sits in second, and only it and Kaikorai Valley College, which has had an unbeaten run in the second section to earn promotion to the top section for the remainder of the season, seem able to give Otago Boys a hurry-up.
It has been great to see eight teams in the junior grade, with two sections of four based on relative playing strength. The aim of this competition is to encourage junior players at schools to either take up or stay in the game, helping to maintain a healthy competition in later years. With the axing of school-based teams in Saturday grades, it is an ideal competition for those who want to play football for their school.
Unfortunately, all grades have been affected by the weather this season, with three weeks of matches cancelled because of waterlogged grounds. Defaults owing to illness and the rescheduling of events by schools have added to a disjointed season. It is hoped that next term will be more settled to allow a good build-up for those schools heading off to tournaments.
All up-to-date results and tables for both competitions are on the OSSSA website.
Girls rugby
The strength of Otago country schoolgirl rugby was shown when South Otago High School and Blue Mountain College met in the final of the girls festival in Oamaru recently.
South Otago achieved a comfortable 29-0 win over an opponent that looked jaded from the 208 minutes of rugby played over the previous 48 hours.
South Otago's points came from tries to Leyhana van Vugt (2), Janelle Fulton, Natasha Phillips and Amy Hunter, and van Vugt kicked two conversions.
When they met in round-robin play in shortened games, South Otago won 7-5.
Both teams won thrilling semifinals to set up their final encounter.
St Margarets College, of Christchurch, had a 7-0 lead over South Otago early in their game but van Vugt scored a try on half-time to reduce the lead to 7-5.
South Otago took the lead in the second spell with a try to Hanna McGimpsey and made it safe on full-time with another try, this time to Tania Kingipotiki. The final score was 17-7.
Sheree Hume opened the scoring for St Hildas in its match against Blue Mountain College.
Jamie Greene scored a try for St Hildas, and the country school replied with a five-pointer to Gemma Townsend.
In the second half, Hume scored a converted try, then Sarah Park crossed for Blue Mountain. Right on full-time, Blue Mountain winger Leah Gardyne burst over the 22m line and threw off the tacklers to power over the line. Sarah Park converted from wide out to make the final score 19-15.
Black Ferns hooker Beth Mallard spoke to the players at the annual dinner held after the second day's play. Blue Mountain gained the best all-round team award based on results, attitude and fair play.
The tournament team was: Nathalia Cochrane Darling, Kirsty Nicholson, Monica Quaqua, Stacey Morton (all Otago Girls/Taieri), Hollie Griffith, Emma Thomas, Olivia Loe, Georgie Leggett, Freddie Archibald (St Margarets), Jamie Greene, Georgia Cowie, Kristin Macdonald (St Hildas), Leah Gardyne, Sarah Park, Rachel Shanks, Bethany Cross, Cherise Thomson (Blue Mountain), Leyhana van Vugt, Hannah McGimpsey, Crystal Thomas, Amy Hunter (South Otago), Lavinia Saile (St Kevins/Waitaki).
South Island area schools
The Southern Area Schools team competed successfully at the recent South Island tournament in Christchurch.
The team was made up of students from Maniototo, Roxburgh, Catlins, Lawrence, Tuatapere and Twizel area schools.
QEII stadium proved to be a wonderful venue for all sports other than golf, which, to the delight of the golfers, was held at the Russley and Clearwater courses.
The Southerners competed against South Island Central and Northern area schools, winning rugby, golf, netball, basketball (boys and girls) and volleyball (girls).
The team is also claiming a win in the boys volleyball but, as one game had to be called off early to start other codes, this may be disputed by the other regions.
Two netball teams were sent from each area. The Southern A team claimed the title with the B team finishing a very creditable third.
Luke Steele, a year 10 student from the Maniototo, was the standout golfer, with two excellent rounds on top-quality golf courses.
The seven-a-side football (boys and girls) came off second best in a fiercely contested competition.
A New Zealand area schools rugby team is selected following both the North and South Island tournaments, and all the rugby boys will now be nervously awaiting the announcement of the team.
The following most valuable players were selected in the various codes:
Netball A: Zoe Patterson (Roxburgh). Netball B: Beth Summers (Maniototo). Volleyball: Tim McMillan (Maniototo) and Samantha Weyer (Maniototo). Basketball: Willie Miller (Maniototo) and Aisha McCaw (Lawrence). Golf: Luke Steele (Maniototo). Football: Jack Lambert (Twizel) and Jasmine Bragg (Tuatapere). Rugby: Tim McMillan (Maniototo), Willie Miller (Maniototo), Jack Egerton (Tuatapere), Ryan Egerton (Tuatapere), Thomas Chartres (Tuatapere), Mitchell Smith (Tuatapere), Kevin Molloy (Tuatapere).
• Calendar
Ice hockey: Resumes today
Boys football: Resumes today
- These articles are compiled by the Otago Secondary Schools Sports Assn Inc (OSSSA), which is proudly sponsored by the University of Otago College of Education.
- Contacts: Des Smith, Otago Regional Sports Director, PO Box 6303, Dunedin. Ph 470-1337 Fax 470-1786 Email: des@osssa.org.nz Website: www.osssa.org.nz
