The Girls Football 1st XI had a young and talented team, but lacked a little guile and experience at times to fully reach their potential this season.

In terms of passing football, Burnside were unmatched and the season looked set to be another final battle against the pacey and strong Rangiora High. 

In a bizarre turn of events, the top two teams in the league both lost their semi-finals, with Burnside showing their youthful complacency to lose to a team they beat 5-1. 

With this disappointment fresh for Nationals the girls did a great job to bounce back and show they fully deserved to be there, narrowly missing out on a top 16 spot. 

This year we say goodbye to Emma Clarke, Maddie Wilson, Gretchen Gerber, Melissa Bayley and Wikke Nijhof, who have all been part of the very successful team over the last few seasons. I am confident next year the girls will return with a little more mental strength and maturity to add to their huge talent on the pitch.