1st XI Football Team

2022 was a challenging season for the First XI. This season was always going to be a rebuilding year after losing half of last year’s team, and the early signs were positive. A 5-1 friendly win over Cashmere before the season started looked promising, but it turned out to be our only game of the season that we played with a full squad. Injuries and illness robbed the team of large numbers of players for the rest of the season and we ended up playing our competitive matches with an average of just over 11 players.

Mainland Football created a new competition for girls this year to mirror the premier boys’ competition that has been running for the last few seasons. The games were played on turfs around Christchurch, and while we kicked off with a couple of wins the rest of the matches deteriorated into a series of demoralising losses. The team eventually finished 5th overall, and this was a fair reflection of how we played this year.

There were a number of standout performances - Darsha Keogan was our top scorer with 9 goals from midfield, and she led the team well under trying circumstances. Darsha leaves CGHS after 5 years and nearly 50 appearances for the First XI to go to the Phoenix Academy in Wellington while she studies at Victoria University, which is a great achievement. Maddy Iro represented New Zealand at the Under 17 World Cup which is also remarkable, and without Maddy in goal our results would have been a lot worse. Our junior players also made a great impression, with Katie Blackburn having a strong season and newcomers Sienna Cochrane, Millie Wilson and Gabby Burrowes all playing well.

Hopefully 2023 brings less challenges and the team can play to its full potential.

Jason Aaron

Senior Football

Junior Football