This season saw the team take to the field in the Division 1 league. The team has really started to come together and they are all plying as well drilled unit. 

Ably captained by Henri Gaudin, the team never lost a game all season, although they did have to come from behind in a number of close games. They were all Year 12 and Year 11 players. It was a pity that one of our main players, David Prime was injured (broken collar bone) in the first match but our Y11 players all stepped up and played seamlessly with their older colleagues and this bodes very well for next year.  Also, with Ben Dubyk in goal, it took something special for teams to get onto the score sheet at times.

Our girls team, mainly Year 11 who have played together for 3 years, ably led and captained by Claudia Dakin have continued to grow and improve with each game. Playing in the 2nd division, the girls played a total of 11 games. Coached by Mr Jenkins and Kendal the team had a range of results. Their best being against St Hilda’s with a 7-1 win. Another good game was against OGHS 2nd XI. Although the team lost 5-2, this was OGHS (the division winners) biggest loss in the grade.

After this successful season the team entered the Linwood Tournament held in Dunedin. A late entry to the competition, the team found themselves up against teams from all over the South Island with the local Dunedin team coming from the division above them. It was bound to be a big ask for the team. Also, a number of key team members were not able to play so we called upon 3 of our top Y10 players to fill the gaps.

Our first game saw us pitted against St Kevin’s, a team we have not played before and therefore a big unknown. However, the team soon took control and we won the game 5-0 with the opposition voting Ben Dubyk , our goalkeeper the team’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the game. After a short rest, the team were back in action in the afternoon against another unknown team, Wakatipu. This team proved to be a harder proposition and by half time we were 5-0 down. However, the team rallied and although we lost, the second half was fairly even. The final score was 7-2 with Ben Dubyk once again being voted MVP by the opposition. Solomon and Joseph scored two of the best goals I have ever seen and our finishing was the difference on the day.

The second day saw us sitting in second place and down to play Dunstan. If we could win this we were through to the top 8 quarter final games. The first half saw each team unable to take control until Dustan scored a lucky goal and we went into the half time 1-0 down. However, in true LPHS football fashion, we finally took control and won 3-1, seeing us book a place in the top 8. MVP was Solomon after scoring a very cool penalty.

The quarter finals saw us taking on John McGlashan College, a team which plays a division above it in Dunedin. We also had three team members missing due to illness and chess. Johnnies were expecting a cake walk but soon found out that football is a funny old game and we matched them goal for goal. The final few minutes were hectic. We were down 2-1 and we were attacking constantly. It was only luck that saw us finally, and only just lose the game. MVP was once again Ben who made superb save after superb save. On a side note Johnnies went on to the final and were narrowly beaten, it could so easily have been us maybe?

We then went up against another Dunedin team, OBHS 2nd XI, and like JMC one league above in the league. This game proved to be the first one we did play as well as we have done and the final result saw us lose 6-0. MVP was, you guessed it, Ben who without, would have seen the score much much higher. That then left us playing for 7 & 8 place against yet another Dunedin team who were one division above this year but one we had drawn against in the Co-Ed exchange, KVC. Although we “played” them it was difficult for any team to say they played football. The pitch, and I use this term very loosely was more like a World War 1 trench line. It was very obvious that it had been used a lot that week and with the terrible rain we had endured it was impossible to pass the ball, or dribble it with any real skill. Therefore after a slugfest we felt unlucky to lose 3-1. We had our chances but fate conspired to keep the ball out of the back of KVC’s net. Also, once again, MVP went to Ben who was voted overall MVP for LPHS.

Overall, this was our first tournament for many years and the team has acquitted itself very well coming 8th out of 16 teams for the tournament. They should be proud of their season and it bodes very well for next year.