An early start, Wellington morning traffic and a bit of wet weather kicked off the beginning of inter-school games for the Manawatu & TRC Toyota PNBHS 1st XI. St Pat’s Kilbirnie hosted us on their school turf, competing for the Kerrisk Cup. For the first time since 2019, the cup remained in Wellington: St Pat’s winning the fixture, 2-3.

The early stages of the game belonged to PNBHS. While there were attacking plays from both sides, it was an aggressive run through the middle of the pitch by Xavier Coleman that allowed Darren Juru a tap-in to get things under way. This stirred St Pat’s into action and the shots-on-goal came thick and fast. Diego Coleman kept the scoresheet clean for the most part, but a long-range St Pat’s attempt sat in the wind and found the top corner of the net - the scores were even going into the break.

The second half continued with much of the same. PNBHS driving forward was often bested by the St Pat’s defense, and on the turn, St Pat’s applied pressure on the PNBHS goal at the other end. Another two goals by the St Pat’s striker brought up his hattrick, before PNBHS dug in for the final few minutes. From an attacking corner, a spilled ball was cracked home by Mahiro Hada to narrow the gap but time was called shortly after; PNBHS were unable to reach an equaliser.

The Manawatu & TRC Toyota PNBHS 1st XI would like to thank St Pat’s for hosting us this afternoon, to our sponsors for their support this season, and to parents and supporters.