Nelson Exchange, Fencing

Nelson Exchange Report

Rugby 1st XV: Loss (44-20) vs (Nelson College) @ (Shirley Boys High School)

Match Summary: Shirley seemed to be asleep in the first half as they allowed Nelson to starve them off ball and build pressure. Shirley only allowed Nelson to score a few points in the second half as Shirley seemed to have flipped the switch and scored 3 great tries through their hooker. – McGregor Best.

Rugby U14: Win (24-15) vs (Nelson College) @ (Shirley Boys High School)

Match Summary: The U14 Rugby team played a tough and physical game against a strong Nelson team. The boys showed a lot of heart on defence and several times defended their own line for long periods. When in possession of the ball, the Shirley team ran hard and direct and made several breaks. Deijdre Siaki and Tahlor Cahill lead the way with some powerful runs. When in the right areas of the field, the Shirley team applied pressure and scored points. Two good tries in the first half were undone by some weak defence which allowed nelson to cross just before half time. Shirley went into the break leading 12-10. The second half was an arm wrestle with both teams showing a lot of commitment on defence and putting in some great tackles. Shirley scored first to make the score 17-10. Nelson then struck back to make it 17-15. Shirley defended for long periods, and managed to hold Nelson out. Finally on attack with back to back penalties, William Marshall ran a beautiful line, through two defenders and out sprinted the last defender to score next to the posts. Tahlor converted to make it 24-15, which remained the score for the last few minutes of the game. Dru de Lautour played an outstanding game for his first run with the A team. It was a great game of rugby, with both sides showing plenty if vigour. It was very typical of a Nelson/Shirley match.

Rugby U15: Win (55-19) vs (Nelson College) @ (Shirley Boys High School)

Match Summary: The game kicked off and was taken in clean by Liam, which set the tone for the rest of the game. We scored three quick converted tries and looked to be in control but silly mistakes cost us the margin of our lead and we went into halftime only up by 21-12. There was a serious chat about our game so far and we came out firing in the second half. A quick converted try and we were back in control of the match. From there on in we built pressure and started to mount in the points. A sloppy last ten minutes prevented a blowout score line but we managed to come away with a convincing 55-19 win. – Scott Shackleton.

Football Jnr 1st Xl: Win (3-0) vs (Nelson College) @ (ASB Park)

Match Summary: Shirley entered this game with some nervousness after last years lop sided result in Nelson. In very cold conditions the game kicked off in sedate fashion. It took a while in the first half for Shirley to come to grips with the fact they were a little bit bigger and quicker than the opposition. Cameron Williams was making some very good runs into the box and on another day may have had 3 before halftime. Nelson were feeding off Shirley mistakes and nearly went 1-0 up but the shot cannoned off the crossbar. The half ended 0-0. The second half was a different story with Shirley being very dominant. A classy finish from Josh Watson put Shirley 1-0. That was soon followed by a second goal, scored by Marshall Patrick after a great ball out of defence and a turn of speed on the left flank. Nelson were very unlucky not to get a penalty and were still thinking about this when the second goal went in. Shirley squandered several chances to put the game away before the result was put beyond doubt by Patrick Reilly after a period of sustained pressure. A good performance from the boys with captain Mark Zimmerman in commanding form in midfield and the rest of team following his example. After last years mauling it was very nice to get a win against good opposition. Well done to both teams.

Junior Basketball: Loss (76 - 65) vs (Nelson College) @ (Shirley Boys High School)

Match Summary: SBHS opened in the first quarter very well, only down by 1. It looked set to be an exciting game. Quarter two came around and Nelson’s shooting percentage was just too good for the SBHS defence. The Nelson guards hit several 3’s to extend their lead. Following the half time break, SBHS struggled to adjust to aggressive drives to the lane. During the final period SBHS played much better defensively, which fuelled their offence through fast breaks. SBHS finished the game well but went down 76 - 65. We all enjoyed the day because we got to play the sport we love against tough opposition. Meeting players from Nelson and spending the day getting to know them made this a valuable experience. - Theles Hakaria.

Hockey 1st Xl: Loss (5-0) vs (Nelson College) @ (Nunweek Park)

Match Summary: Shirley found it hard to manage the fast Nelson Strikers. After two vital turnovers, we were down 2-0 at halftime. Having plenty of chances, we were not out of the match. After many great passing plays Shirley were unable to get the finishing touches, where as Nelson were clinical in front of goal. – Keeley Legge.

Fencing

Congratulations to Dylan Spackman and Dominic Pulley who recently made the final in the novice section of the Canterbury Secondary School Fencing Championships.

In a very tight, first to 10 final, Dylan won 10-9.

Well done to the both of you!