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Girls' Football play on despite injuries at tournament

The St Paul's Girls' Football team put in a fantastic effort at the recent Kathy Seaward Tournament in Whangarei. Read on for a run down of their games.

The Girls’ 1st XI Football team started strong in the Kathy Seaward Tournament held in Whangarei, with a 1-0 win against Birkenhead, with the goal scored by Holly Skelton. They then continued to be so close, but just out of reach, losing 0-2 to Manurewa High School and 0-1 to Mahurangi College. During these games, they lost their captain, Holly Skelton to a knee injury. By the third day, half the team was injured, but still fighting valiantly even through a hail storm and power cut. They continued their trend of being so close, but just not getting there, losing 0-1 against Rosehill College and also against KingsWay School. St Paul’s then suffered a large loss to Carmel College (0-5).

It looked like their final would be a similar scenario, until Annie Hantz scored to make it 1-1 against Green Bay High School. In the penalty shootout, Annie Hantz and Kacy Monkley scored, with the St Paul’s goalie, Holly Rowan-Sanders saving two goals. Unfortunately, St Paul’s lost the penalty shootout to come 16th in the tournament.

The girls have improved hugely from past years and it was great that they were very competitive and continued to play strongly even with injuries, while still having fun throughout. A huge thank you to Eileish Hayes for stepping into coach the team and to Miss Nicole Schollum for travelling with the girls.