Hero photograph
STC First XI Football
 
Photo by Brendan Biggs

1st XI Football

Jacob Grosvenor —

2016 1st XI Football

This year we saw one of the youngest senior teams in the school with us having six year 10s in our squad, with 3 or 4 of those boys starting most games. It was a privilege captaining and watching these young players develop. I am very proud of how well the young boys adapted to the school league as they were playing against players that were one to three years older than them. Also, to add to how young our team was, we gave two year 8 boys their 1st XI debuts against St Kevin's, reinforcing the development of our youth.

Our Christchurch Schools Premier League season was okay… not as good as last year, but still not bad with us still competing to go to top nationals and with us coming 7th on the table out of 14 teams. Our stats from the Wednesday league was 13 games played, 5 wins, 2 draws, 6 loses, 32 goals scored and 23 goals conceded.

This year was very good from the support side of things as Jakob Mangels made a supporter’s page and posted when and where all the STC sports teams were playing. I would just like to say a big thanks to Jakob Mangels for making this page and a big thanks to everyone that came and supported us this year.

This year we did have a bit of success as we beat Boys high for the first time in years. But also, we did have a very disappointing moment as we were given a chance to qualify for top nationals. This chance was us getting to play Middleton in a playoff game. This game was crazy. In the game, we made the perfect start to the game as we went up 3-0 with us dominating, but just before half Middleton scored a goal, so we went in at half 3-1 and us feeling in control of the game. The second half start and then everything changed with Middleton scoring 3 consecutive goals. So it was 4-3 with about 10 to 15 minutes to go and somehow we slowly got back into the game with us getting a little bit more ball and we started to get a little bit more belief that we could come back, but it wasn’t our day. A lot was learnt that day and I think it has shown to all STC sports teams that the game is never over until the final whistle. I know the 1st XI boys have learnt from that and have grown as players because of it.

So, after that crazy game against Middleton that made us not go to the top nationals we flew to Auckland to go to the 2nd tier nationals. The boys were still a bit sad that we weren't going to the top nationals but they were still pumped to go win this tourney to show why we should have been at the top nationals. We started off very well by winning both games on the first day. Next day we made it very tough on ourselves as we lost our first game. Then we had to play our hardest game in the pool stage versing Kelston boys who were undefeated so far. That game I thought we played our best game so far at the tourney as we clinched a 1-0 win. It was a solid performance from everyone. Next day we only had one game and we had to win it so we could make the quarter finals. To help us get through this hard game the STC rugby league boys came and supported us. As their tourney was in Auckland too. Having the rugby league boys come and watch our game gave us a real sense of pride and brotherhood. Their support obviously paid off too because we got up and won the game convincingly.

Next day we had a big game, our quarter final against Cambridge. This was to not be our time as we went on to lose 4-1 in a disappointing performance. After that game, we had to play Kings who are a massive school. For this game, we had to find some way to grind out a win and get back to our winning ways and we did … we smashed them! You can probably tell by now that this tournament was full of ups and yes, downs… highlighted by Mika Rabuka breaking his ankle in the warm up for the Kings game.

Then came the final day, we had to play Shirley for 5th and 6th place. Our Christchurch rivals have always been a tough opposition over the last few years and we turned up and bet them in this last game to finish 5th in the tournament. This wasn’t how we had planned our final tournament to go but it was a great last game for us year 13’s to be a part of.

It has been a privilege to play for the 1st XI for three years and this year captaining the team. It has been great to see how this team has developed in those three years and now seeing year 10s making the team and fitting in with ease. It’s good to see that the team has a good future when me and the other year 13s leave. Also, I would like to say a big thanks to Mr Allen and Mr Washington for everything they have done for this team and all the antics they take from us this year it means a lot, thank you. 

 Jacob Grosvenor