Mt Albert win girls' final

Story by: WAYNE MARTIN - Nelson Mail - Photo by: By Chris Symes

Mt Albert Grammar turned gritty defence into a national title after yesterday's tight 1-0 win over St Peter's College in the Lotto premier secondary schoolgirls' football final in Nelson.

Despite losing some key players to the New Zealand under-17 team and with others carrying injuries, the Aucklanders battled their way to a tough victory at Saxton Field as early rain added further intrigue to the occasion.

Unbeaten with three straight wins in pool play, Mt Albert eliminated North Shore's Rangitoto College 2-0 in Thursday's semifinals to earn a crack at their first ever national title.

Cambridge's St Peter's certainly turned up to play yesterday, ultimately creating more shots on goal than the Aucklanders. Mt Albert's defence won through, though, to leave Mt Albert the only unbeaten team in the tournament.

"We've played really well as a team all week," said coach Dene Gilmore. "We've defended our [butts] off.

"We've lost a lot of star players so we put people behind the ball and defended with our lives really and when we've gone forward, we've made the most out of half chances really."

Striker Audrey Bourneville scored the game's only goal after a defensive lapse by St Peter's in the 18th minute suddenly put Bourneville into space before easing the ball past an advancing goalie.

St Peter's' best chance to equalise came 11 minutes after the restart when Jess Clark pushed a shot directly at Mt Albert's goalie, Joanna Kennedy, the ball deflecting safely off her legs.

Gilmore said he was happy to do whatever it took to secure the win. "Earlier on [in the tournament] we got to go forward, but as soon as these qualifying stages began we just got players behind the ball and defended to just see where it could get us.

"Three players are playing with torn thighs and hamstrings so the girls have just battled through it. We'll welcome our New Zealand [under-17] players back next year as well, so we've got great depth."

Midfielder TJ Heatherington, centre back Eloise Morris and Hannah Carter continued the strong form they showed throughout the week, although Gilmore paid tribute to a competitive St Peter's performance.

"St Peter's were probably the better side footballing-wise, but sometimes finals aren't about playing football, it's about winning them, so we fought and battled well."

Rongotai College beat Epsom Girls' Grammar 5-1 in the playoff for third and fourth.

Waimea College finished 16th after losing 5-1 to Macleans College, Nelson College for Girls were 27th after their 2-0 win over Hamilton GHS and Nayland College relegated Rosehill College to the wooden spoon with a comfortable 4-0 win.

Results: 1-2: Mt Albert 1 St Peter's 0; 3-4: Rangitoto 5 Epsom 1; 5-6: Kamo 3 Avondale 0; 7-8: Marlborough Girls 5 Marian 3; 9-10: Tauranga Girls 3 Wellington East 1; 11-12: Tawa 4 Freyberg 2; 13-14: New Plymouth Girls 2 Westlake 1; 15-16: Macleans 5 Waimea 1; 17-18: St Kentigern 4 Diocesan (Auckland) 3; 19-20: Trident 3 Cambridge 1; 21-22: Gisborne 1 Hutt Valley 0; 23-24: Cashmere 5 St Hilda's 0; 25-26: Wellington Girls 4 Palmerston North Girls 0; 27-28: NCG 2 Hamilton 0; 29-30: Waikato Diocesan 3 Hillcrest 2; 31-32: Nayland 4 Rosehill 0.