Good luck to the PNBHS Premier B Water Polo Team competing at the Division 2 North Island Secondary School Championships this week at Baywave Acquatic Centre, Tauranga
DRAW:
Monday 22 March:
Game 1 v Green Bay Mixed, 3pm: Win 8-4
Tuesday 23 March:
Game 2 v John Paul College, 10am: Loss 12-4
Game 3 v Long Bay College Boys, 4:45pm: Win 24-0
Wednesday 24 March:
Game 4 v Hamilton BHS - 7-7 - Win on penalties
Game 5 v John Paul College (Semi Final) - Loss 13-3
Thursday 25 March:
Game 6 v Westlake BHS (3rd/4th) - 6-6 - Loss on penalty shootout
Match Report - Game 1 v Green Bay Mixed:
The PNBHS Premier B Team met Green Bay on the first day and first round at the NISS Waterpolo Championships, at Baywave pool in Tauranga.
Before the game, coach, PNBHS Old Boy Campbell McHugh, spoke to the team about getting the basics right, communicating well and movement to create opportunities.
The game began with a lot of movement up and down the pool but with neither team able to find the back of the net. It wasn’t until 1 minute into the quarter that our boys won a 5m penalty while on extra man, giving Jayden Nicholson the opportunity to fire the first goal into the back of the net. The remainder of the quarter remained scoreless despite our formidable defence running down the shock clock on several occasions, forcing turnover ball that we were unable to capitalise from.
Coach McHugh wanted more communication and positioning from the boys to create more shooting opportunities. Fresh legs replaced tired ones, but it was 2 minutes into the second quarter before our last-minute replacement for injured Izaak Pomana, Jason Tsang, scored a cracker to put the score at 2 – 0. It took until 45 seconds left in the second quarter for us to find the back of the net once more, with Quinlan Huff making sure his well time shot counted. 30 seconds later, Ethan Limmer ensured we finished the first half up 3 – 0.
In the third quarter we went from a team communicating well on defence to one that played in silence. Green Bay were creating more shooting opportunities by catching us out with gaps in our defence. Desperate cover by our boys along with great reactions from goalie, Blake Storrier, denied their attempts early in the quarter. Jayden Nicholson received a well-timed pass, making the most of the opportunity to take us out to a 5 – 0 lead, 2 minutes into the third quarter. Within one and a half minutes, Green Bay capitalised, closing the gap to 5-2. In the final minute of the 3rd quarter, Connor McKay scored his first goal of the tournament, bringing the score to 6 -2.
Communication and movement were the two focus points for the final quarter. Fatigue was creeping in and the last quarter played out in a similar fashion to the third. Green Bay managed to score a further 2 goals while Jayden Nicholson scored the final 2 goals for PNBHS.
The team were happy with the 8-4 win on the first day, but more importantly, identified exactly what was needed to take the win for our two games on Tuesday against John Paul College at 10am, then Long Bay College at 4.45pm
Match Report - Game 2 v John Paul College:
Game 2 at NISS at 10am against John Paul College was always going to be a challenge. JPC are a very mobile team who play a solid defensive game with a couple of players who are difficult to shut down.
We started out the game with the level of assertion we were after. Ian Tsui sprinted off to win the swim off giving us a great start. The first quarter was an even battle, with our defence cracking in the last 45 seconds of the first quarter, letting one goal in.
Keep our heads up and keep talking to each other was the call going into the second quarter. Our boys went into the quarter strong, but conceded 2 goals in the first 75 seconds. Bodies were beginning to fatigue despite an injection of fresh legs. With 3 minutes gone, JPC lobbed a beautiful goal that we could do nothing about. It was with 1 minute to go, we finally managed to set up Ian Tsui for a solid goal to put us on the board at the end of the half.
Our boys were hurting. Fatigue had taken hold. Their minds were still in it, but the gap was beginning to widen and we knew we had work to do. JPC were still looking pretty fresh and only 1 player in foul trouble. The 3rd quarter was an ugly pill to swallow. Their defence was shutting Jack Aitken-Cade down in front of the goal and are passes were not making their targets. The score sheet and scoreboard were not in tune but JPC added another 5 goals to their total with Tsui being set up for a second goal with 20 secs to go.
The final quarter target was to try and keep the gap from growing further, show some resilience and make our passes count. Tsui scored his third for the game early on in the piece, but JPC were quick to reply. Our boys were visibly exhausted, so covering on defence and shutting down their top goal scorer was becoming an impossible task at this stage of the game. Jason Tsang finished the game with our final goal, but way too little, way too late. Final score and deserved win to JPC, 12 - 4.
In true PNBHS style, we won the cheer, loud and proud.
We play again this afternoon against Long Bay College. A win this afternoon means we finish our pool in 2nd. If that is the case, we expect to play Hamilton tomorrow in Round 4.
Match Report - Game 3 v Long Bay College:
Quarter Final v Hamilton BHS at 1:00pm
Semi-Final v John Paul College at 7.45pm
The first quarter was a stale mate with relentless defence from both teams.