PNBHS NEWS

PNBHS Senior Premier B Waterpolo Team at NISS Div 2 Tournament 2021 Report

 
画像 Ella Mitchell
PNBHS Senior Premier B Waterpolo Team at NISS Div 2 Tournament 2021 Report
2021年 03月 31日(Wednesday) 10:01 - Ella Mitchell の投稿
 

PNBHS Senior Premier B Waterpolo Team at NISS Div 2 Tournament 2021 Report

Our Premier B Waterpolo Team travelled to Tauranga last Sunday to compete in the North Island Secondary Schools, Div 2 competition held at Bay Wave Aquatic Centre.

The initial goal was to break into the top eight teams of this competition, out of 16.

Pool play results were:

-        Win against Green Bay (8 – 4)

-        Loss against John Paul College (12 - 4)

-        Win against Long Bay College (24 – 0)

Happy to have made it into the top eight, we then went up against Hamilton Boys’ B. PNBHS were definite underdogs going into this match. By half time we were down by three goals and early into the third quarter, both teams scored once more. Our boys dug deep and showed a level of resilience and fight never seen from this team before. As we clawed our way back, pressure got to our opposition and in the last two minutes of the game, an important penalty went our way in the form of a brutality from the opposition, meaning we were one extra man for the rest of the game. This enabled us to equalise in the last minute, forcing the game to a deadlock and a penalty shoot out for a place in the semi-finals. Goalie, Blake Storrier, kept a cool head and did the job at his end of the pool, while our boys found the back of the net more than their opposition.

We were once again up against John Paul College in the semi-final. We were competitive in the first half, holding the gap to a 2-1 deficit. Unfortunately, a disastrous third quarter meant the game was becoming out of reach at 10-1. A much better final quarter meant that the gap didn’t get much worse, in the end losing 13-3 to the team who were the eventual winners of the tournament.

We were still in with a chance of a medal against Westlake Boys' High School. The battle was an even one until the end of the second quarter when the gap crept out to two goal deficit going into the second half. In the last minute of the third quarter we equalised. The grandstand was full of supporters from Tauranga Boys’ and John Paul College cheering us on. In the final quarter, Westlake were awarded their sixth goal to our five. Penalties were going both ways and Westlake seemed to be enjoying most of the possession. It wasn’t until the final 13 seconds that Ian Tsui sent a cracker of a shot to the back of the net to send us to our second penalty shoot out of the tournament.

Our boys left every bit of fight they had in the pool. It was a shame we couldn’t pull out the win to bring back bronze, but our Premier B Waterpolo team, under the skilful coaching of Old Boy Campbell McHugh, can hold their heads high with pride with the level of waterpolo they played all tournament and what they achieved.