The Girls First XI set off for the National Secondary Schools Premier Tournament in Nelson with high hopes after finishing 10th in 2007 and 6th in 2006.  However, even before we boarded the flight to Nelson the girls had a set-back with goalkeeper Hannah Donoghue being rushed to hospital.  Not having a reserve goalkeeper meant that somebody had to be brave to step in and Jade Marsburg did a great job for us all tournament.

Our first game against Avonside of Christchurch saw Macleans control throughout.  The breakthrough came in the middle of the second half with a great move down the left finished by Sarah Blyde.  However, with only 5 minutes remaining Avonside managed to equalise from a corner.  Great spirit saw Macleans step up the pace and force the issue with the winner being scored by Katie Paterson with only 90 seconds remaining.

Our second game saw us against Avondale who have three New Zealand International players in their squad.  Macleans suffered a little bit of stage fright and were outclassed being 5-0 down within 26 minutes.  Good resolve and commitment in the second half saw Macleans battle well and create the better chances, but sadly they couldn't score the goal they deserved.  A good team defensive display in the second half ensured the game finished 5-0 meaning that the final group game against hosts Nelson was for a place in the Top 16.  Unfortunately, Nelson showed more determination and ran out 3-0 winners.
Having to lift ourselves to push on was difficult but a gritty performance againt Hillcrest resulted in a 1-0 win for Macleans with a great free-kick strike by Alex Eastwood.

The girls next had to play Auckland Girls Grammar and another tight affair ended in a penalty shootout.  A fantastic set of penalties saw Alex Eastwood, Laura Cook, Sophie Elwood, Sarah Blyde, Sam De Witt and Captain for the day Siobhan van Heerden all score to win 6-5 in sudden-death.

The following day in terrible conditions and a heavy pitch saw us lose 3-0 to New Plymouth which left us in 19th place overall out of the best 32 teams in the country.  This is still a good result with a very young squad and it bodes well for the future of Girls Football at Macleans College.  Player of the Tournament for Macleans as voted by the opposition was Shona Naera who led superbly from the front in every game.

Macleans Girls First XI beat local rivals Howick 3-1 on Wednesday.  The game was the 9th/10th Place Playoff in the Auckland Provincial Championship.  Not making the Top 4 in Auckland meant the girls were a little disappointed, but they showed good character to come back from that set-back and perform as well as they did.

Macleans controlled the game from start to finish with all 16 members of the squad playing a valuable role.  Jade Marsburg was superb in her first start of the season with a very composed defensive display.  Sam De Witt continued to impress back from injury as she tormented the Howick defenders.  Gina Chung, Becky Ferigo, Sonia Lovemore and Annelies Lindsay all contributed well, too.

The first goal came after Sarah Blyde combined well with De Witt on the left before crossing to the back post for Shona Naera to apply the finishing touch to put Macleans 1-0 up.  Soon after, Macleans had another attack culminating in a De Witt strike that hit the crossbar.  It was not long before Macleans went 2-0 up, again coming from a cross on the left which was finished with aplomb by Naera.

Rotating the players meant that it was a real squad performance in preparation for the National Tournament in Nelson coming up in two weeks time.  Well done and good luck to the girls.

Macleans Girls First XI lost a close encounter in Monday afternoon’s clash with Diocesan.  The match was for a place in the Auckland Provincial Championships Quarter-Final with the Winners set to face reigning Auckland Champions Epsom. It was a tight affair in difficult conditions and Macleans gave an excellent account of themselves against a team full of Auckland Representatives.  The battle mostly took place in centre-midfield with Sophie Elwood and Kimberely Taylor tackling well supported with powerful running on the wings from Siobhan van Heerden and Sarah Blyde. Shone Naera made a lot of strong bursts forward and it was her cross that produced Macleans’ best chance in the first half, falling to Blyde who forced the Diocesan goalkeeper into a finger-tip save.

The second-half resumed with the score still 0-0.  As the play opened up there was end-to-end action and Macleans goalkeeper Hannah Donoghue made a series of good saves on the rare occasions that the solid backline of Niki Blackmore, Alex Eastwood and Laura Cook was breached.  Sonia Lovemore came on to great effect and Macleans begin to play the ball into the wide areas to go forward more in attack as the game went on, but unfortunately could not turn chances into goals.

The game went into extra-time with the score still tied 0-0.  As tiredness started to take its toll, a number of players were affected by cramp and as the game seemed destined for a penalty shoot-out, Diocesan latched onto a Macleans mistake and powerfully drove the ball into the Macleans net. The girls reacted well but were unable to find an equaliser with the game finishing 1-0 to Diocesan.

It was a gritty performance that the girls can be proud of leading up to the National Tournament in Nelson at the start of September. MVP goes to Niki Blackmore.

Macleans’ great run of consecutive victories came to an end in Wednesday’s Counties Manukau Premier Final against Rosehill.  After months of hard work, sadly the chance to be crowned Counties Manukau Champions was thrown away in a dismal opening nineteen minutes for the home side.

A lack of composure saw Macleans give the ball away from their own kick-off.  The resulting throw managed to find its way through the Macleans backline and the Rosehill forward powered the ball past Hannah Donoghue to put the visitors 1-0 up after only 29 seconds.  Macleans began to control the ball and the game a lot better against a strong wind, but again poor concentration allowed Rosehill through far too easily to double their lead soon after.  Rosehill’s third goal came in the nineteenth minute, with little resistance from Macleans, and at 3-0 down the home side were in danger of completely capitulating.

However, Sarah Blyde and Sami De Witt took the game to Rosehill with some powerful running and good link up play down the left which caused the Rosehill defence some trouble.  Just before half-time the pressure paid off with a Blyde cross being met at the back-post by Shona Naera to make it 3-1 going into the break and giving hope to Macleans.

The second half saw Macleans control the game and push forward continuously.  Niki Blackmore and Becky Ferigo provided some much needed bite in the challenges on the right and allowed Macleans to build attack after attack. 

Blyde was again involved in a move which resulted in her being brought down in the box and Alex Eastwood calmly slotted the penalty to make it 3-2.  However, there was not enough time left to get the equaliser and for the fourth year running, Macleans have finished Runners Up.

A sad way to end the term and it was a harsh lesson to learn.  We cannot afford to give any team a three goal head-start, let alone a strong team like Rosehill.  Macleans did show grit and determination to get themselves back into the game but unfortunately they just ran out of time.

MVP goes to Sarah Blyde and good luck to the girls going into the Auckland Provincial Championship in Term 3.

Macleans were victorious in their Counties Manukau Premier Division Semi-Final on Wednesday afternoon beating Waiuku 3-0 to confirm a place in next weeks Final against Rosehill.

Following the torrential downpours throughout the week, the pitch was slick which helped the progressive passing style of the Macleans team.  Macleans attacked from the outset and kept Waiuku on the back-foot from the first minute to the last. Macleans’ first goal came early on with a fantastic move down the left with Sarah Blyde linking well with both Sophie Elwood and Sonia Lovemore before delivering a pin-point cross for Katie Paterson to poke in.  Again, Elwood’s distribution from centre midfield was excellent and Macleans had successful attacks on both flanks.  Shona Naera ran the Waiuku defence ragged in a superb first half display resulting in some dangerous crosses which the on-rushing Paterson only narrowly missed.  Macleans went in at half-time 1-0 up.

The second half continued in much the same vein with Macleans continually on the attack.  Any counters that Waiuku mustered were soon quashed with Alex Eastwood having yet another dominant performance at the heart of the defence, with Gina Chung (Niki Blackmore) and Laura Cook also continuing to impress.

However, it was Blyde who continued to dominate the game down the left with the Waiuku players unable to stay with, or even get close to her.  Eventually Blyde scored the second goal with a strong strike from the edge of the area that found its way into the bottom corner.  The second goal provided a little security and Macleans began to stroke the ball round beautifully at times and the third goal soon followed.  Good link up play again by Blyde and Annelies Lindsay led to a near-post cross that was latched onto by Naera.  A deserved goal for Naera after a brilliant run to get across the defender and goalkeeper, to tap the ball into the net.

The Macleans Team are playing really well at the moment and have started to develop a machine-like mentality which will be essential going into the Final and next term’s Auckland Championships. MVP has to go to Sarah Blyde after a truly brilliant performance setting up two goals, and grabbing one for herself.

Macleans stay top of the Counties Manukau Premier Division with five wins from five games following the 2-1 defeat of Howick on Wednesday evening.  The girls came through the top-of-the-table clash with a controlled performance which has earned them home advantage for next week’s Semi-Final versus Waiuku.

A very determined Howick came to Macleans hoping to cause an upset, but a composed response from Macleans kept the Howick attack at bay limiting their chances to only a couple of long range efforts that never troubled the ever-alert Hannah Donoghue in goal.

Macleans attacking play focused mainly on the left with fantastic link-up play between Sarah Bylde and Siobhan van Heerden being fed by Sophie Elwood from central midfield.  Van Heerden was a constant threat to Howick continually getting in behind their full-back and putting in some dangerous crosses for Katie Paterson and Shone Naera.

Macleans’ pressure paid off and they opened the scoring with a fantastic goal from van Heerden.  After a tame Howick shot was saved by Donoghe, the ball was rolled to Laura Cook at right-back.  She in turn played it square to Alex Eastwood at centre-back who drove into midfield with purpose.  Eastwood’s defence-splitting pass was into the path of the on-rushing van Heerden on the left-wing.  Van Heerden motored past two defenders and into the box before coolly slotting past the on-coming Howick goalkeeper.  The score remained 1-0 going in at half-time.

Howick tried to force play at the start of the second half but rarely breached our backline.  Gina Chung continued to impress with a superb showing; anticipating well and defending resolutely.  However, Howick soon managed to equalise when they broke through an offside trap and knocked the ball beyond Donoghue.

Macleans again showed desire, commitment and determination as they resumed control and pushed forwards looking for the winner.  It duly came again from van Heerden popping up on the right wing to win a brave header in a crowded penalty area which found the far corner of the goal to cap her MVP performance.

A superb effort by Macleans to maintain their 100% record this season and it takes us into next week’s Semi-Final in confident mood.

Macleans were victorious maintaining their 100% record with a 2-1 win over Papatoetoe Monday afternoon. 

Again, the windy conditions made it a difficult game but Macleans continued to play attractive football and looked very dangerous on the attack.  Midway through the first half, a good break down the left led to a goal by Katie Paterson only to be ruled out for offside.  It seemed like it would only be a matter of time before Macleans got their breakthrough with Sophie Elwood striking the crossbar from fully 35 yards.  However, due to a lapse of concentration by the home side, Papatoetoe managed to take the lead with a counter-attack.

Macleans reacted well to this set-back and pushed forward in waves of attack.  A defence-splitting pass allowed Siobhan van Heerden to race in behind the Papatoetoe backline and supply a fantastic cross into the box which was met perfectly by the diving head of Katie Paterson who guided the ball beyond the ‘keeper into the top corner of the net.  The best goal Macleans have produced this season to take the game to 1-1.

The second half tested the resolve of Macleans who had to chase the victory to stay on top of the Counties Manukau Premier Division.  Alex Eastwood provided the real driving force for Macleans continually stepping into midfield and keeping the pressure on the Papatoetoe backline with some accurate long-range efforts.

With time running out Macleans had one last corner.  Elwood’s kick was met powerfully by Eastwood, which in turn was met by the head of Paterson to score the winning goal with barely ninety seconds left on the clock.
Four wins from four and another two goals for the MVP Katie Paterson.

Macleans maintained their excellent form yesterday with a 2-0 victory over Waiuku. It was a difficult game to play in as Waiuku seemed content to just try to defend which meant that space was limited around the opposition’s goal-mouth.  In blustery and bitterly cold conditions, Macleans attempted to play attractive football spreading and switching play to both flanks in an attempt to get behind the Waiuku defence. There was good link-up play on the left between Siobhan van Heerden and Sarah Blyde, and on the right between Sam De Witt and Shona Naera, and a series of dangerous crosses were put into the box. Macleans were a little wasteful in front of goal, which almost proved costly later in the game. However, the breakthrough came just before half-time with a well taken goal by Katie Paterson – her fourth goal in four games.

The first genuine test for Macleans Girls First XI Football was passed with flying colours yesterday, with a comprehensive 3-0 win. Rosehill have improved greatly over the last couple of years winning the Counties Manukau Premier Division ahead of Macleans as well as winning the Whangerei Satellite Tournament in 2007, and they proved to be a strong team. However, Macleans were superb from the outset with high-tempo pressuring defensively and direct, controlled and measured play in attack. Hannah Donoghue produced a fantastic save tipping a shot onto the crossbar with the score still at 0-0 and Macleans soon managed to take the lead with a driven effort from Sam De Witt from fully 25 yards. Macleans kept up the pressure and doubled their lead with Katie Paterson producing a fantastic lob just before half-time. 

Macleans Girls First XI Football Team got the season off to a great start with an excellent performance away to Pukekohe. A strong defensive display from Macleans repelled all attempts from the opposition and gave Macleans a solid spring-board upon which to build our own attacks. Confidence and composure was clearly evident as Macleans passed the ball well throughout the game and raced into a 4-0 lead in the first half. This allowed the new players in the squad to gain valuable game time in the second half.