Hamilton Girl’s High School - 3 defeated Mt.Albert Grammar School - 1
The girl’s grade final of 2011 saw the matchup of the two most consistent sides in the tournament. Both Hamilton Girl’s and Mt.Albert had gone unbeaten throughout pool play and had performed strongly in the finals. Both sides had a penchant for attack flair, scoring plenty of touchdowns during the course of the tournament. However, chances were much more limited in the finals atmosphere.
Hamilton Girl’s surprised the Mt.Albert side by scoring in their first set of possession. Stephanie Hunia strolled in at the far right corner following an overlap created from their middle pairing. From here the game remained even as both sides became engulfed in a midfield battle for territory. On the occasion that one of the sides attacked the five of the opposition the defence of both teams was too sharp to allow any touchdowns for a long period. This was until Nivanah Gallagher-Rupapere dotted down in the left corner after effective setup play from Niki Crombie. Mt. Albert were on the ropes and began giving away too many soft penalties mainly for overly aggressive defence and for not returning the ball on the changeover. Hamilton had a spell of attack leading into halftime but nothing came of it as the half ended 2-0 to Hamilton.
Mt.Albert had a lively start to the second half but lacked a cutting edge on attack and often looked unorganised in their set play. Hamilton’s defence was also putting on an excellent show which repelled wave after wave of Mt.Albert pressure, some brave diving touches in on the wings saved at least one touchdown during this period. The next score in the game was going to be vital and Mt.Albert looked to close down the deficit but continually failed to craft sufficient opportunities. Tahlia Te Kiri made Mt.Albert pay for their wastefulness by extending Hamilton’s lead to 3-0 at the midpoint of the second half. It would be fair to say that Hamilton’s defence rather than attack won them this game as they kept their opposition at bay throughout. By the time Mt. Albert finally got on the board through Josina Vader it was too little too late given the time remaining. As the final hooter blasted an estatic Hamilton team celebrated a deserved victory. Final score 3-1 to the new national girl’s champions Hamilton Girl’s High School.
Last Modified on 11/12/2011 12:16