Latest news with #Boys'High
Otago Daily Times
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Christchurch Boys' High eye unbeaten finish ahead of premiership playoffs
Flanker Jonty Leary makes a break for Christchurch Boys' High. PHOTO: THOMAS BIRD The two frontrunners in the Miles Toyota Premiership will finally meet in the last match before the semi-finals. Competition leaders Christchurch Boys' High School will travel to Blenheim to take on Marlborough Boys' College on Saturday knowing the winner will seal top spot. Both sides have won all eight of their matches, with Boys' High securing one extra bonus point. Head coach Pete Chaplin said his team was ready and raring to go after a two-week break for the school holidays. 'The boys are back, switched on and ready to get back into it, which is cool,' he said. '(Marlborough) have played really well this season so we're looking forward to going up there and having a really good game.' Chaplin said the break had come at a good time with many of his squad battling illness or injury in the final weeks of term. He was looking forward to the opportunity for the squad to spend a couple of days on the road together. They drive up to Blenheim tomorrow, stay the night and then play at 11am on Saturday, before heading home that afternoon. 'I'm really looking forward to it. There's some synergies you can build in your team just being on a bus and spending time together in the lead-up to a game,' Chaplin said. Boys' High lock Dylan Giles looks to offload. PHOTO: THOMAS BIRD Both Boys' High and Marlborough will get a week off after the match, with the top two teams earning byes straight to the semi-finals. The team third on the table will play the sixth-placed side, with fourth playing fifth in the first round. Currently, those spots are held by St Thomas of Canterbury, Nelson College, Christ's College, and St Andrew's College. Shirley Boys' High are just outside the playoff spots but know a win over Christ's College will be enough to see them in, at either their opponents' or St Andrew's' expense. St Andrew's visit last-place Rangiora High, while St Bede's travel to play Nelson College and St Thomas host Selwyn. The match between Nelson and St Bede's kicks off at 11am on Saturday. All other games get under way at 2.45pm. Miles Toyota Premiership points Chch BHS 40; Marlborough 39; St Thomas 28; Nelson 24; Christ's 20; St Andrew's 20; Shirley 18; Selwyn 13; St Bede's 13; Rangiora 2
NZ Herald
17-07-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Gisborne Boys' High out of Eastern Premiership, won't play last three games
By one measure, the strategy worked. In the Super 8 competition at Rotorua last month, Gisborne Boys' High had two wins from five games to finish sixth overall – their best finish since 2017. They beat Rotorua Boys' High 3-2 and, in post-pool play, beat Napier Boys' High School 3-0 – their first win against Napier in the Super 8 era. But the writing was on the wall when Piper rang Itman. The five defaults came in a span of seven fixtures. Piper said the teams scheduled to play Boys' High from now till the end of the season would be credited with 3-0 wins. This weekend's scheduled game between Boys' High and Maycenvale has already been listed on the Central Football website as a win for the Hawke's Bay side. 'Gisborne Boys' High entered with good intentions,' Piper said. 'The difficulty we have is that at the premiership level it is an aspirational league. 'When I spoke to Sebastian it was about ensuring the players still had somewhere to play, but I think we also have to consider all the clubs in the premiership and that is why this move was taken. 'They have 20 players across two squads. We had to consider both the integrity of the premiership and the need for the remaining [Boys' High] players to have somewhere to play.' Itman said three players had transferred to Heavy Equipment Services Gisborne United and four to Electrinet Thistle just before the transfer deadline at the end of June. United and Thistle sit fifth and sixth respectively in the Hawke's Bay-dominated premiership. The prospect of a third Gisborne team in the league – and the reduced travel burden as a result – was a factor in United's decision to re-enter the competition that used to be known as the Pacific Premiership. Itman said the remaining First XI players would join those from the school's reserve team in the Tairāwhiti Men's Championship. A run of injuries to key First XI players had meant that replacements were drawn from the reserves, who in turn relied on prefects, hockey players and 'whoever was keen to turn up to help' to keep the team playing. 'Now I have a new First XI playing in the Tairāwhiti Men's Championship, the top local division,' Itman said. He and assistant coach Darren Larkins had taken over the reins from Garrett Blair, whose job had made it difficult for him to attend practice, and they were looking forward to the continued development of the side. Boys' High will compete in the Trident secondary school tournament in Wellington in the last week of August and will use local league games to build combinations. They play Thistle Athletic Bobcats at the Boys' High back field at 12.30pm on Saturday. In the Eastern Premiership, Thistle play Western Rangers on Childers Road Reserve No 1 at 12.30pm, and Gisborne United play Napier Marist on the Bond Field at Park Island, Napier, at 3pm. Rangers and Marist lie eighth and ninth respectively.
NZ Herald
12-05-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Gisborne Thistle ace striker Somerton makes it 20 goals in six games
It bodes well for the Boys' High tilt at qualification for the premier national secondary schools tournament. Thistle head the Eastern Premiership table on goal difference from Napier City Rovers Reserves, Havelock North Wanderers and Gisborne United. All four sides won on Saturday. The Boys' High-United game was played at a rollicking pace on a school pitch that had a bit of 'give' in it. United went 1-0 up in the 15th minute, when Josh Adams crossed from the left for brother Corey to latch on to the parried ball to finish from close range. HSOB Boys' High, already several short of their first-choice squad, lost two starters to injury in the first half. Right back Anton Larkins was replaced by Mako Fukushima-Hall in the 24th minute, and left midfielder Xavier Priestley-Mennie came off for LeRoy Hill in the 30th. Josh Adams scored United's second goal in the 33rd minute. He let fly from 30 metres with a shot that gave goalkeeper Aiden Armstrong no chance. Adams scored again in the 42nd, arriving at the far post to force in left midfielder Malcolm Marfell's cross. United looked set for a runaway win. So it was pleasing to see the students score through Jacob Adams in the 54th minute and withstand considerable United second-half pressure while mounting some dangerous raids themselves. They owed much to their player of the match, keeper Armstrong. He made several crucial one-on-one stops and foiled Corey Adams with a double save that goalkeeping coach Mitchell Stewart-Hill would have been proud to make. Fullbacks Gavin Derr on the left and Fukushima-Hall on the right coped well with dangerous United flank players Campbell Hall and Marfell. Centre backs Shai Avni and Kauri Holmes did well to hold Josh and Corey Adams scoreless in the second half. Jacob Adams, named captain for the day to mark the game against his brothers, was in central midfield alongside Rylan Crosby-Wright, Hill, Euan Cramer and Korbin Wigglesworth. Alex Langford came on for Crosby-Wright with about half an hour to go. They were up against a full-strength United midfield – Dane Thompson, Dan Torrie and holding midfielder Aaron Graham, supported out wide by Hall and Marfell, with occasional help from either Adams brother darting back to seek the ball. Boys' High striker Connor Evison and his second-half replacement, Oliver McManaway, were outnumbered by well-performed United defenders Kieran Higham, Ryan Anderson and Kieran Venema but kept them on their toes. Andy McIntosh's influence in goal is another factor in United's good start to the season. He has the happy knack of getting some part of his body in the way of goal-bound shots. The return of centre back Jonathan Purcell, who came on for Anderson late in the game, gives the defence strength in depth. Hawke's Bay referee Marty Roil kept the game flowing smoothly. United coach Josh Adams said his side had taken the second half too easily, and Boys' High stepped up their effort and showed they deserved to be in this competition. Boys' High coach for this game, Sebastian Itman, said four key players had been unavailable for the game. Those who played showed great courage in rising to the challenge. In the later game, Thistle went close in the 36th minute, when Somerton stretched to reach a long ball from left back Oliver Aldridge but volleyed over the bar. A minute later, though, he made no mistake, and it was 1-0 at halftime. Port Hill came close to equalising in the 57th minute when a defender slipped and keeper Mark Baple was called on to make a fingertip save. In the 60th, Thistle centre back Junior Jimmy broke out of defence and fed Somerton, who made ground and hit a hard shot that Port Hill keeper Michael Mason could only parry as far as on-rushing right midfielder Te Kani Wirepa-Hei. He scored from five metres to make it 2-0. Three minutes later, Jimmy was tackled on the edge of the Jags' penalty area and the ball was passed into the goalmouth, where Port Hill skipper Matt Betesta fired the ball home from five metres. Thistle regained their two-goal cushion in the 65th minute. Somerton aggressively chased down a long ball ahead of pacy centre back Sam Skilton, beat the keeper to it and scored. Three minutes on, Jags centre back Martin Kees was penalised for a foul on Betesta, and defender James Mason scored from the penalty spot. Somerton scored the last in a flurry of goals, turning on the bouncing ball after a left-wing corner by Travis White and blasting it from close range. Thistle had more chances to score but Michael Mason blocked shots by Somerton and then Samson Hotas, who had come on for Alex Shanks in the 67th minute. Two minutes from the end, Wirepa-Hei capped a fine game with a goal-line block. Thistle keeper Baple had a strong game, and fullbacks Kuba Jerabek and Aldridge kept a lid on the danger from the flanks. Centre backs Jimmy and Kees broke up numerous attacks but frayed supporters' nerves when they lost the ball in or around the penalty area. Port Hill strikers Luke Posthumus and Betesta harried the Gisborne defence at every opportunity and kept their side in with a shout. Thistle's Nick Land, Cory Thomson and White had a battle on their hands with Jamie Provines, Kaleb McKenzie and Ollie Berry in the Port Hill engine room, while Jags left midfielder Alex Shanks was up against a rugged opponent in right back Nick Yorke. Referee Chris Niven kept the lid on a competitive game Thistle coach Tam Cramer said the game should have been put to bed much earlier but his team's finishing was 'not great', and they had done 'stupid things' that let Port Hill back into it. 'It was good to have Junior Jimmy and Samson Hotas back. Te Kani Wirepa-Hei played well, Jimmy Somerton led the line well and Nick Land is resisting taking a break. Cory Thomson was unlucky not to get a couple of goals.' Port Hill coach Dan Johansen said it was encouraging his side had pushed Thistle right to the end after a three-hour road trip. 'I'm proud of the guys for putting in a shift.'
