In the afternoon they beat St Patrick’s College (Silverstream) 2-0, with goals from strikers Jacob Adams and Jonah Whitley.
Boys’ High won their third and last pool game 1-0 against Feilding High School on the Tuesday morning, Whitley the scorer.
In the afternoon, they faced the Wellington College Year 11 First XI – effectively the school’s reserve team – with the winners to go into the top-eight playoffs.
Boys’ High lost 3-0.
“They have 500 football players in their school; we have 50,” Itman said.
“And they always play on artificial turf. This was our first game of the tournament playing on artificial grass.
“They scored two goals in the first five minutes and were playing good one- and two-touch football. We adjusted and came close to scoring.
“Our wide-left midfielder Xavier Priestley-Mennie hit the post from outside the penalty area. He is an outstanding playmaker for his age, and his left foot is now almost as good as his right, thanks to the work he’s put in.
“We were putting in some great balls from defence to attack, but three minutes from the end they scored again.”
On the Wednesday, Boys’ High beat Horowhenua College, of Levin, 2-1, with goals from defensive midfielder Matt Hills and Kauri Holmes.
“This was right back Connor Evison’s first full game for the First XI, and he was our MVP [most valuable player] for the match,” Itman said.
“It was a physical game. We dominated the first half and led 1-0 at the break. They equalised with one of the best strikes of the tournament. Our goalkeeper Aiden Armstrong – who kept three clean sheets – could do nothing about it.
“Then midway through the second half, Kauri Holmes hit a low shot from 10 metres to score the winning goal. He had been limping since the first game, when he injured his right foot in a tackle.
“One of our best players over the past few years, Kyran Lasenby, usually plays at left back. At this tournament, he was ill with a respiratory virus, and we ended up taking him to hospital, but he still put in good performances.”
On the Thursday, Gisborne Boys’ High had their second game of the year against Hastings Boys’ High School. The first, in Gisborne, had ended 1-1.
Gisborne lost this one on penalties, but Itman felt it was a win that got away.
“In my seven years with Gisborne Boys’ High School footballers, I have never seen a group dominate so much against Hastings as we did in the first half. We led 1-0 at halftime through a beautiful goal from Kauri Holmes. He had asked to play up front, so we shifted him from centre back, and Xavier Priestley-Mennie hit a great ball from midfield that put him through, and Kauri belted it to the far post.
“But we also missed so many chances, it was unbelievable.
“Hastings dominated the second half but didn’t score till the last few minutes. The game went to extra time and, again, we dominated. A header from River Somerton beat the keeper and was headed out by one of their players. Some of our boys thought the ball was over the line, but no goal was given and the game went to penalties.
“We lost the shoot-out 4-2.”
Gisborne went to a playoff for 11th and 12th places, where they beat St John’s College, of Hastings, 2-0. The goals were scored by Hills and utility player Evison (from the penalty spot).
Itman said goalkeeper Armstrong, leftback Lasenby, midfielders Priestley-Mennie and Hills, and centre back and skipper Shai Avni were outstanding, but he was “very pleased” with the whole squad.
“We had 11 Year 13 players who are in their farewell year for the First XI, and four Year 11s, which is unusual for a tournament like this,” Itman said.
“But the younger players were all worth their place in the squad.”
Itman said he and assistant coach Darren Larkins had worked “shoulder to shoulder” with Gisborne Boys’ High School football teams in four consecutive seasons, and he looked forward to another season next year.
Boys’ High entered this year’s Hawke’s Bay-dominated Eastern Premiership in a bid to get the sort of competition that would prepare them for games against schools with teams that regularly played high-quality opponents.
The team dropped out of the premiership with three games to go, following several defaults and the loss of key players to local clubs just before the transfer deadline.
However, in the Super 8 competition in June, Boys’ High beat Rotorua Boys’ High 3-2 and, in post-pool play, beat Napier Boys’ High 3-0 – their first win against Napier in the Super 8 era. Their two-from-five wins record gave them sixth place – their best finish since 2017.
And last week’s 11th-from-28 placing in Wellington is an improvement on last year’s 14th from 22.
Gisborne didn’t leave Wellington empty-handed last week. Itman received an award for “Most Positive Coach of the Tournament”.
(Campion College also took part in the Trident tournament. Report to come.)
