Gisborne’s Campion College footballers put things into perspective at Trident tourney

Campion College’s Jack Turner (left) tries to go past a Wellington College Third XI defender in the Trident football tournament in Wellington. Photo / Jessica Bailie

Campion College counted their blessings after a last-game defeat threatened to cast a shadow over their efforts in the five-day Trident football tournament in Wellington.

A 3-0 loss to Wellington College Third XI meant Campion finished 18th of 28 teams.

Players were deflated after the game but soon realised it all needed to be put into perspective, team manager and school principal Paul McGuinness said.

After first-day losses to Hutt Valley High School and St John’s College, of Hastings, Campion improved markedly on the second day to push Kuranui College, of Greytown, all the way before losing 3-2.

A Tuesday afternoon bye gave them some respite before a 1-1 draw with Wellington High School and a 9-0 victory over Ruapehu College, of Ohakune, on the Wednesday.

They beat Havelock North High School 7-0 on the Thursday and expected to face Heretaunga College in the 17th/18th playoff on the Friday.

But Heretaunga lost to Wellington College Third XI.

“They may have been the Third XI but a quick search showed that their college has 29 football teams,” McGuinness said.

Nevertheless, Campion went into the game “wary but confident”.

“Wellington College had some big players and managed to dominate play,” McGuinness said.

Campion never got into their rhythm and their teamwork was not as good as it had been the previous two days, he said.

Despite their disappointment with the last-game result, the team felt good about their tournament performance.

Kyle Nisbett, of Campion College, chases the ball in a game against Havelock North High School during the Trident football tournament in Wellington. Photo / Jessica Bailie

Due to the structure of the tournament, their three losses on the first two days meant the best position they could then achieve was 17th.

This would have been a tall order for any team but such was their improvement during the week, they ended the tournament playing off for that 17th position.

They had to settle for 18th, but had achieved higher placings than such notable schools as Bethlehem College, of Tauranga, St Patrick’s College (Silverstream), Wellington High School and Kuranui College (their second-day opponents).

McGuinness was pleasantly surprised by comments from tournament officials regarding the Campion team’s conduct.

During the game against Havelock North High, he was called aside by the tournament organiser, who said he had fielded comments from referees about Campion captain/coach Taye McGuinness, his grandson.

Writing in his daily “Captain’s Log” to school staff, McGuinness snr said that, in view of Taye’s competitive nature, he expected a caution about his style of play.

So he was surprised when the organiser said the referees had been impressed with the skipper’s leadership and sportsmanship. They also commented on his ability to calm tense situations and were impressed by the way the team responded.

Those comments were echoed by the Havelock North game’s referee, who also complimented Campion on their good football and teamwork.

Tournament goalscorers for Campion from the third game onwards were Eric Soares Manhaes De Azevedo (two against Kuranui, one v Wellington High and two v Ruapehu), Jack Turner (three v Ruapehu and two v Havelock North High School), Leo Starck (two v Ruapehu and one v HNHS), Billy Frain (two v HNHS), Connor Starck (one v Ruapehu), Cameron Alexander (one v Ruapehu), Jack McCormack (one v HNHS), and Squid Pritzwald-Stegmann (one v HNHS).

Team manager McGuinness said the team had gone from strength to strength during the tournament, culminating in the Thursday victory over Havelock North – their “most complete team performance”.