Under-12 Gisborne-Tairāwhiti girls claim second place in ‘frustrating’ tournament

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Gisborne-Tairāwhiti under-12 girls were runners-up in their age-group Central Football Federation tournament in Napier late last month.

Yet they were left wondering what might have been, after going into the tourney undefeated this season.

“It was quite frustrating for them,” Central Football Gisborne-Tairāwhiti community development officer Lee Smith said.

“The goals were quite a bit smaller than they were used to, the games were shorter — 15 minutes each way, not 25 — and the fields were smaller.”

But these factors were driven by issues of availability, Smith said.

All the age-group tournaments were held on Napier’s Park Island fields over one weekend.

The u12 girls’ competition was run in two pools of round-robin play.

Gisborne-Tairāwhiti beat Hawke’s Bay Black but lost to Taranaki 2-0, a result that badly hurt their chances of winning the competition.

Taranaki almost beat them to the runners-up spot but a 2-0 victory in their last pool game took Gisborne-Tairāwhiti above their rivals on goal difference.

Key players for Gisborne-Tairāwhiti were centreback Madison Smith, midfielder Betsy Findlay and striker Rylee Barker.

Coaches of the team were Sheree Smith and Zoe Findlay.

Winners of the competition were Hawke’s Bay White, who comfortably won the other pool. No final was held.

The u15 boys’ team, coached by Matt Harvey, finished third in their tournament but should have won it, Smith said.

“They hammered Hawke’s Bay in the first game, 3-0,” he said.

“They’d had close games with them in the build-up.

“Then they drew 2-2 with Manawatu, the logical winners of the tournament. They were by far the strongest team, yet they only got a draw through a late equaliser. This was the only game Manawatu didn’t win.

“On Day 2, Gisborne-Tairāwhiti beat Taranaki convincingly in the morning but then had a shocker and lost 1-0 to a team, Whanganui, they had comfortably beaten before. They missed out on the final on goal difference, and played Whanganui in the third-place playoff and beat them 3-0."

Standout players for the u15 boys were centreback Ziggy West-Hill, attacking midfielder Matt Hills and striker Anton Larkins.

The u16 girls’ team, coached and managed by Nicky and Sophie Land, finished third out of five teams and played some lovely football, Smith said.

“They have become a very strong team but in the tournament they lost games they should not have lost.”

Left-winger/striker Jade McVey, attacking midfielder Mya Carrington and goalkeeper Taylor Carrington were standout performers.

The u14 girls’ team, coached by Lee Smith, finished fifth out of five teams, and the two u12 boys’ teams, coached by Keith Tester and Breeze Parsons, finished ninth and 10th in a 10-team competition.

The u13 team, coached by Ander Batarrita and Davie Ure, won their tournament and were featured in Thursday’s Gisborne Herald.