Wairarapa College were gutsy in defeat when beaten 1-0 by St Cuthbert's College in the final of the Federation Cup national secondary schoolgirls hockey tournament at Clareville yesterday.
Looking to become only the third team in the history of the tournament to take the title in successive years, Wairarapa College lacked absolutely nothing on the score of endeavour.
In fact they actually had the better of the first half in terms of both territory and possession but while they forced four penalty corners to their opponents' one they were unable to convert any of them into goals.
St Cuthbert's were, however, dangerous enough on the counter attack in that opening spell to suggest that if they were able to up the ante possession-wise in the second spell they had the flair and speed to seriously trouble the Wairarapa College defence.
And so it proved with the second half being more evenly contested and, if anything, St Cuthbert's creating the greater number of prime scoring opportunities, one of which ended with Amanda Wiles scoring what was to be the only goal of the game.
The closing stages of the match were all about Wairarapa College pressing hard for the equaliser and St Cuthbert's focusing on playing the ball down the sidelines.
A late penalty corner did give Wairarapa College hope of drawing level but the ball was comfortably cleared by a cool St Cuthbert's defence and it was the Aucklanders who were celebrating when the final whistle sounded.
As had been the norm through most of the tournament the excellent all-round skills of Wairarapa College's Megan Hull would have made her the leading contender for any player of the match award. She bristled assertiveness in everything she did on attack or defence and the same could pretty much be said of fellow national age-group rep Katherine van Woerkom, whose astute reading of play allowed her to pick up a number of valuable intercepts.
In goalkeeper Annemieke Van Vliet Wairarapa College had a confident and reliable custodian, Billie Rawhiti was solid defensively and Morgan Percy often used her clever stick skills to set up counter attacks.
Outstanding on defence for St Cuthbert's was Alice Munro while others to shine for them were Abigail Stuart, Su Am Kwek and Ella McLean.
The playoff for third and fourth saw Diocesan School beat Rangi Ruru 2-0 while St Matthew's Collegiate drew 0-0 with Christchurch Girls' in the last of their matches. In earlier crossover games they had beaten Kristin School and lost to Whangarei Girls'.
Meanwhile at the Rankin Cup national secondary schoolboys hockey tournament in Napier Wairarapa College achieved their best result since 1974 by finishing third equal. They played off for third and fourth with Hamilton Boys' High yesterday and drew 3-3. Goal scorers for Wairarapa College were Mitchell Blackwood, Gus Wakeling and Joseph Robertson.