College Sport: MAGS topple champs to take cup

Melissa Yin (front) and Rayna Phillips from Westlake Girls in action in the doubles final of the New Zealand Secondary Schools badminton championships. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Not without some anxious moments, the Charlie McAlister-coached MAGS 1st XV completed their 17-match season unbeaten with a hard-fought 20-17 victory over reigning world schoolboy champions Hamilton BHS in the Top Four tournament final in Rotorua.

And, as a bonus, MAGS got their hands on the Moascar Cup for the first time in 20 years bringing the trophy back to an Auckland school for the first time since 2002.

They also won the right to represent New Zealand at next year's Sanix World Youth Championship in Japan.

"There was only a blade of grass in it," said a beaming McAlister in reflecting on the win over the determined Hamilton XV.

"To beat the world champions and complete our season unbeaten was really, really special.

"We play a different style of footy than most teams and a lot of being able to do that comes down to all the hard work we do pre-season.

"While it is difficult to pick out any players, I feel our numbers 2, 4 and 8 in the forwards and 11, 13, 14 and 15 in the backs played crucial roles."

McAlister said the players never talked about going through unbeaten but drew on the experience of the couple of players who had been in the team in 2008 when they too started well but faltered and lost to Kings.

In the final in Rotorua MAGS had to bounce back to win after falling behind when Hamilton won early lineout ball and forced their way over for a try. The conversion gave them a 7-0 lead.

MAGS bounced back in similar fashion when Michael Faleafa went over. A second unconverted try, this time from livewire wing Milford Keresome, gave MAGS their 10-7 halftime lead.

An early penalty, from a ruck infringement, levelled the scores at 10-10 before Damon Niko scored wide on the left to get MAGS back in front. Not for long as Hamilton hit back with a second converted try and a 17-15 lead.

With the clock ticking down the ball was fed to Keresoma in space and he ran away to complete the scoring. In a rare off day, no MAGS try was converted.

Of the opportunity to play in Japan, McAlister said it would be a dream to take the team but admits he knows little about that at this stage.

BADMINTON

The Dominators live on.

The 5-1 win over a strong Macleans team in the final earned WBHS their seventh win in the last eight years at the NZSS championships.

The only hiccup came in 2007 when they finished third.

The defending champions and top seeds went into the North Harbour-hosted tournament determined to make the most of home court advantage and quickly saw off MAGS, Hutt Valley High and Otago BHS 6-0 before beating the strong Burnside team 4-2 in the quarter-finals.

They continued to dominate the opposition with wins over AGS (5-1) and Hamilton BHS (6-0).

In the final WBHS won one and lost one of the two doubles matches.

Dylan Soedjasa and Kerwyn Lee came back from 17-21 to win the next two sets 21-16 and 21-14 but against the top Macleans combination, Evan Lee and Maika Phillips lost 21-18, 16-21, 17-21.

WBHS won three of the four singles without dropping a set as Soedjasa won 21-13, 21-15 and Lee won 21-17, 23-21. In the crucial match-up, WBHS No 2 Phillips lost the first set 12-21 but bounced back to win the next two 21-11, 21-16 to ensure victory.

Lee, at No 1, went out to wrap it up 21-17, 21-19.

Long-time coach Marilyn Thorpe took especial pride in the victory - her sixth with the team who are all members of North Harbour junior representative teams.

For captain, and New Zealand under-18 representative, Lee, and Phillips it was their third successive trip to the top of the podium.

CYCLING

New Zealand cycling's resurgence is set to continue if the Avanti Plus national secondary school individual championships are to be the benchmark.

A record 515 competitors lined up for the 22nd annual championships at three venues around Auckland including the daunting Mt Wellington hillclimb.

Auckland Grammar brothers Jonty and Sam Morreau claimed the under-15 and under-20 titles respectively with the older brother breaking the time trial and the hillclimb records.

Devon Hiley (St Cuthberts), who won the under-15 title last year, took a clean sweep in this year's under-16 grade.

Georgina Wilson (Diocesan), the 2009 under-16 winner, claimed the under-17 title by five points from Rangitoto's Danielle McKenzie.

Pip Sutton (Waikato Diocesan) won the under-20 honours breaking the time trial record in the process.

Attention now turns to Sunday's seventh, and final, race in the Auckland SS time trials with 120 teams ready for battle over the 16km out and back waterfront course for championship honours.

WBHS, winners of four of the six races thus far, lead the senior boys with six points. AGS, nine points, and St Kentigern (12) are also in contention.

The senior girls racing has been close and exciting this year with perennial front-runners Diocesan bowing to long-time rivals St Cuthbert's who go into Sunday's finale with a handy seven point lead with Rangitoto 10 points back in third.

St Cuthberts also lead the junior girls series with seven points but Diocesan are only a point back with third-placed Baradene on 14 points.

AGS have a handy eight-point lead in the junior boys over St Kentigern and TGS who will battle for silver on Sunday.

LAWN BOWLS

Honours were shared between Auckland and South Auckland schools in an absorbing day's play as the Greater Auckland SS titles were decided at Papatoetoe's Hunters Corner BC.

In windy conditions, Auckland players prevailed in the boy's and girl's pairs while South Auckland schools prevailed in both singles.

The highlight of the day was in the final round of the boy's pairs with both Counties "A" and Auckland "A" teams unbeaten and playing to win the title.

The Auckland team were two shots down but holding two shots on the head and with a bowl on the two-metre mark at the change-over before the Counties skip drove at the head and moved the jack into the ditch. The Auckland skip then drew the two touchers to win the game.

Howick College's Selina Goddard and Siobhan Archer won the girl's pairs to complete the Auckland and Greater Auckland double.

Meanwhile, holders Dilworth have been tipped out of the Auckland interschool competition, beaten 2.5-0.5 by AGS in very difficult conditions on Monday afternoon.

The A pairs was keenly contested with the AGS combination skipped by Finn MacElvanna overcoming a great challenge from the Jaden Tindle-skipped Dilworth pair. AGS led by four shots playing the last end but with Dilworth holding four shots on the head. MacElvanna then drew the shot with his last bowl and went on to win 9-8.

The B pairs drew 9-9 and it was left to the C combinations to keep the holders in the competition. This game was won 12-6 by AGS.

The other semifinal was won by KBHS who beat the young St Cuthbert's side 2-1 with the A and C pairs winning 23-1 and 15-3.

St Cuthbert's Isobel Freeman and Kimberley Lee won their game 8-6 to remain the only unbeaten team in the competition.

NETBALL

It was all-action as 100-plus teams took to the Auckland courts for the annual Upper North Island SS competition and after 144 A grade games spread over five days there was a familiar look to the final as Auckland champions MAGS squared off against AGGS.

Their paths to the final were very different with MAGS showing their dominance all the way through the round-robin play with no team getting closer than nine goals. Not until the semifinals were they truly put under pressure with EGGS giving them nothing as MAGS fought hard to win 25-20.

On the other hand, AGGS had a narrow win over Hamilton GHS and suffered a 13-goal loss to MAGS in round robin play. But they stepped up their intensity in the semifinal with a good 35-26 win over a gutsy St Kentigern College.

In the final MAGS showed their superior skill set and fitness from the first whistle. Shooter and player of the tournament Tera-Maria Amani shot consistently under the constant pressure of Phoenix Karaka who was named defender of the tournament.

The final score blew out to 44-28.

In the 3rd-4th play-off St Kentigern finished the stronger to take a 30-28 win over EGGS. Although disappointed not to have finished third, the Epsom girls were rapt to have reached the Secondary Schools nationals finals for the first time.

Four Auckland teams - MAGS, AGGS, St Kentigern College and EGGS, will represent the Upper North Island region at the Secondary Schools Nationals in New Plymouth from October 5-8.

SOCCER

There were relatively lean pickings for Auckland schools who have dominated the Lotto Premier boy's tournament in recent years.

The final in Napier was won by PNBHS who beat favoured Nayland College 3-2 in the final while Sacred Heart salvaged something by beating defending champions MAGS 2-1 in the bronze match.

Auckland champions AGS beat Wellington College, captained by All Whites coach Ricki Herbert's son Kale, 2-0 in the play-off for fifth.

St Kentigern beat Rosmini 2-1 in the Rex Dawkins Cup tournament final in Papamoa and TGS beat One Tree Hill College 9-1 to win the Malcolm Cowie Cup.

Where their boys failed, the MAGS girls came up trumps in the Lotto premier tournament in Nelson.

Fifth last year and without their under-17 internationals Jess Reddaway, captain Rachel Head, Sivitha Boyce and Rebecca Burrows - on World Cup duty in Trinidad and Tobago - MAGS were hardly seen as a serious threat but in the end prevailed 1-0 over Cambridge's St Peter's School in a hard-fought final.

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