St Johns prove to be class act

St Anne's School defender Lilee Taylor controls the ball with her head, while Zac Farmer lurks for leftovers for St Johns Hill. St Johns won the match 2-1 before going on to win the tournament. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO 030913WCSMFOOOTBALL1

A well-drilled St Johns Hill School X1 went through unbeaten to take out the annual Wanganui primary school football tournament at Wembley Park yesterday.

The one-day tournament involved 13 primary schools from within the Wanganui district and for the first year involved both competitive and non-competitive match-ups.It was the first time in three years the event has gone ahead with bad weather postponing the last two annual events.

Event co-ordinator Gary Johnson, from Churton School, said while all the kids appeared to thoroughly enjoy a fun-filled day, there was a slight drama during the semifinal between Mosston and St Mary's that came down to a penalty shootout.

Mosston finally claimed that match to make the final against St Johns, but the hillside team proved just too polished to win the final 2-1 with Westmere already relegated to the play-off for third and fourth against the unlucky St Mary's. St Mary's luck had obviously run out after Westmere took third spot in the competitive division with a win.

"This is the first time we've run a competitive division, although we don't have a trophy up for grabs at this stage," Johnson said.

"This format worked well and retaining the non-competitive grade still gives those kids that rarely make the school teams a chance to have an active sporting day out."

The primary tournament ran in tandem yesterday with an annual secondary school event that runs throughout this week at Wembley Park.

Aroha Lynch, operations manager for the Taranaki section of the Central Football region, which hosts the tournament, said 21 teams from throughout the North Island were competing for the Maurice Hulme Trophy, including sides from Wanganui Girls College and Wanganui High School.

"This tournament is one of 12 running throughout the country this week.

"Each school has the chance to compete in the tournament of their choice and Wanganui is hosting the girls secondary school teams, while the boys are playing at other venues in different tournaments," Lynch said yesterday.

"We have teams here from Auckland, Tauranga, Gisborne, Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Taranaki, Palmerston North and Wanganui.

"There are two boys teams from Wanganui competing this week, but they are playing in Palmerston North and Papamoa - Wanganui High School is in Palmerston North, while Collegiate has gone to Papamoa," she said.

Pool play in the Maurice Hulme Trophy tournament at Wembley Park is expected to finish around noon today and the serious business of semifinals begins this afternoon.