KEY POINTS:
Mt Albert Grammar appear to have claimed soccer's triple crown - without kicking a ball in the third leg.
Auckland Grammar School yesterday defaulted this afternoon's scheduled Knockout Cup final, handing MAGS the Auckland league/cup double but last night there were suggestions that the game could still be played.
Auckland Secondary Schools Football Association chairman Dave Bagwell gave headmasters Dale Burden (MAGS) and John Morris (AGS) until 7pm yesterday to agree the game should be played.
He heard back from Burden but not Morris who said he needed to go back to his players. "If I have heard nothing more by eight o'clock tomorrow morning [today] the game will be awaraded to MAGS by default and Auckland Grammar will be excluded from next year's knockout cup," said Bagwell.
Earlier, Morris and Burden had agreed that the saga - which follows an incident in the semifinal between the two schools at the Lotto Premier tournament in Napier, which MAGS went on to win - should not be played out in the media.
While neither were commenting officially, it is understood both want the game played.
In Monday's decision to forfeit, Morris said the call had come from the players in his first XI and had been endorsed by the school's executive and board of trustees.
Burden said yesterday he would be happy to have the game played as scheduled this afternoon, adding that if AGS had a problem with [MAGS coach] Kevin Fallon sitting on the sideline he would agree with Fallon's suggestion he could sit in the grandstand.
An earlier call from ASB College Sport Auckland chief executive Manoj Daji to Burden and Morris that they should sit around a table with him in an effort to resolve the issue was not taken up but it is understood the headmasters are prepared to go to mediation along with Fallon and AGS coach Jimmy Hogg.
Burden says finding a time to play the game is now an issue.
"While I don't want to win a cup by default, I am loath to have the players out of school to play," said Burden. "If it is not played on Wednesday [today] I can't see it being played this term."
The Junior Knockout Cup final between MAGS and Westlake BHS has now been elevated to main game status at Bill McKinlay Park and will be played at 1pm.
With all championships decided, attention now turns to next year's home and away promotion/relegation battles to be staged at the end of the first term.
Sacred Heart has replaced WBHS in Senior A1.
Kings College, second-to-last in Senior A1, will play second-placed Senior A2 school St Kentigern for the eighth place in Senior A1.
As winners of their respective leagues, Glenfield College (to A3) and Botany Downs (from Senior B to A4) have been promoted. Mt Roskill GS, Rutherford College and Waitakere College have been relegated.
Howick and Glendowie will contest the remaining A2 spot, Green Bay and Takapuna GS will chase a place in A3 and either Orewa or Papatoetoe HS will claim the remaining place in A4.
CURLING
Baradene's Team Hill and EGGS Team Ku will play for the Auckland SS girl's title at Paradice Avondale tomorrow night.
Baradene cruised into the championship decider with a crushing 8-1 win over Birkenhead in last week's semifinals while EGGS beat Team Farley, also from EGGS, 7-5 in a much closer contest.
EGGS Team Farley will play Birkenhead for third. Massey's Team Pearson, already crowned round-robin winners, are through to the semifinals.
Their opponent will not be known until after tomorrow's match between Birkenhead Team Mori, three points back in second place, and KBHS Red, one point back.
A win for Mori would confirm their second placing but if they lose Kelston would leapfrog into second place and leave AGS as the fourth semifinalist on a countback.
CYCLING
Aaron Gate (AGS) and Emily Collins (Baradene) were the big winners at the Avanti Plus NZSS individual championships but their victories came in differing circumstances.
Gates made short work of the boys' under-20 title, winning the opening day time trial and following that with an equally decisive win in Saturday's hillclimb on Mt Wellington. He completed his effort with a fourth placing in the final day criterium to win by 20 points from Taylor Gunman (WBHS) with criterium winner Sam Lindsay (Macleans) seven points back in third.
It was much closer in the senior girls with Collins edging visiting Maddy Brunton (Waikato Diocesan) by three points.
Collins won the opening time trial but Brunton hit back to claim the hillclimb. The pair then bowed to Kate Kenny (Diocesan) in the criterium as she picked up enough points to finish third - just a point behind Brunton and four ahead of fourth-placed Ellen Fowler (Macleans).
GOLF
Solid golf laid the foundation for New Plymouth Boys' High School's successful title defence at the NZ SS Championship at the Hutt GC.
Led by an outstanding one-under par 69 from Brad Hayward, the Taranaki school hit the course running and took an early three-shot lead over Rathkeale College, who had a spectacular end to their first round.
On the 17th hole Rathkeale's Philip Tuoro fired his ball into a tree. He bounced back in the best possible way by firing a hole-in-one on the 18th.
In the final round NPBHS shrugged off the deteriorating conditions to post 224 - one shot worse than their opening round - to beat Wellington champions Rathkeale by five strokes and eight overall with Christchurch's Shirley BHS a further two shots back in third.
Individual honours went to Ashburton College's Mark O'Malley and Gore's Vaughan McCall with six-over 146. A shot back were Hayward, his NPBHS teammate Steve Heyes and Luke Jackson (Marlborough BC).
RUGBY
De La Salle College capped their already-successful season with a share of the spoils in the national top four play-offs by snatching a last-ditch 6-6 draw with Hamilton BHS at Rotorua's International Stadium.
In a game played in pouring rain, both teams kicked two penalties and, with no provision for extra time, the title was shared.
In scoring the first points - a Kelekolio Hifo penalty - in a match in with which no tries were scored, the South Auckland school won the right to represent New Zealand at next year's Sannix International tournament in Japan.
