Whanganui High School fall just short of winning secondary schools title

Whanganui High School 1st XI at the Jim Wishart tournament last week.

Whanganui High School Boys Football XI sent down an energetic and optimistic side to Nelson to compete in the Jim Wishart New Zealand Secondary Schools Tournament last week. They were drawn against sides from all over the country and played seven hard-fought games across four days in the Nelson sun.

The school boys were predominantly the Whanganui Athletic U17 side with Charlie Meredith and Tyler Turner the two older Athletic players and Kieran Hogan (Durie Hill FC) and Regan Hanna (Wanganui City) the only exceptions. Steve Meredith and WHS teacher Ryan Holden (Whanganui Athletic First Team Captain) were in charge of the side for the week whilst Max Comrie and Brock Turner led the management staff.

The side got a rest on Monday morning as they had the bye in the first round, this enabled Meredith and Holden to scout the opposition and gain an early understanding of how they played. In the second round, Whanganui High School came up against Middleton Grange School from Riccarton, Christchurch. The South Island school is very similar to Whanganui in terms of school roll. Middleton Grange started strongly and used their first-game momentum to build a two-goal lead as Whanganui still looked half asleep. Goals to Athletic first-team players Charlie Meredith and Levi Hoekstra tied the game up 2-2 and salvaged a crucial point.

The second game against Rangiora High School was a lot less difficult and WHS used the extra time and space to show off their skills, speed and goal-scoring ability as they put six past the Rangiora keeper. Hoekstra added to his goal tally with a brace whilst Hanna, C. Meredith, Brennan and Hodgson also found the back of the net. They finished day one on four points and with a great goal difference that separated them from Middleton Grange and Otago Boys’ High School who also sat on four points.

Tuesday morning presented Nayland College as the next task. A win would secure a top-two finish in the group and guarantee a quarter-final position. The boys were completely up to the task and had a clinical display in front of the goal to cap off a well-rounded performance. Hoekstra scored from the penalty spot, Hodgson doubled his goal tally and Kieran Hogan scored his first of the tournament as they won 3-1.

The final pool game had no influence on whether WHS would qualify for the quarter-finals or not but it had a massive impact on who would finish first and obtain an “easier” quarter-final as first place in the group would play second place in Group B whereas second place in the group would play first place in Group B. Otago Boys’ were always going to be a challenge but the motivation of securing first place and the individual quality of Charlie Meredith pushed them to a 2-1 victory. Meredith had been lighting up the Central League and the 17-year-old used this momentum as he scored both goals to make a comeback from 1-0 down.

On Wednesday morning, they played Papanui High School in the quarter-final. Goals were hard to come by and the first half remained scoreless. Hoekstra found the back of the net once again and proved to be the difference in a narrow affair.

In the afternoon, they played John McGlashan College, who had been dominant in their games up until then. They were a strong and physical side which we struggled to deal with at times. Once again, both sides struggled to beat each other’s keeper and the game ended scoreless. Tyler Turner stood in between the posts for WHS and after a breath-taking season with the Whanganui Athletic Reserves made himself big and saved the first penalty of the shoot-out. Hodgson, Hogan, Falconer and C. Meredith all converted making Whanganui 4/4 and putting them 4-2 as John McGlashan’s striker lined up their fourth penalty, needing to score to keep them in the tournament. Turner picked the right way once again and made a massive save to push Whanganui into the final of the Jim Wishart tournament.

In the final, they met Rangitoto College, the North Shore school having a roll number almost triple that of Wanganui High School. Both teams started a little nervously and you could see the legs were heavy after two hours of games for three days straight, however, the drive and determination to win pushed these players through the pain barrier. Both teams created chances in the first half but once again the teams went into the locker rooms at half-time goalless. Rangitoto came out firing in the second half and two quick goals through Whanganui concentration lapses all but won the game for Rangitoto. Hoekstra scored again to bring his tally to six for the tournament but it was not enough as Rangitoto held on to a 2-1 lead to be crowned champions.

An extremely impressive performance from Whanganui High School in Nelson and we look forward to seeing the majority of these players in the upcoming U17 Youth National League and U19 Lotto National Tournament.