Story courtesy of College Sport Media

Photo Credit - Masanori Udagawa / Photowellington.com

Wellington East Girls’ College produced a five-star performance to end their 13-year Capital Football title drought last Wednesday night at Petone Memorial Park.

Samuel Marsden College was overcome 5-1 in the final, Wellington East making a blistering start with two goals in a dozen minutes and rarely taking their foot off the accelerator.

Molly Judd was a menace on the left wing with several counterattacking breaks and threatening crosses. Isabella Temple was a colossus up front. Stand-in captain Amelie Deane scored a goal and proved an inspirational replacement for Lily Davies, away on a club exchange in Sweden.

“It was as much relief as excitement to win, having come so close two years ago and losing on penalties,” Deane said.

“Coming into the game we knew Marsden would be a challenge. When we played them earlier in the season we only came away with a draw. We hit the post four times and missed other easy chances. They had two shots at goal and scored once.

“We knew it would be important to make a fast start and getting a goal in the first minute was ideal. It gave us confidence and settled our nerves.”

Marsden was fourth in the regular season but a stunning hat-trick by Phoebe Gray eliminated top qualifiers Wellington Girls’ College in the semi-finals. Wellington East entered the 2024 season with rebuilding in mind.

“We lost a lot of Year 13s last year, including the competition’s top goal scorer, Liv Deane, and the two best goalkeepers in the league, Brooke Assur and Libby Sexton,” Deane said.

“We thought it might be a rebuilding year with all the new faces, but all the young girls stepped up. Jemima Squire got a hattrick in our semi-final win against Queen Margaret College last week. Audrey Thorburn is only in Year 10. She’s fearless coming out of the box and is really good at communicating from the back.

“I want to say a big thanks to our coaches Mike Deane and Mark Morgan. They work really well together, a dynamic coaching duo. They always made sure we had a clear game plan for the opposition. They knew where they would be strong and also how we could take advantage of their weaknesses.”

Wellington East exploited Marsden with their pace on the flanks. Deane profited from those tactics with an early goal.

“It was a surreal feeling scoring so early on in the final. It was something we had worked on a lot with wide players getting to the goal line and driving the ball in low across the goal. When I saw Molly Judd get around her player, I knew I should be arriving on the far post. It was very satisfying seeing the ball in the back of the net that early because I knew we wouldn’t get that many chances.”

Wellington East will back their chances of a strong showing at the Nationals in Nelson which starts September 2.

The Trevor Rigby Cup boys' final will be contested between Hutt International Boys Schol and Wellington College at Petone Memorial on Wednesday (4:00 pm).

Article added: Tuesday 27 August 2024