📷 Masanori Udagawa / Photowellington.com

Story courtesy of College Sport Media.

Scots College are this year’s College Sport Wellington Premier Boys Football champions, having beaten Hutt International Boys’ School 2-1 in the final on Wednesday night.

A chilly winter’s night welcomed this year’s Trevor Rigby Cup finalists onto the artificial turf of Memorial Park in Petone. With a 6.00pm kick-off, the final had been restored to being a night fixture with the strict proviso that supporters were not to bring fireworks to the match.

The fireworks would instead be brought from the First XIs of Scots College and Hutt International Boys’ School. The two teams had met only a couple of weeks earlier on a hideously wet Friday night, where HIBS scored a big 5-0 win. Martin Bueno, Scots’ Head of Football, explained that he had to put on a young team that night. A squad that struggled to take on the weather as well as domineering opponents.

This year’s finalists weren’t confirmed until the final round-robin matches, where the Top 4 schools were drawn to play against each other. Scots managed a 2-1 win over St Patrick’s College (Town) while a 1-0 win over defending champions Wellington College, confirmed HIBS’ finals place.

For HIBS this would be their fourth final in a row. A solid achievement. However, could this year’s team break a frustrating stretch of runner-up finishes? Hopes were ignited when Tonian Raymond collected a luscious James Glover pass that originated from inside HIBS’ half. Glover’s pass was expertly lofted over Scots’ defensive line allowing Raymond to enter the goal box with a clear run on goal. It looked like Raymond had overrun the ball, as the Scots keeper was correctly locked in on the near post. However, Raymond would find the angle to get the ball past the keeper.

Scots’ midfielder Matteo Lidstone admits conceding a goal brought its pressure. He also reasoned that playing in a final, with a noisy crowd, was getting to some players. It’s a special occasion but you still need to be able to focus on doing your job.

The half-time break couldn’t come early enough for the Lidstone and his teammates. Coach Bueno would be credited with sharing some inspiring half time messages. He believed the team had nothing to lose. Scots had not beaten HIBS in a 1stXI clash for five years. It was all on us, if the team could lift, he was confident they could outplay their opponents.

Scots knew that HIBS would bring a formidable direct approach to the final. Cruelly for HIBS as the second half started the winds picked up and they found themselves playing against the elements. Conditions that would limit HIBS ability to play their natural game.

Both finalists have good sets of wingers. The ability to dribble the ball into attacking positions from out wide became a feature of the game.

Scots’ first goal came from a well taken spot-kick. During the game Lidstone felt it was a clear penalty. He thought the referee had done well to let the game flow but in doing so he had been soft on contact situations. With it being a final and with the yell of the crowd, the referee may have felt obliged to award the penalty.

In reviewing match footage after the game, Matteo said it was a decision that 70% of times you would expect to result in a penalty. It seemed the HIBS defender hesitated after making the challenge, his reaction may have harmed his cause. 

Scots had practiced penalties at their Monday training. Different players had 6-7 shots from the spot. In Lidstone’s opinion, Miles Woodhall was the teammate who had been hitting the penalties most sweetly. He was happy to see Miles step up to take the penalty. His high rocket into the goalkeeper’s right corner was simply unstoppable.

Scots’ winning goal was also superbly taken. Last year’s College Sport Wellington’s male footballer of the year, Jack Perniskie, split HIBS’ central defence with a ground ball into the box to Jacob Kleinsmith. From wide in the goal area, Kleinsmith was able to drill the ball into the far post.

As the full-time whistle approached, HIBS realised they were destined for another second-place finish. Frustrating, but still the school continues to consistently prove itself as one of the Capital’s top football schools. For Scots, there was the jubilation of having achieved a unique double being National Futsal champions and winning the Capital’s premier 1stXI competition.

The joy was shared with an onslaught of Scots fans who ran onto the pitch glad their school had won another College Sport Wellington title. Earlier in the week, Scots College player Edward (Ned) Thompson had met with his schools’ principal to organise a bus to take supporters to Petone. An opportunity that was especially popular with boarders at the College.

This was Scots College first Trevor Rigby Final since 2021, where they lost to Wellington College in a game that had everything except supporters. The game was played on the artificial at Wellington College that was closed to spectators due to covid restrictions.

Lidstone now looks forward to this year’s football nationals. He hopes the final’s win will give his squad further confidence. Unfortunately for Scots they have been drawn in the proverbial “group of death”. Pool H includes defending champions Sacred Heart College (Auckland). As well as two other top ten finishers from last year’s tournament: St Peter’s Cambridge and St Thomas Canterbury.

Martin Bueno, whose surname means good in Spanish, is enjoying a fabulous first year as Head of Football. The boy’s Futsal Nationals and Trevor Rigby titles are accompanied by the school’s first CSW girls title with their Under 15s winning the Strom Cup. Scots have over 300 players participating in football, a programme that Bueno wants to see grow.

While delighted with Scots’ progress, Bueno’s concern is more of a collective one on how to make Wellington schools more competitive at Nationals. Recent success has been limited to HIBS finishing second in 2022. That same year Scots finished third, after having lost to HIBS in the semi-finals.

This years’ boys premier Nationals are being played at Massey University in Palmerston North. Group play starts on Monday 25 August. The Wellington schools joining Scots in the Boys Premier Tournament are HIBS, Paraparaumu, St Patrick’s (Town) and Wellington College.

Article added: Friday 22 August 2025