Aquinas scored a late goal to snatch the overall trophy from Arana last Wednesday, marking the end of the inaugural inter-College Soccer Trophy. Eight Colleges contested the first-ever competition, with all matches played under lights on Wednesday evenings at Logan Park.
Aquinas was an early competition favourite, although a late surge in the points round by Arana meant the final was never a certainty. In the first round of play-off matches, top seed Aquinas faced fourth-placed team UniFlats, winning convincingly to secure a spot against Arana, who beat Carrington in the other top-four match. In the first round of bottom-four play-offs, a strong Studholme side that was unlucky not to make it into the top four outclassed Toroa, while UniCol defeated Hayward, leaving them to play Toroa the following week.
In the final week of games, Hayward defeated Toroa, and Studholme beat UniCol in the bottom four play-off matches. The competition for third and fourth between UniFlats and Carrington, two very consistent teams, was always going to be close, and the match ended in a draw, resulting in a penalty shoot-out. Carrington came out on top, with UniFlats missing two penalties. The battle for first and second between Aquinas and Arana looked to be heading in the same direction until Aquinas proved their skill with a perfectly executed free-kick, resulting from a late Arana foul that almost looked to be in the box. Aquinas held onto the lead through a tense final 10 minutes to win the competition.
I want to thank everyone for showing up week-in, week-out, regardless of the weather, with a full team. The skill level and sportsmanship displayed was outstanding. I thoroughly enjoyed working with all of you to organise a very successful weekly inter-college soccer competition that will hopefully continue for many years to come.
Colleges Officer Organises College Sports for Colleges
