Wednesday 1 July 2026
King's College 3 vs 1 St Kentigern College
Last Thursday 25 June - our First XI match was a must-win affair for a King’s team that has struggled at times to field a group of players fit and well enough to represent the school. The injury and unavailability toll has been high and Thursday was no exception.
The point table equation is getting progressively simple, lose to teams in the bottom half of the table and next years relegation match will loom large in the summer planning. St Kentigern’s on their home turf in Pakuranga was going to be difficult task. The wind was so strong the drone (used to capture coaching footage) refused to operate!
Not to be deterred and with the wind most firmly in our sails King’s opened the scoring in the 6th minute from a well finished goal by Saffron Moeveni (Year 13, Marion Bruce). St Kentigern’s provided pressure from the ensuing hit off. However, from the very next attack striker Zoe Driscoll (Year 13, Middlemore) was clinical in both her receiving and finishing from the right side of the circle giving the keeper no chance.
King’s now 2-0 up and the pressure starting to subside the girls played with more surety and swagger. With 3 minutes remaining in the quarter Casey Haliday (Year 11, Marion Bruce) finished superbly to give the girls a 3-0 lead.
Some games would be better without a 2 minute hydration break and this was one of them. In the second quarter it was St Kentigern who provided much of the attacking emphasis, their goal in the 5th minute came from a penalty corner breakdown. King’s had two good opportunities to further increase their lead during this spell but the shots were either wide of the cage or were parried away by the St Kentigern goal-keeper.
The half time break gave the coaches time to refocus the team but the second half of the game provided precious few scoring chances for either team. The girls dealt with a couple of nervous defensive moments which were well snuffed out by Scarlett Morris (Year 13, Marion Bruce) in goal who once again was incredibly efficient in our circle.
The eventual 3-1 scoreline ensured the King’s team continue on now having taken points at every opportunity in their last four matches. Their last loss a 0-1 defeat to Westlake Girls' High School over a month ago.
Stand-out players on the day were Alexis Tree (Year 12, Taylor), Casey Haliday and Zoe Driscoll.
The vocal support from previous year’s First XI old girls Te Aria Nathan, Maddy Paterson, Phoebe Driscoll, Claudia Spencer, Sophia Head and Jemma Nesdale was very much appreciated!
Next match vs Diocesan this coming Thursday at King’s.