Trinity-Iona competition

At the end of July, the inaugural Trinity College Colac and Iona College Geelong sporting competition was launched, forging a relationship with the new school and opening up more opportunities for our students.

At the end of July, two boys’ football teams and two girls’ netball teams travelled to Geelong to compete in the day-long comp, with the most wins of the day holding aloft the shiny new trophy.

First on the netball court was the Year 8 players. Both sides have competed in the qualifying day for the Victoria Netball Championships and progressed through to the state finals, so this was set to be a high quality game and a good practise match for the big day. The intensity and skill level on display from both teams was exceptional and made for great entertainment. It was a very tight first half with Iona remaining in the lead by anywhere from 1-4 goals throughout. Trinity was four down at half-time and positional changes at the break worked well in our favour as the rate of every player lifted, allowing them to dominate the play in the third quarter and go in even at three-quarter time. The last quarter was hard fought with both teams having to work extremely hard to score. The defensive ends on both sides were impressive, consistently taking intercepts and turning balls over to give their team an opportunity to score. Iona capitilsed on a couple of errors with only three minutes to go in the last quarter, which gave them the lead by four. Trinity worked hard to take back the lead but they ran out of time and Iona won the game by three. It was an excellent game of netball and we look forward to these two teams meeting again at the state finals.

The Year 9 netball game was dominated by Trinity from the opening moments. Trinity’s defence was far too strong, denying Iona opportunities to score, and the attack end was clean, skilful and scoring freely. Kiara Foster and Georgia Oates continuously turned balls over, Mia Compton dominated through the centre court and Remy Holt was a great target in the goal circle. The score was one-sided for the duration of the game but the Trinity girls stuck to their structures and continued their high-scoring rate. The skill level shown by the Trinity team was exceptional, multiple changes were made and the girls adapted to each combination seamlessly. We were strong across the whole court throughout the entire game and ran away with the win. The girls not only displayed excellent netball skills but were also good sports, conducting themselves graciously while producing such a big win. Well down to all the girls involved.

The Year 9 football match was held on the oval at Iona College. After making the trek down the highway to Geelong, the team was very eager to take to the field. Through the first three quarters, Trinty adjusted the way they played to suit the blustery conditions. Using bold ball movement and helping their team mates to defend, they went into the final break five points ahead. Unfortunately, missed opportunities in front of goal let the boys down and we fell short by 16 points. Some standouts on the day involved Ashton and Blake Middleton, Bailey Driscoll, Levi Duynhoven and Kai Fraser, but all the boys were able to show they can work together as a team.

The Year 8 football game was held at South Barwon Reserve. After a slow start Trinity trailed Iona by three goals at the first break before displaying some excellent link-ups and runs in the second term to take a small lead into the main break. Again, Trinity dropped away in the third quarter as Iona started to regain momentum and control of the game, hitting the lead going into the final change. Trinity managed to peg the margin back in the final term for another lead change, with goals to Toby Barren, Sid Hay and Aubrey Melville. With Trinity down by only one point in the dying seconds, Iona managed to thrust the ball forward, kicking a goal on the siren to win by seven points. The game was played in fantastic spirits and the boys conducted themselves in an excellent manner all day. Best Players were Melville, Gibson, McCarthy, Borgia, Buchanan and J Hay

At the completion of all game, both schools came together to award best on ground medals and announce the winning school. Georgia Oats was awarded the best on court for the Year 8 netball game, which was very well deserved. Overall, with Iona winning three of the four games, they were awarded the trophy for 2023. It was a fantastic start to a long-term relationship between the two schools and we look forward to hosting Iona in Colac next year.

Netball Victoria School Championships

At the beginning of the month, our Intermediate B, Year 7 and Senior Boys teams travelled to Parkville to attend their qualifying day of the Netball Victoria School Championships.

The Intermediate team consisted of Neve Brewer, Taya Scott, Aleisha Perkins

Ciara Downard, Jailla Turner, Tilly Geue, Evie Vickers, Mia Compton and Maisie McNaughton, and they were scheduled to play five games throughout the day with their first game a convincing win against Albert Park. Their second game against Frankston High School was a hard-fought first half with the Trinity side pulling away after half-time to finish with a 14-9 win. They carried this form in to their third match of the day against Catholic Ladies College, which ended with a 16-5 win. The last two games of the day saw them face their toughest opposition with these three teams all in contention for top position. In the game against St Paul’s Anglican, Trinity found themselves down at half-time and fought hard in the second half, producing some great netball. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to chase down the lead and they were defeated 12-9. Marist-Sion College proved to be a very strong side and it was a very skilful and physical game. Both teams battled to take control of the game and the lead changed continuously. Marist-Sion was just too strong in the end, running away with a 14-10 win that secured the top position on the ladder and a ticket through to the state finals. The Trinity girls showed excellent skill and sportsmanship throughout the day, and we are very proud of their efforts.

The Year 7 girls team consisted of Isabelle Dent, Molly Fish, Ashlin Tate, Millah Rodger, Leni Lauri, Stella McGuane, Leah Kettle, Addy Russell and Gabby Wheadon playing in seven games across the day with five wins and two losses. They started their day playing against Flinders Christian Community College and, although they competed well, they were defeated 12-5. This rattled their confidence but also motivated them to produce excellent netball for the remainder of the day. They convincingly beat Braemar College 14-4 and continued that winning form, going on to beat St Paul’s Anglican Grammer 13-11, Marist-Sion College 9-7 and Frankston High School 11-7. These wins placed the girls as one of the strongest sides in the junior competition and there was a lot of movement in ladder positions throughout the day so the top spot was up for grabs.

In the sixth round, Trinity came up against Luther College who had been playing very good netball throughout the day, and this game was looking like it would decide top spot. The netball was of a very high quality and the girls competed the best they could. They never gave up and showed great character, but in the end were defeated 10-13. Their last game of the day was scheduled against Catholic Ladies College and the girls finished their day with a good 9-7 win. Luther finished on top and progressed through to the state finals, so this is the end of the road for the Year 7 girls in this tournament. We look forward to the team competing in the state finals of the School Sport Victoria competition on Friday 1 September.

The Senior Boys team consisted of Will McLachlan, Michah Robb, Jack Skinner, Tyler Lorrico, Cooper Harty, Brady Hall, Flynn Darroch, Max Hutchinson, Jack Fish and Gus Uytdehaag. The draw scheduled Trinity to play six games during the day , but with only four teams entered into the Senior Boy’s division on this day of the competition, we were set to play each team twice.

The first against Luther College set the tone for how high the standard of netball was going to be throughout the day. It was a physical but highly skilled brand of netball and, after continuous lead changes, the boys found themselves down by four with a couple of minutes to go. The Trinity side lifted their work rate again and the defence took some excellent intercepts. The attack end went more direct, which allowed them to draw level 8-8 in the dying seconds, a fitting result for such a highly contested game. In Round 2 Trinity were too strong for Melbourne High School, running away with a 10-6 win that didn’t really represent how dominant they had been. The final school to face was Flinders Christian Community College and they had already managed two good wins against the other sides. It was a tight first half with one goal the difference at half-time. The skills displayed by both teams were excellent but in the second half Flinders increased their physicality and the Trinity boys made some basic errors under pressure. The result was an 8-5 loss.

It was then time to cycle back through each team, which allowed for teams to be more strategic because they had already played against each other. Trinity had another close game against Luther but they did not play their best netball, turning balls over and making mistakes under pressure, which allowed Luther to take a 10-6 win. Trinity replicated their second round result against Melbourne High School with another 10-6 win before having to face an undefeated Flinders Christian Community College team in their last game of the day. Based on the results, the boys knew that they could not take top position. Having the pressure off resulted in the team producing a full game of netball at the level that they are capable of, and they beat the undefeated side 10-8. The boys saw the day as a missed opportunity but it has fuelled their determination to perform well in the state finals of the School Sport Victoria competition on Monday 28 August.

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