College News
CCC Soccer Report
It was a cold and dark Armidale morning as 26 keen young soccer players gathered at the bus bay to travel down the long and winding road to Coffs Harbour, to do battle there with students from Trinity College Lismore (juniors) and MacKillop College Port Macquarie (senior team). Led by their not so young coaches (Mr May and Mr Lush) the young warriors spent the long hours of the drive in not-so-silent contemplation of the trials and tribulations to come.
For many of the boys it was the first time for them to play on the hallowed turf of the Coffs Harbour stadium. For others in the senior team it was a return to the venue of their first foray into the hurly burly of CCC interdiocescan soccer some four years previously, a memory still fresh in their impressionable minds.
Both teams were missing key playmakers - some to illness, some to injury, some because they simply weren't at school anymore. Nonetheless they strapped on shinguards, slipped into strips and buffed their boots before emerging out of the darkness of change room number 1 and out onto the springy green turf of the stadium.
Unfortunately neither team was able to view the other play - both teams played alongside each other and at the same time. In the juniors, the result was never going to be a foregone conclusion. Trinity scored first, before an equaliser hammered into the back of the net by Jake McCann, the midfield mauler. That was the result for much of what was a see-sawing battle, with desperate Trinity forays into the O'Connor back line being countered by equally desperate counter offences by the O'Connor juniors. Sadly, however, the depth of the Trinity team and superior fitness saw them begin to dominate play, with two late goals sealing the result in the Lismore boys favour, 3-1.
The senior boys game was very much one of desperate defence, skilful slide tackles and courageous keeping from the young goalkeeper, Aiden Wicks. MacKillop were very much the dominant team for the majority of the game, but the 2-0 half time scoreline in favour of the coastal boys was testament to the grim determination of the O'Connor players to make their opponents work for every goal.
in the second half the heat and lack of reserves began to tell on the O'Connor team. For the first ten minutes the game hung in the balance before MacKillop scored a third, telling goal. At the 15 minute mark in the second half MacKillop made a mass substitution of five fresh players into the game. The exhausted O'Connor team were unable to match this injection of vim and vigour, with Lewis Baber barely able to walk from the pain of a strained groin muscle, Isaac Selvey struggling with nausea and Jaydenn Waldron gamely taking on players twice his height and three times his mass. MacKillop then went on the proverbial turkey shoot, their fresh legs more than a match for the weary warriors of the O'Connor senior team. Wicks hurled himself from side to side as his backline slowly gave way before the inexorable assault of the MacKillop forwards, defending his heart out, but sadly to no avail as the ball found the back of the net again and again. Four quick goals in 15 minutes placed the game well and truly out of the reach of the Armidale lads, who to their credit were still trying to attack even as the referee blew quietus on the game.
Both teams have no reason to rue missed opportunities. They were well and truly punching above their weight - MacKillop College has a student population three times that of O'Connor, whilst Trinity has over twice the population. In both games players had every cause to throw in the towel early, but continued to battle on even though the game was lost... much like the band of the Titanic. The referees in both games spoke favourably of the positive mindset and clean play of the teams.
Many thanks to the players for giving it all they had. They were fantastic ambassadors for the College and definitely gave their opponents reason to take them seriously.
Mr May - Coach
CCC Basketball
A fantastic day and some great results at CCC Basketball in Tamworth for our junior and senior girls and boys teams. Many thanks to Miss Sampson, Mr Roff and past student Scott McGann for coaching the teams. Congratulation to our 4 teams that competed in the CCC Basketball Tournament in Tamworth. The 7/8 boys, 9/10 girls and 9/10 boys had wins over St Mary's Gunnedah and Holy Trinity Inverell and were very competitive narrowly losing to McCarthy Tamworth. The 7/8 girls only had 5 players for the day and fought hard every game including a fine win over St Mary's Gunnedah.
Mr Roff - Coach
Horse Sports
Will Wood (yr 9) has recently achieved the following in horse sports:
NSW championships - 12th overall in show riding (all ages), overall champion in the 13 years and under 15 age groups; selected in the National team for show jumping and formal gymkhana.
RAAF
Congratulations to our newest CCPL Laura Hooper (yr 11) who was Dux of the 2/17 CJNCO course held at RAAF Base Wagga. All your hard work and dedication to cadets paid off!
Art Work
Congratulations to Zoe Minehan (yr 9) whose art work has been selected as a finalist in UNE Let's Hang it Art Exhibition.
Water Polo
Tahlia Stuart (yr 11) is currently competing in the Hawaiian International Waterpolo tournament in Honolulu for the Australian Barbarian 16's team. They beat the New Zealand North Harbour team to make it into the semi finals . The Barbarian's water polo team played off for the bronze medal position and defeated Honolulu 8-7 in a tough game!
