Ollie Price
Year 12
The House Cup returned for 2023 in Term 1 with over 200 students signing up from Year 7 to Year 12 representing their respective house across four tournaments. It all kicked off with a Teachers vs Year 12 students game where the teachers managed to win out in penalties. Here’s how the House Cup unfolded:
Year 7
Following the preliminary rounds, it was evident that Barker and Wilsmere were the two teams to beat and so they met in the Grand Final. After Barker took an early lead, Wilsmere received a penalty with the help of VAR to equalise the game and send it into penalties. In the end, it was Patrick coolly slotting his penalty and a decisive save from Eric which helped Barker claim the Armstrong-Wallis Cup.
Year 8/9
Having gone through the group stage undefeated, Cotham finished on top of the table. However, a surprise win from a Year 8 heavy Wilsmere in the preliminary final against Barker set up an intriguing clash against Cotham featuring mainly Year 9s. A tense grand final ended in 2-2 thanks to a late goal from Gio and ultimately that proved important as Wilsmere proved too strong in the penalty shootout with Samir securing the Kyriakos Cup for the team in gold.
Year 10
This was by far the biggest tournament with over sixty Year 10s signing up. The group stage had it all – a worldie from Arya, unbelievable saves from Ric and precision passing from Lucia and Ben. It was Boroondara who ended the group stage on top, winning all three games. It looked extremely likely that they would play a star-studded Cotham in the Grand Final until some goal-line heroics by Daniel denied them the opening in the Preliminary Final before Charlie scored moments later to seal a spot in the Grand Final for a plucky Barker outfit. Barker showed it and more in the Grand Final, sending it to extra time before Milo scored from a tight angle to cap off their unbeaten campaign by sealing the championship.
Year 11/12
Four even teams of VCE students set out to win the ultimate prize and it was Boroondara who finished on top of the table after an unbeaten run in group stage. They came up against a Wilsmere outfit in the Grand Final who were out for redemption having lost in the previous year’s final after bottling a 3-0 lead. Taking a 4-1 in the second half, Boroondara look all set for victory with goals from Cal, Kristian, Bilal and Ayub. However, Wilsmere came storming home through Ben and Marcus before yours truly sealed a famous 5-4 victory with some individual brilliance in the dying moments.
Sardy-Tambo Shield
To close out the House Cup, the Year 10 Boroondara team took on Year 11/12 Wilsmere in what was billed as a David vs Goliath battle. Wilsmere put their foot down early, scoring three times to take early control of the game. A goal from Pip was followed by Reuben hitting the goal post, making for a tense last final moments before Wilsmere sealed victory with two goals in the dying stages to claim a 5-1 victory and take home the Sardy-Tambo Shield for 2023.
