Junior Boys

10th August

Mercury Bay Junior Football vs St Paul's collegiate school

Bay welcomed St Paul to a warm, blue sky Whitianga. We knew it would be a tough game for St Paul's as the bottom of the league was playing away against an inform Mercury bay.

The game kicked off and the well-drilled Bay shined. The Bay's deadly striker Joel scored first and Yugo 2nd. Soon 3rd Joel again and 4th Palmer.  There were a few chances for St Paul to shoot at goal but Goalkeeper Arlo and defenders Liam, Cameron, Elijah, and Tylar quashed any chances with outstanding defending.

Gordo, Cooper, Greeny, Ben, and Yugo controlled the game in the middle with a neat passing game. Palmer and Joel were the spearhead of the team covering for Curtis who was absent today.

The first half finished 4-0 to the Bay

The second half kicked off with another goal from Joel to complete his hat-trick. Palmer scored 6th and Joel had to sub off from injury. But the Bay kept up the pressure and Ben added a 7th goal. 

At the end of the game, Yugo went on a rampaging run through all 4 St Paul defenders to score the last goal to finish 8-0.

Bay was missing 5 key players and had only one substitute but the team showed depth in strength and huge improvement from the start of the season.

Thank you to all the supporters/parents, Dean, Carl, Mark for officiating the game and Manami for taking great photos

3rd August

Mercury Bay Junior Boys vs Huntly Junior Boys at Huntly

The Bay arrived in Huntly without their top striker Joel Iggulden from injury, superstar midfielder Yugo Kawai from the flu, influential winger Roland Matthewson,  Noah Gordon, and Liam Robertson.

Huntly fielded only tall strong players and was only 1 win short of reclaiming the top spot equal with Mercury Bay. They were desperate to beat us and as the game kicked off the Bay were slow to get going from the long drive to the game. It was Huntly, who threatened to score first using a fast-paced striker and breaking the defensive line twice but the Bay's goalkeeper Arlo made a heroic one-on-one save to keep the score line to 0-0. Not long after the Bay woke up from lethargicness from the trip and started to play.

The Bay pressed to score 2 quick goals through Curtis and kept possession of the ball to control the game. Just before halftime, there was a scramble in front of the Bay goal and Huntly scrambled a goal to finish the first half 2-1 to the Bay.

The second half kicked off and the Bay continued to keep the majority of the possession and swatted any attack from Huntly. The Bay's youngest players who joined the Junior team this year Cooper, Leo, Greeny, Tylar, Cameron, Palmer, and Curtis are now growing in confidence and they are outplaying the taller bigger Huntly players. There was frustration growing in Huntly’s ranks and the second half turned Huntly into rough pushing, shoves mixed with bad tackles. Noah Palmer had multiple breakaway moments but Huntly defenders would just cut him down without going for the ball inside the penalty area. But the referee seemed to miss them all and waved play on. Curtis finished a nice shot that was thought to be a legitimate goal passed from Palmer but the goal was crossed off by the referee.

Both sides were confused with the referee because he decided to add an extra 10 minutes to the game after normal time.

The Bay players kept their heads down and kept their cool to the end to hold a vital victory for 2-1 win to stay at the top of the table.

6th July 2024

Mercury Bay Junior Football vs Hillcrest Junior Football.

This was the Waikato secondary school quarterfinal cup game. 3rd division Mercury Bay was up against a team who were currently sitting on the top of the 2nd division. The Bay faced a tough task facing a formidable opponent and the Bay’s Ben Collins stepped in to be the captain with Joel out of action with the flu. The game kicked-off and many people thought it was going to be one-sided but The Bay has improved since the start of the season and looked par with the top 2nd division team. A formidable Hillcrest attack was held off with tight defence from The Bay. The Bay never looked shaken and threatened Hillcrest’s goal with counterattacks.   It was dead-locked at 0 – 0 for a very long time but Hillcrest scored just before half-time 0 – 1. 

The second half kicked off and The Bay scored back early through Noah Palmer 1 – 1. All of the Bay players were now playing out of their skin. Ben Collins was marshalling the team to push for the winner. Both sides were gaining free kicks at both ends but none were able to capitalise it.  It was going to be a penalty shoot-out if the game carried as 1 – 1. The game was about to end with 2mins remaining there was a mix-up in the defence and Hillcrest managed to roll the ball into the Bay goal 1 – 2 defeat to Mercury Bay. The result was not what we wanted but what an astonishing effort and gameplay from Ben Collins, Yugo Kawai, Noah Gordon, Noah Greenfield, Noah Palmer, Cooper Tuinier, Camerson Johnansen, Leo Renall, Elijah Bianchi, Levi Stewart, Valo Gray, Arlo Hert, Liam Robertson, Curtis Treherne and Tylar Cornwall. It was a faultless effort from the Mercury Bay team.

22nd June 2024

Mercury Bay Junior Boys vs St John Junior Boys.

This game was to be an epic encounter for staying in the hunt for the top of the table.  Both teams were unbeaten until now and there was a stormy atmosphere between the two teams as the game kicked off. 

Both teams were fiercely fighting from the get-go for the ball and the Bay attacked early to take advantage of being at home. Noah Palmer scored the first goal to make it 1-0, however that intensified St John's attack.  It was the start of an endless barrage of attack by St Johns.  Defenders Cameron, Yugo, Elijah, Valo, Liam, and Leo with the help of midfielders Ben, Noah Greenfield, Elliot, and Noah Gordon put up and held off for 16 minutes before St John's broke through to score the equaliser.  

St John's tail was up and went on to score another quick goal for 1-2.  The Bay was under huge pressure but kept their cool and never gave up. The Bay was putting their bodies on the line and using double-team defense against the rampaging tall St John strikers. There were many moments St John could have scored but Bay Goalkeeper Arlo made some great saves. A few minutes before halftime Bay managed to fight back to 2-2 with a counterattack goal from Joel.

The second half kicked off and now Bay kicked off their barrage of attacks. Curtis, Joel, and Palmer were now causing havoc in St John's defense. 5 minutes into the second half Joel had to take a left-footed shot which he calmly slotted into the goal for 3-2 to Bay.  St John's started more attacks with a couple of key players but intelligent centre defenders Elijah and Yugo marshalled the defense to stop any more breakthroughs.

Bay was now in control and never looked back.  Ben Collins and Elliot in midfield were growing into the game. Young players Leo, Greeny, and Cameron were all making gutsy tackles on the left against massive 'looked like double the size players'. It was a tremendous fight from both sides trying to gain another goal.  6 minutes before the end of the game Curtis managed to knock the stuffing out of St John by burying a goal for Bay to win the game 4-2.

Mercury Bay Junior Boys now top Division 3 after 3 games. They have a break next weekend, before taking on Hillcrest in the Knockout Cup at home in 2 weeks.

15 June 2024

Mercury Bay Junior Boys vs Rototuna High School Junior Boys Premier Reserves.

5-1 win to MB

Bay arrived in Rototuna, Hamilton in a rainy morning mixed with cloudy weather with a very boggy football pitch at Rototuna High School ground. Bay boys were lethargic from a 3-hour travel and had trouble warming up in these conditions. To add insult to injury MB was missing 4 key players from illness and injuries including two centre backs Elijah and Levi.

The game kicked off and Mercury Bay scored a quick goal through Noah Palmer 1-0. But Bay boys were struggling and Rototuna was pressuring the Bay defence again and again.  Forcing Bay players to make many costly mistakes and giving away the ball away cheaply.  The Rototuna striker broke through the Bay defense and it was one-on-one with Bay Keeper Arlo Hert who diverted the ball to the side to slow the attack but the striker was about to adjust to take the shot at goal and at that exact moment Bay defender Valo Gray swooped in to clip the ball off the attacker but he accidentally cleared the ball into Bay goal for an own goal to make the score 1-1.  For the rest of the first half the Bay struggled in the conditions and Rototuna kept up the attack. Bay defenders Valo, Cameron, Yugo Kawai, Leo, and Liam were working overtime with Bay midfielders Ben Collins, Noah Greenfield, Tylar Cornwall, Joel Iggulden.

There was a break in Rototuna's attack for a moment and Bay managed to capitalise it and scored through Curtis to make it 2-1. It was soon half-time.

In the second-half Bay players finally started hitting their straps and shaking off the travel sluggishness. Ben dropped back to support the under pressure Yugo. They both stole the ball from opposition players deep in the defensive line and passed a  inch-perfect through pass to the forward players for Curtis, Palmer, and Joel. Which kicked off multiple counterattacks. Soon there was a flurry of goals through Joel twice and Curtis's Penalty goal for a 5-1 Win. Coach Taddy was proud of Bay players for overcoming adversity and producing a good result to carry on a strong start to the season.

8th June 2024 Win 4-1 to Mercury Bay

Mercury Bay Junior Boys vs Hamilton Boys High Silver (Their 1st team in division 3).

Mercury Bay welcomed HBHS with another lovely sunny day in Whitianga. This was our first game of the season and it was combined with the "Knock-out Cup" game. The winner will progress through to the next round.

Mercury Bay hit the ground running early to capitalize on a home ground advantage and scored through Joel Iggulden to make 1-0. HBHS were making hard tackles on key Bay players to slow down the attack. The Bay battled through and snatched another goal via Ben Collins to make it 2-0. Bay defense Cameron, Elijah, Levi, Valo, Leo, and Cooper were putting in an impressive defensive shift and holding off the HBHS attack. The Bay was on a huge attacking run hitting the crossbar a few times and forcing the HBHS keeper to make many saves. With Bay holding tight defense HBHS midfielder looped a shot over the defence and the keeper to score a goal making it 2-1.

HBHS had a second breakthrough over the top with a through ball and the HBHS striker had a one-on-one with Bay keeper Arlo Hert, who made the heroic save to keep the lead. Soon it was half-time.

The second half kicked off and Mercury Bay went on attack after attack and held most of the possession for the first part of the second half. Curtis was cut down in the 6-yard box and was awarded a penalty. Curtis calmly slotted the goal to increase the lead to 3-1. Mercury Bay had many near misses at goal and the HBHS goalkeeper was forced to make many saves. Palmer calmly slotted another goal in after the ball was passed around the 6-yard box to make it 4-1. Yugo Kawai, Ben Collins, Elliot Ribet, Noah Greenfield, Tylar Cornwall were putting in a hard shift in helping defend and provide strikers with the ball up front in the middle of the park.

Towards the end of the game, the HBHS striker managed to receive the ball and was running straight at the goal trying to score but central defender Elijah made an amazing run back to snatch the ball at the last moment to deny the shot at goal.

Mercury Bay showed a much-improved resilient display in defense compared to the game a few weeks back.

Well done and great performance from Noah Gorden, Noah Greenfield, Noah Palmer, Cooper Tuinier, Tylar Cornwall, Leo Renall, Ben Collins, Valo Gray, Eliott Ribet, Cameron Johnansen, Joel Iggulden, Arlo Hert, Levi Stewart, Elijah Bianchi, Yugo Kawai, Curtis Treherne.

Mercury Bay Junior Boys vs Hamilton Boys High School Bronze team. 

This is the last grading game for this year. This game result will put us in our grade for this year.

MB welcomed 10 men HBH Bronze with another sunny weather in Whitianga.

MB knew Bronze would be slow to start and get going from the long travel from Hamilton, so MB went hard and fast scoring the first goal by Curtis and the second by Joel to go 2-0.

MB took their foot off the gas and HBH Bronze brought it back with a through ball to their striker for 2-1.

Joel scored again to increase the lead to 3-1.  MB made a few substitutions and there was confusion at the back allowing another through ball to score 3-2 to finish the first half.

The second half kicked off and MB kept the pressure up and the team assisted Joel with the ball in front of the goal to increase our lead to 4-2. The never-die attitude of Bronze to score a goal and bring it back to 4-3.

It was becoming a high-scoring seesaw battle. MB would score again but Bronze would score back 5-4. There was a break in the seesaw for a moment and the lead built to 7-4. Yugo scored to increase the lead to 8-4 but Bronze never gave up and capitalized on the lapse of concentration from MB's defensive line and an out-of-position goalkeeper to shoot well outside of the 18-yard box to score into an open goal.

Bronze would score again in a similar fashion to bring the score line to an 8-6 win for Mercury Bay. Well done to Levi, Palmer, Joel, Curtis, Ben, Yugo, Tylar, Liam, Elliot, Elijah, Cameron, Arlo, Greenie, Leo, Cooper. Thank you to the supporters who turned up.

Get well soon Gordo and Roland.

18 May 2024

Mercury Bay Junior Boys vs St Peters Junior Boys First team.

This was the second grading game to find out each other's placement in the division this year. MB boys travelled to Cambridge with sunny weather with them. The team drove into a massive complex with a maze of carparks and multiple football pitches everywhere. MB had a huge task ahead of them considering St Peters was playing in 2 divisions above MB last year. This was considered to be the hardest opponent MB boys will face this year.

The game kicked off a similar strong lineup from the last game but coach Taddy Ito was worried that all MB team members were still lethargic from the long 2.5-hour drive travel. To his surprise MB boys hard work and resolute team defence held off St Peter's strong attack for the first 10 minutes keeping the 0-0 score line and looking par. But soon St Peters found a weakness in MB's defence and used a tall fast forward to break the defence line during a counterattack to score a goal. St Peters repeated the same attack to score quick successive goals to bring the game to 0-4 for St Peters. MB had a few chances themselves but could not quite convert into goals. St Peters had very tall defenders who blocked most of the attack that MB boys threw at them. The second half started brightly for MB boys who scored a goal back via Noah Palmer to bring the game to 1-4. Quickly St Peters got their game face back on and started scoring more goals.

The MB boys never gave up and kept up the attack and had many near misses and heart-stopping moments at the goal box, but that opened up a lot more counterattacks to bring the game to a 1-9 score line. The scoreline did not show the huge effort MB players put into the game. It was a big learning experience for the MB boys and they are looking forward to the next game. Well done to Palmer, Joel, Curtis, Ben, Yugo, Tylar, Liam, Elliot, Elijah, Cameron, Arlo, Valo, Greenie, Leo, Cooper, and travelling parents/supporters to the game

11 May 2024

Mercury Bay Junior Boys vs. Thames Junior Boys

Referee: Dean Allen

Coach Taddy Ito and Manager Mark Collins

This was the first game of the season for grading. Results from the next few games will decide which grade Mercury Bay Junior Boys will play in this coming year.

Fortunately, the game was held in warm, sunny blue-sky weather. MB kicked off with a strong line-up of players. Striker Noah Palmer (Palmer) opened the scoring with his first goal of the new season just a few minutes into the game. Mercury Bay won the 4th division last year, and Thames was 8th division last year, and it showed in skill and with score line from the beginning of the game. MB quickly scored consecutive goals with Curtis Treherne, Team Captain Joel Iggulden, Yugo Kawai, and Palmer scoring again. Strong defense was held together with Tylar Cornwall, Levi Stewart, Cameron Johansen, and Liam Robertson. Super subs Noah Greenfield (Greeney), Noah Gordon (Gordo), Leo Renall, Elliot Ribet, and Cooper Tuinier performed very well. Unfortunately, Roland Matthewson was playing well until he got injured early on and had to be subbed off.

Thames got one back to make it 5-1, but MB kept the pressure on, and Curtis scored 2 more goals and Gordo to finish the first half 8-1. The second half started with mostly a non-starting 11. It was a more even game, but MB scored 4 more goals through Palmer, Ben Collins, Joel, and Curtis to bring the game to 12-1. A never give up attitude of Thames got a goal back at the end of the game to finish 12-2.

The player of the day went to Valo Gray for Goalkeeping and did an awesome job covering for absent Arlo