The St Paul’s Corinthians football team commenced their 2019 pre-season with a game against the mighty Manukau United.
Manukau United are coached by ex-All White coach Kevin Fallon and were the second best team in the North Island in 2018.
“Relatively speaking, the courageous Corinthians are seven divisions below Manukau. It was definitely a day when the Corinthians would have to ‘move a mountain’”, says Corinthians coach Michael Groom.
For the match, the Corinthians were represented by students, Cooper Robertson, George Kingsnorth, Sean Craig and Mark Lamthitikam; and Collegians Jakob Merson, Nathan Alloway, John Flood, Dylan Groom and Ben Groom. Completing the Corinthians team sheet were Mike the gappy and Mr Groom.
The Corinthians gave it their all and the game ended in a 3-0 win for Manukau.
“Manukau did not score in the second half due to the determination, resilience and courage of the Corinthians players,” says Mr Groom.
“Their commitment earned enormous respect from the Manukau team, who will likely win the northern premier league this year.”
Mr Fallon singled out Cooper Robertson for his performance during the after-match speeches.
“Such a monumental and admirable performance augurs extremely well for the Corinthians this year. Because of the respect between the two teams, it was decided after the match that the encounter would become an annual event,” says Mr Groom.
