The Matamata Swifts U-19 side has completed preparations for the 2016 Lotto U-19 Youth tournament. Held in Napier over Labour Weekend, this tournament is one of the highlights on the club footballing calendar.
This is the sixth year in a row, and seventh time in all, that we’ve sent a side to this tournament. We’ve finished runners-up in our group, which is part of the Satellite tournament, in three of our six previous appearances and third in our group twice.
Prior to this year only the four group winners made it to the knock-out stages. In the last three years the winner of our group has gone on to win the Satellite tournament. With Onehunga Sports in our group this year we expect this trend to continue. This year the top two in each group go through to the knock-out stages, however, meaning we have probably our best ever chance to progress from the group phase.
You can follow the Swifts U-19s performances on our Facebook page.
2016 Match Details
Satellite Group G
Oct 22 (10.00) v Port Hill United. 1-1 draw (K Nowell)
Oct 22 (13.00) v Franklin United. 2-2 draw (L Goodwin 2)
Oct 22 (17.00) v Papakura City – friendly. 1-1 draw (L Goodwin)
Oct 23 (09.30) v Onehunga Sports. 0-2 loss *Satellite tournament winners
Oct 23 (12.30) v Wainuiomata. 1-2 loss (L Goodwin)
Full tournament results & tables here (click the Under 19 Tournament link)
2016 squad
Patrick Steele, Isaac Fraser-Hayes, Cullen Tappin, Finn Challis, Luke Goodwin, Tom Goodwin, Reuben Wigelsworth, Luis John, Hugh Budge, Kody Nowell, Logan Raynel, Viraj Kumar, Blair Griffiths, Koto Higashionna, Kyle Fannin,Jasom Khatkar