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Since 2003 the Renovo Hibiscus Coast AFC Football Club’s Over 40s team has made the biannual trip to the NZ Masters Games in Whanganui.
This year was no exception – 21 Coasties boarded a flight, including several players who took part in the inaugural trip 18 years ago.
Looking to improve on their 2019 result of a close semi-final defeat to Coasters Unite in the Over 45 section, results didn’t quite go Hibiscus Coast’s way on the first day, with goalkeeper and Coast player of the tournament, Adrian Martin, a busy lad.
However, Coast went on to win playoff games and finish a respectable 7th place.
Eventual tournament winners Coasters Unite – a side that also features several Hibiscus Coast players who combined with Waitakere City – triumphed over Wellington’s Capital Hearts 3-0 in the final to make it a three-peat, having won in 2019 and 2020.
Meanwhile, Hibiscus Coast team members refused to comment on allegations that it took more than 50 minutes for a team that includes mechanics, auto electricians and motorway patrol staffers to figure out that you actually have to use the right key to start the team van!
“Great sport, great mates, great memories, great club culture, and let’s just say the recent lockdown may have suited a few battered and bruised bodies,” team member Jon Gaskill says. “If only they could move as well on the field as they do on the dance floor, success would be assured.”
