The 1st XI team ANZAC squad (20 in total) , consisted of two year 9’s ,9 year 11s, 5 year 12s and 4 year 13s. This year we have seven members returning from the 2015 team that went to Rankin Cup. Unfortunately, Reuben Andrews and Garrick Du Toit were unavailable due to their Under 21 Midlands commitments.
Once again, a number of high quality hockey schools from Rankin Cup and India Shield attended the pre-season tournament with many of them travelling the day before the tournament commenced. We had thirteen teams attending with nine teams staying onsite in the boarding houses. All schools had large squad numbers which provided lots of opportunity for coaches to watch their players perform against quality opposition. The weather conditions were good which enabled the players and team to show off their hockey skills.
All thirteen school teams will be attending Rankin Cup / India Shield this year in Wellington - Hastings BHS, King’s College, Wairarapa College, St. Andrew’s College , Wellington College, Christ College, Napier BHS, Hamilton Boys HS, Palmerston North BHS, New Plymouth Boys HS, St.Kentigerns College, St. Paul’s Collegiate and Westlake Boys HS.
Wednesday 27thh April
In the first game against Napier Boys’ High School, St Paul’s controlled the game but struggled to play with structure and failed to convert their scoring opportunities. The end result revealed some deficiencies in the team patterns, positional organisation and communication. However, the boys played with a lot of commitment and intent. Win 2-1 to St Paul’s.
In the second game St Paul’s against Christ College. St Paul's dominated territory but once again failed to take their scoring opportunities. However, Christ College took their limited amount of opportunities and scored two good goals due to lapses in concentration, poor positioning, discipline and communication by St. Pauls. St Pauls lost the game 0 - 2.
Thursday 16th April
On Thursday morning St Paul’s played Saint Andrews College (STAC). St Paul’s stepped up in their play from the day before with better results in the circle, movement of the ball and posting up. St Paul’s played some good hockey to beat STAC 4-3. The score did not indicate SPC dominance of the game.
In the afternoon, St Paul’s played Wellington College. At times St Paul’s played with good structure but failed to connect with its midfield and wings. Wellington were able to capitalise on our mistakes to score the only goal but also to control the game. Defensively SPC did very well holding out a very strong Wellington College. A narrow loss to Wellington College 0 - 1.
Friday 17th April
On the final day we played Hasting BHS. The team played with good intensity and accuracy of pass to upset the opposition. St Paul’s performed extremely well and took their opportunities by scoring five goals. Final score 5 - 0 win for SPC.
In the final game against St Kentigerns, SPC lacked urgency and accuracy both on attack and defence. St. Pauls had lots of opportunities to score but only managed to score one goal. St. Kentigerns were very disruptive in their play which made the game messy. St.Kents College scored a late goal in the second half to draw the game 1- 1.
Results:
2-1 Won against Napier BHS
2-0 loss against Christ College
4-3 Won against St. Andrews College
0-1 loss against Wellington College
5-0 Won against Hastings BHS
1-1 Draw against Saint Kentigerns
The 1st XI hockey team were very well supported by a number of parents who billeted boys. It was a busy three days of hockey action, team bonding, and team coaching. Coaches’s gained an insight of individual strengths and weaknesses in tournament play.
We would like to thank and greatly appreciate New World Rototuna and Little India Rototuna for their on-going support of the team during this tournament and throughout the season.
The team management are optimistic from what the boys achieved during the three days of hockey. The tournament is a vital component in the build-up for the season and Rankin Cup as it helps give our boys a greater understanding the difficulties of tournament play, level of hockey required to compete and the importance of self-management and high fitness levels.
