St Paul’s Hockey Festival throws up surprises and contenders

The 2018 hockey season is underway - Photo: Kimberley Wihare

The St Paul’s Collegiate First XI hockey festival was a resounding success and concluded on Friday. St Paul’s coach Craig Hardham was very excited about the quality of hockey.
 
“The pre-season was great. To be honest a lot of the teams are very even. Results came down to how much tinkering each team did and how much they used the pre-season to give new players some good experience.”
 
An example of the unpredictable nature of the results is that Westlake BHS beat Whangarei BHS 4-0. Three weeks ago Westlake got beaten 6-2 by Hamilton BHS, but held them to a 4-4 draw last week while Whangarei BHS beat Hamilton BHS 3-0.  
 
In addition to hockey a tournament dinner was held and respects paid on ANZAC day.
 
Key Points
 
Saint Kentigern College and Westlake BHS were the only unbeaten teams at the tourney with St Kent’s piling on 17 goals and only conceding two. Hamilton BHS held the Auckland powerhouse to a draw and Westlake shared two fixtures.
 
Hamilton BHS won all five matches last year and only dropped one fixture in 2018. They only finished 9th at the Rankin Cup.
 
Rankin Cup champions Christ’s College won their first game, but only scored once in their next four.
 
There were many standout players, but names to watch for during the season include: Luke Aldred (Hamilton BHS), Daniel Woud (St Kentigern College), Oscar Wilson (Christ’s College), Devanad Bhika (Wellington College), Tom Roycroft (Westlake BHS), George Greenhill (St Paul’s Collegiate) and Brendon Peck (Whangarei BHS)

Full Results
 
Day One
Hamilton BHS: 3 v Wellington College: 1
St Paul’s Collegiate: 0 v St Kentigern College:  5
Westlake BHS: 4 v Napier BHS: 2
Whangarei BHS:  4 v Wairarapa College:  0
Hastings BHS: 2 v Christ’s College: 3
Wellington College: 2 v St Kentigern College: 3
Napier BHS: 1 v Whangarei BHS: 5
St Paul's Collegiate: 5 v Hastings BHS: 1
Hamilton BHS: 3 v Christ’s College: 0
Wairarapa College: 0 v Westlake BHS: 1
 
Day 2
Hamilton BHS: 4 v  Westlake BHS: 4
Hastings BHS: 1 v Whangarei BHS: 2
Napier BHS: 0 v St Kentigern College: 5
Wairarapa College: 4 v Christ’s College: 0
St Paul's Collegiate: 2 v Wellington College: 1
Westlake BHS: 4 v Whangarei BHS: 0
Hamilton BHS:  0 v St Kentigern College: 0
Wellington College: 5 v Christ’s College: 0
St Paul's Collegiate: 0 v Napier BHS: 0
Wairarapa College: 0 v Hastings BHS: 0
 
Day 3
Hastings BHS: 0 v St Kentigern College: 4
Napier BHS: 2 v Christ’s College: 1
Hamilton BHS: 0 v Whangarei BHS: 3
St Paul's Collegiate:  0 v Wairarapa College: 2
Wellington College: 3 v Westlake BHS: 3