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Later on day 2, Rathkeale College were to be the nal pool game. A win would see
us third in Pool D, a draw or loss, bo om. This me a ack was on song and Benji scored our rst Rankin Cup goal and spirits were high. We scored 2 more and our
1st win ever looked probable, however, Rathkeale scored twice and a draw resulted in us being bo om of Pool D and taking
on Paraparaumu College in the crossover game. Most of the team had encountered Paraparaumu before and soon realized that their key play makers were s ll there, but now much older and more experienced. A
3 – 0 score line resulted, meaning we would now need to win on Day 4 or the relega on cloud would loom over-head.
Early on Day 4 the lads took on Kris n School, in a must win match. An early goal, followed by another and another saw a healthy score line at half me. A quick goal to Kris n in the second half created some doubt but this was soon squashed as the strikers scored 3 more and our rst win
of the tournament, a 6 – 1 result. A er that win the lads needed to win against Lindisfarne College (another private school) to avoid relega on.
Day 5 dawned and nerves were high as a number of players had never experienced this must win pressure before. A solid rst half and a goal to us mid-way through
took the team to a 1 – 0 lead at half me. The second half was intense as both sides hammered the mid eld to try and feed
the strikers the ball. It was pre y clear 20 minutes out there was going to be nothing in this game. The back 3 defended well, however mistakes happened in the last 7 minutes of the game and Lindisfarne scored and then scored 1 minute a er that. No other word describes the feeling other
than GUTTING!!!. Relega on for the rst ever Southland team in the tournament,
the youngest team at the tournament and the most real team at the Rankin Cup.
Later on Day 5 was to be our last game against Rathkeale for 27th place. In the past decade, our lads have never disappointed the outgoing members of the team and won this game 3 – 1, as previous Southland Boys’ 1st XI teams have the last 10 years straight.
What does 2019 now hold for the remaining team a er tournament week 2018? A top seed spot in the 2019 Johnson cup, securing a nals spot in that tournament and ge ng back amongst the Rankin cup in 2020.
Hockey at Southland Boys’ High School in 2018 has been a year of new experiences. The premier hockey team of the school, the 1st XI now has developed into a real team that has experienced a new level of hockey a er na onal promo on. The team goals are now focussed around ge ng back to that level of school boy hockey.
Congratula ons to those players who have represented their province and received awards for their hockey this year. Thank you to all the parents for their support of their
Inter-schools
Tournament Week
Team
Otago Boys’ High School
Waitaki Boy’s High School
King’s High School
Team
King’s College
St. Paul’s Collegiate
Rathkeale College
Paraparaumu College
Kris n School
Lindisfarne College
Rathkeale College
Loca on
Away
Home
Home
Result
Loss
Loss
Draw
Loss
Win
Loss
Win
Score
1 – 0 Loss
4 – 1 Win
7 – 0 Loss
Full Time
6 –0
2 –0
3 –3
3 –0
6 –1
2 –1
3 –1
sons down at the cold turf and especially on tournament this year. Special thanks to the coaches and managers this year, Miss Kiri Hogan, Miss Simone Cameron, Miss Jordan Paskell, Mrs Grier Campbell, Mr Shaun Fitzgibbon, Mr Hamish Skelt and Mr Chris Neylon. You have all helped the sport in your own ways this year. Lastly, to ‘B Hes’, ‘the Fiddler’ and ‘Crazy Eyes’, who are leaving the school this year, we thank you for the years of service you have given to school hockey and we wish you all the best for the future.
3RD XI HOCKEY REPORT
It was said to be the year of the 3rds! Coming o a tough campaign last season, walking away with one victory and a disappoin ng draw, we were well set up to achieve great things in 2018. With one year of experience under our belt, we were now seen as a threat to Invercargill secondary school hockey teams. Our successful recruitment in the o season of ring-in, experienced hockey player Sean Withy, and young gun Gareth Turnock, set us up nicely to be the ul mate under dogs.
Li le did we know our rst four games of the season were against arguably the best teams in the compe on; CSC 1st, Hargest 1st, SBHS 1st and Verdon 1st, but that did not ra le our con dence for taking on the big names and looking for a history making upset. We did not disappoint.
Coming o our rst game with a loss against CSC we were ready to get the ball rolling, taking on last year’s champions Hargest 1st XI. Right o the bat we were defending like the boys in Gallipoli. We managed to hold them out at half me 0-0. With our tails up we came out hot
in the second half but with a few missed opportuni es from Zack Fowle, Hargest crept ahead 1-0. But, being the ba lers we are, we fought back to a 1-1 draw with a nice touch from Zack Fowle to redeem himself! Minutes later Hargest were back on top making the nal score 2-1, but we
took that as a victory and warning shots were red to our next opponent Boycee and the SBHS First XI.
The following Monday came around. Not
a word was spoken to Boycee that day in Agriculture and the boys were seeing red: the turf had more spectators than ever, with cars lined up and down the street. The spectators were here to see history made and we did not disappoint. Our
rst play was like nothing seen on a turf before, and did not go according to plan, as we ended up scrambling to defend. Sean Withy single handedly carried a large majority of the lads on defense and a ack and Goalie Hamish Grey saved everything that crossed his path. We were well in truly in this! Boycee’s smile was quickly whipped from his face as the Firsts could not handle our skill. Tensions were rising and words were said that cannot be repeated in
this write up. Thirty minutes cked over and the half me whistle sounded with a repeat of last week’s game, leaving the half me score 0-0. The second half started and the Firsts came out hot, especially a er their half me talk which we could hear from our team huddle where we were quietly chewing on some snakes. Before we knew it the score started adding up against us and our hope started trickling through our nger ps. It wasn’t meant
to be! But you couldn’t have asked for a be er game with the score being 6-0.
The season con nued at a rapid pace and our victories were soon to come. With
a slim loss to Verdon 1st we went o
and had a lot of convincing wins against everyone who stood against us on that turf. Our dream of making the top four was s ll intact and everyone was on form. Goals were being handed out to Josh Puller, to James Riordan; probably some of the worst players to pull on the 3rds jersey. In the business end of the season we came up against the SBHS Colts
and despite an absolute nightmare of a performance from the boys we s ll got the win.