Hockey finals win

Opihi College Hockey has won the Tier 2 division of the Youth Grade. After struggling for years to get together a team, we entered a team for the second year in a row.

Under the guidance of the amazing coaches Bruce Mattingly and Robin Clarkson, the team improved their skills immensely during the season. Being able to practice each week on the new turf at Opihi College has also been a massive bonus.

At the end of the round, Opihi College finished top equal and therefore had to play off against Roncalli 2nd XI in the finals. We had played them twice before which had resulted in a draw and in a loss, so everyone was feeling nervous. Right from the first whistle it was an exceptionally hard fought game, as both sides really wanted to win. Temuka managed to get the first two goals with some great team work in the circle. Roncalli then managed to score late in the first half. In the second half, Roncalli shut our attackers down in the mid field and despite a couple of promising break throughs, we struggled to score. Our backs worked relentlessly to defend and George Stratford, our goalie, was outstanding. The whole team worked so well as a team and communicated with each other beautifully, in order to hold the score at 2-1 which meant that we were victorious as winners.

We can't wait until next season now!

Team: Liam Harper (C), Tony Milne, Lachlan Stratford, Ranui Te Maharoa, Cassidy Crawshaw, Keira South, Quin Dawson, Caitlyn Kruger, George Stratford, Cameron Jamieson (Ger), Rose Jamieson (Ger), Paige Harper (TGHS), Isaac Mattingly (TBHS)