The 1st XI Hockey Team are coming to the end of an extremely busy season. This year has been the first time that the 1st XI has played in both the Intercity Secondary School Competition and the Manawatu Men's Competition.

Playing in two competitions has meant a hectic schedule for the team playing on both Wednesday evenings and Saturdays. When you add interschool fixtures and the Super 8 Tournament to the calendar, it has meant a lot of hockey played in a season that had the potential to never get underway due to COVID-19.

The Intercity Secondary School Competition is played between eight schools from Palmerston North, Masterton, Whanganui and Levin. During the round-robin phase of the competition, the 1st XI won all of their matches. The results were:

Cornerstone Christian School: 7 – 0 win

Rathkeale College: 4 – 1 win

Feilding High School: 4 – 0 win

Whanganui Collegiate: 4 – 1 win

Whanganui High School: 9 – 2 win

Wairarapa College: 3 – 0 win

Waiopehu College: Win by default

After the round-robin, a quarter-final against Waiopehu College was played in which the 1st XI won 14 – 1. A quarter-final against Rathkeale College followed that the 1st XI won 3 – 1.

The final against Feilding High School was played on Sunday 20th September. In a close match, PNBHS won the final 2 – 0 and hence the Intercity Secondary School Competition. This result was a fantastic achievement for the team.

This year Super 8 was played in Tauranga in place of Rankin Cup which had been cancelled due to COVID-19. In the pool play, PNBHS came up against Hastings Boys' High School, Rotorua Boys' High School and Hamilton Boys' High School with the following results:

Hastings BHS: 3 – 1 win

Rotorua BHS: 7 – 0 win

Hamilton BHS: 3 – 1 win

The semi-final against New Plymouth Boys' High School proved to be a challenging match. After having beaten New Plymouth BHS earlier in the year, PNBHS were undone by an excellent New Plymouth side 7 -2. Although a disappointing result, the young men gave it their all and managed to win their final game against Tauranga Boys' College 4 – 0. This result meant that PNBHS was placed third at Super 8.

As the season continues, the 1st XI is still competing for the Manawatu Men's Division Two title. With one more match in the round-robin before playoffs, the team look good for a semi-final berth.

The 1st XI would like to thank all of our supporters through the season. As always, it is much appreciated.  A big thank you to Old Boy Simon O'Connor at Hunting and Fishing Manawatu for his sponsorship support of the 1st XI.