Excellent week of hockey for the First XI hockey teams
Wednesday 29 June was a historic night for St Paul’s first XI boys and girls teams. It was the first time the boys and girls overcame their main rivals in the same week, with the St Paul’s First XI hockey girls beating Hamilton Girls' High School 1-0 to secure third place in the Waikato competition.
The First XI boys' hockey team overcame Hamilton Boys' High School, winning 1-0 to secure the Waikato Secondary Boys' Championship.
The St Paul’s boys' hockey team were made to work for their title defence by a spirited Hamilton Boys' side who came out firing and put St Paul’s under a lot of early pressure. St Paul’s withstood the early barrage. Ben Allen and Cameron Hopping put in a very good defensive shift to deny Hamilton Boys'. St Paul’s not at their fluent best did however always look dangerous on the counter. Late in the first half, Ben Allen thought he had given St Paul’s the lead after crashing his finish past the helpless Hamilton Boys' keeper, only to have it chalked off because the preceding free hit was not taken on the mark. Hamilton Boys' had a number of penalty corners but couldn’t find a way to get the ball past Matthew Ruetsch, who was his normal robust self in goal.
The second half started 0-0, and St Paul’s had to work hard, having lost Cameron Hopping to a five-minute yellow card. After weathering the storm a man down, St Paul’s began to show their quality and began to apply some real pressure on Hamilton Boys'. Hamilton Boys' still had their chances in the 39th minute. Javahn Jones seemingly leapt from nowhere to block what looked to be a certain goal with Matthew Ruetsch stranded. The game looked headed for the same 0-0 result when the two teams met three weeks ago in the Matt Allen Trophy match until St Paul’s struck. A great piece of out letting down the left-hand side of the field breached the Hamilton Boys’ defence. Lachie O'Neill carried strongly into the circle and earnt St Paul’s their second penalty corner of the match. Two was all they needed as Javahn Jones evaded the first runner and smashed his reverse stick finish emphatically. St Paul's had a few nervy moments closing out the last few minutes but ultimately held their nerve to record a well-earnt Waikato Secondary Schools Championship. They finished the round with an impressive record of not conceding a goal.
The girls playing at St Paul's finished off what has been a solid first half of the season with yet another defensive shutout. Frankie Muir was impressive in goal, making several vital saves. The defensive pairing of Jess Carey and Jenna Brangwyne made life very tough for the Hamilton Girls’ strikers. The decisive goal came in the 10th minute with a well-taken penalty corner strike from Jess Carey. Hamilton Girls' continued to toil, but it didn’t look like they would be scoring against a well-organised St Paul’s defence. St Paul’s had some excellent opportunities to extend their lead, and Grace Potter and Evie Potter looked lively on the attack, but the final pass or shot never found its mark.