First XI football sport report

On Wednesday 15 June, the First XI boys' football team took on Rotorua Boys' High School in a national tournament qualifier game. While confidence going into the game was high, Rotorua was renowned for being physically strong and combative so a good team performance was required. St Paul's Collegiate School started strong with Fergus Williams netting inside the first five minutes. St Paul's continued to dominate all facets of the first half and scored another three goals, one to Lucca Lim, one to Louie Short and a second to Fergus Williams to lead 4-0 at halftime.

Rotorua Boys' High were much stronger in the second half, competing more in the midfield and evening up the possession states. However, they never looked like scoring, and steadily over the half St Paul's structure and discipline took control. Max Gurnick scored a final goal giving St Paul's a 5-0 win.

On Saturday 18 June, the First XI boys' football team played St John's College in a game that was both a league and national tournament qualifier. A win would guarantee the team a spot in the national tournament in Napier later this year. Right from the kickoff, St Paul's Collegiate School dominated possession and created goal-scoring opportunities. 10 minutes in, Fergus scored the first goal. St Paul's was finding a lot of space on both flanks, getting in behind the St John's defence and looking likely to score. The second goal by Matthew D'Hotman came at the 26 minutes mark to give St Paul's a 2-0 lead at halftime. The second half followed the pattern of the first. Edward Ludbrook scored the third goal one minute into the second half and Dylan Gardiner a fourth only 5 minutes later. The team did concede a goal, but Louie Short put the game to rest with a final goal at the 75 minute mark. St Paul's Collegiate School won the game 5-1 and confirmed their place in this year's national premier grade tournament.