Hockey 2nd XI win Silver in Galletley Cup

The HBHS Hockey 2nd XI went to this year’s Winter Tournament in Wellington with a new team; only four players remained from last year’s second tier champion’s side, including Captain Scott Fookes.  The team established themselves this year as hard working young men who were determined to succeed.  The large marjority of this group were under 15, but this did not impede their progress.  It was exciting for the Coach (Mrs Shah) and Manager (Mr Godsiff) to realise that they had a good balance of players who were willing to work as one unit. 

<The image accompanying this page is of the boys letting off steam in Waiouru during the trip back to Hamilton.>

The first HBHS game of the Galletley Cup tournament was played against Wellington College.  We won this 1-0, in a well contested match.  The second game versus Alfriston College was a 3-1 win to us.  This win more or less assured us of a place in the semifinal, though the final placing in the pool was only confirmed with a great win over our traditional rivals Tauranga Boys’ College, who has beaten us in the exchange earlier in the year.

Beating Tauranga Boys’ also assured us of the top spot in the pool, remaining unbeaten in pool play.  Our semi-final was against Auckland Grammar.  This was a spectacular game, where the boys showed us their best hockey and dominated play right from the word go.  We were delighted to come away with a great 3-1 victory.

Our final game was against Palmerston North Boys’ High School, from whom we had taken the title last year. It was a game which we dominated but lost, having conceded a goal in the last five minutes of play.  This was a heart breaking end to the season, as the boys played some fantastic hockey.

Over all this was a very rewarding tournament.  The boys were true ambassadors of the school, having done the school proud on and off the turf.

Mrs Shah