WC eye Rankin after P1 win
Wellington College have made a blistering start to their quest for national hockey glory, only days after claiming the regional Premier 1 title.
Coach Nigel Pollock said they had two goals this season, and last Friday they achieved their first target.
‘‘Our two goals were to win the local competition and get a medal at the Rankin Cup. It’s pretty good going into the Rankin Cup after achieving the first goal.’’
On Friday night Wellington beat the previously undefeated Wairarapa College 2-1 in a thrilling regional final, eventually decided with ‘golden goal’ extra time after the two sides were locked at 1-1 at the final whistle.
Pollock said it was a pleasing result after Wairarapa had dominated their other encounters this season.
‘‘They had beaten us two previous times this year and were unbeaten in the local competition. We lost to them in round robin and also the Dom Post Cup final [grading round final].
‘‘That was the fourth time in a row that we’ve met them in the regional final and we lost the last two.’’
A Paul Horrocks goal on the stroke of halftime from a penalty corner had given Wellington the lead, but Wairarapa eventually tied the match up when Morgan Taylor found the back of the goal in the second half.
Wellington had a late opportunity to snatch the win in regular time, but it was left to Jaylin Dayal to slot the winning goal in extra time and secure the title.
‘‘It was a high quality final,’’ Pollock said. ’’We knew it would be tough but felt we were still improving. It was a tight game but we knew we could do it.’’
With their first goal achieved, Wellington turned their attention to the Rankin Cup in Wellington this week, New Zealand’s premier national secondary schools hockey tournament.
The 32 teams from around New Zealand were split into eight pools of four teams, with the top two teams from each pool after a round robin advancing to the knockout phase.
Wellington College breezed through their first two pool matches on Monday, beating Otago Boys’ High School 8-0 and Scots College 4-2 to assure themselves of a spot in the next round.
A goal deep into added time from Hiren Mani in their final pool match against St Kentigern College on Tuesday night earned them a 3-3 draw and top spot in their pool. St Kent’s finished second. Scots drew 1-1 with St Kent’s on Monday, before taking on Otago on Tuesday night.
The tournament was a great opportunity to play different opposition, Pollock said.
‘‘We play in the Anzac preseason tournament where we met one or two of the teams, but from a team like Otago Boys’ we had no idea what to expect. That’s one of the exciting things about this tournament is that we get to meet teams that we don’t normally play.’’
The knockout phase of the tournament will run from Wednesday – Saturday, where the eventual winner would have won four consecutive knockout matches to become national champions.
Achieving both of their goals for the season would be hugely satisfying, Pollock said.
‘‘It would be an immense achievement. We’re under no illusions as to how difficult it is to win a tournament, but to be the best you have to beat the best.’’
Wairarapa managed three good Rankin Cup wins to qualify top of their pool for the next round.