Westlake Boys Hockey take out the Rankin Cup
Fresh from winning the Auckland Championship title and the North Harbour Championship title earlier this season, Westlake Boys 1st XI Hockey went on to beat St. Andrew’s College from Christchurch in a tense final encounter to win the Secondary Schools Hockey Championship in front of a ‘home’ crowd at Lloyd Elsmore Park on Saturday afternoon.
At stake was the much sought after Rankin Cup, established in 1923 when the Addington Hockey Club from Christchurch presented the Rankin Cup for competition between New Zealand Secondary Schools. The cup was given in memory of Al Rankin, who had been one of the foundation members of the Addington Club and a Canterbury representative player over a long period of years. After winning the Rankin Cup for the first time in 2008, Westlake Boys 1st XI had made the Zealand Secondary Schools final three times, but until last Saturday’s fourth time their predecessors had not been able to secure the title again.
The road to the final against St Andrew’s College began when Westlake defeated Rathkeale College 5-0, Sacred Heart 5-1 and Hastings Boys 4-3 to come up against Christ’s College in the first knockout match. Christ’s College was defeated 3-0 followed by a 2-0 win over Wairapa College to advance to the semi-final against St Paul’s Collegiate School, who were beaten 2-1.
One would have assumed that after having played six high intensity matches in only five days both finalists would understandably be tired going into the final. However, the players didn’t show any signs of fatigue in the high pace start to the game. With some strong key players in the St Andrew’s team, Westlake’s defense stepped up allowing their other players to attack. Westlake dominated possession for the first few minutes and were rewarded with a penalty corner which wasn’t executed properly. More pressure followed and after another corner and attacks into St Andrew’s defensive circle, Wesley Sleep managed to deflect a nice short pass from Sachin Chhiba and put Westlake 1-0 up. Both teams attacked and defended well for the rest of the half and the score stayed 1-0 to Westlake at the end of the first half.
The second half was much the same but the telling point for Westlake came when the team got together in a huddle after play was stopped for an injury which needed some medical attention. Having regrouped and with just fifteen minutes to go, the team managed to keep to its tactics. With five minutes left on the clock St Andrew’s substituted their goal keeper in the hope that an extra outfield player would possibly create an overlap. Westlake reacted quickly also changing tactics and when with only two minutes to go St Andrew’s were given a penalty corner, Westlake’s defense read the attempt well and there was no shot on target.
St Andrew’s kept up the pressure till the dying moments of the match and when Westlake were awarded a free hit with only 15 seconds to go, the team managed to keep the ball in their possession. After the heartbreak of having finished runners-up in the tournament the previous year the final whistle made way for celebrations as Westlake Boys were crowned New Zealand Champions. A fitting end to an exceptional season.
Westlake Boys congratulates all the players, coaches Mr. Meredith and McCracken and manager Westlaker Warren Wild. Thanks to all Westlake parents, staff, friends and Westlakers supporters.
Galletly Cup Hockey Tournament in Blenheim
Westlake’s 2nd XI Hockey team travelled to Blenheim for the Galletly Cup, the 2nd XI National Hockey Championships. The first game on Monday against Hamilton Boys High School proved to be a tough match but Westlake managed to get a winning start to the tournament defeating their opponents 2-1 with goals scored by Dylan Carlyle and Pablo Mayer, the latter one with only 50 seconds left on the clock.
On Tuesday the team played St Bedes in another hard fought game with both teams having several opportunities. Westlake were quite dominant with Cam Jones-Moore scoring two goals and Ryan Quinn converting a PC to take the final score to 3-0. The next day’s match was against Whangerei Boys High School. Westlake played very well and dominated the game. The game was played in good spirit and no margins were asked or given. Westlake won 7-0 with Thomas Patrick and Konnor Baker each scoring two goals and Ryan Quinn, Cam Jones-Moore and Alesh Sukha one goal each.
In the semi-finals, Westlake came up against a very strong Palmerston Boys High School who have played in every final in the history of the tournament. Westlake opened the score in the sixth minute with Dylan Carlyle scoring a beautiful field goal. Michael Stern overloaded the defence in the 23rd minute and put away the second goal. Palmerston Boys kept fighting and started their second half strong. They were awarded a PC early in the second half and a small error on Westlake’s part saw them score. Westlake retained possession and slowly gained the upper hand. With the pressure building, Palmerston Boys eventually made a mistake and the forwards attacked the D. They drew the defence across, slipped the ball across the goal and Tony Brinkman put it away for a final score line 3-1. The win took Westlake through to the final against Hamilton Boys Development Team who had played off against Hamilton 2nd XI finishing in a draw. The new game format Golden Goal (drop a player and the keeper for a period of 5 minutes) resulted in a win for their development team.
The final proved to be a tough and physical game from the start. Hamilton played beautifully structured hockey but Westlake kept possession of the ball and marked Hamilton’s key player out of the game. The pressure was increased and Dylan Carlyle put away the first goal in the 14th minute. Westlake kept moving the ball around and this resulted in Hamilton’s structure failing. Dylan scored his second goal of the match with two minutes left in the first Half.
The second half saw an increase in pressure from Hamilton and they eventually were awarded a PC. Hamilton managed to score after an initial clearance went straight to one of their attacking players. Westlake regained composure and control of the game with several opportunities going wide of the goals. Hamilton eventually took off their keeper and added an extra field player to try and overload our defence but this was not successful either. The final whistle blew with Westlake winning the final 2-1 and securing the national title for the second year in a row.
Congratulations to all players, coach Kevin Jacobs and manager Sharon Young. Special thanks to captain Alesh Sukha and the vice-captain Dylan Carlyle who led by example, both on and off of the field.
Tanner Cup – U15 Hockey Tournament
Westlake Boys Junior Hockey team played in the Tanner Cup, the annual U15 Hockey Tournament played at St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton.
Westlake won their first pool match against Hastings Boys High School 7-0 and the second pool game against St Andrew’s College 3-2 on strokes (after a 0-0 draw) to finish first in the pool. In the quarter-final, rain stopped play and the final score was decided in stroke play resulting in a 3-0 win for the Westlake team. The semi-final against St Andrew’s College was a nail biting affair in which Westlake played their most outstanding game of hockey all season. The team were 1-0 up for about 40 minutes but St Andrew’s pushed hard on Westlake’s defence and scored a goal in the last eight minutes of the match, the only goal conceded by Westlake in the tournament. The one all draw resulted in another penalty shoot-out which was won 3-2 by St Andrew’s.
In the play-off for third and fourth spot Westlake defeated Lindisfarne College 3-0 to finish third in the tournament. St Andrew’s College finished first, defeating St Paul’s Collegiate School; the Westlake team can be pleased with this result as they had beaten St Andrew’s in pool play. Congratulations to all students and staff involved.