This year GBHS played in the men’s competition for the second consecutive year looking to improve on last year’s performance. The team consisted of our senior players and some of the secondary grade team. Playing in the men’s grade was good preparation for the team as we got to play teams that were at a similar level of hockey as teams that we would play at upcoming tournaments. We started the league off well once again, with only two losses against YMP A and Wairoa and had a major win against LOB A 6-2. This left us in second position on the table heading into the second round. The final round was full of controversy losing on a protest, on a deferment gone wrong and drawing with an inferior team, lacking a full side with only eight players. After all this drama we still competed in the top four playoff. We met Waituhi in the semi-finals after disposing of LOB A with relative ease. We overcame poor refereeing to advance into the grand final, although Waituhi proved worthy opponents. We gave it our all, but could not contain an experienced YMP side, eventually losing 3-1. This was the closest score in finals for some years.
Super 8
This is one of the tournaments where we were at full strength. This enabled us to have a good showing against Tauranga Boys, losing by a solitary goal in controversial circumstances. Our second game saw us pitted against arch rivals Napier Boys where we lost narrowly in a closely contested encounter. It was important for us to win our next game against Rotorua Boys to improve our final pool placings. Unfortunately this went in favour of Rotorua Boys despite our concerted effort. We met our hosts New Plymouth Boys in our cross over for fifth and sixth placing. This game went right to the wire with us coming from behind to equalize and send the game into a penalty shootout. The result finally went our way with a deciding victory. A tough challenge lay ahead of us having to face Napier Boys for a second time. We were not able to turn the score around and Napier finished ahead of us in fifth place, leaving us in sixth, ahead of New Plymouth Boys and Hastings Boys. This saw us equal our achievement of the previous year.
Chamberlain Shield
For the first time in many years GBHS competed for the Chamberlain Shield in Whakatane. We felt very much up to the task heading into it with a large number of games in the men’s grade and the Super 8 competition under our belt. Our confidence rose after winning the first game convincingly over Whakatane High School and we soon found ourselves playing against Trident High School for the shield. The final game was highly physical with a few of their players being sent off the field. Trident accounted well for themselves, but could not avoid a GBHS onslaught. We came out of the tournament deserving winners of the Chamberlain Shield.
Mayhill Cup
After dominating the Woolaston Trophy for two years running we stepped up a level to compete at the Mayhill Cup, a third tier tournament. With key players away with other commitments, such as Toby – surf lifesaving, Nick – BMX, and Dillon – basketball, we knew we had a big task ahead of us. The first game found us playing against St Peter’s where we squandered a two-goal lead, to allow them to end the game tied. One goal came from an individual who dribbled through the whole team to score within seconds of the restart. In the next game we were outclassed by a superior side in Scots College, although we managed to keep it tied at half time, we weren’t able to stop the onslaught of the second half. This team were eventual pool winners and were unlucky not to secure a spot in the finals. In our last game of pool play we faced off against St Patricks. Although we weren’t able to come away with the win, I was still very proud of the boy’s efforts. Heading into crossovers we had to win against Heretaunga to avoid placing near the bottom. We managed to grab a win with a single goal. We finally placed 12th in the tournament with two losses to Rathkeale College and Hastings Boys. The game against Rathkeale went to penalty strokes, despite us dominating the game, their goalkeeper proving to be our undoing.