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National Tournament: Mayhill Cup 2010

The Mayhill Cup is the North Island's third tier tournamant.  It is clearly much stronger that the tournaments below and is fast closing the gap on India Shield as 4 teams were relegate to Mayhill in 2009.  The quality of teams at the 2010 Mayhill Cup Tournament was evident with just a little bit of research.  Just a few that we knew something about were:

  • Tauranga Boys' College finished in the top half of the Super 8 Tournament above Rankin Cup teams
  • Pukekohe HS had recently beaten Rankin Cup teams Auckland Grammar and Kings College and had lost narrowly to Westlake.
  • Scots College, coached by Brent Miskimmin, were competive last year and had the same team this year
  • Gisborne BHS were competitve at Super 8 and a physically strong team

Full 2010 Mayhill Cup Tournament Report

Mayhill Cup Gallery (to be updated soon)

 

Summary of Games

 

Match Reports & Tournament Summary

Round 1 v Pukekohe

We had managed to get video footage and match reports of Pukekohe before the game.  This gave us reason to be concerned as Pukekohe had recently beaten Rankin Cup sides Auckland Grammar and Kings and lost narrowly to Westlake.  We decided to half court and try to counter attack hitting them on the break.  Pukekohe however were too strong, too fast and too streetwise for our young team.  We were totally outplayed and lost 6-0 deservedly.  The boys never gave up however and we collectively learned a lot from the game.  With a few tactical changes we could still qualify if we picked up points from the next two games.

Round 2 v Otumoetai

After the initial loss to a very strong Pukekohe team we know that the game against Otumoetai would be pivotal.  We started very strongly and were totally dominent in the first half approaching the break with a comfortable 2-0 lead.  Just before the half time whistle we let a weak goal in which gave O’s a boost going into half time.  With a slender lead we appeared nervous after the break and Otumoetai fought there way back into it scoring to make it 2-2.  HBHS hit back to regain a 3-2 lead only to see a lack of concentration cost again as Otumoetai got another goal to level the scores at 3-3.  The match could then of gone either way.  Disapointingly for us it went against us as we lost the game 3-4 with the last hit of the game.

Round 3 v Rathkeale

After looking at Rathkeale in the previous game we thought that this could prove to be a tough game.  A win would put us in 3rd place and give us potentially the easier cross over in Round 4.  As in the previous game goals seemed to follow each other on end and then the other.  Unlike the previous game Hastings Boys’ seemed always to playing catch up.  Bucket loads of guts saw our young team stick in there.  Jake Webber scored the 2nd goal which seemed to be a pivotal moment in his tournament as his individual performance & work rate went to another level.  Dylan Thomas again caused havoc up front and Rathkeale never managed to get to grips with his movement.  Fittingly, after putting in a captain’s performance, Tim Greene scored the equaliser to make it 4-4 at the end of play.

Round 4 Cross Over v St Peters

St Peter’s performances going into this game showed that they were a really strong team.  They had great set pieces, some good technical players and a boy that could throw an overhead the length of the pitch!  The winner of this game would secure safety in this tournament for 2011 and the loser potentially facing relegation to a lower level tournament. 
 
It was pleasing to see us start strongly.  We were completely dominant in the first half as Tim Greene and then Dylan Thomas scoring to give Hastings Boys’ a 2-0 lead.  The second period started the same as the first as Tim Greene scored again.  St Peters changed their formation and became more desperate as the game went on.  They sent some huge bombs into our circle and had several good chances but the defence and particular goalkeer Sam Deihl were outstanding.  The game ended with us not letting in a goal and it was great to know that at the very least we would be eligible to come to this tournament next year without losing any players & picking up a few more.

Round 5 Cross Over v Hauraki Plains

Due to the timing of our game we couldn’t get any video analysis of Hauraki Plains.  This proved to be a critical mistake as we failed to identify early enough their two key players.  We started very slowly and seemed to have no defensifve structure.  At half time we were 4 nil down seemingly with no way back.  With a tactical changes at half time and a bit of a soul searching we decided we’d throw the kitchen sink at them for a few minutes to see what happened.  Incredibly they defended as badly as we had done in the first half and we became totally dominant.  Dylan Thomas was outstanding and scored 3 excellent goals.  Luke Bradley, Cam Gichard and Tim Greene raised their games to another level.  With 30 seconds to go we had two clear cut chances but we couldn’t quite get there.  The first half was disapointing but the character of this young team produced an outstanding second half.

Round 6 Cross Over v Gisborne BHS

Before the game the Gisborne Manager approached us to say that traditionally the Omahu Cup was played for when our two Super 8 schools played each other.  We agreed that the winner of this game would win that cup. Both teams were safe from relegation, however for us it was essential that we won against a Super 8 team that had been in India Shield last year.  A win would be the start of the building process for next year’s Super 8 and National Tournaments. 

We controlled a lot of possession and probably had a bit more territory.  GBHS always looked dangerous however through the inside right channel and up front.  Physically they were bigger than us which caused some of the young lads some problems.  After we had missed a few good chances Gisborne caught us on the counter attack and scored.  They had a few more PC’s which we defended well and consequently we went into half time 1-0 down.

The second half went on in a similar fashion to the first with chances at either end.  With 10 minutes to go and nothing to lose we made several tactical changes as we moved our all of our more experienced senior players forward as we tried to get a goal.  This worked well as GBHS couldn’t get the ball out of their defence.  Dylan Thomas, who had worked hard all game, got a great ball from Tim Greene to hammered it into the net.  With not much time left we switched a few players about again.  A quick exchange in passing saw Dylan Thomas send an excellent pass into the circle.  Jake Webber picked it up an fired in a shot to score with 30 seconds left.

Summary

An excellent 2-1 win against a Super 8 school will give us confidence going forward.  Also of note is that we do not lose any players next year and only 4 players over the next 3 years!  We were competitive in every game except the first one with a team whose average age was 15.1!
 
Dylan Thomas was outstanding up front scoring 8 goals.  Tim Green, Luke Bradley, and Cam Gichard were excellent through out.  Sam Deihl was probably the most naturally gifted goalkeeper at tournament & in Hawke’s Bay.  Some of the younger players such as Jake Webber, Liam Sykes, Nicholas Rogers Rehn, Adam Wrigley and Mitchell Bradley had very strong tournaments.  However the key to our development over the tournament was the strength of our team.  All sixteen players contributed well both on and of the pitch.
 
I believe that this current Hastings Boys’ squad has the potential to be the best side the school has produced in 20 years.  Special mention as well should go to Mr Miller and Kim Gichard who were excellent making sure that off the field we were well organised and prepared for games.


Dean Hulls

1st XI Hockey Coach, Hastings Boys’ High School