Hamilton Boys' High School's Matt Polley, left, and Tauranga Boys' College's Hamish McGeorge contest possession during the Hamilton side's 7-1 win. Photo / Andrew Warner
Hamilton Boys' High School's Matt Polley, left, and Tauranga Boys' College's Hamish McGeorge contest possession during the Hamilton side's 7-1 win. Photo / Andrew Warner
Hamilton Boys' High School confirmed themselves as favourites to take out the Rankin Cup in Wellington early next month with a commanding unbeaten weekend of hockey at Tauranga Boys' College.
The Hamilton side beat the hosts 7-1 yesterday morning to sweep a quadrangular tournament featuring four schools - Tauranga Boys'College (ninth), Hamilton Boys' High School (third equal), Westlake Boys' High School (second) and King's High School (first) - that finished inside the top ten in the country last year.
It was not all bad news for the home side, though, with encouraging wins against King's College and Westlake Boys' providing a boost of confidence for a group featuring a large number of Year 13 students.
Jeremy Youngman was the hero for Tauranga Boys', picking up a hat-trick to lead a fightback from 2-0 down to eventually prevail 5-4. Robert Bensen and Tom Reid also got their names on the score sheet against the defending Rankin Cup champions, while Jack Andrews and Jeremy Campi did the damage in the 2-1 win over Westlake.
Hamish McGeorge was the sole scorer against Hamilton Boys', so the midweek semifinal in the Midlands Intercity Schools competition between the two sides looms as an ideal opportunity for the Tauranga side to chart their improvement.
Youngman, a fourth year starter in a team that has essentially been together for more than four years, said his side got a lot of confidence from the strong showings against two of the heavyweights of New Zealand secondary school hockey.
"Last year was the first time I played in Rankin. We had a young team so we just wanted to stay up, but this year I think we have a good chance," said Youngman.
"Hamilton will be favourites and will be pretty fired up, but then everyone thought they would win last year.
