College Sport: St Paul's show their class to take out Aussie Rules title

St Paul's College came from behind to defeat One Tree Hill in the Central Auckland competition. Picture / Alex Braae

St Paul's College have avenged their defeat in the 2013 Junior Hawks Cup, beating One Tree Hill College to reclaim the Central Auckland cluster trophy.

In a wind-affected contest, St Paul's overcame a halftime deficit, growing in confidence over the second half and kicking long goals accurately.

Earlier in the Central Auckland cluster tournament, both St Paul's and One Tree Hill defeated Western Springs College. The latter were far from disgraced by the results, kicking goals in both contests and competing hard against bigger and more physical opposition.

The first match of the tournament saw St Paul's take on Western Springs. At halftime, only four points separated the teams. However, in the second half St Paul's pulled away, kicking three goals to one to record a 5.4:34 - 2.5:17 win.

Western Springs next faced One Tree Hill, and again the first half was very close. The superior accuracy of One Tree Hill kept them in front at halftime, and in the second spell they dominated possession and territory to record a 6.4:40 - 2.4:16 win.

In what was effectively a final, One Tree Hill started strongly to lead 2.2:14 - 1.3:9 at the break. However, with the wind against them in the second half, St Paul's overhauled the score early. Going on to kick four goals to one in the quarter, St Paul's took the match 5.5:35 - 3.2:20. Daymon Abbey led from the front for the winners, earning himself a Best and Fairest award for his team.

One Tree Hill are the current North Island champions of AFL, a title they will seek to defend this weekend at the North Island Junior Secondary School AFL Championships, to be held at the Trusts Arena on November 15-16.

Schools competing in the top division of that tournament will include other cluster tournament winners Waitakere College, Southern Cross Campus, Northcote College and Kerikeri High School.

Southern Cross are expected to be tough to beat, and will look to improve on their second place finish at the North Island champs last year.

Many of the players involved in the Hawks Cup have been rewarded with invitations to be part of the AFL New Zealand high performance programme. Members of this take part in development, training and matches, before having the opportunity to represent New Zealand.

High performance players often choose to give back to the sport through coaching. Two of the competing schools were led by members of the high performance programme.

Western Springs were coached by New Zealand Hawks and Auckland player and U18 NZ Hawks coach Chris Mundell. One Tree Hill had the benefit of coaching from Mitchell Ryan, former Under 18 New Zealand Hawks player and current North Shore Tigers representative.