News 24 September 2014
All the news for Wednesday 24 September 2014
Asian Games results Day 5
Kazakhstan 5 Hong Kong 0 (W)
Malaysia 2 Thailand 0 (W) (3rd Quarter)
India 1 China 2 (W)
Japan 0 Korea 2 (W)
17th Asian Games, Incheon 2014 Official site
Korea & India men maintain clean record in Incheon
China also keep their Asian Games semi-final hopes alive
Bangladesh were 2-1 winners against Oman on Day 3 of the men's competition at the Asian Games in Incheon, Korea. (Photo: Asian Hockey Federation)
After Monday’s rest day, the Asian Games men’s competition was in action again on Tuesday with its third round of matches. China kept their eye on the semi-finals with a win over Sri Lanka, Bangladesh overcame Singapore, India moved past Oman and Korea emerged victorious from the important clash with Japan.
Starting off the day, China took home an easy 6-0 win against Sri Lanka to stay at the heels of the hockey heavyweights Pakistan and India. Sri Lankan coach Nadeem Ahmed pointed out that the result is not unexpected, given the difference in world rankings, and that his team is in the middle of a long-term development process. He looked forward to the next challenge, saying, “The match against Oman is our chance to redeem ourselves. We’re revising the game plan, both in attack and defence, and we really want to win this one”.
The match between Bangladesh and Singapore was an ardent battle between two evenly matched teams. Bangladesh were better able to capitalize on their opportunities to win by a narrow 2-1 margin but head coach Alam Naveed still lamented the many missed chances, saying the goal had been to score five or six goals. “We need more, more concentration, more focus on the ball.”
In the encounter between India and Oman, Oman played very well, especially in the first half, standing compact in midfield and causing a fair amount of mishandling of the ball by the Indian team. In the end however, the strong and much more experienced Indian team overpowered the young Omani side to win 7-0. India’s head coach Terry Walsh was especially pleased with the performance of his back line which kept their opponents to just one shot on goal.
The day concluded with the key encounter in this round of matches, as Korea and Japan faced off for the top of the table in Pool A. In a hotly contested match with few scoring opportunities for either side, the home team emerged as 4-0 winners based mostly on standard situations, converting two penalty corners and one penalty stroke. With today’s three points, Korea overtake Malaysia to claim the top of the table in Pool A.
The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the XVII Asiad, is the biggest sporting event held in Asia and is widely recognised as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. The event is held every four years, with Hockey being one of 36 different sports set to feature in the Games. The Hockey competition in Incheon will be the biggest in the history of the Games, with ten men’s and eight women’s teams all battling it out for glory and Olympic qualification at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium.
The tournament - which offers a place at the Rio 2016 Olympic games to the men’s and women’s Gold medallists - is the first major international hockey competition to feature the groundbreaking 60 minute format, with the sport moving from two halves of 35 minutes to four 15-minute quarters with 40-second time-outs when a penalty corner is awarded and after a goal is scored.
The additional time-outs for penalty corners and after goals ensures that the new 60-minute format is actual playing time, eliminating the dead time associated with penalty corner set up while also allowing for teams to enjoy their goal celebrations. To learn more about the rule changes, click here.
Results
Tuesday, 23 September 2014 – Men
China – Sri Lanka 6-0 (2-0)
Bangladesh – Singapore 2-1 (2-0)
Oman – India 0-7 (0-2)
Japan – Korea 0-4 (0-2)
FIH site
Indian men maul Oman
S. Thyagarajan
With an authoritative 7-0 win over Oman, India moved up a step further in its immediate goal of reaching the top of the Pool ‘B’ in the hockey competition here. What disturbed, and more so, distracted the Indians in the early part of the encounter was the uninhibited approach of the Oman defenders, whose tackles bordered on aggression.
The first quarter went goal-less. It took quite a while for India to settle down. The pressure exerted by the Indians mirrored in the seven penalty corners. Two immaculately executed shots by the Rupinderpal Singh lifted the confidence of the team but it was unfortunate that the striker sustained a thigh injury in the penalty corner skirmish. He took no further part in the match.
Gurbaj Singh played the key role in the midfield where the usually hard-working Sardar Singh looked subdued. Gurbaj teamed up well with Sunil on the wing and kept up a steady stream of passes. The frontline, however, lacked the harmony.
Akashdeep Singh, on whom the attack leaned heavily, was found wanting at crucial moments although he came up with a handsome deflection off the penalty corner drive by Raghunath in the third quarter. Sunil put the finishing touches to a penalty corner by Raghunath in the fourth-quarter and that was followed by a lovely goal by Danish Mujtaba off a cross from Sunil.
Raghunath then scored off a penalty corner to finish the contest in style.
The results:
Men: Pool: A: Korea 4 (Nam Hyunwoo, Jong Janghyun 2, You Hyosik) bt Japan 0. Pool B: China 6 (Ao Yang, Sun Long, Yang Dong, Zhang Zhixuan, Liguang, Guo Xiaoping) bt Sri Lanka 0.
Pool B: India 7 (Rupinderpal Singh 2 Akashdeep Singh, V. Raghunath 2, Ramandeep Singh, Danish Mujtaba) bt Oman 0.
Pool A: Bangladesh 2 (Pushkar Khisha, Rahaman Khorshadur) bt Singapore 1 (Tan Yi Ru).
Wednesday’s matches: Women: Pool B: Hong Kong China v Kazakhstan; India v China. Pool A: Malaysia v Thailand); Japan v Korea.
The Hindu
India thrash Oman 7-0 in men’s hockey tournament
INCHEON: India warmed up for their Asian Games field hockey clash against archrivals Pakistan by thrashing Oman 7-0 on Tuesday as South Korea nudged ahead of Japan in the race for the semifinals. India, seeking their first Asian gold medal since 1998, converted five penalty corners and a penalty stroke in the one-sided pool B game, but several scoring opportunities were wasted.
India and Pakistan face-off on Thursday (tomorrow) in the competition’s marquee match that could determine the pool leader. Both teams have won their first two games in the 10-nation tournament. India beat Sri Lanka 8-0 in their opener, while Pakistan showed their prowess with a 2-0 win over China and a 14-0 rout of Sri Lanka. “There is always room for improvement, but we will be well-prepared for Pakistan,” said India’s Australian coach Terry Walsh. “I am confident we will do well.” Two teams from each pool qualify for the semifinals.
Hosts South Korea, the highest ranked Asian team at number eight and four-time champions, took a step towards the last four from pool A with a 4-0 demolition of Japan. Veteran Jang Jong-Hyun scored off a penalty corner and a penalty stroke as the Koreans swept past the lacklustre Japanese with two goals each in the first and third quarters. South Korea beat Singapore 12-0 in the first game, to join Malaysia at the top of the pool with six points each. Japan, left with one win from two games, must defeat Singapore and Malaysia in their remaining matches to stay in the hunt for a semifinal berth. In other matches, Bangladesh beat Singapore 2-1 in pool A and China blanked Sri Lanka 6-0 in pool B.
The Daily Times
Unimpressive India manage 7-0 win against Oman in men's hockey
INCHEON: Despite drag-flick specialist VR Raghunath missing as many as eight penalty corners and Rupinderpal Singh sustaining a serious thigh injury, India managed a 7-0 victory over minnows Oman in the men's hockey event at the Asian Games on Tuesday.
For India, Rupinderpal (18th, 19th min) successfully converted two penalty corners before limping off the field after scoring the second goal. The unbelievably off-colour Raghunath (39th, 60th min+) managed two goals via penalty stroke and penalty corner.
Akshdeep Singh (33rd), Ramandeep Singh (54th) and Danish Mujtaba (60th) were the other scorers.
The worrying factor for India will be ace drag-flicker Rupinderpal's injury before the crucial game against arch-rivals Pakistan.
After a barren first quarter, India opened the account in the 18th minute when Rupinderpal's rasping drag-flick hit the top of the right side. In the very next minute, he was again on target but was seen in considerable pain after successful conversion. He limped off the field and didn't come back for the rest of the 41 minutes.
However, it was big-bodied Raghunath, who would like to forget this match quickly as he seemed to be on a missing spree as he spurned one drag-flick after another.
There was a spell of five minutes between the 21st and 25th minute when India were successful in earning five penalty corners, but Raghunath missed all five. The last one in fact he even failed to trap.
In the third quarter, Raghunath was saved from blushes when Akashdeep deflected home yet another misdirected penalty corner hit to make it 3-0 in the 33rd minute.
Finally, in the 39th minute (9th minute of 3rd quarter), Raghunath found his name on the scorers' list as he converted a penalty stroke to make it 4-0.
But such has been Raghu's performance that he could not even manage a smile after scoring.
The final quarter saw India score three more goals with two of them coming in the last minute of the match.
It was ironical that Raghunath finally found the target with the 10th drag-flick and the grumpy defender left the field despite a big margin of victory.
The Times of India
Shahnaz unhappy at absence of video referral system in Asiad
INCHEON: Pakistan’s chief coach Shahnaz Shaikh on Tuesday expressed his annoyance over the absence of video referral system in the ongoing Asian Games hockey tournament which, he said, would have made the matches controversy-free in the mega event.
“The referral system would have eliminated any doubts or unintential mistakes from the umpires in the matches here,” Shahnaz said in an exclusive interview here at the Seonhak Hockey Stadium as he watched the India versus Oman match.
He said teams were working hard and making strenuous preparations for important event like the Asian Games and a couple of umpiring mistakes can spoil their chances.
The former Olympian said he was surprised that while the International Hockey Federation (IHF) have been using the referral system in all the major events, the same was being installed at the Asian Games.
Shahnaz said Pakistan suffered from the absence of video referral technology during the match against China when the Korean umpire disallowed a goal from Mohammad Irfan on a penalty corner rebound.
“Korean umpire looked perplexed as he disallowed Irfan’s goal, declaring that it came from the back stick,” recalled Shahnaz. “Had the referral system been in place, the matter would have been sorted out.”
He said the next Pakistan match is against arch-rivals India and both the teams just cannot afford any such mistake in that crucial game.
Meanwhile, Oman’s chief coach Oliver Kurtz also expressed his unhappiness at the absence of vedio referral system at the Asiad.
“We were denied a penalty stroke and three cards against India,” he told reporters in the post-match press conference after India beat Oman 7-0 in their second game.
Dawn
Scotland Senior Women face autumn away trip for Germany internationals
Scotland defender Leigh Fawcett named as captain for Germany series. Photo Credit: Frank Uijlenbroek
Scotland Senior Women’s preparations for the EuroHockey Nations Championship in London next August start in earnest next month with three international matches against world number 7 Germany from 13-17 October.
Head Coach Gordon Shepherd has included four new caps in the travelling party, including Clydesdale Western trio Camilla Brown, Fiona Bruce and Rowan Sinclair, and Bath University’s Fiona Burnet.
Grove Menzieshill defender Leigh Fawcett assumes captaincy of the side following the retirement of Linda Clement, while Aileen Davis, Amy Gibson, Emily Maguire and Morag McLellan are not available for selection with commitments to the Great Britain women’s squad.
Looking forward to the forthcoming series, Scotland Senior Women Head Coach Gordon Shepherd said, “We have brought in new players to the squad as we wanted to look at these individuals and give them an opportunity on the international stage to try and stake a claim in the squad.
“It’s going to be a tough camp as they won’t just be about playing matches; there will be training, physical profiling and a lot more going on. This camp is all about us learning and improving from playing a world class side. I know we will be able to compete with Germany physically, but it will be extremely hard for the squad, new and experienced players alike, as Germany are preparing for the Champions Trophy in a few months’ time.
“But will give new players a great opportunity to perform and help build our squad for the Europeans next summer. It is a real bonus having international matches at this time of the year especially off the back of a big tournament as we wouldn’t normally start preparations until warm weather training in March.”
The Scots will face the Germans in Pool B of the Europe’s elite competition next summer, along with England and Italy. The two sides last met in Boom during the 2013 EuroHockey Nations Championship, with Shepherd’s charges losing by just the one goal in a narrow 1-0 defeat.
With Scotland not participating in the current cycle of the International Hockey Federation’s World League competition, Shepherd was keen to emphasise the importance of these matches, stating, “It’s a shame we miss out on World League as after the Europeans we don’t have another tournament till 2016. International games are vital for players’ development so it’s important we get these games”.
Midfielder Nikki Kidd is in line to win her 150th international cap should she play in all three matches.
Scotland Senior Women: Jennifer Eadie, Susan McGilveray, Alison Howie, Nicola Skrastin, Rowan Sinclair, Camilla Brown, Fiona Bruce (all Clydesdale Western), Vikki Bunce, Becky Ward, Heather Elder (all Dundee Wanderers), Nicola Cochrane, Becky Merchant (both Edinburgh University), Sarah Robertson (KHC Leuven), Kareena Marshall (Western Wildcats), Leigh Fawcett (captain, Grove Menzieshill), Robyn Collins (Beeston), Nikki Kidd (Mannheimer HC), Fiona Burnet (Bath University).
Match Schedule:
13 October 19.00 (CET) Scotland v Germany Moers Hockey Club, Germany
15 October 19.00 (CET) Scotland v Germany Moers Hockey Club, Germany
16 October 19.00 (CET) Scotland v Germany Moers Hockey Club, Germany
Scottish Hockey Union media release
Hazrul doubtful for Johor hockey meet with back injury
By Aftar Singh
Wan Mohd Hazrul Wan Nawi (right) of the Project 2016 hockey squad injured his back during the Tour of Perth recently and is doubtful for the Sultan of Johor Cup next month. - BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR: Playing tours can be very beneficial. But they can also prove to be a bane – as in the case of the Project 2016 hockey squad.
Midfielder Wan Mohd Hazrul Wan Nawi returned from a four-match playing tour of Perth last week with a back injury.
The 19-year-old is now doubtful for the fourth edition of the Sultan of Johor Cup at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru from Oct 12-19.
Hazrul suffered the injury in the first of three matches against Western Australia’s Under-21 squad – drawing 1-1.
The Project 2016 squad won the second one 2-0 and drew the third 3-3.
In the fourth match, the squad drew 2-2 with the Western Australian Institute of Sports.
Team manager Mirnawan Nawawi is concerned with Hazrul’s injury.
“It looks quite bad ... he has been advised to undergo rehabilitation. We hope he can recover in time for the tournament (Sultan of Johor Cup),” said Mirnawan, who was, otherwise, satisfied with the team’s performance in Perth.
“It was a good experience playing against the Western Australian teams. We need to beef up the defence and sharpen our penalty corner setpiece moves.”
The Project squad will return to training tomorrow and attend a three-day motivation camp in Port Dickson from Sunday.
The final squad of 18 players for the Sultan of Johor Cup will be named after a friendly against Britain on Oct 8.
Mirnawan, however, confirmed that two national players – Mohd Shahril Saabah and Meor Mohd Hassan, who are playing in the Incheon Asian Games – are already in the team.
The other teams for Sultan of Johor Cup are defending champions India, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand.
The Project 2016 squad are being handled by former internationals Mohd Amin Rahim and Jivan Mohan in the absence of national junior coach S. Arulselvaraj, who is in Incheon with the senior team for the Asiad.
The Star of Malaysia
Miltkau sets Rot-Weiss on their way
Rot-Weiss Köln continued their excellent start to the German league with a fourth successive victory, beating Mannheimer 2-1 to remain the sole club with a perfect record so far.
Marco Miltkau gave them the perfect start in the fourth minute before Mats Grambusch made it 2-0. Fabian Pehlke got one back but Rot-Weiss held on for a good result away from home in spite of a lot of pressure from Mannheimer.
Speaking afterwards, MHC manager Sören Beßler admitted: "We are a bit pissed” with the result
Köln assistant coach Wolfgang Kluth acknowledged that Mannheimer deserved at least a draw. "At the end of the game, we had a bit of luck and we needed a strong goalkeeper to bring victory."
With an extra game played, Berliner and UHC Hamburg head the way. The former beat city rivals Blau-Weiss 1-0 while UHC were 5-2 winners over Club an der Alster.
Florian Fuchs netted twice while Moritz Fürste, Jan Philipp Rabente and Tino Teschke were also on the mark.
Harvestehuder’s Austrian internationals returned to good effect as both Michael Korper and Benjamin Stanzl scored in their 2-1 win over Düsseldorf.
Euro Hockey League media release
VIC PL Grand Final Wrap
Hawthorn (w) and Greensborough (m) named 2014 Victorian Premiers
Photography: Grant Treeby - Treeby Images
Minor Premiers Hawthorn proved too strong for Essendon Ladies winning the Hockey Victoria Premier League final 3-1 on Sunday.
The Hawks looked good early with the Bombers taking their time to settle into a rhythm. It was Essendon that created the first real chance however when Erica Trahar narrowly missed to the near side with a reverse-stick shot.
Hawthorn tested the Bombers defence with a number of early corners but struggled to convert in front of goals. As the Hawks pressed, Essendon Ladies looked to counter-attack, creating breakaway chances. However, the Bombers failed to execute in the attacking 25 as the Hawthorn defence held firm.
It took until the 23rd minute for Hawthorn to break through with Kate Stebbings putting the Hawks in front with a perfectly placed short-corner strike. The goal settled the Hawks who piled on the attack in search of a second.
However it was Essendon Ladies that responded with a terrific end-to-end play resulting in a goal to Georgia Salanowski to level scores in the 27th minute. The intensity from both sides continued to lift in the closing stages of the first-half.
With four minutes remaining a second short-corner strike from Kate Stebbings proved too powerful for the Bombers defence to give Hawthorn a 2-1 lead heading into the break.
To read the full match report visit Hockey Victoria's website here.
Women’s Premier League
Hawthorn 3 def. Essendon Ladies 1
Mens' Premier League
Greensborough Hockey Club has taken out the Men’s Premier League final with a convincing 3-0 win over Camberwell on Sunday.
Greensborough threatened the Camberwell defence right from the outset and took just five minutes to open the scoring.
A terrific long-ball out of defence found Glenn Simpson on the attacking 25 with the transferring ball from Simpson finding Josh Pollard in space. Sam Fraser pounced on the initial save from George Bazeley in goals to give Burra the early lead with a reverse-stick tap in.
Both teams continued to attack however the absence of striker Aaron Kleinschmidt appeared to weigh heavy on Camberwell as the Weller’s struggled for options up front.
Greensborough peppered Bazeley in goals however the Camberwell keeper proved up to the challenge. The pace of the Greensborough midfield continued to threaten the Camberwell defence as the Wellers struggled to contain Greensborough’s All-Star midfield.
Burra appeared to extend its lead when Gordon Zull converted a penalty corner in the 26th minute however the goal was over-turned keeping Camberwell in touch at the half-time break.
To read the full match report visit Hockey Victoria's website here.
Men’s Premier League
Greensborough 3 def. Camberwell 0
Content: Hockey Victoria
Hockey Australia media release
PSB lift Baba Farid Gold Cup
Balwant Garg
PSB (in red) defeated Northern Railway 4-0 to lift the All India Baba Farid Gold Cup Hockey trophy. — Tribune photo
Faridkot - Punjab and Sind Bank Jalandhar (PSB) defeated Northern Railway 4-0 to lift the All India Baba Farid Gold Cup Hockey trophy at the Barjindera College ground, Faridkot, for the consecutive second year.
Vikramjeet Singh, Taranbir Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Captain Singh scored a goal each. PSB Academy had defeated Signals Jalandhar 6-0 on Monday.
The Tribune
Trustees continue their winning streak
Defending Champions and two-time winners of the Greater Accra Hockey League, in Ghana. Trustees, will be hoping to continue their winning streak in the on-going league after their hard fought 3-2 win against Golden Sticks.
Trustees currently trail League leaders, Police, by two points with 7 matches to the end of the ongoing Dwadifo Adanfo Hockey League at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Pitch.
The SNNIT team looks favorite to win this year’s league but face a resurging and unbeaten Police team who have picked 18 points in 6 games.
Head Coach of Trustees, Edmund Ayittey says he is adamant his team will usurp Police from the summit of the Hockey league table when the two teams clash in the first week of October.
“My team looks decent and we cannot say that because police is on top of the league they have won the competition. That is not it, we will fight till the last day. Remember that we have some weeks to go before the competition ends, and we have a crucial game also to play against them in October, so we will see what comes out of that game”.
“We know we have a very good team that can go to the wire, so why should we get worried over the police team when we have more weeks to go before the end of the tournament. We want to defend this league and we will make sure we win it for three consecutive times”
Meanwhile, in other results for the week, Exchequers lost 0-1 to GRA .
GhanaWeb
Wazalendo, USIU top men's hockey
By Elizabeth Mburugu
Charles Oduor (left) and team-mate Wycliffe Mbeda (lright) of Wazalendo battles for the ball with Donald Goret (down) of Mvita X1 in a men's hockey premier league match at the Mombasa Sports club Sunday
United States International University of Africa (USIU-A) retained their top spot on the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Group A men's premier league log.
On the other side, Wazalendo had a successful trip to the Coast where they beat Mombasa Sports Club 3-1 and Mvita XI 3-0 to top group B.
USIU remain top of the standings despite dropping two points after a 3-3 draw with second-placed Greensharks. They top the table with seven points from three matches while Sharks have five points from the same assignment.
Defending champions Kenya Police are third with three points after a 5-0 win against Nakuru Sikh and a 1-0 loss to Greensharks.
USIU-A squandered a 2-0 lead that would have seen them widen the gap at the top against their closest rivals. Alex Kubasu broke the deadlock two minutes to the breather putting the students a goal up by the half-time whistle. Gabriel Teimuge scored a quick goal two minutes into the second half making it two for the students who are yet to lose a match.
Chris Muchwanju was the star as he scored a brace pulling one back for Sharks in the 53rd minute. Two minutes later Samuel Mucheke put the score level. Muchwanju made it three for Sharks in the 59th minute while Isaac Kamau denied Sharks victory with his 66th minute goal.
Wazalendo are matches away from securing a slot in the semi-finals as they top group B tied on nine points with 2012 winners Nairobi Simba. Wazalendo have played four matches, won three and lost one while Simba have managed three wins out of three. Strathmore University and Kenya College of Accountancy University are in third and fourth places respectively tied on six points.
In the men's national league Pool A, Parklands Sports Club are at the peak with Multimedia University coming in second with the same points but an inferior goal difference. Debutants Parkroad Tigers are third with three points.
Kenyatta University Vultures are at the summit of Pool B with nine points from three encounters of the men's national league. Technical University are second with six points while Kimathi University are third with three.
Women's defending champions Orange Telkom, USIU-A Spartans and Mombasa Sports Club ladies lead Group A with three points each in order of one to three. Last year's league runners-up Strathmore Scorpions top Pool B with six points.
The Standard Online
Westlake champing at bit
Girls' hockey coach Verity Sharland frustrated team can't play in Super City competition.
By Campbell Burnes
Westlake Girls' High School is resigned to its premier team not being able to play a higher standard of hockey in New Zealand's Super City competition for the full year in 2015 like it did in 2013.
The North Harbour and Super City premier schoolgirls champions finished third in the 2013 Super City competition, the sole North Harbour school to enter out of nine teams. But there was a change of format for the 2014 season, with a five/nine week split: schools competed in their respective North Harbour and Auckland competitions before the top four in each competition advanced to the nine-week Super City round, which provides a very good standard of hockey.
Westlake Girls' won the North Harbour title comfortably this year, for the first time in several years, then went on to defeat Diocesan 2-1 in the Super City final, their first triumph at that level since the 1995 victory over the same school in the old Inter City competition. The stellar season did not translate into nationals, however, where Westlake placed just 11th in the Federation Cup.
Westlake Girls' coach Verity Sharland, sister of Black Stick Kayla Whitelock, says she is disappointed the format was changed for this season and is not likely to revert to the 2013 format, in which schools had the choice to play Super City for the full season.
"There are just more strong schools in the Auckland competition, and it would be great if we all played together [for the full season]," she said.
"The girls had worked really hard in 2014, and a large part of our success was down to the fact that we had played Super City for all of last year."
Sharland said that although her team "bombed" at the nationals, they were not using the change of format as an excuse for the relative failure. After all, they won the Super City competition and racked up a winning streak of more than 20 matches before losing in the nationals to St Cuthbert's.
But Sharland argues they are able to develop their players better and faster with a higher level of hockey than they receive in North Harbour at the start of the season. Rangitoto College, Carmel and Kristin were the other North Harbour schools to compete in the top tier of the Super City in 2014.
North Harbour Hockey chief executive Riki Burgess says he can understand Westlake's stance, but has to maintain the integrity of North Harbour schools hockey competition.
"It was about us working with College Sport on a format that suited all schools. It's hard for those big schools like Westlake Girls' at times because they are dominant in several sports. But we are hoping to get to a happy medium of meeting their needs and the wider hockey community's needs."
Westlake Boys' High was the only North Harbour boys' school to compete in the 2013 Super City competition, which they won. They lost the final of the 2014 competition to King's, which they had beaten 12 months earlier in the decider.
College Sport takes a break for the school holidays, and will return on Wednesday, October 22.
The New Zealand Herald