Wairarapa United and Rathkeale College first XI footballer, Callan Elliot. PHOTO/JADE CVETKOV
Rathkeale College’s quest for double success in Wellington premier grade sports competitions got off to the perfect start last weekend with a double header with Scot’s College over Friday night and Saturday morning.
On Friday night, the first XI Hockey boys continued their strong start in pre-season with a hard-fought 4-1 win over their Scot’s counterparts in premier 1 grading.
Beginning the game slowly in the first half they withstood some early pressure and took the lead through a Josh Tatham goal.
Ralph McLeod doubled the lead shortly after some fine sustained attacking play.
Further goals from Tatham, who scored a stunning reverse stick into the top corner, and Will McMaster, extended the winning margin.
On Saturday morning, the first XI football boys got underway in emphatic style with a 4-0 win over Scot’s at Rathkeale.
Rathkeale began well with an early goal to Jayden Powell after direct running from Anthony Sprowson.
Powell doubled the lead midway through the first half after some nice combination play between Liam Heard and Tom Wagner.
The introduction of Wairarapa United player Callan Elliot created a further attacking threat, however the next goal came from a stunning solo effort from Sprowson.
Picking the ball up on the left touchline, he cut inside, passed two defenders and sent his shot into the roof of the net from the edge of the box.
Elliot rounded out the scoring in the final minutes to further deflate the Scot’s side at the final whistle.
Meanwhile, the Wairarapa College first XI hockey team shocked Paraparaumu College 5-3 in their opening premier 1 boys’ hockey grading match on Friday.
Paraparaumu had won the pre-season tournament hosted at Clareville the week before, beating Waicol 7-1 in the process.
But Waicol coach Kerry Hare had made a tactical decision to rest some of his front-line players in that match, knowing they were due to meet again in the first-round match.
The tactic worked perfectly as Waicol, last year’s runners-up, responded emphatically to show they will again be one of the teams to beat in 2017.
