College sports: MAGS intercept breaks St Pauls' hearts

Sacred Heart's Edgar Tuinukuafe meets resistance during his side's win over MAGS. Photo / Steven McNicholl

A spectacular intercept and an 85-metre run to the try-line laid the foundation for one of the biggest upsets in Auckland secondary school sport in years when MAGS held on to beat St Pauls 6-4 in the Auckland zone final of league's University First XIII Shield.

St Pauls, winners of the title for the past seven years and 19 times in the past 22 years, were unable to pull themselves out of the mud at their home ground against a gritty Mt Albert Grammar side who tenaciously held on to win for the first time since 1999.

The two schools have dominated Auckland schoolboys' league, winning 30 titles between them.

There was a certain irony in the upset as the teams were playing in the inaugural zone final with the Nigel Vagana Shield at stake. Vagana, Joe Vagana and Stacey Jones are among the many stars to come through St Pauls while MAGS can boast Sonny Bill Williams and Tavita Latu as old boys.

The foundation for the win came when left centre JD Collins ploughed has way from deep in his own territory through the heavy ground to the St Pauls line. Tom Kavaliku added the conversion for 6-0.

The visitors held that lead until the 37th minute when Clinton Lilo muscled his way over but without the extras, St Pauls trailed by those two points and were unable to get back.

MAGS will today face favourites Otahuhu College in the final for the University Shield at Mt Smart No 2.

All is not lost for St Pauls however as they will play Aorere in the under-15 nine-a-side final for the Graham Lowe trophy and the under-85kg final for the V & G Fagan Cup.

Tamaki and McAuley - who have lost only once each this season - will clash in the girl's final.

BASKETBALL

With their 118-67 win, top-placed Auckland Grammar almost certainly ended Sacred Heart's stay in the premier league.

Reuben Te Rangi became the first AGS premier player in three years to score 35 points in a game, while James Ashby scored 25 and grabbed 15 rebounds and steals.

Sacred Heart provided some spirited resistance in the second half, in particular from Hone Campbell (24) and Alex Carew-Bourke (24).

HOCKEY

Arch rivals Diocesan and St Cuthberts met for the first time this season in the third round of the intercity grade one championship with the Parents Shield again at stake.

In another closely fought affair, Diocesan got home 1-0 with a late Izzie McKenzie goal to not only claim valuable competition points but also the shield for the first time since the inaugural contest in 2006. The shield is at stake at the first meeting of the two schools each season.

Both teams created opportunities but crucial saves by their respective goalkeepers kept the game alive until McKenzie found the bottom right corner of the St Cuthberts goal.

St Cuthberts had a chance to snatch a draw - and retain the shield - in the dying minutes but were denied by a good save from Holly McKinley and some tidy defensive work by Tayla White.

Elsewhere, EGGS made the most of their opportunities to beat Rangitoto 2-0 in a game between two evenly matched teams.

NETBALL

In an exciting game with both teams making several tactical changes, Baradene kept their top-four hopes alive with a gutsy 44-41 win over AGGS.

It was close throughout with Baradene shooters Kathleen Solia and Jessica Milicich making the most of their possession and ensuring they kept their team in the game.

Annabelle Ringwood and LaChey Meredith also collected crucial turnovers while Tyla Walker and Kate Smit did a great job in putting pressure on the AGGS mid-court.

With their wins, MAGS and EGGS continue to set the pace with the maximum 12 points - six ahead of Baradene with AGGS slipping back to fourth.

RUGBY

The pressure is unrelenting as the 1A championship goes down to the wire.

Unbeaten Sacred Heart go into the last round still on top and super confident of claiming the minor premiership with their hard-fought 15-12 win over defending champions MAGS to further boost their confidence ahead of Saturday's home game with middle-of-the-table AGS.

Kings finished their 11-match programme with a 12-10 win over Tamaki to hold second place and assure themselves of a spot in the semifinals but who will join them and Sacred Heart in the play-offs will be decided in what promises to be a keenly-fought final round.

With their 22-0 win over De La Salle in yesterday's catch-up game, MAGS are right back in the mix and could still snatch a dramatic championship win if results went their way.

Now in fourth place, MAGS are away to third-placed St Kentigern in Saturday's feature game which will be shown live of Sky Television.

A win for AGS, in a game which gives them the chance to salvage something from their disappointing season if they can claim the Moascar Cup at Sacred Heart, would put Sacred Heart under pressure.

It would also open the way for St Kentigern to challenge for the top spot but so close is the logjam at the top of the table, a loss for St Kentigern could dash their top four hopes if KBHS get up at home to St Peters.

Sacred Heart have done it all right this season but still faced a massive challenge on their trip to MAGS.

Electing to play into a strong wind, MAGS took first blood when, following a maul, Victor Thompson scored a well-deserved team try. Jarrod McAlister-Poi added the extras for an eventual halftime 7-0 lead.

The home side stretched that to 12-0 with an unconverted try when an in-pass from Una Mohi found Tama Keresoma who went over.

Sacred Heart then gained momentum and camped deep in MAGS territory which led to an eventual try under the posts. After another good attacking backline move the visitors scored wide on the right to lock it up at 12-12 with 10 minutes to play.

A late, hotly-disputed penalty was kicked to give Sacred Heart the lead for the first time. They held on to win 15-12, take the points and put themselves firmly in sight of what would be a richly deserved title.

Over at the "Cage" St Peters claimed an unprecedented third straight win over AGS in the "battle of the bridge".

St Peters opened the scoring through a penalty from fullback Nu'u Nu'u. This was followed by a converted try to winger Josh Cocker-Valu.

AGS worked hard to get back into the game with centre Braxton Stanley and No 8 Simi Kata making a number of searching runs. Staunch goal-line defence denied the visitors a try but their efforts were rewarded with two penalties taken by Paul Richardson.

St Peters responded with a concerted period of attack which saw first five Matthew Johnson cross under the posts and handed St Peters a 17-6 halftime lead.

An early penalty miss in the second half stymied Grammar's momentum but they did close the gap with a Stanley try but St Peters were soon back to dominate. Nu'u Nu'u took his points tally to 18 with another two penalties and a try to seal the game with eight minutes to play.

Kings edged past a vigorous and passionate Tamaki 12-10 in heavy conditions at Tamaki.

NORTH HARBOUR

Semifinal spots were on the line as Mahurangi made the trip to face Takapuna Grammar.

Both schools performed pre-game hakas to set up a much-anticipated encounter but the game started very slowly with numerous errors on both sides blowing great scoring opportunities. Mahurangi, playing with a strong wind in the first half, did not use it well enough and found themselves pinned on defence many times and struggling to make good clearances.

Halfback Raniera Takarangi edged TGS ahead 3-0 with a converted penalty at the end of the first half.

Against the wind in the second half, Middleton made up for his two missed penalties in the first half, landing a great one from out wide to level at 3-3.

Handling errors continued to plague the game and both sides struggled to gain any continuity in open play.

Just as the game seemed destined for a draw, TGS finally made the breakthrough after a well-executed scrum, followed by skilful movement of the ball right through the backline allowing fullback Cameron Puterangi to break the line and score.

Takapuna held on to win 10-3 and move to within a point of Mahurangi in fourth place. They should beat Rangitoto on Saturday and with Mahurangi to play WBHS, TGS could be into semifinal contention.

In the other 1A fixtures, Massey thumped hapless Rangitoto 62-3 and Rosmini just edged their old rivals WBHS 13-11. Toby Hurley

SOCCER

Boosted by the return of Stephen Carmichael and Reece Lambert back from their successful Fifa Under-17 World Cup campaign, Sacred Heart were up for their trip to St Kentigern.

World Cup hat-trick hero Carmichael broke the deadlock late in the first half to give Sacred Heart their 1-0 halftime advantage.

The home team came out fired-up in the second half and were soon on level terms when halftime substitute Travis Sherlock scored.

Seven minutes later Matt Ridenton received the ball in the midfield, stood Lambert up and crashed the ball home from 18 yards.

Sacred Heart coach Danny Hay immediately brought on under-17 star Tim Payne but he could do little as Sherlock soon scored again following a great cross from Alex Waimora.

Not long after Waimora was on the scoresheet, Sherlock completed his hat-trick.

There was not the same scoring action as AGS entertained long-time rivals WBHS. Needing all the points they can muster if they are to retain their premier title, AGS lost ground in slumping to a 1-1 draw.

Away to St Peters on a day perfect for flying kites, MAGS dominated for long periods and eventually emerged 3-2 victors but not without some concerns and needing to come from behind to do it.

MAGS will be back at home on Saturday to face their greatest rivals Auckland Grammar in a game which could go a long way to deciding the championship.

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