College sport: Deja vu as St Paul's take league title

Twelve months on, St Paul's College and Otahuhu College were at it again and turning in the best game of the season as St Paul's edged home 21-18 to retain the University Cup as the top school in the Auckland League Championship.

The repeat of last year's final at Mt Smart Stadium had an intensity which led many of the spectators to compare it to test football.

Led by their man of the match Sione Misa, St Paul's got home by four tries to three over an Otahuhu side well led by Sioeli Kaifoto, who scored two of their tries.

The victory in the showpiece game of the season capped a big day for St Paul's.

Their under-15 9-aside team completed an unbeaten season with a convincing 30-12 win in the early game on grand finals day.

St Paul's scored six tries to three, with Penrose HS captain Alan Leilua scoring all three tries for his team.

The Southern Cross Campus were the only other school to win on the day with their comfortable 40-18 win over Aorere College in the under-85kg College A final.

Led by man of the match Freyberg Aviata, who scored three of his team's seven tries, Southern Cross dominated a match which was hard-fought, fast-paced and open.

St Paul's collected their third title when they beat Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate 28-8 to take the Stephen Kearney Cup (for teams finishing third and fourth in the grading rounds).

Cycling

Auckland schools wasted no time in showing the benefits of their regular waterfront time trial racing by winning all four titles on the first day of the North Island SS championships.

Raced over 16km on a new course based at Gordonton School, the girls' races were a double triumph for Diocesan School, who won both the junior and senior races.

While their senior team won comfortably from St Cuthbert's and Epsom Girls in an Auckland trifecta, their junior team got home by less than 2s from a strong Taupo Nui-a-Tia team, with St Cuthbert's third.

Auckland Grammar battled all the way to take the senior boys title by just 4s from Palmerston North Boys. St Kentigern took bronze.

The strong Westlake Boys junior team took that title by almost half a minute from Palmerston North Boys, who collected a second silver.

The individual races on Sunday at the Ngaruawahia Primary School produced some excellent results.

Auckland schools were again to the fore with Myron Simpson (St Kentigern) setting the tone with his comfortable win over 32km to take the under-17 title.

Blair James (AGS), too, dominated as he won the under-20 race (45km) from Alex Cull (Macleans) and Simon van Velthoven (PNBHS).

In his first road race, Andrew McCory (Pakuranga) surprised many with his victory in the under-14 championship.

Auckland Grammar, with their wins in the under-15 and under-20 races, were the only school to win more than one title. The 27 medals across the nine races were shared by competitors from 19 schools.

Kartsport

The St Kentigern College pairing of Scott Fountain and Jake Pascoe will start favourites to bring the national SS title back to Auckland when they line up at the Herkt Kart Raceway in Blenheim this weekend.

With last year's victors, Ryan Bailey and Brendon Hartley (Palmerston North Boys) moving on to pursue racing careers elsewhere, Fountain and Pascoe should lead the way at the fourth running of the champs, which have attracted 113 karters.

Their toughest opposition is likely to come from the Taieri College brother and sister duo of Rachel and Steven Thompson and another southern combination, Simon Grace and Corrie Fitzsimon (Christchurch BHS).

Marlborough Boys College will host this year's championships.

Multisport

Shea Reardon (Taupo Nui-A-Tia), who will defend her under-14 title at the NZ SS duathlon championships in Clive, Napier, on Sunday, is the only one of last year's six winners back to chase successive victories, as the other 2005 winners have either moved up a grade or left school.

There is a strong representation of top multisport athletes through the grades with Kate Mitchell, Scott Buswell (Rangitoto), Ryan Sissons (Macleans), Sian Walker (Waikato Diocesan), Tama Christensen (Freyberg High), Nicole Treweeke (Cambridge High), Tom Francis (Wanganui High) and Brendon Blacklaws all using the racing as preparation for the world junior/age-group championships in Canada at the end of this month.

Mitchell is a hot favourite to win the senior (under-19) title left vacant by schoolmate Rebecca Spence, who is bypassing the championships as she prepares to defend her world title in Canada by training in Australia.

The senior boys race should be the best with duathletes Christensen, Sisson, Blacklaws and Francis ready to battle it out over the 5km run/20km cycle/2.5km course.

Rugby

Led by classic forward tries from Tevita Tuiloa and Shane Tasi, King's College kept pace with Auckland Grammar at the top of the 1A championship race with a solid 37-5 win over Tangaroa College.

Billy Green and Laurie McCowan also scored for King's.

Kelston Boys came from 3-6 at halftime to beat Sacred Heart 16-9 in front of a vocal home crowd. Jarryd Saifaloi and Wayne Ngaluafe scored in the second half for Kelston, who continue a mid-season revival.

St Peter's made the most of their firecracker start - a try to Peter Saili near the posts - to go on and beat St Kentigern 17-12.

St Kentigern closed the gap before halftime with a well-worked try but St Peter's hit back to extend their lead early in the second spell with a penalty. Their lead did not last long, however, as St Kentigern hit back with a converted try to take the lead.

But St Peter's had the last say when Sam Nash touched down after a sweeping backline move.

Tamaki College, like Kelston, trailed 3-6 at halftime but hit back to edge home 13-6 over Otahuhu College. In a game dominated by penalty kicks, the deadlock was broken when Sam Foni scored the only try of the match after the Otahuhu defence had three times thwarted Tamaki efforts to get the ball down.

Unlike their league teams, the St Paul's 1st XV came up short when beaten 24-17 by a De La Salle team who employed a smart kicking game.

De La Salle raced to a 17-0 lead midway through the first half before St Paul's, against the run of play, scored a try late in the first half. They added a second after the break to close to 17-12.

Stung, De La Salle re-established their advantage when Michael Fauena dotted down.

Soccer

Mt Albert Grammar turned in what coach Kevin Fallon described as their best performance of the season to beat Macleans 7-0 in the first game of the second round of the Senior A1 Championship.

It was a vastly different story from their first meeting when Mags were held 2-1 at home by promoted Macleans.

Goals to in-form Mark Withers and Josh Smith had Mags 2-0 ahead at halftime. They picked up the pace in the second with Withers grabbing a second, Damien Fonoti returning to form to score twice and Skye Parmenter and Rhys Ruka adding one each.

Auckland Grammar, with Jacob Mathews continuing his goal-scoring form by netting two, scored three in each half to beat Rangitoto College 6-2 and continue their neck-and-neck race with Mags as the only two unbeaten teams in the competition.

* COLLEGE RESULTS

BASKETBALL

PREMIER BOYS

Dilworth 109 MAGS 81, WBHS 71 Avondale 52.

* * *

CURLING

WGHS Team Park 8 AGGS 2, Massey HS Rockers 5 Long Bay girls 1, Baradene 4 EGGS Team Smith 2.

Pool leaders

Boys

A: KBHS Team Ford.

B: Birkenhead Team Cranswick.

C: Papakura Mixed.

D: All four teams equal on 2 points.

Girls

A: WGHS Icebergs.

B: Birkenhead College Team Choi.

C: All four team equal on 2 points.

D: Massey HS Rockers.

* * *

CYCLING

NORTH IS SS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Teams time trials, 16km

(Woodlands Rd, Gordonton)

Junior girls: Diocesan 29m 37.47s 1, Taupo Nui-a-Tia 29m 39.30s 2, St Cuthberts 30m 16.29s 3.

Senior girls: Diocesan 26m 48.34s 1, St Cuthberts 28m 24.15s 2, EGGS 28m 56.75s 3.

Junior boys: WBHS 24m 51.36s 1, PNBHS 25m 19.22s 2, AGS 25m 30.22s 3.

Senior boys: AGS 23m 01.06s 1, PNBHS 23m 05.15s 2, St Kentigern 23m 30.71s 3.

INDIVIDUAL

(Ngaruawahia)

Girls

Under-15 (15km): Z. Andrews (Chilton St James) 25m 22s 1, J. Roets (WGHS) 2, L. Grettan (Taupo Nui-a-Tia) 3.

Under-16 (32km): S. Williams (Hamilton GHS) 59m 22s 1, C. Harding-Sheath (Massey HS) 2, C. Lowe (Otumoetai) 3.

Under-17 (32km): E. Fowler (Macleans) 55m 48s 1, A. Imes (St Cuthberts) 2, E. Petersen (St Peters, Cambridge) 3.

Under-20 (32km): K. Tokler (NPGHS) 53m 26s 1, N. Treweek (Cambridge HS) 2, N. Macic (Manurewa HS) 3.

Boys

Under-14 (15km): A. McCory (Pakuranga) 19m 51s 1, J. Oram (WBHS) 2, N. Sutton (Francis Douglas College) 3.

Under-15 (20km): G. Scott (AGS) 31m 21s 1, J. Northey (WBHS) 2, C. Hollomby (Taupo Nui-a-Tia) 3.

Under-16 (32km): W. Kaihua (PNBHS) 1, J. Barnes (Taupo Nui-Tia) 2, S. Finucane (Rotorua) 3.

Under-17 (32km): M. Simpson (St Kentigern) 55m 19s 1, A. Gate (AGS) 2, S. Ho Nor (Rotorua) 3.

Under-20 (45km): B. James (AGS) 1, A. Cull (Macleans) 2, S. van Velthoven (PNBHS) 3.

* * *

HOCKEY

INTER-CITY

Boys: Pukekohe 2 Waiuku 2, AGS 7 St Kentigern 2, Macleans 2 Massey 2, Rangitoto 3 Rosehill 0.

Girls: St Cuthberts 7 Macleans 0, Rosehill 2 EGGS 0, Rangitoto 2 St Cuthberts 2nd X1 1, Pukekohe 6 Massey 3.

* * *

LEAGUE

FINALS DAY

(Mt Smart Stadium)

University Cup (1st XIII): St Pauls B 21 (T. Solomona, M. Mau, F. Leger, I. Tuifua tries; Tuifua 2 goals, Leger drop goal) Otahuhu 18 (S. Kaifoto 2, M. Tomai tries; Tomai goal, S. Tongia goal).

Stephen Kearney Cup: St Pauls A 28 Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate 8.

College A (under-85kg): Southern Cross Campus 40 Aorere College 18.

Under-15 9-a-side: St Pauls 30 Penrose HS 12.

* * *

NETBALL

AUCKLAND SS COMBINED POINTS TOURNAMENT

(Morrin Rd)

Year nine: Diocesan 20 WEGHS 19.

Year 10: MAGS 15 Sacred Heart 11.

Premier: Massey HS 13 AGGS 10.

Combined points (overall): AGGS.

* * *

RUGBY

AUCKLAND 1A

Kings 37 Tangaroa 5, St Peters 17 St Kentigern 12, KBHS 16 Sacred Heart 9, Tamaki 13 Otahuhu 6, De La Salle 24 St Pauls 17, AGS 14 MAGS 8.

Points: AGS, Kings 32, St Peters 25, MAGS 23, KBHS, De La Salle 20, Tangaroa, St Pauls 18, Tamaki 13, St Kentigern 11, Sacred Heart 10, Otahuhu 7.

NORTH HARBOUR

TGS 33 Mahurangi 10, Rosmini 12 WBHS 0, Massey 49 Orewa 3, Rangitoto 28 Birkenhead 10.

Counties Manukau: Rosehill 29 Waiuku 0.

* * *

SOCCER

A1

Macleans 0 MAGS 7, Rangitoto 2 AGS 6, St Kentigern 0 Kings 2, WBHS 3 St Peters 1.

A2

Avondale 1 Onehunga 0, MRGS 1 Howick 2, Pakuranga 0 Liston 2.

Points: Avondale 22, Howick 19, KBHS 15, MRGS 12, Onehunga 9, Liston, Kristin 5, Pakuranga 2.

A3

Birkenhead 0 Long Bay 2, Lynfield 0 TGS 3, Northcote 1 Rosmini 5, Sacred Heart 1 Massey 2.

Points: Long Bay 19, Sacred Heart 17, Massey 15, Rosmini 14, Birkenhead 9, TGS 7, Northcote 6, Lynfield 4.

* * *

UNDERWATER HOCKEY

Junior open: MAGS 13 Northcote 0, Glendowie 12 Avondale 0, Western Springs 10 Northcote 0.

Junior girls: EGGS A 6 EGGS B 0, Glendowie 2 Diocesan 1, Howick 6 MAGS 0, Northcote 3 Macleans 1.

Senior open, MAGS A 8 Avondale 0, Glendowie 13 Northcote 0, Howick A 3 Howick B 0.

Senior girls: EGGS 9 MAGS 0, Diocesan A 9 Glendowie 0, Diocesan B 5 Macleans 0.

* COMING UP

SATURDAY/SUNDAY: KartSport NZ SS Championships, Blenheim.

SUNDAY: Multisport, NZ SS duathlon championships, Clive, Napier.

JULY 14-15: Orienteering, NZ SS championships, Woodhill, Auckland.

JULY 19: Hockey, inter-city boys, AGS v Pukekohe, AGS 6.10pm, Waiuku v WBHS, Pukekohe, 6.15pm, Macleans v Rosehill, Lloyd Elsmore 6pm, Massey v King's, Crown Relocations Stadium 6pm.

JULY 20: Curling, Paradice Avondale, Henderson HS v Birkenhead Mixed, EGGS Team Ky v KGHS, Long Bay Gliders v Rangitoto, Long Bay Nuggets v Birkenhead Team Patel. Hockey, inter-city girls, Macleans v EGGS, AGS 5.30pm, Rosehill v WGHS, Pukekohe 6.15pm, Rangitoto v Diocesan, Crown Relocations Stadium 6pm, St Cuthberts v Pukekohe, Lloyd Elsmore 5pm. Netball, Waitakere (Trusts Stadium), premier one, MAGS v Massey Development 4.30pm, Avondale v Massey Premier 5.20pm, KGHS v St Dominics 6.10pm.

JULY 21: Basketball, premier, girls (all 6pm), Avondale v Manurewa, Avondale, Massey v Northcote, Massey, AGGS v Rosehill, MAGS, Rangitoto v WGHS, Rangitoto. Boys (all 7.30pm), Avondale v Dilworth, Avondale, KBHS v AGS, Massey, Rangitoto v WBHS, Rangitoto.

JULY 22: Netball, North Harbour (all Onewa), Rangitoto I v Mahurangi 9am, WGHS v TGS 9.45am, Northcote v Rangitoto II, 9.45am, Carmel v Kaipara 9.45am, Kristin v Long Bay 10.30am, Orewa v Birkenhead 10.30am. Rugby, Auckland 1A (all 2.30pm), AGS v Tangaroa, King's v KBHS, MAGS v St Pauls, Otahuhu v Sacred Heart, St Peters v De La Salle, Tamaki v St Kentigern. North Harbour 1A (all noon), TGS v Rosmini, WBHS v Massey, Birkenhead v Orewa, Rangitoto v Mahurangi. 1B, Northcote v WBHS II, Massey II v Glenfield, Kaipara v Long Bay. Soccer, A1 (all noon, home team first), AGS v Macleans, Rangitoto v King's, St Peters v MAGS, WBHS v St Kentigern.

JULY 24: Rugby, North Harbour girls (all 4pm, home team first), Northcote v Massey, WGHS v Kaipara, Glenfield v Rangitoto, Orewa v Mahurangi.