By TBHS | Posted: Wednesday May 15, 2019
Christchurch Boys' emerged with a 3-1 overall victory in the annual winter exchange played in cool conditions in Timaru on Tuesday 14 May.
The 1st XI Hockey fixture played for the McAuley Family Trophy, saw Timaru take a decisive 4-0 win, which was especially pleasing given the default of CBHS and Burnside High School in the Canterbury Schools' Championship matches in the last fortnight. After an even initial period, Timaru took control of a fast paced game in a strong team performance.
For TBHS, Tim Sheed (2), Elliot Barratt and Sean Rhodes scored goals to provide a fair reflection of Timaru’s superiority on the day. Upcoming championship and school fixtures against Christ's College and St Andrew's College will give TBHS a clear early season guide on where they sit in the South Island rankings.
The 1st XV struggled in the first half of their encounter against a polished opponent and were 31-6 down at the break. Christchurch Boys' moved the ball well as their inside backs found space against a defence that struggled to adjust to the speed of the game and identify where the opposition numbers and threats were. Pleasingly in the second half, TBHS were far more physical and competitive and scored three excellent tries to backs Jimmy Robertson, Tafu Tafunaina and Jed Syme, to outscore CBHS 21-14 in the second half for a final scoreline of 45-27. For Timaru, Jimmy Robertson was very creative on attack at first-five, George Brown was again very combative at the breakdown and received more support than in recent matches from fellow forwards Ryan Lethwaite, George Mulder and T J Lensley. Hopefully this will boost the team's confidence going forward, having played two of what would appear to be the top sides in the competition in the opening rounds.
In the 1st XI Football match, Timaru competed strongly with their opponents for the first 60 minutes, scoring first via a Taylor Donaldson penalty and holding CBHS to one-all at that stage. CBHS did dictate terms in the last half hour to score three times, emerging with a 4-1 victory and exposing some of the defensive frailties that have been the achilles heel of a young side so far this season. For TBHS, Donaldson worked hard up front and William Rawlins defended stoutly at the back.
The 2nd XV were dominated in their match against a stronger opponent who won comfortably 36-7. For a Timaru side who made numerous errors under pressure, William McArthur, James Martin and George Small put in honest performances.
The next Inter-school fixture is on 10 June against St Andrew's College where the games are split between Timaru and Christchurch.
The 1st XV fixture in Timaru will be televised on Sky as the 1st XV match of the week.
