SAINTS SPORT

 Around the Grounds

Saints triumph at the 2024 NQ All Schools Hockey Tournament

The Saints Senior Hockey Team showcased exceptional talent and teamwork at the 2024 NQ All Schools Hockey Tournament, held from October 10 to 12 at the Townsville Hockey Association. Over three thrilling days of competition, our team proved to be a formidable force, ultimately securing victory against some of the region's top schools.

Day 1: A Strong Start

The tournament kicked off with two challenging matches against sporting heavyweights, Kirwan State High and Holy Spirit College, Mackay.

• Game 1: vs. Kirwan State High
  • Result: Won 2-0
  • Goal Scorers: Kyle Heidenreich, Oliver Donnelly
• Game 2: vs. Holy Spirit Mackay
  • Result: Won 5-4
  • Goal Scorers: Oliver Donnelly (2), Hayden Veivers (2), Lucas Brierley

The boys demonstrated resilience and skill, emerging undefeated from the first day of competition.

Day 2: Maintaining Momentum

Looking to build on our strong start, we faced Ignatius Park College in the third game of the tournament.

• Game 3: vs. Ignatius Park College
  • Result: Won 2-0
  • Goal Scorers: Lucas Brierley, Oliver Donnelly

Finishing top of the pool, we advanced to the semi-finals against Ignatius Park once again.

• Semi-Final: vs. Ignatius Park College
  • Result: Won 3-0
  • Goal Scorer: Franky Baker (3)

Day 3: Championship Match

The final day saw us pitted against the surprise team of the tournament, Holy Spirit, Mackay in what promised to be a tightly contested match.

With a real sense of determination and focus, the boys jumped out to an early lead with a goal from Franky Baker in the first 2 mins, followed closely by another from Lucas Brierley. The first quarter ended with a solid 2-0 lead.

Despite both teams displaying high-quality hockey, excellent defence, and superb goalkeeping, neither team could find the back of the net again. The Saints boys held strong, ultimately finishing the match with a 2-0 victory and securing the tournament.

A special thank you goes to Mr John Brimstone and Mr Glen Seivers, whose coaching and guidance were instrumental in the team's success, and Mr Tim Watson for his unwavering support, including driving the bus and assisting the team throughout the three days. Finally, a huge thank you to the Brierley family (Zarraffa’s Cairns) for their generous donation to help subsidise the player levy.  

NQ Schools Rugby Union Challenge - byMr Toby McCarthy

Last weekend our 1st XV Rugby Union Team travelled to Innisfail to compete in the inaugural NQ Schools Rugby Challenge. XV-a-side Rugby Union has struggled in FNQ post-Covid, and this was our first domestic XV-a-side Rugby in a few years. The boys trained very well leading up to their clashes against Cassowary Coast Barbarians, Ignatius Park College and Townsville Grammar School. 

The boys were very unlucky in the first two games going down by a conversion to the hosts Innisfail, before running out of time against Iggy Park and losing two tries to one. Back to full strength on Sunday, our boys came out firing and blew Townsville Grammar away 31-0 in the first half before putting the cue in the rack somewhat but were still victorious 38-20. 

While we officially finished third, everyone competing knew it was a lot closer than the results indicated. Ignatius Park actually expressed their relief that we took a while to click and that they were lucky not to play us on Sunday morning! 

The boys did themselves, their families and the College proud on and off the paddock, they are an exceptional bunch of young men. 

A big thanks must go to Mrs Tash Falge and Mr Matt Di Salvo for all their work behind the scenes and to Mr Thomas Jones for all his assistance throughout the weekend. We could not have done it without you. 

JSS 

Our JSS teams ended the regular season with a tough three game stretch against Peace Lutheran College, Bentley Park College, and Cairns High. Our teams managed to pick up three wins and two draws against a much-improved Peace Lutheran contingent. We then had a tough round against arch-rivals, Cairns High, picking up two wins in AFL and touch football, before losing the basketball, volleyball and football fixtures. We bounced back with a strong round against Bentley Park, achieving four victories in AFL, basketball, football, and touch football leading into semi-finals. 

Each of our teams have qualified for the Premier Division finals; our AFL and Touch Football teams finished as minor premiers. Basketball and Football teams in second place and our Volleyball team in fourth position. I wish the teams luck in the upcoming finals!

Week 3 vs PLC

Week 4 vs CSHS

Week 5 vs BPC