Wednesday 10 June 2026
Having just played St Paul’s Collegiate the day before, this was a good opportunity to simulate a tournament environment with limited recovery time between games.
Once again great conditions at Lloyd Elsmore Park and a sizeable crowd of supporters from both schools. King’s dominated the first quarter and were 2-0 up after 9 minutes – Niko Huljich (Year 12, Marsden) opening the scoring with a simple tap in after a nice combination of play starting from the King’s circle. A few minutes later Oliver Stewart (Year 12, Marsden) got on the scoresheet with a clinical strike. However in the second quarter King’s weren’t able to maintain their normal pattern of play and lacked control in critical areas of the field especially in the opposition circle.
St Kents got a goal back early in the second quarter from a crash ball into the circle that got deflected. This was a frequent tactic by them as well as the use of the aerial ball into the circle which caused the King’s defence numerous problems. A penalty corner by Tarquin Johnson (Year 13. School) in the 5th minute of the third period retained the 2 goal buffer and the score remained at 3-1. With Charlie Middleton (Year 13, Averill) injured, Henri Lem (Year 11, School) started the game in midfield and put in a very good performance.
Some good learnings for the side in that they were not at their best and will need to adapt successfully to a range of tactical challenges posed by the opposition.
This game also saw Tarquin Johnson celebrate his 75th game for King's College Hockey. During his time at the College Tarquin has progressed through every development team and won the Tanner Cup twice (NZ Under-15 Schools title). He captained the victorious side in 2024 and has been a key member of the First XI since 2023.
His achievements include helping secure the Auckland Inter-City title in 2024 and a third-place finish at the Rankin Cup. Across 75 matches for the First XI, Tarquin has scored an incredible 61 goals an exceptional return for a midfielder - congratulations Tarquin on this amazing milestone.