The Armidale School has retained the Hannon & Harris Cup against Sydney Boys’ High School after winning the majority of sporting competitions at the weekend (5-6 May).
Around 200 students from High visited TAS as part of the fixture which is a highlight on the sporting calendars of both schools.
The festival started on Friday night with junior and senior basketball, both games going convincingly to High. It was much closer in tennis, played by a Junior IV (Years 7-9) and a Senior IV (10-12). The result was five sets all, with TAS winning on a countback, 45 games to 44.
The next morning at the school’s small bore rifle range, TAS, High and NEGS contested the Tank Shell Trophy. Competitors shot a 50m 20-shot deliberate match and a 50m eight-shot rapid match and after the top eight aggregate scores, TAS narrowly won 2001 points to 1997.
A TAS Opens Football XI defeated High’s Third XI 7-0, and the hosts also won a rugby relay and nine out of ten games of rugby, culminating in a comfortable 41-0 victory to the TAS First XV over their High counterparts.
Coach Alan Jones said it was a solid win for the top TAS team, who turned around a loss to Kinross Walaroi School from Orange in Coonabarabran the previous Saturday in their first game of the season.
“Our defensive lineout, when we got up in the air slowed their ball down and we were pretty good at the breakdown for the most part. Working on having a really good set piece and working through our phases really helped us,” he said.
“Their effort was as good as last week against Kinross, they were jut a bit fitter and had more stamina particularly in the back end of the game.”
Pre-season matches continue next week when TAS visits Farrer on Friday (12 May) for competitions in rugby, football, tennis, basketball, clay targets, chess, debating and water polo.
