Hagley Takes Over Lead In Men’s Hockey

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31096, 27 June 1966, Page 16

Hagley Takes Over Lead In Men’s Hockey

The eleventh round of the Canterbury Hockey Association’s senior competition produced some dramatic results. Hagley Old Boys eased Harewood out of a leading position m a close match, and Sydenham put to rout High School Old Boys.

Thus the ambitions of two leading teams from the previous round were distinctly dulled. University and Woolston seized the opportunity to edge forward once more, a process in which both have indulged for much of the season, only to falter at the brink. Results were:— Hagley Old Bays 1. Harewood 0. University t, Woolston B 9. Sydenham 2, High School Old Boys 0. Woolston A 3, Selwyn 1. Competition points are:— Hagley Old Boys 8. High School Old Boys 7, Harewood 7. University 6J, Woolston A 61, Sydenham 5, Selwyn 3j, Woolston B i. WOOLSTOH v. SELWYN On a bumpy ground at Burwood Park. Woolston experienced little difficulty in disposing of Selwyn, mainly because the Woolston halves and backs were able to intercept so many passes whenever the Selwyn forwards attempted to combine or to switch the direction of their In these circumstances the Woolston forwards could rely upon an early receipt of the ball after the collapse of their own attacks, and the most interesting feature of the match was the duel between the Woolston vanguard and the Selwyn defence.

Outstanding for Woolston was N. Hobson at inside-right, whose trapping, passing and dribbMng exerted constant pressure upon Selwyn. He combined well with B. Judge, on the right-wing, who saw more of the ball than usual and who was able, therefore, to feed bis inside-forwards handsomely. Woolston missed P. Bygrave from the centre, the liveliness of L. Hobson and B. Aldridge not proving a sufficient substitute, although both were adequate in relationship to those who sought to impede their progress. The Woolston halves, R. Gillespie and C. Cox, controlled the ball well and gave a service which was both prompt and accurate. J. Abrams blunted many Selwyn attacks with his tackling, trapping and passing. J. Monk blocked many shots in the Selwyn goal, but was tentative in his clearing. B. Turner carired the main defensive burden at left-back and emerged with great credit, his neat stickwork being equalled by sensibly directed passes, many of which, however, required greater power. He was ably supported and covered by A. Abernethy, and the linking of W. Burtt was a further asset The latter dribbled out of trouble well, and his balance and stickwork made Mm the best of the forwards. A. Waters and K. Cherry were prominent at times when carrying the ball, but their passing was less impressive. Goals were scored for Woolston A by Aldridge, G. Gourley and Judge, and Burtt scored for Selwyn from a penalty stroke.

Umpires: Messrs W. Perry and S. Jesset.

UNIVERSITY V. WOOLSTON B University made a conscientious attempt to prosecute a policy of quick passing but many passes were ill-conceived and the wayward trapping wrecked many promising moves. However, the dribbMng and the more successful combined efforts completely bewildered Woolston, whose weak positioning was torn to shreds: nor did the Woolston players demonstrate any knowledge of the principles of tackling. Hence University was able to tap the ball into a gaping goal four times in each The University right-back, D. Wilshere, was very mobile in covering his partner, C. Ineson, who toyed with the Woolston forwards in spraying passes as if from a computer. At centre-haM S. Malster gave a ticker-tape service to his vanguard, yet still contrived to over-dribble at times. The wing halves, M. Mikhelson and E. Holstein, also supported their forwards well, both giving effective displays. On the right flank T. Crossen and J. Christensen combined well at times, and both penetrated deeply with contrasting methods. Their feeding of colleagues on their left showed improvement, although it was still haphazard at times. B. Malster trapped the ball more frequently, dribbled elusivety, and gained unmarked spaces well, although inclined to crowd Ms right flank unduly. There were times when I. Bishop shot through the Woolston defence like a catapult. but his trapping was woefully erratic, and he pondered over his passes with prolonged profundity. The Woolston defence scurried hither and thither with such eagerness that it often congealed' collectively in one spot. Its forwards made som. lively individual sorties, bu these probing patrols were Isolated from the main body with some ease, because the University defence was always able to concentrate numerical superiority. Goals were scored for University by B. Malster (four), Bishop (two), Christensen and L. Hutchinson. Umpires:—Messrs R. Fuller and M. R. Good.

SYDENHAM V. H. 5.0.8. Sydenham played with determination and purpoee to produce Its best performance of the season against Old Boys at Burwood Park. It enthusiastically pounced upon the frequent Old Boys errors and after it had established a lead, made judicious use of the side line. Old Boys moved fluently on occasions in mid-field but It was quite incapable of taking advantage of several scoring opportunities. Sydenham was well served by the confident blocking and powerful kicking of its goalkeeper, J. Bradford, and by the sound trapping and positioning of the left-back, A. Tizzard. M. Bennett moved swiftly at centrehalf to make many shewd interceptions but his right-half. A. Bhona, allowed his left-wing too much room. D. petherbridge used his considerable speed to overtake many of the so-called through passes directed at his area, dribbled effectively at times, but often failed to pass successfully. C. Woods back tackled vigorously at inside-right. M. McKinnon, at inside-left, was outstanding. His trapping was always reliable and he sorely tested the Old Boys defence with intelligent dribbling and incisive passes. J. Goddard carted out. the back tackling duties that McKinnon neglected. I. Palmer defended the Old Boys goal with vigour and courage and T. Iggo trapped and tackled with certainty at rightback. A. Patterson, the centrehalf, was outstanding on defence but Ms passing was surprisingly inaccurate at times. E. Barnes worked hard at in-slde-right, trapped some difficult passes well and unsuccessfully tried to bring some cohesion to a forward line which once again failed to add to its meagre tally of goals. McKinnon and Petherbridge scored Sydenham’s goals. Umpires: Messrs D. Denniston and P. Chant. HAGLEY 0.8. v. HAREWOOD Both sides struggled in vain to master the slippery, uneven surface at Williamson Park. Hagley won the match because it adhered more rigidly to the basic strategy of a right flank attack and because it was able to deny Harewood possession for long periods after it had established its slender lead.

Hagley’s cover defence gave Harewood few opportunities on attack. D. Robertson and G. Smith combined effectively to

contain the Harewood right flank and G. Clarkson provided some valuable cover from right-back. The Hagley forward line showed a general improvement in trapping and positioning. R. Thomson made some determined breaks on the right wing and combined with the inside-right, W. S. Thomson, to confine proceedings to the right-hand corner in the second half. Paul Clark back-tackled zealously and returned play to the right. The nature of the ground betrayed K. Fletcher's upright stance but he did make some valuable breaks on the left-wing. The efforts of the Harewood forward line were severely handicapped by a half-back line whose Inaccurate passing and lack of sttekwork reduced it to the role of spoiling defence. C. Broadhurst exhibited some neat stickwork on the few occasions he was able to elude his marker and D. Stanton, at inside-right, also dribbled well, often too far. but passed inaccurately. D. Lloyd spent much time backtackling and switching play right at inside-left but seldom received a pass on attack. D. Helps made some useful breaks on the left-wing. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the match was the number of sticks broken, five according to one count: this to some extent reflected some of the swishing "tackles." K. Thomson scored for Hagley. Umpires: Dr. L. McH. Berry and Mr B. Lloyd.

Lower Grades Senior Reserve. —Sydenham 1. Selwyn 0: Harewood 4, High School Old Boys 3; Wigram 4. Eastern Suburbs 1; Sydenham 7, Woolston 1. Second Grade A.—Woolston 7, Teachers’ College 1. Second Grade B.—Christ's College 3. High Schoo-1 Old Boys 2: Cashmere High School 4, Hagley Old Boys 4. Third Grade.—Selwyn 4, High School Old Boys 0; St. Andrew's College 3, Harewood 1; Hornby 1, Emulous 0. Fourth Grade. Eastern Suburbs 7. Sydenham 1. Under 16 Years.—School for Deaf 3, Shirley Boys High School 0: Boys’ High School A ? , Cashmere High School 2. Under 14 Years. —Woolston B 6, Sydenham B 2; Selwyn 3, Woolston A 3: Boys’ High School A 11, Harewood B 0.