Burnside’s effort disappoints

Press, 23 April 1979, Page 19

Burnside’s effort disappoints

Although there were no sur-i prises in the opening round of; senior women’s hockey* on Satur-I day, Burnside was expected to perform rather better than it did against Woolston W.M.C. Haglex Park was in excellent condition for the opening of the season. Fast hockey resulted with the ball travelling at a quick pace along the smooth surfaces. Few raised balls were seen, and players' fitness was tested thoroughly. Carlton was contained well by ; Cranmer: Harewood had a com fortablc win over University; and! Linwood United and Digbys fought out a scoreless draw. Results:— Harewood 2, University 1. Carlton 4, Cranmer 1. Digbys 0, Linwood-United 0. Woolston 2, Burnside 1. Harewood 2, University 1. ; The experienced Harewood • team had a good win to start the! season, but the forwards did not' use all the scoring chances they had. More sting on al tack could have been used to build up a big; score. Harewood led 1-u at halftime. with a goal from the centre-forward, Alison Slither-i land. She later scored the second I as well from a corner. University defended com-| petently, particularly through the services of the centre-half Marguerite Matheson, and the! right-back, Anna Wickham, but

(the new forward line lacked ; thrust and provided no real danI ger to Harewood’s defence. Territorial honours for the game went to Harewood with Maureen Rankin being very sound on defence. The centrehalf. Ann McKenna, had a faultless game. Umpires: Miss G. Bowvn and Mrs J. Wilson. Woolston 2, Burnside 1. The first half of this game was [even with both teams looking fit and well trained, but Burnside i finished the half with a territorial advantage. Woolston’s attacks came through the insideleft, Julie Verdellen. who broke away to Burnside's circle on several occasions. The second spell resulted in Woolston steadily settling down to a determined attacking effort and these efforts paid off. Midway through the spell. Woolston [pressed consistently and the in- : side-right, Catherine Butts, angled in a close shot. Burnside [equalised from the bully with the inside-left. Judith Phillips, 'pushing the ball home from a | very tight angle. Woolston steadily built-up the ; forward thrust again and forced a corner. The centre-forward. Lois McCartney, scored from close in after Burnside were {forced to defend several shots at goals.

Burn&ide failed to knit as a team in the second half and looked lack-luslte in its efforts. Woolston prevailed because of its tenacity to the task in hand

Umpires: Mrs M. McGregor and Miss B. Makinson. Carlton 4, Cranmer 1.

Cranmer looked to be facing stacked odds in meeting Carlton for its first game of rhe season, but the team stood ground well against a side which included three current New Zealand representatives.

The score was level at halftime. Carlton opening with a goal from the inside-right. Lorraine Langan, midway into the half, and Cranmer's inside right. June Miller, equalised shortly afterwards.

Carlton went quickly ahead when play resumed. The centreforward. Isobel Knight, put a [hard •"hot into the corner of the , net. She quickly repealed her efforts to make the score 3-1. after a combined run with Langan . Carlton's final goal was from the i right-wing. Jill Searle, who fini ished off a fine solo break. For Carlton, the centre-half. I Pat Barwick, anticipated every | Cranmer move in the first half [and intercepted passes to right and left. Shirley Haig, al insideleft. was forced to a working and feeding role rather than her usual scoring role because of some fine marking from Cranmer's right-back, Barbara Ovenden. The left-half for Cranmer, Vicki McGregor, was always sound on defence, tackling with accuracy. Umpires: Mrs M. McGregor and Miss B. Makinson. Digbys 0, Linwood United 0. Digbys looked like scoring for| several long spells in both halves 1 of this opening game. Shots went 1 both sides of the goal, with cor-1 ners being forced in batches, but no goals were forthcoming. I Linwood United had brief attacking breaks, mostly through! centre-field when Margaret 1 O’Brien raced away. Linwood United had its best period of the game in the early stages of the second half. Digbys were slow to settle but gradually regained their first half form and assumed control.

The inside-right, Jan Duggan, had an excellent first half for Digbys, while Linwood United’s goalkeeper, Marian Fullwood, stood up to pressure competently. Umpires: Messrs A. Black and .A. McEntee.