Canty women play good hockey

Press, 4 July 1983, Page 3

Canty women play good hockey

By

Jane Davidson

The Canterbury women’s hockey coach, Mrs Pat Barwick, could well be smiling for the rest of the week following the showing by her team at the first representative tournament of the season at Sheffield yesterday. The performance of the Canterbury team was very encouraging and there were times, especially in the match against Ashburton, which it won 15-0, when the standard was exceptional. The two games which followed, against South Canterbury and Malvern, were also won easily, but the margins were not as spectacular.

Against Ashburton, Canterbury could do little wrong. The ground at Sheffield, was hard, if a trifle uneven, and the Canterbury players, starved of good underfoot going for club games in Christchurch almost all season, relished the conditions.

Seven goals had been scored by half-time, and Canterbury’s effort to motivate itself to play just as well in the second spell was commendable.

In spite of being ranked behind Ashburton, South Canterbury put up a fight against Canterbury and held the more experienced team to four goals. The Malvern match was a

race against time. It was shortened initially to 25 minutes each way, but in the end darkness won and the game was called off five minutes from time, with Canterbury ahead, 4-0. It was a scrappy affair, with the Malvern players resorting to some rough tactics in their frustration at being unable to match the skills of their opponents. Canterbury B also had three good wins, without producing the sparkling games of the senior, team. The experience of its captain, Barb Mitchell, in midfield, helped the side settle quickly, and the third match, against South Canterbury, produced 11 goals.

Ann McKenna, the Canterbury B coach, and Pat Barwick, can look ahead to the national tournament in late August with confidence, but a more immediate task for the A team is the clash against Wellington, Marlborough and Nelson at Blenheim on Sunday. Scores and scorers:— Canterbury A 15 (C. Thompson 4, S. Haig 4, M. Flannery 3, J. Phillips 2, M. Clinton, R. Blackman); Ashburton 0. Canterbury A 4, (J. Phillips 2 C. Thompson 2); South Canterbury. 0. Canterbury A 4 (S. Haig 2, L. McFadden 1, J. Phillips 1). Malvern 0. Canterbury B 11 (J. Pettet 4, B. Mitchell 4, P. Moore 2, L. Sutherland 1); South Canterbury B 0. Canterbury B 7 (B. Mitchell 3, P. Moore 2, J. Pettet 1, P. Wilson); Malvern 1 (A. Campbell).

Canterbury B 7 (B. Mitchell 3, C. Smith 2, S. Duggan 2); Ashburton 0.