HOCKEY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 550, 3 July 1909, Page 9

HOCKEY.

(Br-DniyEß.) / [\\ C

. vThe championship, hockey' matches Vjivero continued on Saturaa-y afternoon under so'me-,. what' adverse weather^conditions,v There lyero no exhibitions of good -hockey by any of.' the teams. T .'"•■■-'.'. ;■ ...• , ;' , .■■.■':.. ■.-. ; ....-.';. : ;. '..!-'.■'. The'principal/match was that /'between ; .Y.M.C.A. and Wesley on No. 1 ground, , this former winning by 3 . goals.' to I.' VvThe Y.M.C.A. players have'been:'very trying their hands—or rather their, 'sticks— on the favourite ground', and, no doubt they Avould be disappointed at-striking it: for'the 'first time on . : In all probability this'was a coritrioutoty factor tothepoor display given by both' teams. The result of this inateh was looked forward to with a good deal of intercfttj \ because if Wesley had: won United would"probably have been given a .walk over- for the championship. . As 'it is, United v and Y.M.C.A. are stijl equal in points.' ~ ■■■ '■'.';'.' ': J~-'-'■_:■■■■'■ - , "■ •..".■'•""' .' Dealing' with the game , !itself, it must be stated that Wesley had the' advantage, in the,first spell, particularly in the earlier portion, of it. But, as.in the mateh against, United, they seemed tetire in the latter spell, and made things easier for their'opponents.'Perhaps WesloyVchief fault (and a possible ox■planation of the defeat) was that the forwards, : although ably fed by the (Christie especially), did,not as a'whole follow, up their opportunities. They seemed to .!delay until they got,beaten, by the swift fdr T wards eager' to attack them and contest any advantage, Dawsdn, Y.M.C.A.'s left half, being' particularly,.-conspicuous in these tactics. For the--losers, Brown played too far. back, and did iiot appear to be in form.. Ho should nurse, his forwards more. Christie,* centre'-half, was very sound all through tW Ranie. v Ralph played a good, game as left full-back, and his companion, Keall, was fair. The player who really shone was' Sherwood, the goalkeeper.- .His saving was of a high order, so,much so that I should not bo at all surprised to see him in a representative team later on. . :/." ; '■■'■'■[ '.-':' ■..'■'■.■ The wiunors' exhibited a'good deal of dash, which to a ; considerable"extent.aided them in carrying the day, R. Parton, right wing, being the most conspicuous ifigiire durins , attacking manoeuvres. .. Of the -.forwardline, Wheatley was the pick, and Dawson was tlie best of the halves. The" two full-backs, Holmes and A. Parton, were very.sourid. Parton was a tower «f strenßth to h'is sido, while Holmts shows great improvement on previous play.. > ■ ; . ' ' ' ..- .■.-■.'' .'.: The contest bftwecn Victoria College and Wellington on No. 2 ground was dovoid of any particular interest, neither team being very high.up in the competition." The fornwr won by 3 goals to 2. The Collegians led off from the jump, and notched a couple of goals.during the 'first'.quarter-of* an. hour. The victors wore minus the .services- of. 1 Kibblewhite, right-.full-back;'; and Griffith's; and tho goalkeeper wero the only defenders. This vacancy proved a considerable stnniblinK 1 Mock to the. Wellington forwards, who were frequently given off-side.- .. \ For .the winners, Griffiths 'was solid in defence. Of tho forwards, Pom and Strack, on tho loft, and Booro, coiitre "forward, playod

with combination',.but tho otherwing, D. Smith, and Bogle should have kept further out.'--- ■ .' ' ' ■-■-'.■-. :'.-'. . ■'. -. . -■' For Wellington, Caldow, right-wing, and D. Boere, left-wing, were certainly, the pick of the forward line, and , Sraythe, centre-half, was £ho most conspicuous of the defenders. -'■ It a peculiar thing; that the Collegians have done the same thing, this year,, as last year. They started most unsuccessfully> but woke up to some, effect, and now have an excellent team in the field. ' ' "■ .< ; The matter'of competent referees, saya the "Press," is becoming a serious question iri Christchurch hockoy. On nearly every day that matches are playe.d there aro disputes as to the decisions of some of the >reierees. Of course, on most of the occasions it must be admitted that the players are in the wrong, but there aro occasions when referees make very glaring mistakes. One case in point was- in a -junior, match played, last Thursday,' when I am informed on. good authoritytthat a player deliberately: picked up;the ball and threw,it intov the net. It- is a 'matter of- doubt whether tho refereo in charge of the. game eaw; : the but taking it for granted ho did not on what grounds did,ho allow, the goal? Perhaps some of the readers of this column may remember a similar incident which: occurred, I think, in a match last'season. ■ when the samo referee'was officiating.. Mr.. Lindsay, secretary of the Canterbury Hockey Association, has made what ie con-, sidered by many to be. a most excellent proposal in regard to-tho referees.' l The proposal is that all referees should pass some examination in order to tost their Knowledge as to rules, etc., and that then they should be classified accordingly. What appears to mo to be the chief fault in many cases is, that the referees'are not'quite familiar with tho rules, and are accordingly very slow and uncertain in giving their decisions, which,; to say the least of it, is most/disconcerting to the'players. ■ -..; ■.',■,', As a winter game, Bays a Bouthem writer, hockey stands above all others,' as the very best game for women. Its charms can. beat be gauged by asking a non-player her opin-' ion of the average winter weather.':"-' She finds little -enjoyment in the long dreary Saturday afternoons or the dreary days from April to September, but to the nockey girl the ,winter; is looked- forward. to with the keen\ enthusiasm that a swimmer anticipates thevsummer months. Hockey is within .'.titer reach of all who have leisure and the advantages of ( the Thursday or Saturday half-holi-day. Think of the exercise and excitement compressed in the seventy! minutes' duration of the'game.. Hockey is an.ideal game for the large class of girls -now 'occupied inteaching or at college, ■ or 'following other sedentary , employment. .As; a' training ground for oliaracter the hockey field takes a high place,' as it develops' unselfishness, pluck, endurance, indifference: to, hard-hits, good temper, cheerful acceptance of-defeat, generosity, to opponents; and; a love, of "fair play.; ~.■-'.- •..'.•.-.".. ,: , "-:-;X'/-..;\a-■:;;;■;■,