HOCKEY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1848, 6 September 1913, Page 12

HOCKEY.

fßi "Bully-off."] LAST WEEK'S SHIELD BATTLE. Tito Mon From tho Scotch Provlnoo. Wellington were called upon again ! last Saturday to dofend tho shield, and > a solid set-to it was. Tho local men had ! to fight audi defend just about as hard ■ as thoy knew how, Thrco only of tho - visitors many hot shots found tho net, I but that was not their fault. It was - all Dwyer's fault. ' Tho hottest shot 3 ever would fly out of a bunch of ani- . mated legs, sticks, and arms, and go - fair for tho opening in tho net. Then - Goalkeeper Dwyer would pick himself up 3 and promptly place himself right in - tho fairway of the ball. _ Having done 3 which ho would, swing his boot at the i ball and send it off in any direction his prudence would indicate. This, then, is what became of tho rest of Otago's score. s Wellington. were more fortunate. - Most of their good 'shots reached home, - although ho it said, it would have t taken a Dwyer at his best to have kept s some of them out. But 1 Otago's not s custodian was not a Dwyer. o It was a great gamo from beginning s to end, which is a deal more than can !- be said of tho shield games so far played this season. Andraea and Some Others. i- Andraea was Otago's best forward. His stick-work was great. Once or y twice —just as they do it in lacrosse — 0 he fielded the ball on his stick and o ran along -with it, bouncing it a bit |i to keep it from rolling off, then when [. an opponent came too near ho would — a still a la lacrosse —heave the ball to a t man on his sido who appeared to be in |, a scoring position. And the crowd ,j quite rightly cheered him lustily for it. f Rhyburn also played a fine game, for ! it was ho who brought Dwyer into action tho most. F. Drake camo next' 0 for honours among the forwards, but 0 tho others were not noticeable. n The backs in tho visiting team gave ono tho opinion—just as tho local backs did—that thoy weren't used to being rushed about so. J: C. Straok the Soorer and Robbie. j 0 Until Saturday G. Strack had failed 6 to shoot a goal in a shield gamo this s season. Ho shot then with a vengeanpe c and scored four goals. If Strack didn't ■t do another tiling on Saturday it would „ not matter a bit, tho four goals were 6 quite sufficient from him. n Robbie was tho best forward on' tlio d ground. Ho didn't get many oppors tunities to shoot goals liimself, but he collected armfuls of opportunities ior d tho .others to do it. Always he beat ( •t his man and as often 'as not ho made [. his opponent look very helpless. Boyd t was good, lie was tricky, and ho scored y a good goal. j. Tho disappointment in tho front rank was undoubtedly Con. Strack. Ho didn't do very many bad things, but then the trouble was that lie didn't do enough 8 good things. Likely it is, though, that ]j ono expected'too much from him. But . bo that as it may, C. Strack did not perform as 0. Strack usually performs, and 6 therein is tho disappointment. 'Griffiths played passingly well. Ho ][ is not as consistent as the rest, ' but ,f -when he has a good day his play is perfectly brilliant. His ' "good days" arc, t, however, just a littlo too few and far jj between. ,5 The Busy Baoks. o Saturday was an uncommonly busy >s day for the local backs. They defended 1. moderately well, although at oft-times o tliay wero sorely rattled, and if it !liad o not been for Dwyer many things might r ihavo happened. > When,, in the second n spell, Dwyer had to oorne out of his goal ir to attend to an enterprising opponent, ■t the visitors were allowed t'o score in. 0 ridiculously easy fashion. l- M'Gregor worked hardest among them ■s and to better purpose, and for his t- trouble ho received near the end of the il second spell a nasty smack on tho head. 0 It didn't quite disable him, however; \ i- Haigh, tho new man in the team play- ; >o ed quite a good gamo (in, comparison i- with the other j), and onco or- twice, ho > fed his forwards vory well. Tho others io were fair, but as mentioned before, t'liey is. certainly didn't look as if they had been i- used to anything' at all tricky in fork wards. io i. Senior Championship Closed. It has been decided to close tho senior 'J championship and Victoria College aro ° therefore winners of tho competition. lr The green jerseyed men have como 10 through the season witih flying colours for their record is a fino one. Metropolitan aro tho riinners-up. Theirs has ■ boen a more chequored career, for When l- lying in a goo<i position—only two a points away from Victoria College—thoy is allowed themselves to be beaten by GovII ernment Insurance, a team well down rr nonr the bottom rung of tho ladder. .p Tho junior and tliird-class championin ships have yet to bo fought out. id in Until Auokland Como. ill Auckland are not duo to play here le until September 20, and meantime it is id understood trial matches will bo played. I- There is much mo"o interest evinced in se the Auckland-Wellington fixture than in ' ii- any other Shield gamo of tlho season, and s, it is to be hoped that tho Wellington men do not lot up on training operaid tions before the northerners arrive. drs Tho Ladlos' Tournament. After a delay owing to bad weather, le t'lio Ladies' Association officials- were ?• last Saturday enabled to continue their in representative trial games, and the 10 selectors mado their final selection' of y the'team to take part in tho touniajnont at Wanganui. . The team will leavo 10 ; Wellington on Monday, September 8, m and return on Friday, September 19. ™ Running through tlio list of players selected ono is confident that the team le will give a good account of itself. The position of goal-keeper has been a very z " hard position to fill, and tho selectors i 1" liavo decided to play a lull-back in that 111 position. -Tho full-backs selected, Misses Tinnoy, Cameron, and Williamson, are ?' a fairly strong- trio, and oil defence should bo hard to get past, while their o .' hard-hitting should prove helpful to their forwards. Misses Tiuuey and °* Cameron liavo represented tho province in former years, and their experience should provo beneficial to the team. Tho former player has ropresonted Wellington at five tournaments, and is conside red oug of the best backs, in tlio '6 Dominion. ' Miss Williamson is new to ?" representative honours, and with the 1° expe'rionce to be gained at a tourney °" is Jlikoly to return a much-improved' J, 0 player. Of tho halves, Miss Brown has )> represented Otago in. 1910 and Welling--10 ton in 1912; Miss Wood has two years' representative experience with the Manaw'atu representatives, and is a s player notablo for her fino stick work; \° Miss Hicks represented Wellington in 1911, as a member of the B team,-and last year at Christehurch; Miss Now- ? s man is also now to representative honls ours, but on form displayed in the trials is a decided acquisition to tho team. Four of last year's forward lino are , again on tho field, viz., Misses Lang, M'Donell, Harris, and Dorment. Of tho 1 j ll others, Miss Simpson is an ex-Nolson , representative, and Misses Pickering and Laurenson are a pair of promising young players who should make a liamo i'or themselves at Wanganui. Miss Cameron has been appointed captain, and Miss Newman will act as ' r vice-captain. Mrs. Evans will act as chaperon and Sir. A. W. Manning as _ manager.