NEARLY OVER

NZ Truth, Issue 1192, 4 October 1928, Page 16

NEARLY OVER

Keen Hockey Finals

In Auckland

.(From "N.Z. . Truth's" Auckland Rep.) The venue of the Devonport Shield was virtually, decided at Auckland on Saturday when Somerville got home by a narrow margin from St. Luke's. CTEELE was the dominating figure of the Saints' team. Never at fault m defence, he relieved many dangerous situations for the Saints. The casualness which . marked the work of the white defence m their last shield match was missing against St. Luke's and it was rare that the defenders were not masters of the situation. Gardiner and Smith combined well m the full-back line. Cole stood out m the halves. It was the Cole ' of. old, with his pretty yet effective stickwork. The van worked well together and l_it the ball about freely, the best type of play against a defence, sure to closely mark such three inner forwards as possessed by Somerville. Seccombe alwayg tried t;o be dangerous to the Saints, but was as often dangerous to his own side by his habit of > fracturing rules when m the circle. The meeting between Epiphany and Otahuhu was expected to produce more than a little excitement, but though players seemed on edge, they applied themselves to playing the game, and served up a fast, but extremely crude exhibition of hockey. Unfortunately, the tempers of several of ..the players rose as the game proceeded, and towards the end two Otahuhu men were handed marching orders for chatting back at the referee. The game ended m a draw, with Epiphany unlucky m not winning, for though Otahuhu looked the more dangerous, they did not threaten the Epiphany goal as much as their own goal was menaced. Somerville Colts appear to have the habit of playing up to their opponents. Against hard teams they play solid games. Therefore it was not surprising that close scoring was a feature of the Colts— Mt. Eden match with Eden taking the honors by the odd goal.