HOCKEY

Southland Times, Issue 21091, 24 May 1930, Page 19

HOCKEY

(By

“Half-Back.”)

MEN’S SECTION (SATURDAY).

Saturday’s competition in the men's section has provided some rattling games this season but it is doubtful if there has been a more exciting exhibition than was the match between Civil Service and Collegiate A last Saturday. The meeting between these two teams had been eagerly anticipated, for Service had been defeated only once, and that, by the dashing High School A players, while Collegiate had not suffered a loss. j . There was little indeed, to choose be-

tween the relative merits of the contestants, but it was the brilliant defence work of the 'Collegiate rear division which ultimately won the day. Time and again the dashing Service forward rank embarked upon one dangerous movement after another, but time and again the attackers were repulsed when in the very goal-mouth. Counter attacks followed attacks at a terrific speed and the game was crammed with incident ujf>n incident from start to finish. Hope went into goal for Service and acquitted himself creditably in his new position. He is an alert player and uses his head and, as the season progresses, more should be heard of him. ‘ The Reds badly missed the services of Deacon, who was absent owing to the school vacation. He is just the right man to partner Surgenor as 1 full back and though Taylor, his locum tenens, put in yeoman work, the latter really shines better in the forward division. Surgenor, as usual,, was very reliable and held up the Collegiate vanguard on many a dangerous occasion. Richards, as centre-half,'worked in top-gear throughout but he was not as strongly supported by Macdonald and Heaton as he could have been. Macdonald has been putting in some good work of late, but he was not up to his usual form in this match. The Service forwards battled throughout on all cylinders, but the defence frustrated their eSorts. Blee put in some good work

on the right wing and was smart in centring. Smith backed him up well and Was always prominent but, on one or two occasions, there was overcrowding on Blee’s wing and this nullified likely movements. In Spence, who played centre-forward in the B team the previous Saturday, Service have a rattling good man who should be knocking at the door when rep. honours come along. In the Collegiate match he was always to the fore and infused plenty of dash into his play. He flashed like a meteor into all attacking movements and he will undoubtedly prove an acquisition to the

game locally. " Roberts is a game little player but should be careful of a tendency to give “sticks” On some occasions he was in a dangerous position to finish off likely movements but his offending in this wise spoilt things. His stick work was pretty and a solo effort, in which he took the ball practically from one end of the field to his opponents danger zone, was a distinctly meritorious piece of play. The weak link in the Red forward line seemed to be Paterson, who was disappointing after his displays on previous Saturdays. He has, a good reserve of speed, but did not appear to be able to finish off his efforts, while he was slow in getting his centres across. Again he was sometimes out of his position at the critical moment but he was not the only offender in this respect. V. Poole, Collegiate’s goalie, gave a brilliant exhibition in clearing the ball in several tight corners. He was safe throughout and with his stick, foot and hand he saved almost certain scores. Ferguson was at the top of his form and, by his sterling display on Saturday bid fair to outrival the work his opponent Surgenor was putting in for Service. Ferguson is improving game by game and his cool, defensive play was a source of strength and protection to his team mates. N. Poole was generally sound though he seemed inclined to stand too close to the goal mouth. Later, however, he moved further up-field and was more useful to bis men. He is a good type of full-back, however and shows distinct promise. D. Bayne put in some solid work and was always in the play. On Saturday he several times by good stick work, gained possession of the ball from the onrushing Red forwards and sent it clear from the danger zone. Donaldson put in some useful work on the right wing and centred smartly. He had an easy opponent in Paterson but, withal, his efforts were sturdy ones and, especially in the second spell when he scored from a difficult angle, his play was very promising indeed.

Lindsay, Wren, Shields and Stirling played a rattling good forward game and never let up all through. Lindsay, as centre, was tireless in his efforts and bustled down upon the Service defences in great style. Wren was always on the spot and his tackling was distinctly bright. Both he, Shields and Stirling follow up well and this extra effort was crowned with success on Saturday, when goals resulted from such tactics. High School A have so far not been beaten and the tussle between them and Collegiate should provide a splendid exhibition of hockey. I understand Roff, the High School A goalie, has now entered the commercial world and will no longer be found in the school ranks on future occasions. He has been showing promise as the last line of defence and will probably throw in his lot with one of the other teams. Mehaffey who has been in the limelight as fullback in School B, takes Roff’s place in the A’s and he can confidently be expected "'to give* a good account of himself. In addition to the thrill of playing matches against the world’s best hockey teams, the' New Zealand team, had the tour of South Africa been, undertaken, would have had a wonderful programme of sightseeing ahead of it. To give an idea of what the

New Zealand representatives missed, a i northern exchange quotes the arrangements • made for the Australian women’s hockey team which is going to the tournament in South Africa, and will later tour England. The itinerary, a copy of which is to hand is as follows: —Team assembles early in May, and sails from Melbourne on the Themistocles on May 24. A match .will be played against Victoria prior to sailing. Team arrives South Africa about June 23, and plays against England, Scotland, and various South African teams at Port Elizabeth, Grahamstown, Queenstown, East London, Durban, Bulawayo, Gwelo, Salisbury, Benoni, Pretoria, Johannesburg, Maritzburg, Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Wellington, or Paarl, and Cape Town. July 12 to 19 will be devoted to a visit to the Victoria Falls. On September 3 a farewell dinner will be given to the visiting teams at Cape Town, and on September 5, England, Scotland and Australia will leave for Europe. They will arrive at Southampton on October 6, and the Australians will play in the West of England, Ireland, -North of England, Scotland, South of England, Midlands, and East, and on November 27 leave for the Continent. where matches will be played in Holland, Belgium, Germany, and possibly France. The team will sail for Australia on December 6. LADIES’ HOCKEY TOURNAMENT AT NIGHTCAPS COLLEGIATE A VICTORIOUS. Weather conditions were miserable on Wednesday - when a seven-a-side . ladies’ hockey tournament was held at Nightcaps. Three teams from. Invercargill braved the elements and, departed early in the morning for Nightcaps where they were welcomed by the ladies of the local hockey club. The players of the Union and Collegiate A teams making the journey were as follows:— Union: C. Sparks, E. .Hope, M. Woods, J. Ronald, E. Insall, M. Belsham and A'. Conley. . Collegiate A: R. Burt, A. Latta, N. Thomas, P. Guest, K. Murray, L.. Baird and C. Porter. Collegiate B were also represented. The result of the matches are as follows:— ' First Round. ' .. Lumsden 2 v. Western' Star B 0. Thornbury 3 v. Nightcaps B 0.

Nightcaps A 1 v. Collegiate B 0. Collegiate A 2 v. Heddon Bush 0. Otautau, Orepuki, Union and Western Star A drew a bye in the first round. Second Round. Western Star A 1 v. Orepuki 0. Nightcaps A-l.v. Lumsden 0. Thornbury 2 v. Otautau 0. Collegiate A 4 v. Union 0. • ‘ Semi-final. , Western Star A 1 v: Thornbury 0. Collegiate A j v. Nightcape A 0. Final. Collegiate A 1 v. Western Star A nil. COMMENTS ON THE PLAYERS. Union. / C. Sparks was in fair form, but was handicapped by the snow and rain. Her stick work was good though not up to her usual. 1 E. Hope is. a good worker, though she showed a tendency, at times, to overrun the ball. Monica Woods put up a good fight as centre-half, but owing to the cold, was not able to acquit herself as creditably as ehe ha» done in home matches. Jenny Ronald, as left-half, was generally reliable. She is coming along nicely each week, and more should be heard of her. Eva Insall showed an improvement and, with additional practice, should overcome the set-back naturally resultant from her year’s retirement. Myra Belsham, the crack High School player, was borrowed for the occasion, permission having, in the first instance, been obtained from the Nightcaps Club. However, she was not able to pass the sound Collegiate backs. A. Conley played her usual good game, but should restrain her tendency to overrun the ball. Collegiate A. R. Burt played her usual splendid game throughout and was exceptionally outstanding against Western Star’s speedy wings. A. Latta showed herself as an improving player and, at times, her work was almost on a par with R. Burt's high standard of play. More should be heard of this player in the future. N. Thomas was, on many occasions, little less than brilliant and she shone particularly in defence. Time and again she turned defence into attack. L. Baird was an energetic centre-forward and was responsible for the winning goal in the final. However, she would do much better if she did not show a tendency towards getting off-side. C. Porter also played well, but as in the case of L. Baird, was at times off-side. K. Murray is improving with each game, and in the final her play was superior to that of last season’s rep. form. P. Guest was outstanding, her defence being particularly sound. She is a most resolute tackler and has already shown form which should carry her < into this season’s rep. team.