SOMERVILLE’S WIN

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 165, 3 October 1927, Page 10

SOMERVILLE’S WIN

HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP TRAINING COLLEGE BEATEN MORGAN CUP TO EDEN By defeating Training College by six goals to nil at Remuera on Saturday, Somerville seniors won the final of the club hockey championship competitions for another season. Played on a hard ground the game was fast and full of incident and although the champions piled up half a dozen goals while College failed to register, the match was hardly so onesided as the score would indicate. Yet from the side line it appeared as though Somerville, in the closing stages, was not greatly extended and had ceased to take the game seriously. The fixture was played off between the winners of the A and B sections of the senior grade, Somerville being: victor in the A section and Training: College the best of the four teams entered in B section. The honour of carrying home the Edgar Morgan Cup for competition in the men’s fourth grade club competitions, again fell to Mount Eden, which defeated Grammar School by the overwhelming figure of 12 to nil. The only girls’ senior match played on Saturday was the knock-out semifinal in which Arawa, four goals, defeated Y.YV.C.A., which scored twice. SOMERVILLE LOWERS COLLEGE’S FLAG The comparatively easy defeat of Training College by Somerville only serves to make clearer what has previously been pointed out in these columns. The standard of hockey exhibited by all teams in the B section has been distinctly inferior to that of the A division and it is a doubtful question whether the creation of the second section was justified.. Taken as a whole, hockey in all grades this year has not been up to the standard of preceding seasons, probably owing to the deplorable weather conditions, and certainly most matches in B section have not reached a good second grade standard. Next season the entire senior division will require reshuffling and some weeding out will be necessary. Looking back over the competitions, one can say with justice that only five teams have shown themselves worth first grade representation. There is little to say concerning Saturday’s match. During the first 10 minutes College seemed capable of holding Somerville, but as soon as the Whites’ forward line took stock of College’s back the deadly trio. Clive and Eric Watts and Seccombe showed

themselves as dangerous as ever. The whole side worked well in unison and gradually wore down the dashing but over-anxious Collegians. The Blues’ great fault was the poor stickwork of the forwards in the enemy circle. Numerous chances were spoiled through wild swiping, mishitting and hesitancy. In a word the attackers lacked the finish of their more experienced opponents. Bunching and robbing one another of the ball were other glaring mistakes too much in evidence. The halfback and back departments gave Somerville a hard run for it and some really good defensive play was exhibited particularly in the first half of the second session. Before College thinks about entering senior grade next season it would be well to look to the possibility of obtaining the services of a coach. The raw material is there, but the team, .the forwards especially, lack finish.