KEEN HOCKEY

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 649, 29 April 1929, Page 7

KEEN HOCKEY

OPENING PLAY AT REMUERA START OF COMPETITIONS Keen play and hard fought contests, in which the iss le was in doubt for the greater part cf the time, were the features of the play on the Remuera grounds on Saturday afternoon, when the Auckland Hockey Association opened its winter season. rpHE grounds were in excellent orA, .tier, although, tu followers of me -ame in past seasons, the changed conditions under which the men's senior teams are called upon lo work was most noticeable. With the dills' Athletic Association occupying, as its right, the best ground, tlic pare ui the Held allocuteu to Luo men leaves much to bo desired. The ground upon which the Otaliuliu -N or ill Shore contest was played oil was not even level. How tile limited space will stand up to the season’s play also gives ise to a question whicn the association will bo called upon to consider. The stanuard of play for inter-club competition was surprisingly good for the opening day. .-vu Uie .•■latches were keenly contested, and much clean open hockey resulted. Only three men’s senior matches were played oft. SOMERVILLE DEFEATS MT. EDEk Superior combination in its front line was largely responsible for Somey- i ville securing an overwhelming win I over Mount Eden. Throughout, the | game was very keenly contested, but, i alter the tirst half, the issue was newa in doubt. Eden was lacking in / liner points of the game when it ca»..v to close work in the circle. As in the past, so again at the opening match of the new season, Somerville lieided a front line whicn is outstanding in inter-club play. Although it was only to be expected that all players should be somewhat oh form on the first day, the Somerville tront line was seen in many very creditable fast movements. Secuombe made a few’ bad mistakes at the start, but these were made up lor later in the game. The play of the Watt brothers, Harold, Clive and .Eric, was one of the best features of the match. The play of the back liners was fair. The Edenites were certainly not allowed to dwell long in the Somerville circle. m Play on the Eden side was largely a display of individuals. The team put up a hard tight throughout, and at no time did Somerville find the going easy. Eden’s front line was its weak point, however, and several times when a score seemed almost certain faulty shooting and hitting proved too severe a handicap. Chaplin had several chances. Over-eager-ness appeared to be his trouble. Anderson put in some hard slogging in defence, but his play fell to pieces toward the end. Vuile, in the goal, made several smart saves. Out on the field Jones was seen taking a prominent part in one or two smart moves. UNIVERSITY BEATS EPIPHANY There was some surprisingly good play in tlic match between University and Epiphany. In the end University won by three goals to two. and, as this narrow margin indicates, the game was very keenly contested throughout. Hut for a slip within the first five minutes, when Hewitt, for Epiphany, succeeded in getting down the line and scoring all on his own. University attacked within the enemy twenty-live almost continuously throughout the first half. Epiphany’s defence worked well, and University was kept out of the net by a succession of long shots right down the held and quick followups, in which Hewitt continually distinguished himself. Naturally so early in the season, the fine edge of brilliance had not yet been put on to University’s attack, and though its forwards worked cleverly and in excellent combination, keeping the ball well toward the Epiphany twenty-five, they lacked sufficient practice to be able to force it into the net. Toward the end of the first half, however, the game began to open up, and Epiphany came to light with some good, though brief attacks. University then showed that it had a sound defence. the backs and the goal-keeper doing excellent work. In the second half, soon after the beginning, Meiklejolm scored twice for University, the scores coming within a couple of minutes of each other. University still continued to press, but the forwards had lost some of their dash, and a long spell of useless scrambling found the mouth of the Epiphany goal followed, neither side being able to do anything definite with tlie ball. Dunn, for Epiphany, ended this by making a clever and interesting run down the wing, beating the forwards and halfbacks all the way until he was checked by the combined opposition of the University goal and fullbacks. That caused the game to open up considerably, and when the Epiphany men attacked again they were able to reach their opponents’ circle. A shot from the edge of the circle sent Ll.c ball toward the top of the net. and the University goalie, stopping it with his hand, caused it to bounce some distance back into play. The referee awarded a penalty bully in the mouth of the goal, and Hewitt was able to score again for Epiphany. The score was levtM until just before time, when University made a last dash up the field and Taylor got in a successful shot, thus putting liis team in the lead. NORTH SHORE’S EASY WIN North Shore had an easy win from 1 Otahuhu, though the game was interesting because of the fight that | Otahuhu put up. A score of four lu i nil argues a fairly one-sided game, but 1 in reality Otahuhu had very bad luck j in not scoring several times. The play veered up and down the field all through the match, neither side, apparently, having any decisive advantage over the other. But the difference lay in the fact that, though both sets of forwards attacked with | vigour, the Shore men had the necessary drive to force their attacks home, while the Otahuhu men had to struggle on the edge of the circle without sue ceeding in getting the ball into the net. Both halves of the game were very similar. In both of them North Shore scored in the first few minutes, and was then driven back to defend its own circle. Otahuhu showed that it had plenty of skill in attack and defence, but its chief trouble seemed to be lack of weight in the second line. A few weeks of practice should make up for this, and with an improved competition the team should be one m the cleverest on the ground. Anthony played a great game for Shore! He scored twice and was the mainstay of the team throughout a difficult game. There was plenty ol energy behind the attack of the forwards but. like other teams, the lack of practice prevented them from driving home their attack. They missed I niany opportunities by scoring by nfistakes that a little practice should soon correct. An interesting feature pf tlie match was the speed at which it was played, “nd the hard work that the players Put into it. lower grade results Following are the results of matches played in the lower grades:— Second Grade—Wesley, 3, v. Mount i. £. n * 1* Somerville, 3, v. University A. Training College. »*>, v. Epiphany, 2; St. s v - Papatoetoe, 3. Fourth Grade—Mount Albert Grammar , • v. Auckland Grammar, 2; Papatoe- - - v - Otahuhu, 2. Fifth Grade—Somerville, S, v. Auckland Grammar B, 0; Mount lSden, 1. vMount Albert Grammar A, 0: Auckland Grammar A, 3, v. Mount Albert Grammar B, 0.