NORTH SHORE’S SUCCESS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 685, 10 June 1929, Page 7

NORTH SHORE’S SUCCESS

SOMERVILLE DEFEATED IN KEEN HOCKEY FIRST ROUND OVER The first round of the nven's sen or hockey competition closed at Remuera on Saturday and the positions of the teams are more than ordinarily interesting. Mount Eden, by drawing with Varsity. is now in the lead, and one point ahead of Somerville, North Shore and St. Luke’s. Following are the positions of the

Saturday’s games were chiefly notable for the defeat of Somerville by North Shore to the tune of 2-1. Varsity and Eden drew, 2 all, and St. Luke’s defeated Epiphany by 5-2.

NORTH SHORE V. SOMERVILLE In a fine, fast open, game, one of the best seen on the Remuera ground this season, Shore defeated Somerville by two goals to one on Saturday afternoon. In spite of the condition of the ground, which was very wet and slippery, the standard of play was extraordinarily high, both teams giving a brilliant display. Shore showed that it had more than returned to the form that distinguished it at the beginning of the season. The forwards, discarding the arrow-head formation which they adopted some few matches ago, played in a level formation that allowed of much greater ease in passing and of far better cohesion between the men. Their passing was pleasantly accurate and they showed an efficiency in stopping the ball and handling the pass that was delightful to watch. Reid, on tho wing, and Frater, at fullback, were the two mainstays of the forward line. Reid was, perhaps, h little wild in his play, and he certainly was far too often out of his place, but his speed and weight and skill in handling the ball once he had it safely before his stick more than made up for his faults. The game was wonderfully even throughout, Somerville attacking and defending beautifully. On the whole, perhaps, the forwards were a little smothered by the superior speed of the Shore men, but the backs had full scope to display their skill and performed feats of brilliancy in warding off the Shore attack. Toward the end of the game, when the muddy ground was beginning to trouble the tired players, the Somerville forwards made a desperate and exciting effort to bring about a draw. With a series of perfectly accurate passes they came down the field, through the half-line and right to the goal’s mouth. One after the other, three shots were made, each one good enough to have beaten the average goal-keeper. But Rankin, the Shore goalie, managed to reach each one, and none of them got over the line. R®id distinguished himself at this moment, when he snatched the ball from under the noses of the attacking Somerville forwards, and dashed down the field unopposed. Me beat the goalkeeper, the only man within 30yds of him, but in so doing hit too hard, and the ball was over the line before he could stop it. It was a brilliant run, and the respite it gave the Shore backs from the Somerville attack was a valuable one. From the bully at the Somerville twenty-five, the Somerville attack went straight back to the Shore circle and it is probable fhat if the whistle had not blown three minutes later, Somerville would have scored its goal. VARSITY’S MIXED LUCK From the point of view of the onlookers the match between University and Mount Eden, played on No. 1 ground as the star attraction of the day, was full of excitement, particularly in the second half. On the run of play, the final issue of two goals may be taken as a fair indication of the showing of both sides. Muring the first half the students had decidedly the better of operations, but in the middle of the latter session tho persistent hammering tactics for which the brown jerseys are noted, began to have their effect and the blues were thrown on the defensive. Although the game was not as consistently brilliant as the North Shore-Somerville fixture, many sparkling incidents were exhibited and some of the prettiest play was shown by Brown and Sparling, Varsity fullbacks, and the student goalie, Crawley, who again brought off several astonishing saves, which the gallery was not slow to appreciate. All things considered, the students as a team have not given a more telling exposition during this season. On past form they should have suffered easy defeat at the sticks of Eden, but the team rose to the occasion most commendably. The chief fault was the inability of the forwards to finish off in the circle. Opportunities were created time and again, chiefly by excellent half-back work. Among the trio Radcliffe excelled himself. Storry was consistently good and Eddie Burton, who made a welcome reappearance wielded an opportune stick, even though he was inclined to rove a little too much. Seelen got no more than his due in again being included in the forwards, and he should never have been dropped. Taylor nullified several golden chances by offside play. Mon was the battler and played well. Meiklejohn has not yet done much good at centre-forward, and will have to watch his billet. Thompson, right wing, made a good line man and for the most part centred with precision. As for Mount Eden, it can be said that there were no passengers. Particularly good work was done by Anderson and Mainland, fullbacks, and t ail in goal stood up well in the face of determined attacking. Of the halves, Hughes sparkled, though at times he was mixed up among the backs. The forwards were inclined in the earlier stages to carry out more solo work than was in the best interests of scoring.

ST. LUKE’S V. EPIPHANY A disappointingly slow and ragged game was played between St. Luke’s and Epiphany. It is probably true enough that,* in a match between a good team and a poorer team, the good is brought down to the level of the latter - and this was certainly demonstrated very plainly. St. Luke’s has Played some excellent hockey’ this seabut it gave a very mediocre dison Saturday*. _ However, the game was decisive, St.

Luke’s winning by a comfortable margin of three goals. As the game progressed the play grew extraordinarily willing—far too willing for any good hockey to show itself. There seemed, on the other hand, to be some unwillingness to follow the referee’s decisions, an unwillingness which grew as the fate of the match became more certain. Both sides offended against the rules very frequently’, the referee’s whistle going only too often for only too good reasons, and a large percentage of these infringements were for obstruction. Play was slow and lacking in polish. There was little passing, except at rare intervals on the St. Luke’s side, and a great deal of speculation and wild driving. On the St. Luke’s side the two Giles brothers play’ed fairly sound games, Tom, on the wing, especially, doing well. Nicholson and Mills, Epiphany’s two scorers, play’ed fair games, but the rest of the play’ers were disappointingly* below standard.

WESLEY AND MT. EDEN WIN WOMEN’S HOCKEY MATCHES The two women’s games played at Remuera on Saturday resulted in wins for Wesley and Mount Eden. The grounds were somewhat heavy, and consequently, play was a trifle slow*. Playing against Wesley, Somerville we nt down by four goals to two. The losers opened splendidly, but the Wesley defence was good, and the commencing burst did not bring any result. Wesley did not begin to show any combination until tho bout had been in progress some time and after some slow exchanges Miss Francis netted for Somerville. This reverse did the Greens much good, for the forwards livened up and pressed the Somerville defence strongly. For a time the Somerville backs withstood the attack, but a melee in front of the goal enabled Wesley to equalise. The Greens kept up the pressure, and before long the persistent efforts were rewarded, Miss Murray finding the goal. Somerville made a strong bid to equalise in the second half, but success did not attend the efforts. After a long bout of midfield plav Wesley again dominated play, Miss Brodie netted twice. This was not in keeping with Somerville’s idea of things, and play moved down to the Wesley quarter, and Miss Claudet gained possession in the circle and goaled. No further score went to either side. Mr. A. Playle controlled the game. Mount Eden opened smartly against Y.W.C.A., but it was the latter team that scored the first two goals, bad direction spoiling several other movements. Mount Eden reduced the defict by ono before half-time, and after the interval put more energy into the play, running out one ahead of Y.W.C.A.: 3—2. Following Mount Eden’s initial attack, Y.W. carried the ball down to the former’s twenty-five, a couple of shots going wide. Play was confined to midfield for a time, but clever dribbling by Miss McLachlan brought the ball into the circle. She opened Y.WLC.A.’s tally with a strong shot, and following the bully just missed with another. Y.W. kept up the attack, confining play in the Mount Eden quarter. Miss McLachlan again showed clever stick-work, and netted her second goal. From the bully Mount Eden attacked, and Mrs. Hamlin reduced the lead just before half-time. A nice shot by Mrs. Hamlin brought the score even, and shortly afterward Miss Lowe gave Mount Eden the lead—three goals to two. Mr. 11. Rankin was the referee.

teams; — P. W. L. D. Goals F. A. Pts. Mount Eden . 1 1 11 8 7 Somerville 5 11 8 6 North Shore 3 0 0 6 St. Luke's 10 14 6 University 2 1 12 14 5 Epiphany 5 — 5 — 6 15 —