Why Auckland Lost Shield Hockey Match

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 745, 19 August 1929, Page 7

Why Auckland Lost Shield Hockey Match

WEAK PLAY IN CIRCLE CANTERBURY MORE CONFIDENT (Special to THE SUN) CHRISTCHURCH, Today. In a great bid for the New Zealand hockey challenge shield Auckland was beaten by Canterbury by two goals to one. It was a fast, hard and exciting game from beginning to end, and the teams were very evenly matched. Canterbury had the better individual players, but Auckland was better in stick work and in positional play.

Canterbury von because its forwards took greater advantage of opportunities and because Auckland’s play in the circle was the weak feature of the team's exhibition. Canterbury had slightly the better of the first half, but although Canterbury came to light with a strong finishing effort Auckland held the advantage for the greater part of the second session. The Aucklanders showed very pretty stick-work in some really splendid combined rushes that tested the Canterbury defence fully, and it was lucky for the holders that E. Rhind. goalkeeper, was in good form, for he had much more work to do than did H. Rankin in the Auckland goal, and he did it all very well stopping some hot shots in the goal-mojxth and at times leaving the goal to "clear. The best of the Canterbury defenders was H. More, at centre-half, who beat his opponents time after time to take the ball clear of melees, and send it to his forwards. All the Canterbury forwards played -well individually, but their passes at times were not well placed, and so they often failed to keep in touch in attacks. Canterbury attacked up the centre of the field generally, whereas Auckland depended on the wings to penetrate to the other side’s territory, and possibly because of these tactics the visitors maintained their positions better. It is significant that both Canterbury's goals came from good play on the wings. W. Bell, inside left, shot first from a well-centred pass, and W. Gracie, on the right wing, got the other.

Auckland's goal also came from a pass infield to P. Anthony. Auckland’s fullbacks, B. Williams and W. Gardiner. gave a fine exhibition of rush stopping and their stolid defence enabled their halves to give the forwards every support in attack. Canterbury rather played into their hands by hitting too hard at times. W. Williams, at right half, also gave a splendid exhibition, and his placing was irreproachable. C. Watts was headiest of the forwards, and with clever stickwork and pretty combined efforts with W. Gracie on the left wing, he imparted sting and danger to the Northerner’s attack. D Reid, big and fast, made some really great runs on the right wing. Anthony, however, was the only forward with really dangerous shooting propensities, and he slammed in some hot shots. Others were inclined to sacrifice opportunities near The circle for combination. Canterbury’s exhibition was not as good as the r lay that wrested the shield from Wellington, but was much better than in the drawn game against the Australians. and Aucklanders can be satisfied that their team put up a very creditable fight for the trophy.

SCRATCH HOCKEY

BEST PLAYERS ABSENT JUNIORS FILL TEAMS Scratch hockey was the order of the day at Remuera on Saturday, when the second series of matches for the Devonport Shield was set down for decision. The grounds had never before been in better condition and were hard and play'ng fairly true. From the spectators’ point of viev onlv one game, the University-—Mount Eden fixture, was worth watching. This game was fast and open and. although the Edenites won by s—o.5 —0. the score is no indication of the run of play. The students were off colour in the cil'le, but gave an attractive exhibition up and down field. The North Sliore-St. Luke’s clash was not a good contest and resulted in a win by I—o :in favour of the former. St. Luke’s ought to have been awarded one goal which the Shore goalie himself turned into the net off an opponent’s stick. Somerville and Epiphany staged a third-rate game that was marred not only by poor play but also by roughness on the part of players of both sides. The Somerville team took victory by 3 goals to -. The reason why the two last-men-tioned games were below par was that Somerville, St. Luke’s and Shore each had several men away with the Auckland representatives who went unsuccessfully to Christchurch in quest ol the Dominion Challenge Shield. The gaps had to be filled with players from the junior grades, who. in most cases good enough men as individuals, natutally did not combine with the remnants of the original teams. The following table shows the positions of the teams in the Devonport Shield competition:— _ Pts. L n.

SHORE HAS LUCKY WIN By the mistake of the referee North was given a win over St. Luke s bv l to 0. The game ought to have been a draw, both on the general run of play and because St. Luke's also scored a goal which was inadvertently disallowed. St. Luke’s was pressing and a forward had a shot at goal, •lust before the ball was turned over the line inside the net by the goalie the referee whistled for an obstruction by a Shore man and awarded a penalty corner. In any case at least a penalty bully or, more accurately, a clear goal should have been allowed. The fact that the goalkeeper touched the ball as it went into the net branded the incident a gaol, so St. Luke’s got one both ways. The match was played on No. 3 which for once was dry. Both teams had fully half their usual complement filled by juniors or men brought in as stop-gaps, and it was not to be wondered that team work went all to pieces: although the juniors as individual cases did not perform badly at all in many cases. North Shore goaled through the agency of Monteith after a scramble in the circle, just before half-time. The match was notable for the number of corners, particularly against Shore, though St. Luke’s was penned three times. As usual Shore's main strength lay in its half line, which gave a very steady account of itself. In the St. Luke’s defensive sections the outstanding player was Robertson. Vipond, left fullback, also c»ve a creditable display. In the forwara» Wotherspoon and the Giles

brothers carried the burden of the attack. In the Shore vanguard R. Frater took the temporary position of leftwing, instead of fullback. In his place F. Anthony, who is seen from time to time in hockey, turned out to lend assistance. To help St. Luke’s, H. Hookham appeared once again in his old place at outside-right. Shore has now beaten both the leading teams in senior hockey, having defeated Somerville three weeks ago in the first match of the series.

MT. EDEN V. VARSITY

A fine exhibition of fast hockey was witnessed in the match between Varsity and Mount Eden. The fact that Mount Eden won by such a majority is no indication to the standard of the play. Mount Eden, although superior, was not overwhelmingly so. \ arsity started well. Sweeping, into the Mount Eden territory, the forwards were very dangerous, and were only blocked with difficulty bv the Mount Eden defenders. Mainland cleared and thus relieved the tension. Some clever exchanges between the teams were then witnessed in midfield. Mount Eden becoming the aggressor strongly. After a hot battle in the Varsity circle M. Jones netted from a pass. The Mount Eden forwards and halves played brilliantly, and their combination was splendid. Chaplin, Asher and M. Jones in the front line deserve special mention. They were ably supported by a sound defence in Mainland and Anderson, whose consistent play did so much to thwart the Varsity vanguard. The Varsity forwards, though at times good, were erratic, and their combination, on the whole, was poor. Both Taylor and Thompson, the blues’ left and right-wingers, made fine dashing runs, which proved futile, through lack of support. The blues seemed to lack the confidence of the winning team, and while nearly scoring many times, they spoilt the opportunities through over-eagerness. The Varsity side had the misfortune to lose Hay at half-time, and Mount Eden suffered a similar fate during the second half when Hughes was hurt. Sparling, backed by K.iyll in goal. played well considering the double task he was called upon to perform. Despite the weaknesses of Varsity, there were some first-class exhibitions of fast hockey, interspersed with really brilliant individual play.

SOMERVILLE WINS FROM EPIPHANY

What was said about the St. Luke’sShore match applies to a large extent to the meeting of Somerville and Epiphany. The Whites had six second graders who were making their first appearance in senior hockey. As a result the team was at sixes and sevens, though many of the players showed themselves to be made of the right stuff. An outstanding performance of goal-getting was given by Hunter, who got all three of Somerville’s goals and netted a fourth which, however, was disallowed. .He had been moved from centre half to centre forward and the new position only emphasised his versatility. On the Epiphany side the burden of the defence fell on Michel and C. Mills.

The Epiphany goals were netted by Johnston and Nicholson. A good deal of hard play, that was frequently rough, was staged, two or three men of both teams being guilty of playing the man rather than the ball.

FAST WOMEN’S HOCKEY

MT. EDEN AND Y.W.C.A. WIN The women’s hockey games at Remuera on Saturday afternoon both provided good contests, Mount Eden defeating Arawa by two goals to one, and Y.W.C.A. defeating Somerville by three to nil. The youthful Arawa team was very unlucky in meeting defeat, the winning goal being scored about two minutes before the final whistle. Up and downfield play occupied most of the first spell, Miss Simpson scoring for Arawa, while Mount Eden fought hard to even the score. After half-time Mount Eden made strenuous efforts to score, but Arawa put up a great defence against the older and more experienced team. Arawa took a turn iri attack, but the Eden team was soon knocking at the door again and Mrs. Hamlin netted to make the score even. In the last quarter of an hour Mount Eden had all the best of the play as l'ar as attacking was concerned, but the Arawa defence was equal to the occasion although confined to in and around the circle. It was only good luck which gave Eden the winning goal. Miss Lowe shooting for goal and the ball deflecting off an Arawa player’s foot into the net. The whistle sounded immediately afterwards. Mr. E. J. Hewitt was the referee.

Play in the Y.W.C.A.-Somerville game was very even for the first quarter of an hour. Each team invaded the enemy circle, but neither could get the ball into the net. Then Y.W.C.A. went away to a strong attack and Miss Waters opened the score. A few minutes later she repeated the performance and when half-time arrived Y.W.C.A. had a two-point lead. Somerville appeared to fade instead of improve in the second half and never appeared very dangerous. Y.W. attacked frequently, but only managed to score one more goal. Mrs. Sawbridge being the successful player. There was no doubt that Y.W. were much the better team on the day’s play and the win was fully deserved. Mr. R. Avery was the referee.

Mount Eden r. w. iD. F. A. Pts. 0—4 Xorth Shore — 4 2 1 St. Luke's i t — 4 2 2 Somerville 1 i — 5 j* - Epiphany .. 2 — 2 — - < University . 2 — 2 — 19