HOCKEY.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1919, Page 7

HOCKEY.

LADIES' TOURNAMENT. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Christchurch, Last Night. The annual New Zealand ladies' hockey tournament commenced this afternoon. The weather was very wintry, and showers fell during the afternoon, malting the ground very heavy. Results :~ Canterbury £. beat Auckland, by 4 to 2. Canterbury A. beat Manawatu, 4 to 0. Wanganul beat Wellington, 4 to 2. i NELSON DEFEATS WELLINGTON. Wellington, Last • Night. The hockey match, Nelson v. Wellington, played at Karori Park to-day was won by the visitors by five goals to two. A steady, drizzling rain fell and the ground was slippery. Nelson had the best of the game throughout. WANGANUI v. TAItANAKI. There was a fair attendance of the public at the hockey match at Kaponga on Saturday between teams representing Wanganul and Taranakl. Weather conditions were perfect, and the ground, though bumpy In places, was on the whole in good condition. Wanganui sprang oft 1 'lie mark quickly, and soon had the TaramtUi backs busily but the movemeut failed through too ptroiiK j a stroke by a Wanganui player. Tarar.alii! were soon in their opponents' area, where a powerful hit drove them back. Two successive infringements of the rules g>rernii)£ obstruction gave Wanganul an opening, but it was lost through obstruction. From the free hit Taranakl made good headway down the left wing, but the defence was sound, and Wanganul resumed the offensive, and soon Slmmondß was noticed having a shot at Taranakl's goal. Play continued even for Bome minutes, Priest having one good chance to score for Taranakl, but he lost his balance at a critical moment, aud the series etf combined forward rushes by Wanganui which followed made it seom as though a. score was certain. However, T. Bennle, Taranaki's goalkeeper, saved brilliantly on three occasions. The remainder of the spell was fairly evenly contested, Morrlssey ' losing one good opportunity for Taranakl and Blundell falling to open the visitors' score. The half-time whistle found matters "as you were," with Wanganul in a good position. In the second spell, Taranakl faced the sun, but found the opposing combination too strong, and for a few minutes play was in the local team's twenty-flvo. Then Morrlssey broke away, and, with Priest and B. Briggs, carried play past the half-way line. Briggs had the misfortune to receive a heavy blow on the chest, but after a few minutes' stoppage of play the same trio became prominent and a pretty rush ended in Briggs piloting the ball into the net. The upsetting of the balance' was the signal for faster tflay and better combination by the Wanganui players, ajid they were soon striving to penetrate the Taranakl defence. After Webb had missed a chance, Boyd secured from a weak stroke by an opposing back and his stinging shot got home. Shortly afterwards, Slmmonds saw an opening and took thtf ball right through by himself from near the half-way line,' finishing a fine run with a good shot. The visitors were playing consistently, and though Taranakl occasionally held promising positions lack of. combination and failure of lie halves to give adequate support told heavily against them, and Wanganul were able to not yet another goal, Blundell sending I>i a successful shot from an awkward angle. Towards the end Taranakl worked their way Into Wanganul's twenty-flve, but a free hit against them deolded the matter, and the game ended:— Wanganui .. .. .. .. 3 Taranakl .. 1 The teams, player for player, were about equal, but the Taranaki men failed to keep their places, and left many openings, which the Wanganui forwards were not slow in entering Wanganul's ha If lino was a stronger combination than that of their opponents, but the backs on both sides did well. T. Bennio played a splendid game in goal, and Priest, Morrlssey, and the Briggs Bros, were prominent. Frethey played in place of MoFadgen. On Saturday's showing it would take a very strong combination to beat the Wangangul eleven. Mr. Saunders was referee. Tho visitors were afterwards entertained at dinner at the Dominion Hotel, after which the Kaponga Club gave them a smoke concert.—Star. LADIES' TOURNAMENT. Tho seven-a-side tournament held on Saturday at tho Racecourse, was won by Girls' High School A team. The results of the match are as follows: High School A. beat Technical College, 1 to nil. High School B. beat Avoca, 2 to nil. Old Girls' beat Technical College, I to 0, High School A beat High School 8., 2 to 0. Technical College beat High School 8., 1 to 0. Old Girls beat Avoca, 1 to 0. High School A. bent Avoca, 2 to 0. Old Girls beat High School 8., I to 0. Technical College beat Avoca, 1 to 0, Final: High School A. beat Old Girls, 3 to 0. The matches were refereed by Messrs. Crimp and Ducßtan.