LADIES’ HOCKEY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 June 1940, Page 8

LADIES’ HOCKEY

PLAY REVIEWED BIG SCORING GAMES. EXCELSIOR STILL UNBEATEN. (By "Bully.") Last Saturday’s series of matches were not quite so interesting as usual, three of the four games providing rather one-sided victories. Playing a fast game and with their forwards combining well in attack College A overwhelmed Kia Ora. the score being 10 goals to 0. Greytown also ran up a big taly against Old Girls, the score being 9 to 2. Carterton likewise "had a comfortable win when they met College B. The latter team has gneatly improved since the season opened, and did well to keep the score down to 5/0. The only winning team that had to really work for its victory was Excelsior. who defeated To Ore Ore in a hard game by 3 goals to' 1. Forwards All At Sea.

The meeting between College A and Kia Ora did not provide much of a spectacle. Some of the Kia Ora players could not take the field at the time of starting the match, which was an early game, and as a result Kia Ora were a bit disheartened by being a goal or two down before their full team was in action. At no stage, however. did Kia Ora show anything like equality with their opponents. Except for Miss J. Fawcett, their forwards appeared to be all at sea, and were never dangerous. The backs showed up to better advantage and good displays were given by Miss M. Whyborn at centre-half and Miss D. Heaven at full-back. The former has' been playing very good hockey lately, and is a strong candidate for rep. honours. Strong Attacking Qualities.

, In Misses F. Baird (centre) and K. Ross (right inner), College have two forwards of strong attacking qualities. Fast, vigorous and resourceful, they are likely to present a problem to any defence. Miss T. Saunders (right wing) is another forward with a good knowledge of what is required of her position. Miss L. Wilton was right on her game at right half and broke up with no delay at all any Kia Ora attacks that threatened to develop on her side of the field.

Strong, Clean Hitting. A good display of strong, clean hitting was given by Miss A. Bilderbeck. This young player shows every promise of developing into a first-class fullback.

A Free Hit Weakness. A noticeable weakness in this game was the failure of both sides to derive any advantage from free hits. In most cases the ball was either hit haphazardly down the field or sent direct to an opposing player. A glance at the positions taken by the players of both sides should suffice to show the player taking the hit where to place the ball to gain the maximum advantage for her side. A mis-placed free hit is just as likely to work out to the advantage of the offending side. Win Due to Superior Pace.

Though the margin in goals was not great, and the losers were the first to score. Excelsior never looked like losing in their game against Te Ore Ore. Once again Excelsior owed their win to the superior pace of their forwards, the adaptability of their half-back line in defence and attack, and the ability of their backs to quickly retrieve errors, of which there were more than usual.

The game was married by an overdose of the whistle, Excelsior being the chief offenders, especially in regard to giving “sticks.” Miss R. Harding, in particular, was repeatedly penalised, and on one occasion a goal was not awarded because the striking forward lifted her stick too high in making a shot. Misses E. Madsen and I. Palmet' went well in the Excelsior forward line, while Miss J. Harding again proved to be the best winger on the field. In the first spell Miss D. Le Forte played centre-half, with Mrs A. Southey at right-back. The team worked much better after the alteration was made. Miss Le Forte plays a far better game at full-back than she does at half, while the reverse applies to Mrs Southey. It is rather a' mystery why Excelsior do not establish these players in their most suitable positions instead of changing them about as they; so frequently do. Little Initiative Displayed..

The Te Ore Ore forwards were distinctly disappointing. After their initial success they appeared to lose their dash and hung back instead of going in at the critical moment. While it is true that a team can only play as well as its opponents will allow, and the Excelsior halves and backs were certainly quick in breaking up attacks, the fact remains that the Te Ore Ore forwards displayed little initiative and showed none of the combination that they appeared to be developing in recent matches. Most of their scoring has come from the wings but on this occasion the ball rarely reached the wingers smartly enough for them to do anything with it. On the few occasions that it did, however, both wingers made the mistake of hitting too far ahead, with the result that an opponent was able to clear before they could again get control. Up to last Saturday it looked as though Miss T. Haeata was going to play herself into the rep. team as left wing, but though she is by no means eliminated. "Bully” considers the position is more open than it was.

The Te Ore Ore backs are quite up to standard, and if the team could only pick up one or two smart inside forwards the Browns would be hard to beat.

Next Saturday’s big attraction will be the game between College A and Greytown, to be played on the College ground at 3 p.m. Greytown won when the teams met in the first round, but College have improved a lot since then and are likely to reverse the decision. Whichever side wins, however, it should be a tip-top game.