HOCKEY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 202, 24 August 1908, Page 6

HOCKEY.

THAMES V .AUCKLAND. ANOTHER VICTORY FOR AUCKLAND Perfect weather prevailed fof the match between the Auckland and Thames representatives for the Championship Shield on Saturday. The attendance was moderate. The ground was in good order and a fast game resulted. Mr. E. Madden, of the Auckland Referees' Association, ably controlled the match. The following were the teams: — Thames Team.—Colours, Blue and Gold—Goal: Menzies; full-backs, Rockley, Driver; halves, Brokenshire, L. Whittaker, J. Griffin; forwards, Thompson, L.. Griffin, Martin, Brownlee and Renshaw. Auckland Team, —Colours Blue and White—Goal. C. H. Howell; full-backs, F. S. Shirriffs, H. D. Speight; halves. J; R. C. Badham, D. K. Porter, V. C. Kavanagh; forwards, W. Brooke-Smith, H. Mather, F. B, Mason, R. W. Barry, H. O. Welham. THE FIRST SPELL. Mason and Griffin bullied off, and Thames were first away. BrookeSmith took the ball well into the visitors' territory, where Rockley cleared nicely. Good work by Whittaker took play into Auckland's'2s, and Brownlee and Thompson blocked Shirriff's return. Good work by Kavanagh and Badham carried play to the visitors' circle, Mather just missing. Whittaker, Renshaw.. Brownlee, and Griffin attacked the home stronghold, but Shirriffs cleared well, and Mason and Wellham carried the ball into the visitors' circle, where Mason scored. Auckland .. 1 Thames ._.._..._ ~--. 0 Welham made a fine run, and a neat centre. Mather had a chance, but his shot went wide. Good work by Thompson carried play to Auckland's circle, but the Auckland vanguard quickly carried the ball to the other end of the field. Auckland kept up the pressure, and a series of corners resulted. Auckland were awarded a free-hit for deliberate obstruction. Kavanagh passed to Welham, who centred. Rockley saved well, driving out in the visitors' circle. From a throw-in Brooke-Smith followed up; Mather centred, and Barry found the net. Auckland .... ~ 2 Thames 0 A passing rush by Whittaker to Griffin, to Martin, sent play over Auckland's line. Howell had his first hit in the gamp, clearing «. strong attack. Thames then took a turn in attacking, Rockley and Brokenshire being instrumental in taking play to Auckland's 25. The invasion was but temporary, and the visitors were soon forced to beat a retreat. Another strong rush by Thames again proved fruitless, Renshaw's shot going across the line. A determined effort on Thames' part again placed Auckland on the defensive, and a hot shot by Renshaw was saved in the nick of time by Badham. Mather and Brooke-Smith, by some fine combined play, carried the ball into Thames' territory. Brooke-Smith centred, and Barry's shot just went wide of the post. The spell ended up— Auckland ... . l 2 Thames 0 SECOND SPELL. Thames were first away again. ■ Mather, Brooke-Smith, and Welham, with good, combined work, carried play into the visitors' circle, where Mather had a shot at goal, but missed. From a strong attack by Auckland, Rockley cleared splendidly, the ball going out in Auckland's 25. Speight saved a determined attack by Thames. From a lofty centre, Mason made a terrific hit. sending the ball to the fence. From a pass by Badham, Mason stopped and tapped into the circle, and with a clinking shot, found the net. Auckland 3 Thames 0 A lot of open play followed, ana a Spt'SU Tnj jgjjjjj ike ball into the ne,. 8 Auckland 4 Thames '. o This roused the visitors, and thoroughly on their mettle, Martin, Thompson, and Griffin headed a rush at a terrific pace, carrying the ball to Auckland's 25. Kavanagh cleared with a fine lofty hit. itenshaw stopped a hard hit by Barry, but his stick, receiving the blow Intended for the ball, was bre? Driver stemmed an Auckland onslaught, and hit out at midway. Some give and take play followed, and Renshaw and Martin carried the ball into Auckland's 25. Shirriffs' rushing in spoiled a promising chance. A nice hit by Speight to Brooke-Smith was centred to Mason, who again scored. Auckland _ g Thames _ u> 0 From a throw-in at half-way Thompson and Brownlee took to Auckland circle, where Griffin had hard luck in not scoring, the ball missing the net by inches. With only three minutes to go, the visitors rallied, but were soon forced on the defensive. The game ended with no further score. Auckland __ g Thames "."* 0 Auckland therefore retains the shield. •TUMOR MATCHES. University v. United B.—University won by 3 to nil. Davis, Bennett, and Burleigh scored. moana v. rawhtti. The ladies' matches were continued. Rawhiti met Moana, and a drawn game resulted, each side scoring two goals The game was fast and interesting Both of Rawhiti's goals were scored by Aliss Probert. Miss Mathias scored one goal for Moana and their other goal came off the stick of one of Rawhiti's WAIKATO V. AUCKLAND B. A team from Auckland journeyed to Hamilton on Friday evening meetin° the Waikato representatives on Saturda? afternoon After a fast game, victory rested with the visitors by four goals OTAGO V. CANTERBURY. (By Telegraph—Own Correspondent.) T «. i. i DDNEDI N. Saturday. In the hockey match Otago v. Canterbury Otago won by two goals to nil. In the first spell pUy vras pretty even

Canterbury's chance seemed to Be in tits weakness of the Otago half-backs, who did not seem to understand where to send the ball, or where it was likely to go. On the other hand, the Canterbury forwards showed want of combination, and. as the Otago backs and goalkeeper were reliable, Canterbury's attacks were fruitless:. Nevertheless, ifc was a hard and fast game, won by tho better team. In Vac first spell Cuttle had the ball passed back to him, and scored the first goal from right in front, with a hard, clean shot. Canterburywere very quick in their movements, and went in for more speculating than their opponents. They relied more on their sticks than hands in fielding the ball, a habit engendered by their playing oa the smoother ground of Christchurch. Rutherford scored Otago's second goal in the first spell.