HOCKEY

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26204, 30 August 1950, Page 9

HOCKEY

CENTENNIAL TOURNEY

OPENING ROUNDS PLAYED YESTERDAY The parade of more than 500 hockey players in their various coloured jerseys and black and white shorts made a colourful display at the polo grounds yesterday at the opening of the. Canterbury Hockey Association’s centennial tourney. Teams from all over the Dominion are in Christchurch to take part in the greatest hockey gathering ever seen in New Zealand. Headed by the Christchurch Highland Pipe Band the players and umpires marched round the playing areas and formed up in front of the dais, where the Mayor (Sir Ernest Andrews) welcomed the players. He referred to the splendid sports area the players of Christchurch had in Hagley Park. Mr L. G. Taylor, of the Canterbury Hockey Association, welcomed the visitors on behalf of the Canterbury hockey players. Mr Q. Herriott, manager of the Auckland team, presented the Mayor with a scroll conveying the greetings and good wishes of the hockey players of the Dominion. On behalf of the players present Mr H. N. McCutcheoh, captain of the Hawke’s Bav team, took an oath of sportsmanship. After the ceremony the first round of matches was played under ideal conditions. Results:—

MAJOR TOURNAMENT A Section.—Canterbury A 10, Otago B 0; Wellington 2, Canterbury B 1. B Section—Auck'and 2, Otago A 1; Hawke’s Bay 3, Canterbury C 3. MINOR TOURNAMENT A Section.—Canterbury D 2, Feildlng 0; Ashburton 5, Buller 1. , B Section—Wairarapa 3, West Coast 2; Marlborough 2, Otago C 2. C Section.—South Canterbury 6. Wanganui 0; Nelson Colts 4, North Otago 1. PRIMARY SCHOOLS A Section.—Wairarapa 4, Canterbury C 1.

' B Section.—Canterbury A 12. West Coast 0; Canterbury B 1. Nelson 1.. C Section.—North Otago 7, Buller 0. MAJOR TOURNAMENT GAMES Hawke’s Bay v. Canterbury C In a hard-hitting. bustling game, Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury Colts drew. With the lead alternating between the two sides, the game was full of interest, with Canterbury holding slightly more of the play and having more circle chances. Hawke's Bay tqok the lead early. when R. Mawson scored, and the same player put the side further ahead when he put a hard one in from the circle edge. A splendid pass from R. Cummins enabled J. Newton to reduce the deficit before half-time. A good run by Newton topped off with a splendid shot, brought the scores level early in the second spell. A little later Hessey made a good raid, but was blocked when in a good position. A good goal to B. H. Murdoch put Hawke's Bay ahead, but P. Blyth equalised for Canterbury shortly before time from a scramble. The final score was: Hawke’s Bay 3, Canterbury 3. Wellington v. Canterbury B After holding the visitors to a draw with no score until hall-time, Canterbury

B was beaten by Wellington by 2 goals to 1. Wellington played with better understanding in the front line, and the circle finish was superior. Elliott and Roberts played soundly in defence of Canterbury’s goal, and Mann and Walter in the halves, but the forwards failed to combine. In the second half, Englert and Rees opened up the game and the Canterbury goal was invaded. Englert sent over a good pass and Sim cut in to beat Brown in Canterbury’s goal. Nor man broke away in a spectacular rush to reach Wellington’s circle, but over-ran the ball and missed a glorious chance. The Canterbury forwards were all playing solo and Glentworth and Grimley saw little of the ball Towards the- close of the game, Wellington swept down in a solid raid, led by Mulheron, for Rees to have a shot which Brown stopped, but Rowe connected with the rebound and netted. Norman gained possession in midfield, and he and Glentworth went through for Norman to register Canterbury’s only goal. Final score: Wellington 2, Canterbury B 1. Auckland v- Otago A Play was very even for the first half but the Auckland forwards failed in the circle and many chances went astray. Carr, in goal for Otago, played a brilliant game and kept his goal intact until half-time. Kapoed and Bedford set up a stubborn defence for three parts of ttte game, but towards the end Roughton, Postles, and Bock outplayed the southern pair to give Auckland a victory. Otago opened the score when Cassin sent over a brilliant centre, which gave Wright a chance to score easily. Auckland’s attack improved as the game progressed and, led by Roughton, Auckland kept the game in Otago’s end for most of the second half. Roughton picked up a pass from Bock and went through to beat Carr and even the scores, and toward the end of the game repeated the move to put Auckland ahead. Otago staged a likely raid in the closing stages, but a fruitless penalty corner was the only result. The final score was: Auckland 2, Otago A 1. Canterbury A v. Otago B Machine-like precision in the scoring forward line gave Canterbury A a runaway victory over Otago B by 10 goals to 0. The half-time score was 4-0, and in .he second half, although Otago improved. Canterbury netted another six goals. Otago was inferior in every department of the game, and their passing tactics and failure to cope with Canterbury's mitiative lost the match. For Otago, Pauling in goal brought off some good saves, but the difficult shots were too numerous to counter. In the backs, there was little between Whittle and Kilpatrick, though the latter shone in starting attacking movements. Best in the half-line was F. Mong, who fed the forwards time and again, and put in a heavy day. D. Fraser, at right half, was a sterling worker, but the forwards failed to turn to account many promising attacks. Blackie, et inside right, was prominent in the forward line and, with W. Rix, made determined efforts to reduce the deficiency. W. Leathley was prominent early in the first spell, and with J. Alexander at the inside left position, staged some penetrating runs. Otago, however, was outclassed, and in addition lacked sting in the circle The precision passing between Hannah and I. Smith was brilliant, and combination in the whole forward line of a high ofder. Brownlie played well at centre forward, and Speedy and Cummins lent admirable support. McOscar was not quite up to the standard set by Morris and Peacock, but he played a pound game throughout. Hall and L. Smith found little difficulty in breaking up Otago s isolated raids, and H. Rhind, though tested rather infrequently, kept the goal intact. Goals for Canterbury were scored by N. Brownlie (4). Hannah (2), Speedy (2), and I. Smith (2).

DRAW FOR TO-DAY’S MATCHES

The following is the draw for to-day’s matches: — x Major Tournament (2.30 p.m.).—Canterbury A v. Canterbury B (W. J. Dredge and H. Kelly); Otago B v. Wellington (H. Teat?ue and K. Hamilton); Hawkes Bay v. Auckland (D. C. Hunter and W. Scott); Otago A v. Canterbury C (N. Pinder and N. L. Banks).

Minor Tournament, at 10.30 a.m.—Ashburton v. Feilding (N. Pinder and N. L. Banks); Buller v. Canterbury D (W. Scott and W. J Dredge); Marlborough v. Wairarapa (W. H. Down and H. Kelly); Otago C v. West Coast (H. Teague and W. Grammer); South Canterbury v. Nelson Colts (R. R. Vercoe and L. Hayward); Wanganui v. North Otago (I. Burn and B. Rogers). At 2.30 p.m.: Ashburton v. Canterbury D (T. Thomas and I. Burn); Buller v. Feilding (J. Reece and A. Hamilton); Marlborough v. West Coast (R. R. Vercoe and E. N-. Graham): Otago C v. Wairarapa (B. Rogers and L. Hayward); South Canterbury v. North Otago (C, H. Franklin and E. Oakes); Wanganui v. Nelson Colts (W. Grammer and N. Hocking). Schoolboys, at 9.15 a.m.—South Canterbury v. Canterbury C (E. Oakes and J. Hgrtigan); Nelson v. Canterbury A (T. Thomas and A. Hamilton); West Coast v. Canterbury B (J. Mann and A. McCrorie); at 1.15 p.m.: Wairarapa v. South Canterbury (N. Hocking and E. N. Graham); Wellington v. North Otago (J. Hocking and F. Bearne). —Advt.