HOCKEY

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27683, 13 June 1955, Page 2

HOCKEY

OLD BOYS RETAIN LEAD WOOLSTON AND SYDENHAM WIN Rain during the week caused the postponement of all hockey below senior reserve on Saturday, and senior and senior reserve grades games were played on sodden, slippery grounds. High School Old Boys beat University 4-1 and maintained its place at the top of the championship. Woolston and Sydenham won their games against Selwyn and Trinity respectively, and are now equal with University for second place. In the second division, Harewood drew with Sydenham and has gained top place by half a point with Sydenham and Technical equal in second place. Following are the points gained by the senior teams to date: —

First Division.—H.S.O.B. 6, University 4, Woolston 4, Sydenham 4, Trinity Is, Selwyn 1. Second Division.—Harewood 5, Sydenham 4|, Technical 4|, New Brighton 4, Woolston IJ, West Old Boys I|. XVOOLSTON v. SELWYN

After being down 4-0 at half-time, Selwyn improved in the second half to make a determined but unsuccessful attempt to wrest a victory in the match against Woolston. Selwyn had the better of play and scored the only, goal of the half. In the first spell Selwyn was hopelessly beaten by Woolston’s short passing and ball control.- The Woolston team was rearranged as Packer was unavailable and L. Templeton went to right back while R. Gillespie went to left half. The lastnamed showed his adaptability by playing an outstanding game, intercepting well and giving Crossen, at right wing forward, plenty of the ball. Crossen played well at times, but a quicker centre instead of jockeying for a place, would re more valuable to his side. The strength of the attack came from the left side trio as R. Tapworth, at centre, D. James, inside, and G. Howard, fitted well together and completely beat the.opposing defence. L. Hobson and L. Templeton went well together in the backs, Hobson bearing the brunt of the defence so that K. Mortimer, in goal, had little to do, especially in the first spell. The Selwyn side was without J. Reece, the clever centre forward, and in the first spell there was a complete lack of cohesion in the front ranks. D. Reid and M. Clements, the two backs, worked hard but were no match for the Woolston left attack. The forwards were inclined to hang back in comparison with the Woolston men, and the passes were frequently blocked. Blakely worked hard at centre half, but had little support from the wing halves. In the second spell, however, the whole team livened up and kept the ball away from the Woolston forwards. Lack of a good scoring man was painfully evident, however, and the one goal came when Reid goaled in a penalty bully. » R. Lapworth opened Woolston s score midway throufh the first spell,, and then N. Hobson added to his long list of goals by registering three in quick succession. ~ ... The umpires were Messrs K. Hamilton and E. N. Graham.

SYDENHAM v. TRINITY Trinity has teen one of the most unfortunate teams this season in the matter of players as it has seldom fielded the same eleven on three consecutive Saturdays. Without A. Mitchell in the game against Sydenham on Saturday. Harkess was no match for the McKin-non-Cumberpatch pair, and although F. Bovd, at centre half, worked hard, and performed well, he had a big hurdle. R. Burgess, the colt in the forwards, shows promise, but as Allen was not at his best and Speedy was transferred to the backs, there was little combination in the forward movements. „ , , , , Facing weak opposition, Sydenham had very much its own way. P. Cotton waG absent and his place at centre forward was taken by B. Hall, who has been the club's spare part this season. The main Sydneham attack came from the left, where M. McKinnon and K. Cumberpatch worked well together. The colt .of the team, P. Snelling, is rapidly improving, and should catch the colts’ selectors eye before long. McKinnon opened Sydenham s account early in the first spell and Snelling and Hall netted before half-time, when the score was 3-0. The second half was ragged and McKinnon added the only goal of the spell. The umpires were Messrs K. Hamilton and A. Ostler.

OLD BOYS v. UNIVERSITY Old rivals in University and Old Boys met in a game which might have a bearing on the final result of the senior championship. Old Boys, playing better hockey than they have since they entered the senior grade, won by 5 goals to 1. Both sides started playing good hockey with clever passing and good positioning, and the standard was maintained through the game, though faults crept in at times as the teams came under pressure. A few more club games of this standard should do much to improve local hockey. Old Boys owed their win largely to a rearranged forward line. At inside right J. Kiddey proved his versatility by giving snap and thrust to the offensive movements. He got his wing. N. Thomas/, away well, and ThOmas, moved from left to right, made the most of his chances. 1. Armstrong, at inside left, is probably showing the best form of his career, and his direction of the attack and his clever stickplay kept the forwards moving well. P. Blyth, too, moved the ball faster, while C. Dawson, the colt of the side, did well on the left. W. Browne, at centre half, revelled in the work and subdued the University centres, while R. Cummins, unobtrusive but effective, bottled up the University right side triangle. The backs were sound and gave nothing away. University failed because it made little use of its penalty corners, usually a feature of the team’s game. On the run of the play it would have been lucky to win, but a quick early goal might have made the side hard to beat. With plenty of work, E. Japkson made no mistakes, but he was beaten at times when the Old Boys forwards moved the ball away from him. Once in possession he gave nothing away. G. Haase at right back showed some good form. He is a good back, and a few more games with the team will improve him. J. Mann, first at right half and then at centre, had little time to settle down, and he did a lot of good work. B. Davies, switched from centre to right, played well in both positions. He has much to learn, but is improving all the time. The University forwards lacked pace and thrust, and that largely accounts for the gap between the teams on the day. A little more snap in the centre might have brought results, though R. O’Connor did a lot of good things. The first quarter was an interesting duel, with both sides trying to get their right away. I. Armstrong opened the scoring when Kiddey made the opening and then Armstrong broke the defence to let Blyth in. Penalty corners brought no results for University, and Old Boys led 2-0 at the interval. Again University failed from penalty corners, and then a fast passing bout took Old Boys to the goal area, where Thomas slammed one in. Kiddey got a fourther goal when Armstrong broke through and passed, and in the last minute Kiddey cut in to goal cleverly. The University goal came from a penalty corner hit by O’Connor. The umpires were Messrs F. Iggo and N. Hocking. LOWER GRADES Senior, Second Division.—New Brighton 2, Woolston 1; Sydenham 0. Harewood 0; Technical 2, West Old Boys 1. Senior Reserve.—Technical 3, Harewood 2; Teachers’ College 4, University 1; Sumner 4, Selwyn 2.