HOCKEY QUATRE BRAS CUP WON BY ASHBURTON

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28371, 2 September 1957, Page 5

HOCKEY QUATRE BRAS CUP WON BY ASHBURTON

The Quatre Bras Cup final between Marlborough and Ashburton, the respective winners of the northern and southern zones into which this competition is divided, produced an even and interesting match on Saturday. In recent seasons Marlborough has enjoyed considerable success in minor asso iations’ hockey and h?s made praiseworthy efforts to build its team on sound and constructive principles. For these reasons the success of Ashburton in winning the 1957 final is all the more commendable. although Marlborough was handicapped by the absence of R. Weetman, a very capable inside forward who recently tou.ed Australia with the New Zealand Country team. Weetman’s ball control and scoring ability were sorely missed in the Marlborough forward line. During the game both teams enjoyed periods of ascendancy but sound defensive work, good goalkeeping and rather erratic shooting by both sets of forwards kept the scoring down. v Marlborough was prominent in the early stages and gained a quick goal, but long and inaccurate passing enabled Ashburton to recover and subject the Marlborough goal to a series of raids, some of which were characterised by some clever triangular passing movements. At half-time Marlborough’s narrow lead of one goal was an approximate representation of the general run of play. In the second half, Ashburton gained the upper hand through sheer determination and held the initiative for some time. However, Marlborough did not succumb easily and nearly scored on several occasions. Further sustained attacks by Ashburton enabled the latter to take the lead towards the end, after which Marlborough made desperate efforts to save the match. In this final period B. Binnie, the Ashburton goalkeeper, made some good saves, although the Marlborough forwards wasted a number of opportunities by shooting directly at the goalkeeper’s pads. The final score of two goals to one in Ashburton’s favour was a just reflection of the trend of play. The main architect of his team’s victory• was lan Smith, the former Canterbury and New Zealand representative. At inside right his energy and drive were as prominent as ever, he was always constructive and accurate in his . passing, and his back-tackling and cover defence were of inestimable value to his team. N. Anstey and B. Bruce were a pair of sound backs, and in the half-line, D. Plumb caught the eye for some neat stickwork and good passing.' I. Dudley 'was a forward Who rendered Smith great assistance in adding penetration to the attack, and all the Ashburton players deserved credit for the tireless energy which they devoted to the task of maintaining good positional play on both defence and attack.

One of the best players on the ground was C. Miller, at for Marlbprough. His positional play was very good and he possesses th? stickwork necessary for his task in blocking the ’opposing right flank

attacks and getting, the ball back to his own forwards. His brother, L. Miller, at right-half, was also ProHinent on occasions. R. Bush **’ Taylor covered each other well as backs, although their passing was not always accurate. If they had made greater use of their halves Ashburton would have been terce^tions Uml3er unnecessar y n_ On the right wing, D. Hale dribbled we 2L and controlled the’ ball at a good speed. His team would have done better if he had been used more frequently. A. Robertson, at ce " tr ®- f orward, showed some dash and W. Speedy, at inside-left, made a » u - o£ clever dribbles. He is Shill inclined to over-much solo play and relies too much on the use of the reverse stick, with the result that he has the ball on his left side far too frequently. This leads to loss of balance and lack of conFor Marlborough, W. Speedy scored aR. . early goal, and in the second J? a Jj , Smith converted a penalty bully for Ashburton which took the lead when I. Dudley scored from a corner. The umpires were Messrs K. Mortuner and C. A. Rogers.