HOCKEY Fine Weather And Fast Grounds For Sixth Round

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28607, 9 June 1958, Page 3

HOCKEY Fine Weather And Fast Grounds For Sixth Round

Fine weather and fast grounds favoured players in the sixth round of matches in the Canterbury Hockey Association’s senior competition. Williamson Park was in reasonable order, the grass having been cut and the surface proving less bumpy, so that the application of a normal technique was logical enough for the Woolston and Harewood players. The senior teams on the Polo Grounds were not so fortunate. So bumpy was this area that the ball behaved in a crazy and eccentric manner, with the result that the primary skill of trapping became a hazardous operation. In wet weather these fields soon become quagmires, and it is ironical that they should prove so difficult when the weather was so unseasonably kind. In these circumstances criticism of individual faults is partly academic, and many of the players merited some praise for what they did achieve jn spite of the handicap. Results were as follows: — Woolston 5, Harewood 2. H. 5.0.8. 2, University 1. Technical 0.8. 3, Sydenham 2. Competition points to date: — Woolston 6, Technical 0.8. 4, Harewood 3, Sydenham 3, H. 5.0.8. 2, University 0.

WOOLSTON V. HAREWOOD In the first quarter of this match Woolston confined its attack to its three inside forwards who combined extremely well and took full advantage of gaps in the defence to score four goals. Harewood reacted by concentrating its defence in the centre and Woolston was limited to one more goal. The Harewood forwards also adopted these tactics, and the game degenerated at times into furious midfield scrambles. For several seasons Woolston has appeared to be the strongest team in the competition, but has usually faded badly after a good start. The major reason has been the stubborn refusal to make adequate use of the right wing. This basic fault is still in evidence in spite of the team’s present unbeaten record which could hardly have been maintained in the face of sterner opposition. The development of the team and of its players individually is being hampered by those who are responsible for its strategical approach, and its true potentiality is not being realised. In this latest match, after the purple patch in the first half, play was fairly even. In the second half the inter-passing of the inside forwards would have been more effective if used sparingly and as an alternative to wing attacks. Such elementary omissions are surprising in a senior team.

For Woolston, K. Mortimer was as sound as ever in goal, and his backs, E. Packer and L. Hobson, combined well and covered each other intelligently. Hobson showed his best form of the season. J. Gillespie played steadily at right-half but was occasionally caught out of position, and R. Gillespie discharged his left-hall duties capably. 'B. Davie, in the centre, was one of the few players who endeavoured to feed his right flank, and his display was intelligent and reliable. D. James was a quick opportunist at inside-right and dribbled well, but had difficulty in feeding his wing. N. Hobson led the forwards ably, and distributed the play to his inside -forwards well, while B. Aldridge, at inside-left, showed some control, although mistrapping at times. For Harewood, B. Densem ‘ showed more of his true form in goal ana made a number of good saves. It was certainly not his fault that five goals were registered against his team as he had little chance with shots from close range. HIGH SCHOOL OLD BOYS V. UNIVERSITY University made its most, serious bid of the season to gain a competition point, and if it did not succeed in this objective it at least managed to score its third goal to date. The match was fairly evenly contested, but Old Boys deserved their narrow victory because their trapping was more certain and their passing more cleanly executed. Both teams made use of the right flank attack, and the game resolved itself into a duel for preponderance in this strategy. For Old Boys. D. Tilley, in goal, made some powerful and effective clearing kicks, and both backs, W. Boundy and R. Duncan, were robust 1 and determined defenders. Boundy contributed a number of clean and accurate passes to his forwards. The wing-halves, R. Rogers and R. Cummins, kept close watch over their opposite numbers and were adequate without being outstanding. E. Barnes was conspicuous at centrehalf for some excellent interceptions, although he was greatly assisted in this by the prodigality with whicn the University inside-left fed hm. It was a glaring fault on the part of the latter to allow him to maintain the upfield position required for cutting off the square pass. Against more experienced players this would soon have proved untenable. Barnes is developing well, but still lacks subtlety in making play for his forwards at the circle edge. On the right-wing, G. Judge made a promising and interesting debut in senior hockey. His trapping was good, and he played coolly and constructively. Although possessing speed he did not succumb to the tearaway methods of so many older and ostensibly more experienced players. He was assisted by some constructive passing from his inside-right, P. Blyth, who was always a threat to his opponents. The good play of this pair and the persistent use which Old Boys made of them was the major factor in the final result, since the remaining forwards were not impressive. R. G. O’Connor and T. E. Eggleton were the only University forwards who were capable of controlling the ball. Both showed dribbling ability, but their passing was erratic. Eggleton missed an open goal after one effective break and was probably more handicapped by anno domini than by the ground or his opponents. G. Valpy made a few good

runs on the left-wing, and scored with a fine shot. He should prove an asset to the team after more match practice. M. McGregor reappeared at lefthalf and was more convincing than others tried there earlier. Both B. Boyce and E. Jackson were instrumental in breaking up many forward attacks. Boyce must develop more speed of thought and action in using his free hits, and Jackson was a little slow at times in passing after robbing the Old Boys forwards of the ball. K. O’Callahan played his best game of the season in goal, being more determined and decisive in clearing the ball. The Old Boys goals were scored by T. Thomas, and G. .Valpy scored for University. Umpires:—Messrs W. Morris and N. Hocking. The defence of the two backs, G. Burrowes and D. Shepherd, was very ragged at the start but both improved later, and Shepherd was quite sound in the second half. G. Baldwin was the best of the halves, his play being very steady, but all the Harewood half-backs tend to overdo the through pass and the centre attack. Their methods resulted in I. Smith on the right-wing having little to do and he also suffered through the over-dribbling of R. Wear at inside-right. Wear also marred his play by passing too frequently to colleagues who were marked.

At centre-forward, G. Turner had few opportunities. He showed all his usual determination and hunted the ball well. He would be of much greater use to his team if his colleagues concentrated on making openings for him. L. Innes at inside-left trapped the ball well throughout and was the most constructive of the forward line. The Woolston goals were scored by N. Hobson (2), D, James (2), and B. Aldridge, and D. Shepherd scored for Hare wood. Upmires:—Messrs W. D. Sloane and K. Wright. TECHNICAL OLD BOYS V. SYDENHAM This was a closely-contested match in which Sydenham looked the better team during the first half and led by 1 goal to 0 at the interval. At this stage Sydenham appeared to have the game well in hand, but three quick goals by Technical completely changed the balance of power. Sydenham responded by sharpening its attack considerably and pressed hard but the Technical defence held. In the course of the match Sydenham had many more opportunities for scoring than its opponents but failed to take full advantage of them. Poor centre hits and erratic shooting were the chief cause of this failure.

The Technical goalkeeper, I. Emmerson, defended well and made a number of particularly fine saves in the later stages. The backs, P. Kissell and Len Lloyd, combined well but incurred frequent penalties in their determination to keep the Sydenham forwards out. Les Lloyd was the best of the half-line, and was responsible for some very good cover defence. G. Harper was a useful centre-half, although he directed play excessively to his left flank, a fault shared by too many of his colleagues. In fact the Technical centre and left attacks were so numerous that the task of the Sydenham defence was made easier than should have been the case. The best of the Technical forwards were C. Wood at insideright and K. Collins at centreforward, and they always looked dangerous in the circle. Wood scored a fine goal when he took swift advantage of a missed trap by a Sydenham back. Collins controlled the ball well at times.

For Sydenham, J. Pauling, in goal, blocked and kicked well, but suffered at times through lack of support from his backs. M. Wall, at right-back, was generally adequate, although the bumpy ground beat him on several occasions. His partner, R. Rusbridge, was frequently in trouble through mistrapping, and his peculiar technique rather than the ground was the chief cause. His method of gliding the ball off his stick and running after it In lieu of the conventional techniqce led directly to one Technical goal. The wing halves, B. Mairs and A. McAlister, were not as steady as usual and were bustled at times by the fast Technical forwards. M. Wall intercepted well at centre-half, but he, too, was frequently bustled. Under these conditions his passing deteriorated and there was a hint of desperation in some of his play. He seems to be losing some speed after years of fine service to his club and province. On the right wing, P. Cotton made some dashing runs and combined neatly with his partner in midfield play. However, he wasted his centre hits by slamming the ball over the back line or placing it beyond the reach of his forwards. He has yet to learn that a centre hit is a pass. At the conclusion of one good solp run in which he beat several players he appeared to have the goalkeeper at his mercy but missed the goal by a wide margin. J. Bate, at inside-right, was troubled by the bumpy surface, but played steadily and was the most constructive of the Sydenham forwards. K. Cumperpatch showed good form in the first half and made effective use of the back pass to his centre-half. His play deteriorated in the second half when he tried to increase the pace too greatly. On the left-wing M. McKinnon’s methods were very similar to those which he used as the New Zealand left-wing. Goals were scored for Technical Old Boys by C. Wood, K. Collins and Les Lloyd, and for Sydenham by K. Cumberpatch and J. Bate. Umpires:—Messrs J. Reece and E. Jackson.