HOCKEY Canterbury Holds N.Z. Challenge Shield

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28981, 24 August 1959, Page 6

HOCKEY Canterbury Holds N.Z. Challenge Shield

The score of 3 foals to 1 by which Canterbury neat Otago in the New Zealand ChaUeiue Shield match at Williamson Park on Saturday was a fair rejection of the run of play. The first half was evenly contested, but the shield holder exerted increasing pressure throughout the second spell and was in firm control of the game at the finish. The ground was in reasonably good order and quite fast, and although the ball jumped occasionally the surface was a positive invitation to all players to exhibit ball control and accurate passing movements at their highest level. Such an exhibition Was not forthcoming, however, because the teams chose to dedicate themselves to what is euphemistically labelled, modern hockey. Hence the match closely followed the pattern of the recent game against WeUington in which speed was the keynote. The usual concomitants of badly-directed passing, futile chasing of long hits down the field, panic stricken clearances under pressure, and poor trapping followed as a matter of course.

In these regards Canterbury was the lesser offender, and Otago was further handicapped by the inclusion of players in certain positions whose skill would not have attained the level of a good senior club team. In the first half Otago made a relatively successful attempt to operate through its right flank, but in the second speU the. play was mostly on Otago’s left and Canterbury’s right, with the result that the challengers were constantly dancing to the tune which their opponents played, rather more with a recorder than with a grand piano. There was far too much hard hitting for such a fast ground. The Canterbury team differed considerably from that which defeated Wellington because a number of players were unavailable through “nd tor other reasons. R. Gillespie was shifted from left-half to left-back, with Paul Clark playing his first representative game In the left-half position. K. Thomson was moved to centre-half, and his usual right-half berth was filled by the transference of K. CumberE“tch from the inside-left position. Thus the Canterbury half-line was comparatively inexperienced, but the very bad passing of the Otago forwards enabled it to function effectively enough. B. Aldridge came into the team at inside-left, and the right-wing position was adequately filled by M. McKinnon who normally plays oh the extreme left flank. These drastic rearrangements might have been less successful in a match of lesser speed and greater control, but they were quite successful under the existing circumstances.

„ „ Good Positioning R. Harris kicked powerfully in the Canterbury goal, and was well covered by L. Lloyd and R. Gillespie in the backs. Although their passing was erratic it was considerably superior to that of their opposite numbers Their positioning was sound and they covered each other weU. At right-half K. Cumberpatch found the speed of the opposing Wing something of a problem, but he combined well enough with Lloyd to solve it between them. K Thomson played a satisfactory game at centre-hall, revealing a reasonable degree of stick work whose range is not yet wide enough for the position, but he is a player of undoubted promise. His passing was thoughtful, and if his cover defence was not always urgent the Otago forwards were not good enough to exploit its occasional lack. P. Clark was fortunate in naving to mark a tearaway right-wing of the hit-and-run type in his first representative m ’tch, and by sound positioning he cut him out of the game fairly well. H^ a J trapping was good, but one wild fly-hit in his circle when the Canterbury goal might have been threatened was a panic stricken gestu£? which he should never repeat. The brunt of the Canterbury attack was borne by M. McKinnon and J. Kiddey, at centre-forward. The former dribbled well and used his speed to advantage, taking fuU advantage of the failure of the Otago defence on the left side of the field to contain him. The latter was always in the thick of things. He was well marked by J Cullen, the Otago £®3, tre ,- hal£ . and experienced some difficulty in eluding him, but his circle play was a constant threat to toe Otago goal. At inside-right, N. Hobson s back-tackling made him almost a fourth half-back. It was of value to his team, but his attacking PJ a t, waB P° or - B ® occasionally got McKinnon away, but his passing to his inside forwards was ineffective he showed little penetration. Lhrte w-s seen of Aldridge at in-side-left until Canterbury’s third goal was scored when he moved into the circle at great speed and took full advantage of the hesitancy of N. Harraway, the Otago goalkeeper, by pushing toe ball into the net with a most determined effort. T. Thomas £?« d £ a t ??'? /°° d J un# on fhe left, but he faUed to profit from the weakness of toe opposing right-half.

Hesitancy The Otago custodian, N. Harraway, kicked well at times, but his Judgment in moving out to meet attacks was marred by hesitancy, and there was a genera) lack of solidity about his play I. Prangnell, at left-back, made some good interceptions and was always seeking the opportunity to switch the play to his right flank. His success in this was limited because he was often sorely bustled, and he should have used his centrehalf more frequently. He received little support from his partner, A. Hodgkinson, whose method of trapping was incredibly clumsy and whose stick work was quite elementary. At left-half R. Mckinlay failed to hold McKinnon, and his form was well below that of previous seasons when he has performed quite well in the centre-half position. It was well for Otago that J. Cul-

len played at centre-half. He had a difficult day because he was in the losing team, because he had such limited support, because he had to cover up so many gaps in the defence, because he had to keep a dose check upon Kiddey, and because his forwards made such poor use of toe service which he gave them. Under aU these circumstances

he played well. He made many interceptions, including a number of McKinnon’s centres across the Otago goalmouth, and he was tireless tn both defence and attack. He gave a very conscientious display, and if his stick work and passing still show some limitations he is developing well and along toe right lines.'

Neglected As usual the neglected forward in the Otago team was B. Maunsell. He was one of the few forwards in the match to relate speed to control, all toe more creditable in view of his speed on the running track and toe temptation to use it to excess. He made some good dribbles, showed development in his stickwork, and was the one Otago forward who endeavoured to make his passes from a steady and balanced position. It was a bad error to switch him from inside-right, even though his best position is centre-forward, because he was toe only forward capable of playing a correct insideright game. Otago should have played to him throughout, but he was neglected to an absurd degree. There were too many players in the Otego team who lacked toe skill to get the ball out to toe right flank. C. Currie was in toe picture frequently because he indulged in s considerable amount of dribbling, but his prominence merely emphasised his appalling passing at toe end of his dribbles. The prodigality with which he tossed away possession made him a veritable Good Samaritan to Canterbury. The left flank pair, T. Ellison and E. Sew Hoy. occasionally combined well, but their efforts were chiefly solo in character. Ellison’s trapping was more a game of chance than a game of skill, and his undoubted determination did not compensate for deficiencies in trapping, stickwork and passing. Sew Hoy made some fast runs on the wing, but could not solve the problem of returning the ball to his Inside forwards. The Canterbury goals were scored by J. Kiddey, K. Thomson and B. Aldridge. E. Sew Hoy scored for Otago after a clever break by B. Maunsell who placed an accurate pass across the goalmouth to split toe defence wide open. Umpires: Messrs C. Bedford and W. D. Sloane.