Canterbury's hockey win was thoroughly deserved

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32700, 1 September 1971, Page 14

Canterbury's hockey win was thoroughly deserved

The 1971 Rothman’s sponsored national men’s hockey tournament at Palmerston North last week will not stand out in future years as one of the best ever staged, but a number of factors will be talking points for years to come, not the least being Canterbury’s effort in winning the Challenge Shield for the sixth successive year.

Canterbury’s win in the final was a grand effort. The team’s supporter’s—and few there were—were worried with the half-time score 2-1 in favour of Whangarei after Canterbury had led 1-0 in the first minute.

However, on its performances there was no doubt Canterbury was the best team at the tournament. Its experienced team-work, fitness and skill were firstclass and a credit to the selector-coach, Mr C. V. Walter. Every team was out to beat Canterbury, which was understandable when a team dominates the shield contest for so long, but it would have been an injustice had it lost in the final.

In its first game against Wanganui, Canterbury was never in danger of defeat and the same could be said in its second game against Whangarei, the team it was to meet again in the final. Canterbury won this first encounter with Whangarei 3-0, but the score should have been double .this.. It had numerous other opportunities to score but could not finish off movements.

Canterbury’s dominance of the northern side in this game was almost unbelievable when it is remembered that Whangarei did so well in the final. The ground, however, was one factor which helped Whangarei on the last day. The water on the field meant that hard hitting was the only way to get a pass safely to a team-mate more than about 10 yards away. This suited Whangarei, whose players like to hit the ball; than Canterbury relies more on push passing.

The final pool game against Otago was notable for the negative play involved. Canterbury scored two quick goals before the Otago defence had time to tighten up, but from then on Otago was mainly interested in preventing Canterbury scoring. This type of play did not allow Canterbury to show its best form, and at the same time did Otago little

good, in the way of gaining experience.

The semi-final between Canterbury and Auckland was a dour struggle, and this was another game marred by body play and stick interference. Auckland was not as impressive during the tournament as most had thought it would be, and it struggled to a draw with Hawke’s Bay in its first game. The Bay side finished at the bottom of the major section and will be relegated to minor division next year while Waikato, winner of the minor section will play m the major division. There was a tremendous gap in the standard of play between the major division and minor teams, and even some of the major teams’ standards were not very good.

Of the Canterbury team R. L. McHarg in goal had little to. do but was his reliable self, and the best goal-keeper at the tournament. D. Stuthridge, the reserve, played one game and made a couple of good saves.

C. R. Ineson at full-back played very safe games and the trip to Singapore earlier in the month has seasoned his play considerably. P. F. Clark had a mixed tournament but never made any bad mistakes.

In the half line W. Wright was the most consistent. He has also improved since his return from Singapore, while A. Chesney who played right-half for most games always had control of his left-wing and varied his play intelligently when his right-flank forwards A. Borren and J. H. Christensen were heavily marked. P. Ackerlev played two games, one the pool match against Whangarei. He did all required of him and the experience gained in his first national tournament should prove most valuable. K. Thomson was the most tactically-gifted centre-half at the tournament and his penalty-comer hits were of considerable value to Canterbury. At times, however, his trapping and tackling faltered and he was slow moving back on defence. A. Borren and Christensen, given the chance, would have been able to provide the crowds with some brilliant hockey, but they were always too heavily marked. Christensen led the side well. \ Because they were less heavily marked J. J. Borren

and B. J. Maister were able to show their skills to the fullest and this they did at every opportunity. Some of their inter-passing movements were delightful. Borren made a remarkable recovery after receiving 12 stitches in a cut over his eye on Tuesday. He missed only one day’s play. W. A. Thomson arrived at Palmerston North on Thursday for the semi-final and then played in the final, at left-wing. His value was proven in the final when a run up the wing resulted in a penalty-comer from which Canterbury scored its second goal. For the remainder of the week T. Burrowes and B. J. Aldridge shared the position. Burrowes filled the role well, and particularly in the first game against Wanganui made some good runs. Aldridge, however, is essentially a right-side player and found it difficult to adjust to the position. He was valuable for his back-tack-ling and harassing of opponents. The grounds throughout the tournament were excellent considering; they had had rain on them on most days. Had they remained dry the standard of hockey would have been higher, but they were a credit to the organisers.