Top hockey teams miss N.Z. players

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32958, 3 July 1972, Page 10

Top hockey teams miss N.Z. players

The assembly of the Olympic team in Wellington deprix ed both University and High School Old Boys of leading players when they met in the main game of the twelfth round of the Canterbury Hockey Association's senior competition.

University lacked C. R. Ineson, J. H. Christensen, B. J. Maister, J. J. Borren, W. Wright and A. Borren; and A. J. Patterson was absent from Old Boys, who also missed T. Burrows because of injury.

But the match was keenly contested because of its bearing on the championship, and the final score fairly rejected the superiority of University in the second half. Results were: University 2. High School Old Boys 0; Hagley Old Boys 1, Selwyn - Hillmortbn 0; Harewood - Bumside 2, Sydenham - Cashmere 0; Linwood Old Boys 1, Woolston 0.

Competition points, with goals for and against, are:—

University 11 (64-4), Hagley Old Boys, 10 (25-7); High School Old Boys, 81 (26-7); Harewood-Burn-side, 6 (15-16); Linwood Old Boys, (17-23); Woolston, 3J (12-29);

Sydenham-Cashmere. 2 <5-38 ; Sel-wyn-Hillmorton, 11 (6-46). UNIVERSITY V. H. 5.0.8. Each team sought dominance through its right Hank, and during an even first half neither succeeded to any marked extent. In the second half University achieved its objective, partly because of a generally higher level of stickwork and partly because of the error rate of its opponents.

The sound judgment of R. L. McHarg in goal, and the tackling and intercepting of E. Holstein at left-back were features of Universities defence. The wing halves, N. Coster and A. Isaac, cut off many passes, and A. Ineson dominated the midfield; his trapping, eluding, tackling and passing being a feature of the match, as was his positioning

P. Ackerley made some swift breaks on the right wing in the second half, and his partner. C Maister, led most of the attacks with skilful dribbling At inside left, I. Bishop gave Ineson much assistance with his back-tackling and intercepting. D. Stuthridge made many good saves in the High School Old Boys goal, but the backs. K Smith and S. Parry, were inclined to rush their play under pressure. At centre half. E. Barnes defended well, was more free of error than any of his colleagues, and tidied up many of their mistakes. The forwards lacked combina-

Ition, much of their passing being • bling could not compensate for ] sufficiently controlled I Muni, ion the left wing, escaped on se% ibut the pressure increased he I and the others saw much les* of the bal’ Maister scored but! goals for University. I Umpires Messrs F. Ambler and K. McEwen. HAGLEY 0.8. V. SELWYN j during the speed of the game, and both succeeded. Hagley * nonchalance assisted Selwxn's i attack justified Hagley? noncha) for Hagley. was the best player on the field—one of the few with a policy and the ability to exe cute it I P. Waxman kicked well in the Hagley goal but the backs— V I Clark and P. Cox—were unUdv in [their play and erratic in their I trapping. A. Havde, on the right i wing, made some good dribhits before succumbing to the gen Jihan a striker or a sweeper 1 Jackson expended some energy ; bling and at times proving ei I Selwvn** goalkeeper, S Harvey. kicked strongly, but his f blocking was not of the same i quality, and the best organised defender was C. Hill, at left half. I who fed Hagley much lea* fre quently than his colleagues. W. Burtt often retreated from the forward line to render useful ser vice on defence. R Best at times dribbled Selwyn out of trouble and himself into trouble through over-extending his solo excur sions. K. Thomson scored for Hagley Old Boys. Umpires: Messrs T. E Fggleton and R. Trenberth WOOLSTON v. LINWOOD O B Woolston was only a shadow of the side it had shown itself to be in the previous three club matches, and after Linwood scored the only goal of the match early in the second half. Woolston* plav collapsed with speculating hits, wild passing, | and tackles which were made too early. Linwood played its usual game, relying on a good half back lin< to feed eager forwards, but the forwards were limited in their opportunities by a stubborn Woolston defence, which at times appeared to make CSMMtW MM of the body when tackling Both teams had many chance* in the first half. Linwood with a succession of penalty corner*, all of which proved fruitless, and Woolston mainly through individual breaks, two of which should have produced goals

D. Small and B. Murrav backtackled effectively for Linwood, and Small linked well with his halves, P. and B. Bhana and B Trethewey, who anticipated well and Intercepted many of the hopefully-hit Woolston passes. K Budhla was cool under presaute and extracted Linwood from several tight situations. Woolston’s most dangerous forward, B. Aldridge, was seldom given room to move, and P Herrick was the best of the defenders. taking stock of a situation before committing himself to a pass or tackle D. Le Page scored for Linwood.

Umpires: Messrs R H. Campbell and D. Witheridge SYDENHAM-CASHMERE v. HARE WOOD-BURNSIDE

This match must have been one of the poorest of the season, and in the second half it degenerated Into a scrappy mess, with many of the players often out of position.

The bad play resulted from the failure of most players to apply the basic fundamental of trapping—keeping the stick on the ground. Weakly hit and 111di rec ted passes, over-dnbbhng and over-running of the ball, and a few frayed tempers *ll combined to make the match a dull affair

Harewood’s two goals, one early in the match and the other two minutes from the end, both scored by I. Hili, were the only high points. The first goal was a result of four quick, short passes which left the Sydenham defence wide open, and the sec ond saw Hill beat three players, in a run from half-way, although the ball almost beat him over the back-line. A. Chesnev. at centre-half for Harewood, directed the forward* well and J Bate, at right full back, seldom made an error Th*' forwards lacked drive to give them more than a few chances at goal G. Butterfield remained coo! in a desperate Svdenham de fence, and C. Woods and T Tizzard covered and tackled ef fectively. Sydenham, with several forward changes, lacked ex perience and on occasion* forwards were colliding and di* puting possession among them selves

Umnire* - Messrs D Hollar and R. Phipps.