Club hockey deferred

Press, 15 June 1977, Page 38

Club hockey deferred

By KEVIN TUTTY

A special ruling by the Canterbury Hockey Association has solved a tricky problem for the three Christchurch teams remaining in the Philips Cup national club hockey competition. Third-round matches have to be played by June 26, but this week-end and next week-end the three teams — University, High School Old Boys and Redclifts — have players committed to both club and representative matches.

On Monday evening the C.H.A. ruled that club games scheduled for June 25 be deferred to July 3, enabling the teams to play their Philips Cup games on June 25. Normally matches can only be deferred with the mutual consent of both teams.

Any Christchurch team which wins this round and reaches the quarter-finals will have the same problem again. The quarter-finals have to be played by July 10 and Canterbury has a representative match that

day and club games the previous day. For some members of the Canterbury team this has been a hectic season and the Canterbury coach, Cyril Walter, must be worried that this will have an effect on his top players later in the season. . In the nine weeks since the season started some members of the Canterbury team have already played 21 games. Of the three Christchurch teams, University, the C.H.A. competition leader, has the hardest third-round match. It will meet Wellington College Old Boys in the capital. Redclifts will play Oamaru, the side that caused a major upset last week-end by" beating Sydenham-Cash-mere. The game will be at Oamaru and after its success last week-end Oamaru will be confident it can cause another upset. High School Old Boys will play its third successive game at home. For the first time in the $lO.OOO competition, prize

• money will be awarded. The eight third-round winners ! will receive $250 each. ■ The draw is: Western (Auckland) v. Grammar (Auckland); Uni- ■ versity (Auckland) v. Southern (Auckland); Somerville (Auckland) v. Akina Rovers > (Hawkes Bay) at Napier; Ka- : rori (Wellington) v. Univer- ’ sity (Wellington); Rangers . (Wanganui) v. Hutt (Wellington) at Wanganui; Wel--1 lington College Old Boys v. : University (Christchurch) at , Wellington; High School Old 1 Boys (Christchurch) v. Kings , College Old Boys (Dunedin) at Christchurch; Redcliffs . (Christchurch) v. Oamaru at ‘I Oamaru. t Rugby league.—The visiting : Frenchmen turned in another j substandard performance at 1 Toowoomba when beaten, 14-10, - by Toowoomba, Australia, in a match marred by a wild brawl 1 mid-way through the second half. 1 Canned 24-18 in the penalties, ! France errupted in the second half when a wild brawl broke , out near the touch-line leading - to the dismissal of the French 1 winger, Jean Jacques Cologni.