University ends unbeaten in sixteen matches

Press, 1 August 1977, Page 19

University ends unbeaten in sixteen matches

University, already a clear winner before the final round ol the senior men s hockey preliminary championship on Saturday finished 10 points ahead of the runner-up. Redcliffs. University finished its 16 atches unbeaten, and on Saturday had a jaunty run against Harewood-Bumslde. winning 3-2, after Harewood led. 1-0. for about 15 minutes of the first half.

Redcliffs made sure of second place bv beating Sydenham-Cash-mere. 2-0. and if it continues with the same form it has shown in the last few weeks, could make the grand final of the senior championship next month. High School Old Boys finished A -point behind Redcliffs. Like Redcliffs. it made a bold showing ih the second round of the preliminary championship, taking 13 points to add to a mediocre *ven from the first round.

Sydenham was the opposite of the second and third teams. At the end of the first round it was two points clear in second place, but it could not sustain its performance in the second round and managed only six points, and finished in sixth position on goal average behind Linwood United.

The top six teams from the preliminary championsliip will now enter the competition to find the grand finalists. The first games in the major championship will be played next week-end. It was hoped the final would be held before the national tournament. which ■tarts on August 21. but wet weather has prevented the com-

pletion of the championship by then. Results and scorers were:— University 3 <B. J. Maister, A. Borren, N. Edmundsoni, Hare-wood-Burnside 2 (R. Agent). High School Old Boys 2 (D. Fitzgerald, G. Cumberpatch). Linwood United 0. Pegasus 3 (1. Thomson 2. R. Best), Woolston Working Men’s Club 2 (N. Neilson, M. Thomas).

Redcliffs 2 (R. Munt. A. Ineson) Sydenham-Cashmere 0.

High School Old Bovs had too much experience for Linwood United at Wigram. Both teams appreciated a firm and relatively even playing surface, but Old Boys made better use of its right flank. Rob Ebert, the right wing, made a number of good runs, and Gerald Ross, at centre forward. made his presence felt with driving runs through the centre that on two occasions nearly resulted in goals. Linwood missed Balvant Bhana in its forward line. He was in Wellington at a coaching weekend for the New Zealand colts. Darryl Small endeavoured to get the Linwood forward line moving at inside right, but was mostly unsuccessful because of a lack of support from the other forwards. On the left wing Tim Trevena-Brown made some useful breaks. Bikhu Bhana. at centre half for Linwood, covered well and fed the forwards intelligently. Geoff Gibson had plenty of room to move in the centre half position for Old Boys, and he was able to set up attacks from virtually wherever he liked. He, Maurice Kidd, and Gary Marshall stifled any danger from Small.

Redcliffs continued its winning streak of the second round when it beat Sydenham-Cashmere at Lincoln. For the first half of the season Redcliffs looked a team

capable of beating most in the competition but often failed to come up with the goals in spite of dominating matches. It took eight points from the first round of the championship but in the second round has had only one loss —to University and took 13 points to put it into second place. Tony Ineson as always was the strength of Redcliffs at centre half. He fed his forwards with accurate passes and they used them well.

Richard Munt scored Redcliffs’ first goal from scrappy play in the Sydenham circle and Ineson the second from a penalty corner mid-way through the second half.

The Sydenham forwards had difficulty combining and their attacks failed to put sufficient pressure on the Redcliffs defence, one of the most solid in the senior competition. After Redcliffs scored its second goal Sydenham seemed to lose any desire to attack and spent much of the remainder of the half on defence. University was only a shadow of its normal self. The forwards were taking the game very easily. rightly conserving their energy for the clash against Auckland yesterday.

Barry Maister. John Christensen and Thur Borren were prominent only on attack. Their normally high work load was reduced bv about half through ignoring their normally spirited back-tackling.

There was a lot less dribbling by University and more long, hard-hit passes, and it was amazing the effect that this had on the Harewood-Burnside defence. Often it was ripped onen by these quick switches of play. Harewood showed much better form with the forwards appreciating the need for accurate passing. However both sides were hampered by a soft and bumpy ground that made trapping a gamble. Harewood scored first mid-way through the first half when Roydon Agent picked up a ball on the circle edge and hit a hard shot past Rodger McHarg. He scored the second goal mid-way through the second half after beating several defenders in the circle.

University’s goals were shared. Neil Edmundson scored the first with a gentle push on half-time. Thur Borren scored the second through good following up. This put University in the lead. After Agent equalised Barry Maister scored the winning goal with a high shot from a penalty corner. Woolston finished the season without a point, but as was the case in several of Its previous matches it narrowly failed to take a draw on Saturday. Woolston was down two goals at half-time, but it was a completely different team in the second half and shocked Pegasus with two goals in 15 minutes. It continued to hold the initiative and it was only desperate defence by Pegasus that kept Woolston from scoring. Pegasus, with its experienced plavers taking control of the situation slowly fought back to parity with Woolston and fittingly Bob Best, whose experience helped Pegasus regain control. scored the winning goal. Both Pegasus’s goals in the first half were scored by Ivan Thomson. The first was from a penalty corner, and the second was an excellent field goal. He missed the chance of a hat-trick however, when he missed a penalty stroke late in the half. With Best and Hugh Griffen he combined in some fine attacks. The Woolston goals both came from scrambles in the Pegasus circle. The first was scored by Tony Neilson and the second by Murray Thomas.

The points table is:— Pts P W D L F A University 16 15 1 0 55 10 31 Redcliffs Ef 9 3 4 21 15 21 H.S.O.B. 16 9 2 5 21 17 20 Selwyn 16 7 4 5 25 23 18 Linwood 16 6 □ 5 24 19 17 Sydenham 16 7 3 6 22 21 17 Harewood 16 3 2 9 13 19 12 Pegasus 16 3 2 11 15 36 8 W.W.M.C. 16 0 0 16 10 46 0