University nearing hockey leaders

Press, 22 May 1978, Page 19

University nearing hockey leaders

Unlversty was the only team ; to win in senior men s hockey j < on Saturday. It beat the leader, i Selwyn-Hillmorton 3-1, to lift it- i self to wtlhin two points of the s joint leaders, Selwyn and High;: School Old Boys. The other three competition Ii matches were 1-all draws, leav-d lug the bottom half of the points ■ table unchanged. Redeliffs. which had the bye, slipped to fifth, but , it has a game in hand over three • of the teams above it. Selwyn has applied for a re | play. It had three members of , its regular senior squad in the Canterbury colts side at Strat- < Jord and was thus entitled to ask ( r or a deferrment. However, the i competitions committee ruled , against it. University had the match in , its grasp when it was two goals < up at half-time. It is now only a r •mint behind Selwyn and bld Boys and has a game in hand , over both. Woolston continued its run of j surprises by drawing with Old ; Boys. With a little luck it could ( have caused a real upset. J t Harewood and Linwood made heavy work of their game on a! t good surface, and Pegasus had I < its chances against Sydenham-1? Cashmere but frittered them I s away. Results and scorers:— ( University 3 (C. G. Maister 2, ; < S. G. Maister), Setwyn-Hillmor- ' ton 1 (D. Williamson). |t High School Old Boys 1 (L. - Burrows), Woolston W.M.C. 1 ? (R. Timlin). 1 Harewood 1 (I. Hill), Linwood ' United 1 (H. Singh). ' Sydenham-Cashmere 1 (S. ' Ambler), Pegasus 1 (I. Thom- R son). Points table:—

EXCITING HOCKEY The first half between Uni-v versity and Selwyn was probably j 3 the best club hockey this season.U It was played at a furious pace 1 and play switched from end to I c end with tiring regularity. a Selwyn was far from dis-|t

graced; when it was two jfoals down it kept the game open, even though that suited University. It missed George Camoutsos at inside-right and Robin Wilson at left-back, however. Most of Seiwyn’s attacks were launched down the left and in the second-half this was done almost exclusively. This played to University’s strength but surprisingly Selwjm dominated the area. University lead 2-0 at half-time, ■ both goals scored by Chris Mais ter. For much of the second-half Selwyn applied pressure, but could not get the ball in the net. With about eight minutes remaining, Doug Williamson scored from a penalty-corner, but University immediately attacked and Selwyn Maister scored from a penalty-stroke. The University forward line made several superb interpassing movements which proved Barry Maister, John Christensen and Thur Borren are still worldclass players, with Chris Maister not far behind. The pressure exerted on the defence brought the best out of Selwyn Maister and Paul Ackerley and at left-back Ewan Holstein was virtually impassable. Mark Burtt and David Clements combined in a number of runs down the left for Selwyn that made the University circle; and Jeff Pepper at inside-right, stretched the University 7 defence with many accurate passes. The Selwyn halves, aided by the forwards, gave the University forwards little latitude. Alan Ford was an adequate fill-in at lefthalf, while Tony Jury and Robert i McGregor tackled and passed; freely. THIRD TIME LUCKY Had Ivan Thomson not scored the equalising goal against Sydenham-Cashmere with smin remaining he would have been drinking in solitude after the match. He had squandered two scoring chances and as the game' progressed it looked as though i Sydenham would escape with a win. Just before half-time Pegasus was awarded a penalty stroke and Thomson pushed high and Mide. After 25min of the. second half! he found himself in front of an open goal, but pushed wide. It! was only smin later, however,: that he collected a pass on the]

s circle edge, moved around a de- , fender, and neatly flicked the - ball past Marty Fitzsimmons in s the Sydenham goal. J Sydenham, which scored midway through the first half from B !a penalty stroke by Steve Amb- } i ler, was more positive on at- . tack and the defence covered 31 every move bv the Pegasus . 1 forwards. »i In the second half however, the roles reversed. Thomson. , £ob Best and Paul Gardiner ah made incisive runs for Pegasus, but on defence Murray Peacock f and Bevan Hall did a tremend-. t ous amount of covering and tidy- . Ing for Sydenham. Bill Griffen’s work was invalu-i 1 able for Pegasus at centre-half.; . Tie popped up in skirmishes hi 1: the circle and was always in I /close support of the forwards on' attack. Rob Wilson and Roger »’ Turner tackled and covered well . and Pau] Wayman made two 1 *ood saves in goal in the second' > half. Steve Ambler was again the! most penetrative forward but on occasions held the ball too long.. DEFENCE HOLDS 1 Old Boys once again had to ! thank their defence for their ■ draw with Woolston. Woolston, still full of punch . and drive after its first win in [ two seasons a week ago, gave i Old Boys little time to relax in ; the second half. , Again the principals in the de- » fence were Jeff Gibson at centre /half and Maurice Kidd at left . back. Their covering was excel- - lent and they quickly became I i wise to the Woolston tactic of - pushing the ball behind the deli fence on the slippery surface. II The Old Boys forwards again I had difficulty combining although ■Larry Burrows and Rob Ebert I each made useful individual t runs. i; Woolston’s defence was sound t without being spectacular; Gary / Jones had another good game at >: centre-half. / Burrows scored the first g</i! II when Woolston failed to clear I‘from a penalty corner, but bej fore half-time Woolston equal/ised when Russell Timlin scored I from a penalty corner. f DEFENCES DOMINATE i An inability to score goals, a ti problem that has plagued Hare,l wood all season continued on Saturday and it had to settle

with a draw against a pluck? e Linwood. :i Uarewood missed two of its most decisive forwards. Balvani - Bhana and Bruce McLean, both i of whom were in Stratford with, - the Canterbury colts. It still had an experienced forward line but il it lacked cohesion. lan Hill and s Wayne Seebeck made some good: runs but were usually stopped b\ , the strong Linwood defence. Linwood scored first from a 1. penalty corner, well struck b> , Henry Singh. Harewood pm < i more spark in its play after this /setback and before half-time Hiß - equalised.

The second half Mas exoff but errors by both sides spoilt tiie play. John Whitford and Bikhu Bhana led the Linwood defence’ by example. They tackled surely and passed accurately. Unfor ’tunateb the forwards did not; use to advantage the possession they had. Darryl Small worked .hard to set up' play but much of his effort was wasted. The Harewood defence proved too experienced for the Linwood attack. Alan Chesney, Dick Pettit l and lan Steel covered each other well and cleared quickly to the i forwards.

P W D L F A Pts Selwyn n 3 I 1 11 ft 7 H.S.O.B. 5 3 1 1 7 7 University 4 3 0 1 7 4 6 Harewood 5 2 1. 2 ft Redcliffs 4 2 0 2 9 6 4 Pegasus 4 I 1 2 3 4 3 Sydenham 4 1 1 2 4 ft Linwood 4 0 2 2 4 9 2 W.W.M.C. 5 1 1 3 a 9 3