Carlton leads women’s hockey

Press, 29 May 1978, Page 20

Carlton leads women’s hockey

A numbing wind and very bumpy grounds made conditions difficult for players and spectators during Saturday’s senior women’s hockey games at Hospital Corner.

Burnside and Carlton, unbeaten before this round, fought out a dour top-of-the-table clash, and Carlton can be counted fortunate that it came out of the game with a 2-1 win.

At the other end of the scale, Digbys and University shared the honours, and scored half a point each, when they drew 2-all. Wbolston-Rawhit! had too many guns for a plucky Cranmer team, and Harewood strolled to a 4-1 win against Linwood-United. Points table:

After being a goal down for most of the game, Carlton scored two quick goals late in the second half to preserve its unbeaten record in the competition. Both teams played good hockey, although a bumpy field did little to enhance the standard displayed. The quality of both of the sides meant that each team tended to negate the play of the other, and the game was a little scrappy as a result. Burnside scored first, perhaps against the run of play, when the left wing, Jane Earnshaw, capitalised on a rebound to score a fine follow-ln goal. Carlton had the better of the first half, and

was unlucky not to score on a number of occasions. Burnside came back after the interval and the centre forward, Helen Denny, showed skill and aggression in several carving runs. But Carlton always looked dangerous in the circle, and it was from a penalty corner that the inside-left, Shirley Haig, equalised with a blistering shot that gave Elaine Jensen in goal no chance.

Stung, Burnside swung into the attack, and Judy Phillips in particular stood out up front. She was ably assisted by long passes from both Anthea Feaver, at left back, and Mary Clinton, at left half, who showed a good understanding with each other. But it was Carlton who scored again. On one of the few forays into the Burnside circle, Haig made a sharp little break and her shot sealed the game for Carlton.

Pat Bowlck, at centre-half, and the centre forward. Isabelle Knight, were strong in mid-field for Carlton, disputing possession and distributing the ball well, while Lesley. Shankland enjoyed a steady game in goal. Burnside were a little unlucky to lose the match, enjoying a territorial advantage for a lot of the game, and a draw may have been a fairer decision.

Woolston-Rawhlhi 2, Cranmer 1 The spirited Cranmer team were not outclassed by their more highly-rated opponents, but were unable to stop the unbeaten Woolston side in this entertaining clash. Cranmer took the game to Woolston in the first half, and several shots at goal missed by millimetres. Nicki Sherriff. just returned to the team after the successful Australian tour by the

Nev/ Zealand Universities side, added substance on the right wing, and featured in a number of strong runs. But her individual flair was not enough to upset a smoothrunning Woolston. The diminutive centre forward, Lois McCartney. fiercely contested the ball, and she scored the first goal and figured in the second. A Canterbury Under-21 representative, she showed tenacity -and skill in mid-field.

The other star for Woolston was young Bonnie Paneora, on the right wing. She has only just been promoted from the senior reserve grade, but she displayed an ability beyond her years to forage aggressively in attack and defend tightly. Chris Taylor on the left wing had a good game too, as Woolston exploited the wings to carry play upfield. Linking with McCartney and the other forwards well, both Taylor and Paneora distributed the bail accu. rately, and the pressure applied to a groaning Cranmer defence paid off late in the first half. Paneora took the ball into the circle, passed it to McCartney, who poked it into the net. Shortly after half-time, McCartney started a move that saw Julie Verdellen score a follow-in goal. Cranmer came back strongly, and Wendy Stewart scored a good goal from a penalty corner to peg one back. But although the team applied a lot of pressure, the Woolston goal stood firm.

Harewood 4, Linwood-United 1 Harewood were expected to dominate the clash with Linwood, and it looked likely to run up a cricket score after Barbara Turbott scored a goal within the

first five minutes. But Linwood, a side noted for its stout defensive tactics, stiffened Us resistance and denied its opponents another goal until late In the half.

Turbott usually plays at the back, but she was added to the (forward line on Saturday and seemed to relish the chance. She scored the second goal for Harewood, and her strong runs defied the tackles of the Linwood girls. Margaret O’Brien got one back for Linwood in the fist half, but any suggestion of a second-half return by her team was shortlived. Harewood forced three corners in a row, and Henrietta Carroll capitalised on the third one of these for the third goal. Linwood were playing a better standard of hockey, and were decldely unlucky on a couple of occasions not to score. The righthalf, Robyn Fergus, distributed the ball skilfully, and Marion Forde withstood a lot of pressure In the goal. A little against the run of play. Harewood scored again. Carroll scored her second goal, once more from a penalty corner, but it was on the fourth or fifth corner in succession. Harewood could not finish off promising moves as much as it would have liked, and the halves saw a lot of their ball through to the forward line squandered for want of a good shot at goal. Another factor in Harewood’s inability to get the ball in the back of the net was the uncompromising defence from Lyn Shulz at full-back. She strengthened a sometlmes-shaky Linwood defence, and without her Harewood might well have added more goals. University 2, Digbys 2 Both of these teams, locked at

the foot of the table, were after their first win of the competition, but a draw was the fair result of an entertaining game. University could have been expected to emerge victorious from this encounter — three of its top players, Liz Brooker, Doreen Ambrose and Sue Barry have just returned from the Universities Australian tour — but an industrious Digbys team played with zest and enthusiasm to deny the talented student line-up scoring opportunities. Play tended to become congested in centre-field as both teams neglected their wings a good deal. Suzette Eastmond shone in the centre for University with several strong runs, but she often ran out of support when she drove in towards the circle.

University led 2-1 at half time. Ambrose had a sizzling shot from a penalty corner that Ngaire Graeme could only deflect into the goal, and soon afterwards Rachael Fry centred a low ball to Jenny Beale, who scored the second.

Digbys came back and Jill Jenkins scored from a goal-mouth scramble just before half time, but the second spell saw the strongest Digbys pressure. It was rewarded when Dianna McKinnel, the centre forward, scored the equalizer. Carly Scott, at right back, and Judy Courtenay, on the right wing, combined well for Digbys, and the roving University forward line had difficulty with the strong Digby defence. Similarly, Trish Trixai and Paula Jameson shone at the back for the students, and both teams can be well satisfied with their performance.

P W D L F A Pta Cartton 6 5 1 0 23 6 51 Woolston-R. 6 5 1 0 23 6 51 Bumside 6 4 1 1 23 9 41 Harewood 6 3 1 2 10 8 3J Cranmer 5 2 0 3 9 7 2 Linwood-U. 6 1 0 5 3 25 1 Digbys 6 0 1 5 5 22 J Univ. 5 0 I 4 3 16 J Carlton 1, Burnside 1