Few upsets, goals in senior hockey

Press, 12 June 1978, Page 14

Few upsets, goals in senior hockey

Few upsets and fewer goals did little to brighten senior women’s hockey on Saturday but the hardy band of spectators was treated to some entertaining hockey nevertheless.

Carlton, the joint leader of i the competition with WoolstonRawhiti. cruised to a comfortable win over the bottom-placed Digbys team while V»oolston struggled to win a point from ; a plucky Burnside University showed an improved form which gave it a good win over Linwood-United. The early game between Cranmer and Harewood resulted in a rather scrappy goal-less draw.

Carlton had too many guns for a plucky and determined Digbys side and with few well taken goals in the first half was content to coast through the second Isabelle Knight scored the first goal for Carlton early in the first spell. She found an opening in a goal-mouth melee and punched the ball past Ngaire Graham.

The New Zealand representative, Shirley Haig, rammed in the second. A high, floating cross from the right-wing found Haig Unmarked and about 5m from the goal-mouth. Winding up as if to serve in tennis, she pounded the ball into the back of the net.

The left-wing for Carlton. Jill Cummings, and the left back. N’icki Turner, posed problems for Digbys on the odd occasion that they mounted a first-half attack. Cummings in particular used her strength to attack on the flank, feeding her talented forward line with skill. Jane Wilson took the third goal when she drove from the edge of the circle and Knight scored her second soon after a fine solo run past the defence. Graham did well to block the first hard shot but was found out of position when Knight followed in. Graham played a sound game: but for her stoic defence in goal the score might ■ well have been higher. | It was a rejuvenated Digbys I which took the field In the second half. With much closer ‘ marking and more enterprise from the forward line, Carlton was restricted to a single goal from Haig. The left-wing for Digbys, Karen Lowe, and Diane McKinnel, who seemed to relish her shift from full-back to forward, carried the game to Carlton and made the side work harder for its point. An improved standard of coaching for Digbys will make the team a force to be reckoned with in spite of its low rating at the moment.

Woolston-Rawahiti 1, Burnside 0

The young Burnside team, short of its high scoring forward, Helen Denny, did well all the same to restrict Woolston to a single goal soon after halftime. The game could easily have gone Burnside’s way for the team missed several relatively easy goals. Burnside applied much firsthalf pressure on Woolston, whose defence appeared to be a little disorganised at first. Judy

• Phillips, a strong and skilfu ■ centre-forward and nationa :: representative, made many sliarj > ■ breaks up the mid field, linking -I well with her wings to drive intc the circle. She was well sup ’ I ported in the middle by her - capable captain. Julia Allen. But it was Woolston which I withstood thi% early pressure tc i crack in a lovely goal just aftei the interval. Julie Verdelen took the ball up-field in a bril liant solo dribble before passing | a low, hard push into the circle The right-wing. Rjki Wliataroa. I was on hand to bang (tie ball into the net past an unfortunate Elaine Jensen, who lost .her balance when trying to kick if clear. Woolston now began to exert much pressure on Burnside and went close to adding to Its score several times. Lois McArtney was a little more subdued in her general play on Saturday but demonstrated her ample skills to run round defenders and set [Play up from the centre forward Donna Paviel, at centre-half, fiercely contested the ball throughout the game and linked well with McArtney to dominate the mid-field for much qf the match. Burnside had a golden opportunity to equalise late in the game. After forcing three corners in a row. Sue Moloney, the Wooltson goalie, stood on the ball when making a save. Spirits slumped in the Woolston camp as Phillips came up to make the stroke but rose immediately when Moloney atoned for her previous error to make an excellent save. In spite of Burnside mounting a few more attacks, the Woolston defence successfully repulsed the challenges and was a rather lucky winner. Two young players for Burnside who did well on the right-wing were the senior reserves. Debby Penney and Marina Nylland. University 2, Linwood-United 1 The University team scored two goals and a valuable point at the expense of Linwood-United but it could not feel totally satisfied with its performance. After taking a little time to settle down to a rhythm the students began to take control and the side was rewarded when the fast breaking centre-forward, Suzette Eastmond scored. It was a good team goal, coming after three sharp passes between the forward line before Eastmond made the shot. Linwood came back late in the first half to put much pressure on University but the New Zealand goalkeeper, Sue Barry, had little to do for much of the game. The Linwood forward line was talented but seemed to lack aggression in the circle and manv shots were blasted wide of the mark. The second half Was a more scrappy affair as both sides fought to gain the upper hand. Play moved front end to end but ill directed passes often caused promising movements to break down, allowing the defending team to clear.

Dorren Ambrose and Susan Johnston got through much good work for University with astute dribbling and skilful passing. Leanne Summerton played well for Linwood. Sue Spivey, too. enjoyed a good game at centreforward and was rewarded with a goal in the last minute of the game.

But It was too late. Eastmond had scored her second goal earlier in the second spell to put University 2-0 up and she could

1 have scored-a third from a penI alty stroke. > But the Linwood goalie. Marion • FuDwood, was equal to the task. > After a brisk walk around her - goal, she faced Eastmond and - made a good save low on her right band. i Linwood seemed to improve as > the game progresied but the team could not pierce the i students’ goal until the dying seconds of tile match Vivienne ; Jory. playing on the right-wing . for “inwood, contributed much . to. the play. i Cranmer' 0, Harewood 0 ‘I This was a rather lack-kin re (encounter between two evenhi matched teams Cranmer can only blame itself for failing io (capitalise on many chances. The Harewood defence was good. Jenny Hamilton standing out m I goal. I Cranmer had the best nt the game in the early stages and • launched many brisk attacks into Harewood territory. Nick) Sherriff was a capable right-wing, beating her markers and setting up play for her forwards. Shot I. crisp passes were a feature of her game but the forward line found much difficulty in deciding what to do with the ball once it had been crossed into the circle The Harewood forwards, too. seemed at a loss to know what to do when on attack. They tended to buneh together in mid-field, spoiling what ball they were getting from their flanks by marking each other too closely. Vivian Cowles, on the left wing, and Lynette Sutherland and Barb Turbott at the back, did well to thwart many Cran mer attacks into the circle and often succeeded in breaking play up outside of the danger area Turbott. in particular, was a sound player and her ample experience did much to steady her team. The game got scrappy in the second spell as the teams strove for a goal to clinch the match. The Cranmer centre-half, Rose jGardiner, who is still at school, land Wendy Stewart were solid |and aggressive la mid-field, while Barbara Roper on the left wing : made many dangerous moves down the flank to get behind the Harewood defence. But too many missed or poorlv directed passes did little to excite the spectators. Cranmer had most of the attacking play but Harewood had to be watched carefully: it launched a fewsnappy counter-attack that could have resulted jn-a-late goal.

p W D L F Pts Carlton 7 6 1 0 28 6 61 VVoolston-R. 7 6 1 0 24 6 6 Burnside 7 4 1 2 23 10 41 Hare wood 7 3 1 3 10 8 4 Cranmer 6 2 0 4 9 7 2J University 6 1 1 4 5 17 11 Linwood-t'. 7 1 0 6 4 't 1 Digbys 7 0 1 6 5 27 1 Carlton 5 □igbys 0