Firm fields for men’s hockey

Press, 17 July 1978, Page 18

Firm fields for men’s hockey

Considering the amount of tain that had fallen during the i at two weess, the senior men s f idtev team* were extremely ’ rtunate to have 4rm. well- > assed fields for their matches n Saturday. Burw ood Park and Bai nett Pe-rk at Redd iff* were used for tV and both provided i eir of the be>t surf acet the SH team* have encountered neaaon. (efcscquentlx the standard of -•a •'..was higher than in the fe * veeks when wet ; ounds th other part* of the • t- mWe 1 an’ form of attrac•?ve hoffre; impossible There -<ete no upsets m Satur*a* * yamea and there was only »ne change on the points table. 9'iv • n-Hilimorton moved to I drci plac e when it beat High b-houl Old Bo’s bv a single goal, novng two points clear of Old which had shared third Haire with SeiuxA ”-i v e-wf ytill !e»d' h» frpr r *int* It beat bc’tom-of-the-iahl? V>- -'on Working Club in • hectic match, at Barnet Park. kt the same venue Bedcliffs bid a much stronger forward nr than Svdenham-Oshmere I nt could not s ore goal* from eld pla\. It.* two goals irom nenaltv-wfrokr*. In »he fourth match Linwood I sited and Pegasus drew 1-aIL. The draw prevented f-nm moving out of seventh r’a-r and into sixth ahead of Sydenham. Results and scorers were: Selw vn-Hillmorton 1 <G. Cat* BffiitMH*. H’gh School Old Bovs 0 Unfvetwitv 3 fV Edmundson, R G. Ma!«ter, p J. Maister>, Woolftnn W.M.C. 0. Pegasus 1 »P Be*!*. Linwood ( n’tpd I (F. Bhana> Red'liff* 2 <A. Inesom. S’ denham-Caj>hmere 0. The point« table i*

STOKES BEAT SYDENHAM Msrt' Fitzsimons was chosen !• ’ e Xeu Zealand training • iu d l«tst week and against Red cliffs he showed the solid t\pe rf goal-keeping that could uin him a place in the New Zealand team in September T» w* :a through his efforts that svdenham was able to stay in the game until 15 tiinutes from full time when Redtijff* scored fts second goal He

stopped a number of well hit' penalty-corners by Tony Ineson, and Several tunes moved quickly: to cover rebound shots. Redcliffs deserved its win because it w as more constructive in a <id out av.Myftam Is an; industrious I earn and. even w hen two goal- down, fought hard to narrow the gap. On a ground that suited their control and skill the Redcliffs forwards mounted numerous attacks that had the Sydenham i defence stretched. lan Jackson at centre-forward played especi-i ally well being always inventive.' The other to-'’-a"** were only; a ' : t»le less effective. The defence withstood some' strong bydenham attacks. The> tw mil-backs. Neil Caster and ; > Neil Pnitton. covered and tackled well Kerry Wootton had little' , to do in goal. The Sydenham defence too I wa> very sound and its was n tv • penalty stroke* that 1 beat it. The first came 10 minutes . into ine *e-'»nd half w h°n n j Ineson pen al tv-corner rebounded off a goal-post, to a Redcliffs i forward and his shot struck a I Sydenham foot. The second stroke came when i Fitzsimons made his only mis- . take. He took Brendan Beaumont <>ut of the plav in a goal mouth i scramble. Bevan Hall and Murray Pea-; Acock were the pillars of the ; /Sydenham defence. Peacock, an| energetic centre-half, was notice-; ante for his quick and accurate’ pasting. ONE GOAL ENOUGH Selwyn-Hillmorton thoroughlvi . deser. ed to beat Old Boys, doing. , most of the attacking in the first half/ but was denied a goal I I until 15 minutes of the second half. SelWyn continued to I dominate, their attacks being j better constructed and faster; than Old Boys, but they were given some anxious moments bv ' , -ome opportunist Old Boys attacks. One of these led to J 4 penalty-comer, the ball ending in the net. only to be disallowed bv the umpire. Both teams attempted to play . the match at a pace that was. not possible on the humpy Burwood Park surface. Many passes were directed straight to the opposition and othe r s were : thrown too deep for team mates , I tO tel f -n' ; The sole goal was a penalty -| - «troke bv George Carnoutsos. i .After that there appeared little i chance that the score would be! I levelled, apart from the dis-1 allowed Old Boys goal Selwyn’s superiority rested on' ? three players Carnoutsos yas. >1 the most accomplished passer on | - the fie4d. because he chose often » tn and na<s the ball with-’

out moving. Also in the forwards, Mark Burtt handled the conditions better than any other plaver, to the extent that he w as able to dribble with speed and some control. He was particun dangerous when cornered e goal line. In the defence Robin Wilson was sound, trapping well, and eluding and passing without too much difficulty.

For Old Boys. Jeff Gibson was again the best player, but was too often passive in his approach to the game. In goal, Graeme Sligo made some good saves, several of them after being caught off balance. In rhe forwards, Gerald Ross found useful space and moved well on occasions, but his trapping let him down in important situations. ABRASIVE GAME University suffered at the hands —more precisely the sticks and bodies —of Woolston in an encounter in which the umpires should be taken to task for their failure to ensure that hockey was the winner. Certainly, they gave many penalty corners to University, as a result of Woolston’s crude methods but duty called for them to take

stronger measures. At half-time the score was 0-0,: but University had held a pre- ' carious dominance, winning so much ball that the match should : have been secured. But their efforts were nullified by loose I trapping which often degenerated to mistrapping, and poor i passes which, as often as not, : were directed to the Woolston I defence. When the forwards were able jto make effective progress, thev 1 were met bv a solid moving wall of Woolston bodies that must ! have seemed like concrete. Woolston might well have been I first to score 20 minutes into : the half, when the umpire failed to plav an advantage rule and the ball dribbled into the net. (The ensuing penalty corner was fruitless. \ second half transformation was needed for University, but ■ it was the wrong sort. As the Woolston methods became ; harsher University began to retaliate. Xeil Edmundson picked up a penalty corner rebound tor the first goal. Selwyn Maister eon- . verted a penalty stroke for the . second and Barry Maister scored ■ the third from a penalty corner. For University. Selwyn Maister I was too strong at centre half I for the Woolston forwards, in ; spite of his mistrapping and gen- ■ eral slowness in eluding and i passing. | Ewan Holstein was sound at i left back, and Barry Maister was I the best forward, finding space,

moving the ball well and proving more dangerous than any of his fellows. Chris Maister was dangerous on occasion, but his performance was variable. For Woolston. Stewart Tasker led the forwards with direct and speedv methods. In the defence, Toro Brennan, was unyielding, vigorous coo] headed and abrasive. Alongside him Gary Jones cleaned up the loose ends effectively. The goal-keeper. Gary Copsev resisted most of the early pressure, but finally succumbed to the constant bombardment. PEGASUS HOLDS ON Only when Pegasus scored its goal after 23 minutes did Linwood show the hockey of which it is capable. It passed the ball about confidently but had to contend with a stubborn defence and it was mid-way through the second half before it equalised. Linwood pressed hard in the

last few minutes and was unlucky not to receive a penalty stroke when Graeme Williams broke into the circle and was brought down as he was about to shoot at goal. Pegasus dominated the early stages of the match using Boh Best in the centre and Ivan Thomson at inside left to mount sound attacks Throughout the match' however it neglected its right wing. Dave Kirwan, and it was through this area that Pegasus made some of its best' attacks. Best, uncharacteristically missed an easy goal after 15 minutes but made up for it eight minutes later when he robbed a Linwood defender of the ball on the 25 yard, ran quickly to the circle and his shot rah across the goal-keeper, struck the far goal-post and rebounded in. With Linwood showing more

urgency from that point Pegasu found itself being bustled off th ball and under pressure froi attacks from all directions. Afte several penalty corners in th early part of the second-hall Parsot Bhana scored from a re bound. Rob Wilson made few mistake at left back for Pegasus am Roger Turner was consistent a right half. Paul Gardiner am Hugh Griffin were the most it dustrious of the Pegasus fot wards. Greg Barrett trapped am tackled calmly at right back fo Linwood and Bhikhu Bhana an' Henry Singh in the halves passei intelligently and interceptß' many srtay passes. Williams and Terry Waghor were zealous in their efforts t breach the Pegasus defence. Set eraj times their efforts almos succeeded.

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