Late sport Hockey team back

Press, 1 December 1978, Page 4

Late sport Hockey team back

By

KEVIN TUTTY

The New Zealand hockey team should not be counted out after its three losses and one win in the International Champions Trophy tournament in Lahore, Pakistan, last week, said Tony Ineson, the captain, on his return to Christchurch yesterday. He was impressed with the way the young new caps played and thought New Zealand would perform better in the Perth international tournament next April because of the experience they had had.

Ineson, the four other Canterbury members of the team, and the Miskimmin brothers of Wellington, arrived in Christchurch from

Sydney a day earlier than expected and without their baggage, which was left in Sydney, The remainder of the team flew into Auckland last evening. Ineson said that if the team trained hard and tightened its defence it should come away from Perth with better results. He believed New Zealand would have a side capable of making a strong defence of the Olympic gold medal by 1980. In Lahore, the defence was New Zealand’s greatest weakness. “It was definitely not tight enough,” said Ineson. “We had similar problems to those we experienced against Australia last year.”