Rain spoils N.Z. hockey exhibition

Press, 16 July 1979, Page 3

Rain spoils N.Z. hockey exhibition

Bv

KEVIN TUTTY

Ram, sleet, a biting wind, and a water-logged ground spoilt what could have been an excellent exhibition of hockey between the New Zealand women’s team and the New Zealand under-21

[side at Hagi-ey Park yester-! [day. j i The match was the finale! of a coaching week-end for' both teams. In spite of the conditions [a bright game saw the sen-j lior team win, 4-2. ' While both teams showed; a willingness to hit the ball about at every opportunity, the New Zealand coach •(Shirley Eddy) said later that this had” not achieved the intended purpose. i “Our forwards were unable to play the type of passing game they are used to and which they will have to play in the world tournament in Vancouver next month;” she said. The New Zealand team had more possession than the under-twenty-one team; and used it well, putting, pressure on the under-21! defence for long periods of each half. Under the circumstances the young defence played outstandingly. The skilful New Zealand forwards often pushed the ball behind the defenders but they were quick to turn and recover. Jenny McDonald, one of the veterans of [the New Zealand team, showed re-

[markable control on the [difficult surface; her driving i runs down the centre of the ! field were a feature of the [game. Shirley Haig, Judith ; Phillips, and Harina Kohere [lacked little in comparison. Using a 4-4-2 formation, [the New Zealand defence played well upfield but in the second-half, with the under 21s playing to the dry end, found itself scrambling to clear the ball from the circle several times. Jn spite of this Pat Barwick, Robyn Blackman, and Edie Weber played splendidly in the New Zealand defence, cutting off numerous passes and immediately setting the forwards back on attack. The New Zealand team (has five weeks before the | start of the international i tournament and will begin training this week to reach peak condition for the first game against the United States on August 18. Mrs Eddy said the team had wound down since it had played Australia at Queen’s Birthday w'eek-end and it now' had a carefully planned programme leading up to the Vancouver tournament.