Strong colts hockey side

Press, 31 March 1981, Page 32

Strong colts hockey side

By

KEVIN TUTTY

With seven of last year’s team available, the Canterbury colts’ hockey selectors will be able to field a formi dable side at the national tournament in Auckland in Mav.

Bob Best and Ross Gillespie, .the selectors, have named a squad of 16 which will be the basis of the side for Auckland. However, (the selectors have emphasised that other players would 1 be added to the squad if they show sufficient form in the first few weeks of the sea son. A team of 14 will travel to Auckland.

Chris Leslie, a member of the New Zealand junior team last year, is a.valuable acquisition. Between seasons he has moved from Timaru to Christchurch. His talents, combined with those of Warwick Shillito, Don McKenzie, Matthew Slark and Murray Johnston will provide the coach, Mr Best, with a forward line which should equal any at the tournament. The defence contains sev-

eral mature young men. Simon Tilley will probably be the centrehalf, but he will be surrounded by players such as Jeff McEwan, Andy Innes, Grant Sim monds and Malcolm Wood, all of whom are capable senior players. There is an additional incentive for all the players at the national tournament this year. At the end of it the New Zealand team to play in the Asian qualifying zone of the Junior World Cup at Hong Kong in October will be named.

Canterbury has only three players — Leslie, McKenzie and Shillito — in a national junior squad of 20 named last September. Tilley has the ability to become a member of the national team providing his form at Auckland is consistent.

The Canterbury squad for the tournament is: David Loader, Grant Simmonds, Innes, McEwan, Tilley, Wood, John Radovonich, Baden Carter, Leslie, McKenzie, Shillito, Johnston, Slark, Alistair Penfold, David Penfold, Chris Teague-