Harewood wins first championship title

Press, 9 August 1982, Page 16

Harewood wins first championship title

Harewood's draw on Saturday, in the Noel Leemirig senior men’s hockey championship was sufficient to give it the point needed to secure the title. It was Harewood's first championship success.

It was a case of relief for the Harewood team after managing to hold out a bustling Linwood side for much of the second half. Linwood had scored an equalising .goal against Harewood eight minutes after the interval.

Harewood, however showed too much nonchalance and undue haste in its play, and good possession was frittered away with lax passing. Had Harewood lost its game, however the result at Porritt Park still gave it the title. Woolston breached the Syden-ham-Cashmere defence three times. Sydenham was the only team with a change of catching Harewood, and it would have had to win its last three games.

University continued its march up the points ladder with a 1-0 win against Pegasus at Ham. It maintained its unbeaten record in the second round and is now placed third ahead of Sydenham.

Selwyn held onto second place, although not without some tense moments. It was down a goal with 10 minutes left against Redcliffs, but twice managed to score in the final minutes.

Results and scorers were; Harewood 1 (I. Hill), Linwood 1 (G. Orpwood). Selwyn 2 (R. Wilson, K. Reid), Redcliffs 1 (P. Christensen): University 1 (C.G. Maister), Pegasus 0. Woolston 3 (S. Barrow, G. Chalkiin, G. Rhodes), SydenhamCashmere 1 (R. Ambler) STRUGGLE FOR CHAMPION Harewood should have had the against Linwood. It dominated the half to such an extent that it won 10 penaltycorners to Linwood's one, but it could score from only one. That goal, scored by lan Hill, was a deflection from one of the comer shots. It was Hill’s last game for Harewood after several seasons and he led the team onto the field at the start of the match.

'Harewood was without Chris Leslie and David Penfold, both in Malaysia with the New Zealand junior team, but the substitutes proved adequate. Chris Rawlings, who played at right-half did a commendable job, and lan Riach was as penetrative at inside-left as he has been at leftwing. There was a large amount of

indecision in the Harewood defence in the secondhalf and it allowed Linwood to equalise after only eight minutes. Harewood produced some good forward moves in the remainder of the half,’ but sloppy passing at vital times allowed Linwood to break up most of the attacks. With the scores level there was always the danger that Linwood would score a breakaway goal. A couple of times the big, hopeful hits of the Linwood full-backs.found forwards, and it was only the Harewood cover defence that stopped a possible goal. SYDENHAM SLUMP

Sydenham, knowing that it could not' win the championship, seemed to play without any conviction. especially after Woolston scored its first goal. Until then Sydenham had the edge on attacks. Its forwards had closer control on the excellent surface at Porritt' Park but lacked finish. Steve Barrow scored the first Woolston goal after a purposeful build-up down the rightflank. In the first 10 minutes of the secondhalf Woolston capitalised on some loose Sydenham defence by scoring two further goals. Sydenham has not had three goals scored against it all season, and the previous week, when it conceded two to University. was the first time it had more than one against it in the championship. Sydenham tryed too hard to

recover the position and was running about without any real purpose, and caused few problems for the Woolston defence.

Woolston, playing at a lesser pace, and with more understanding, initiated several good attacks in the remainder of the half which stretched the Sydenham defence. RECORD MAINTAINED

University scored in the first few minutes against Pegasus at Ham and from that point there Was little to enthuse over in a scrappy game. The University goal was scored by Chris Maister from a penaltycorner. He worked tirelessly supporting his fellow forwards, but also did some good work helping a brittle looking defence. University is a shadow of the championship winning teams of the 1970's but it has won admiration this season for the stoic way it has worked to build a fine second round record. Pegasus too has progressed with a young team, and when it can gain a little more- penetration in its forward line it will be a formidable opponent. LATE RECOVERY Selwyn. knowing it was playing for only a minor placing, appeared to” lack motivation for much of the game. It was only when Redcliffs scored about 15 minutes -into the secondhalf that Selwyn settled into the type of controlled attacking hockey for which it is noted. For some time it appeared that ■ Selwyn's attempts to save the game would be foiled by Bruce Loader in the Redcliffs goal. He parried many promising Selwyn attacks, but finally was beaten twice in the last 10 minutes. Robin Wilson scored the first goal when he gathered a clearing hit from a penaltycorner and beat the defence with a calm, unhurried shot. In the dying minutes Kelvin Reid, the rightwing, scored the winning.goal after several strong attacks that Redcliffs had to work desperately to foil.

Hare. P 16 W D L 1 F 31 A Pl 12 24 9 6 Sei 15 7 6 2 28 15 20 Unstv. 15 8 3 4 19 16 19 Svd. ’ 14 7 3 4 17 11 17 Wool. 15 6 3 6 13 15 15 HSOB 14 4 4 6 13 13 12 Lin. 15 3 6 6 ,16 25 12 Red. 14 2' 3 9 14 22 7 Peg14 2 2 10 ■ 4 26 6