Selwyn takes lead as first round nears end

Press, 30 May 1983, Page 21

Selwyn takes lead as first round nears end

Selwyn has taken a three point lead in the Noel Leeming senior men’s hockey championship as the first round nears completion. Selwyn had a double-header at the week-end, and emerged with two wins. The first, and most important, was against its nearest rival, Harewood, on Saturday. Selwyn won that game, 3-2, and yesterday it played University, a game which had been deferred earlier in the season, and won 2-1. Harewood, the defending champion, now has a difficult task in front of it to overhaul Selwyn in the second round. Its first requirement will be to play consistently for 70 minutes. Again on Saturday, as has happened in several games this season, its second-half performance fell away. Pegasus had its first win of the season when it beat University 2-0. The win was deserved because Pegasus showed more urgency and thought in its play than University, which was plagued by basic errors. Redcliffs, a team whose performances vary considerably from week to week, had one of its better days and beat Sydenham 3-2. The other senior game between Woolston and Linwood was a scrappy 0-0 draw. The points table is:

Selwyn 3, Harewood 2 Selwyn: G. Carnoutsos, R. Armstrong, R. Schoeman. Harewood: P. Hayde, C. Leslie. Harewood had the misfortune to lose its inside-right, Balvant Bhana, only five minutes after the start. He was accidentally struck in the face by a stick. It was a blow to Harewood’s prospects because Bhana had shown in those first few minutes drive

and urgency that has been missing from his play for much of the season. While Harewood was still settling after his loss, George Carnoutsos capitalised on some sloppy marking and scored the first goal after seven minutes. Pat Hayde replaced Bhana and equalised seven minutes later. It was a vital goal, but Hayde became less effective as the game progressed. He had a muscle injury which severely hampered his mobility. Harewood’s goal was a signal for a lift in performance. There was more urgency and combination in the attack, and the defence marked closely, covered well and cleared quickly from inside its own 25m area. lan Riach, the left-wing, was the main thrust of the attack and received good support from Chris Leslie at inside-left. After the interval Riach hardly saw the ball and Harewood’s effectiveness was reduced. Rhys Armstrong put Selwyn ahead nine minutes into the second half after a scramble in the goal-mouth and Richard Schoeman scored a magnificent goal eight minutes from full-time when he went around the goal-keeper, Ron Smith, at the top of the circle, and from almost on the back-line and wide out, fired the ball into the net. He and George Carnoutsos combined effectively to pressure the Harewood defence. They received a good supply of ball from their half-line, and also the Harewood halves. Three minutes from fulltime Leslie scored Harewood’s second goal, but by then Selwyn had a secure grip on the game. Pegasus 2, University 0. Pegasus: D. Grundy, D. McEwen. Pegasus never allowed University any dominance in the match played at 11 a.m. There was more vitality in the Pegasus effort. It was quicker to the ball, and on attack the

forwards moved with speed and control, on a difficult ground. The Pegasus forwards are showing much more maturity in their play, and backed by a sound, well organised defence, the side could have several more wins in the second round. It has conceded only eight goals in seven games. Only Selwyn, the competition leader, has conceded less. David Grundy scored the first Pegasus goal after beating several players in the circle. The side should have led by two goals at the interval but Mike Quirke in the University goal saved a John Radovonich penalty-stroke. Ten minutes into the secondhalf Darryl McEwen gave Pegasus the comfort of a twogoal lead that it did not look like relinquishing. Radovonich, Grundy and McEwen all dribbled strongly and linked well with the defence. Jeff McEwen at centrehalf lost nothing in comparison to' his opposite, Greg Pierce, who toiled gamely only to see most of his work squandered by the University forwards with poor trapping. Redcliffs 3, Sydenham 2. Redcliffs: R. Munt 2, S. Smith. Sydenham: P. Gardner, M. Skilton. A 0-3 deficit with 15 minutes left in the match, which belatedly became a one-goal deficit, • did little to convince spectators that Sydenham had been soundly beaten by Redcliffs. Indeed, Redcliffs had so dominated the match that it was only its lack of diligence in ensuring its winning margin that let Sydenham in with a chance. While the Redcliffs team looked a compact unit with all sections combining to lock out the best Sydenham endeavours, Sydenham generally looked to have vast schisms between its defence and attack, to such a degree that its attacks were infrequent and solitary. Throughout most of the match, Redcliffs won much of the possession, with Richard

and Lee Munt and Steve Smith frequently incising their way through the Sydenham defence. Behind them Peter Christensen supported well, tidying up and feeding frequent passes, while Tony Gowans in the backs tempered his youthful spirit with some heady defence and passing. The Sydenham defence struggled manfully throughout to quell the Redcliffs attacks and inspire some cohesion in the counter-attacks, with Ross Ambler and Bryan Ayson providing most of the stability. In the forwards, Ross Thompson and Paul Gardner were occasionally within reach of the defence’s passes, but all too frequently they were able only to indulge in solo dribbles. Woolston 0, Linwood 0. Neither team gained dominance in a scrappy game at Porritt Park and the score was a reflection of the inability of both sides to capitalise on scoring opportunities. Woolston actually had the ball in the goal at one stage but the shot, which went into the net at chest height, was ruled dangerous by the umpire.

Both sides attempted to be constructive but close marking, allied with numer-

ous trapping and passing errors, prevented the game from flowing as the players intended. Selwyn 2, University 1. Selwyn: R. Schoeman 2. University: C. G. Maister. Selwyn had to struggle to

maintain its record of seven straight wins against University at Barrington Park yesterday. University scored first in the first half when Chris Maister netted. Selwyn, feeling the effects of two games in as many days was not playing with its normal rhythm, but after the interval managed to inject more spark into its play and its goal-hungry centre-forward, Richard Schoeman, scored twice. The first was a neat deflection off the goal-keeper’s pads from a free hit taken outside the circle.

MEN’S HOCKEY A Pt P W D L F Sei. 7 7 0 0 24 4 14 Hare. 7 5 1 1 19 9 11 Lin. 8 3 3 2 10 11 9 H.S.O.B. 7 3 2 2 9 10 8 Unsty. 6 2 2 2 9 8 6 Syd. 7 1 3 3 7 10 5 Peg. 7 1 2 4 4 8 4 Red. 7 2 0 5 9 18 4 Wool. 7 0 3 4 6 18 3