Harewood hockey hopes falter again

Press, 27 June 1983, Page 3

Harewood hockey hopes falter again

Harewood, defender of the Noel Leeming senior men’s hockey competition, faltered once again when it drew with Sydenham in a match, previously deferred, on the Porritt Park Oval yesterday. The draw by no means flattered Sydenham, which did enough to warrant squaring the match with Harewood. But it means that Harewood is badly placed to defend the title. This round of matches, the second of the week-end, threw up a second unexpected result. Redcliffs beat Woolston, a result that was thoroughly deserved. Pegasus tested the competition leader, Selwyn, to the full and there was always the chance that Selwyn would succumb. This season Pegasus has run every opponent close. But the week-end’s results have turned the middle and lower reaches of the competition into a bubbling cauldron, with High School Old Boys, Linwood and University poised three points from Harewood and Sydenham. Redcliffs, Pegasus and Woolston are scrapping for the top spot in the lower reaches. The points table is:—

Woolston 2, Redcliffs 0. Woolston, D. McKenzie 2. Woolston’s aspirations were given a lift and those of Redcliffs plumetted. The former dominated the game almost throughout while Redcliffs was completely unable to formulate a method of attack to bother the Woolston defence. Woolston spent what must have seemed like many nightmare hours in the Redcliffs half, but as so often happens, the sustained pressure produced little. The incursions of the forward line, especially Don McKenzie, reduced Redcliffs to desperate defence. Behind the forwards, Malcolm Wood gave sure support and passed effectively to his. front runners. For Redcliffs, few came out of the game with any acclaim. Only Lee Munt seemed to have a concerted concept of the requirements of passing to effect. Harewood 5, Linwood 1 Harewood: P. Hayde 3, C. Leslie 2, Linwood: M. Hobson. Harewood throughly deserved its winning margin. It attacked without respite for the full 70 minutes, probably the only time this season that it has managed total commitment.

The Linwood defence was hard pressed to deal with constant pressure but it weathered it well. It was well organised and the cover defence especially good. Unfortunately the Linwood attack did not play as well. Its attacks were mainly solo efforts by Simon Willocks, and easily countered by the Harewood defence. Its only goal came from a well-taken penalty corner struck by Mark Hobson. That goal levelled the score, 1-1, but it was one-way traffic from that point. Pat Hayde, who moved to the leftwing for Harpwood to allow lan Riach, to play at centre-forward, scored three of the goals, but was denied a hat-trick by Chris Leslie who scored the other two from penalty-strokes. Selwyn 3, Woolston 1 Selwyn: R. Schoeman 2, R. Walker, Woolston: G. Hughes. Selwyn beat Woolston comfortably, but its performance was a mixed one. It dominated Woolston for the entire game, but a lack of concentration cost it more goals. Richard Schoeman and Rhys Armstrong, in the Selwyn attack, revelled in acres of space, and Mark Burtt grasped the opportunity to make some telling runs in the second half. He was the best Selwyn forward. The Selwyn defence was found wanting several times late in the game. It was so far advanced and complacent that there was only one defender to confront Malcolm Woods when he twice broke through. One of those breaks resulted in Woolston’s goal. Sydenham 1, Pegasusl Syndenham: P. Gardner, Pegasus: D. Grundy. Both teams struggled for supremacy on a difficult field at Porritt Park but neither side achieved real dominance. Sydenham scored first through a penalty stroke by Paul Gandner, but Pegasus quickly fought back, equalising with a goal by David Grundy. Sydenham had a great chance to take a winning lead five minutes from full time with its second penalty stroke, but the chance was lost. Redcliffs 1, High School Old Boysl Redcliffs: P. Christensen. Old Boys: S. Tilley. Redcliffs had an excellent chance to cause an upset against Old Boys, but Richard Munt, a tower of strength in the Redcliffs side, missed a penalty stroke mid-way through the second half. He pushed the ball wide of the goal. Peter Christensen scored the Redcliffs goal in the the first half, and Simon Tilley

equallised shortly after the interval from a penalty corner. Old Boys had the ball in the net soon after Munt missed the stroke, but an Old Boys player was ruled off-side. Selwyn 2, Pegasus 1 Selwyn: K. Read, R. Wilson; Pegasus: J. Radovonich. Youthful enthusiasm met experienced judgment and the latter prevailed. Yet the youthful nature of the Pegaus attacks were almost too much for the experienced Selwyn defence. Indeed, it was only the supreme composure of Robin Wilson, in the centre for Selwyn, that prevented the likes of David Grundy, Andrew Dove and John Radovonich from besting the Selwyn defence. Pegasus pressured and got behind the Selwyn defence frequently in the first half and scored first. Selwyn became more urgent and replied within seconds of the half-time break. Pegasus had more field chances in the second half, but Selwyn had a host of penalty corner opportunities and a penalty stroke gave it the goal advantage. The intensity of the encounter led to some minor clashes, and at one stage one Selwyn and two Pegasus players were resting behind their respective nets. Harewood 1, Sydenham 1 Harewood: D. Penfold; Sydenham: R. Ambler. Harewood’s fatal flaw, in. letting opposition teams take charge, because of its propensity to become highly individual, surfaced once again. After having a 1-0 half-time lead, it allowed Sydenham to dominate in the later stages and from this increased possession, Ross Ambler scored one of this season’s rare direct penalty corner goals. David Penfold, playing centre forward, scored the leading goal for Harewood, but it failed to win the strategical battle. Even the close-quarter dribbling of Chris Leslie failed to wrest the initiative from the Sydenham right side, in which Ross Thompson headed the charge. University 1, HSOB 0. - University: S. Ambler In spite of an error rate, which in the terms of the academics, was exceedingly high, University struggled to a single-goal win over Old Boys. While the points would be welcomed, the manner of the victory would have been unsatisfactory. Only two elements of the University performance saved it from ignominy. The first was the one goal, from a melee, by Steve Ambler. The second was the performance of the goalkeeper, Mike Quirk, who ensured that the University goal was not entered.

MEN'S HOCKEY P w D L F A Pt Selwyn 10 9 1 0 31 8 19 Harewood 10 6 2 2 25 11 14 H.S.O.B. 10 4 3 3 12 12 11 Linwood 10 4 3 3 12 16 11 University 9 4 2 3 12 10 10 Sydenham 10 1 5 4 9 13 7 Redcliffs 10 2 2 6 12 23 6 Pegasus 10 1 3 6 6 12 5 Woolston 9 1 3 5 9 21 5