Intensity of top competition lessened by three draws

Press, 12 August 1985, Page 30

Intensity of top competition lessened by three draws

The intensity of the struggle at the top of the Noel Leeming senior men’s hockey championship was lessened somewhat on Saturday, as the three, contenders for the top slot drew their matches.

In particular, Selwyn, which needed to win and to have the leader, Liquorland Harewood, lose, could only manage a desperate draw and might easily have lost to High School Old Boys. Harewood went half way to fulfilling Selwyn’s desire, by drawing with University, but that now seems to matter little.

With only two rounds to play — should the Canterbury Hockey Association choose to play the round put off last week-end — Harewood must lose twice and Selwyn win twice. The first half of that equation is unlikely to be fulfilled. The best Selwyn can hope for is to overtake University, but that also seems only a slim possibility since University is the only team not to have lost this year. While Selwyn laboured to catch Old Boys — and indeed, it had a chance to win late in the match — Harewood and University played at a pace that ensured their encounter was laced with errors. But, in spite of the urgency of the teams and the obvious desire of the players to achieve a win, the game was a non-event that rarely looked like yielding a winner.

The same pattern was repeated at other levels of the competition ladder. Redcliffs, in decline, struggled against the joint bottomplaced Sydenham. After confounding the pundits earlier in the season and taking valuable points, often by single goal margins, Redcliffs has found the bubble has burst.

Linwood, also needing a win to give it a chance to move up the ladder, tried to play Rangiora at its own game for much of the time and nearly paid the penalty. It has a game in hand, which will give it an opportunity to better itself, but that will be against Old Boys, a higher placed team.

The only team to win was Pegasus, by a single goal over Woolston. Pegasus, as is its tendency, dominated much of the field play, but remained unconvincing in

front of the goal. Rangiora’s draw with Linwood was important, because it prevented it from dropping to dead last behind Sydenham. In the event, it has a superior goal average to Sydenham, but that cannot help it greatly in its final placing. The points table is:

Harewood 0, University 0

With the spectre of an advancing Selwyn team hanging over their heads, Harewood" and University went at it with gusto. The urgency of both teams was evident from the outset, but neither set of players could match that with the efficiency, or flair to outdo the other. Both teams were without an international player. For Harewood that meant it worked with a forward line of distinctly variable quality. For University, it was a defensive blow. The upshot was that Harewood lacked concerted frontal effectiveness. Harewood mounted the most dangerous early attacks. The University goal keeper, Dave Stuthridge, was called on to make a number of saves. He did this effectively, but his counterpart, Ron Smith, was tested only a few times by the University forward line.

Much of the play was in midfield, with many passes being intercepted by both teams, or players robbed of the ball. The total penalty corner count for the match was seven to four - in Harewood’s favour. The exchanges were often sharp — too quick for some players. This led to many breakdowns of play, so few players distinguished themselves.

Two who did were former internationals, one from each team. For Harewood, Balvant Bhana, at inside right, was the epitome of skill. He trapped expertly, dribbled with a closeness and touch that confounded many an opponent and was the only member of his line capable of outwitting the University defence. As well, his work load was such that he was often drawn far to the left, or deep on defence, so that his team was in danger of losing its only effective attacking avenue.

For University, Barry Maister was called out of retirement yet again to play at inside left. He was a model for any aspiring forward, in the manner in which he trapped

and distributed. Even though his skills are rusty, his dead trapping and his thoughtful passes, invariably delivered after first finding the correct avenue, were of a level no current senior forwards —

other than Bhana — can match. The two left halves were also effective. For University, Garry Hodder thwarted most Harewood right side attacks, covered assiduously and returned the ball to the forwards promptly. His initial shakiness at left half seems to have disappeared. Harewood’s Mike Skilton was difficult to overcome and his speedy passing to the forwards a boon, although sometimes overhit. Selwyn 2 (M. Beatson, D. Clements), Old Boys 2 (G. Deakins, A. Thomas) Old Boys’ improved recent form continued in the early stages when it passed effectively in short bursts. It might have deprived Selwyn of a point if the latter had not improved after half-time and come back from a 0-2 deficit. Selwyn’s recent new found closeness of passing was relinquished in the early stages, but its recovery was because of a return to those methods. One of the major acts of omission of the season was committed by one of the competition’s most experienced players, George Carnoutsos, when he failed to score late in the game. An empty goal was too tempting when he found himself with the ball under control, but not sufficiently so, for he hit the post, and the chance was lost.

While Old Boys employed the short pass in the early stages, Selwyn declined to do so and paid the penalty. A 0-1 half-time deficit became 0-2 minutes into the second half. But, as Old Boys eased the pressure, Selwyn worked its way back into the game. Once again Selwyn had difficulty converting its liberal number of penalty corners. Selwyn’s Carnoutsos, Richard Schoeman and Mark Burtt were not as effective as usual, but still proved troublesome. The fill-in goal keeper, Chris Lewis, kept well, especially in the light of the scant support he received from his defence. For Old Boys, Geoff Deakins, in the forwards, made much of his team’s possession. On defence, Rob Smith and Ivan Bolton defended stoutly and let little pass them. Old Boys suffered in part from its approach, in which three players were suspended at various times.

Redcliffs 1 (R. Munt), Sydenham 1 (A. Forrest)

Barnett Park’s bumpy condition was no help to either Redcliffs or Sydenham. In the first half, Redcliffs led, after Sydenham might well have headed it; in the second half, it was all Redcliffs. Sydenham

equalised with barely a minute to go. In Sydenham’s first half urgency, it beat Redcliffs to the loose ball. Redcliffs failed to take the ball forward when the opportunities arose, but it nevertheless went to the turnaround one goal up.

The second half was somewhat of a reversal, with Redcliffs making most of the play and pinning Sydenham in its half for three-quarters of the time. But the bumpy surface, faster and less heavy than the last time it was used, prevented either team from regularly testing the last lines of defence.

In the Sydenham goal, Marty Fitzsimons withstood some pressure. Part of Redcliffs’ difficulty came from an improved Sydenham defence trapping and passing well, with Lionel Wong on the left standing out. In the Sydenham forwards, Athol Forrest again worked tirelessly and was responsible for his team’s most constructive play. Peter Christensen was solid in the Redcliffs defence and he was given ample encouragement from the goalkeeping of Bruce Loader. On the left wing, Lee Munt was industrious, inventive in his attacking play and showed his all round experience. Pegasus 1 (G. Clark), Woolston 0 A goal midway through the first half was scant reward for the dominance Pegasus had over Woolston throughout much of the match. In spite of the goal in that period, the first half provided little to enthuse about and most of the real action was delayed until the second half.

Woolston had its opportunities, including a missed penalty stroke, which Malcolm Woods made easy for the Pegasus goal keeper, Andrew Brydon, to save. Pegasus also hit the cross bar after Greg Clark crashed a shot at Woolston’s keeper, Garry Copsey, and his desperate foot deflected the shot.

Pegasus had a second half dominance that again should have yielded goals, but then in the last 10 minutes Woolston was in the ascendancy and perhaps unlucky not to equalise. In the Pegasus de-

fence, Bruce Radovonich resisted the best Woolston endeavours.

Of the Pegasus forwards, Andrew Dove and Craig Mcßobb made best progress in combination, while of the Woolston forwards, Woods, on the left wing, was speedy and a constant irritation to the Pegasus defenders. Of the Woolston defenders, Greg Rhodes and Paul Ritana withstood pressure well, while the left half, John Austin, kept the Pegasus right side well in check.

Linwood 2 (S. Hobson, S. Willocks), Rangiora 2 (P. Agent) A see-saw encounter had Rangiora first leading and then Linwood levelling and drawing ahead before the seal was placed on the match with the scores square. Rangiora kept pretty much to its traditional game, but Linwood relinquished its methods to copy its opponent. In the first half, Linwood delivered long passes, mostly not brought under control through poor passing. The result was it was outdone by Rangiora, which made the most of the opportunities this provided. In the second half, when Linwood retreated to its more controlled approach, it troubled Rangiora considerably and had the goal under almost constant siege for the last quarter. But Rangiora’s desperate defence held and Linwood had to be content with a draw, rueing a missed penalty stroke in the half. There were missed chances on both sides, with Linwood being the greater culprit. For Rangiora, Phil Agent made the most of the few he had and he was given the best midfield support from Ron Archer. In the half line, the moving of John and Paul Woods from centre and left half, to right and centre half, added some impetus to its forwards’ movements.

Scott Hobson, the Linwood centre half, added punch to his team’s forward line by taking the ball in among them. He also defended well. When Simon Willocks and Paul Snape found the inspiration to work together in short movements, they troubled Rangiora defenders consistently.

P W D L F A Pt Harewood 16 14 1 1 45 9 29 Univ. 16 12 4 0 28 6 28 Selwyn 16 14 2 2 46 10 26 Redwood 16 6 3 7 14 20 15 H.S.O.B. 15 3 7 5 16 19 13 Pegasus 16 :5 2 9 20 23 12 Linwood 15 3 5 7 11 26 11 Woolston 16 1 6 9 8 26 8 Rangiora 16 2 4 10 15 38 8 Syden. 16 2 4 10 6 31 8