Canty women snatch draw in opener

Press, 2 September 1986, Page 42

Canty women snatch draw in opener

PA Dunedin Canterbury fought out an exciting 2-2 draw with Hawke’s Bay yesterday at the ANZ national women’s hockey tournament in Dunedin. Otago, seeking to repeat its last national title win at home a decade ago, made a fine start to the tournament with an emphatic win over joint title-holder Auckland.

Jenny McDonald, the deposed New Zealand captain, provided the leadership and the only goal her side needed as it accounted for the highly-rated Aucklanders 1-0 in the feature premier match played today.

Waikato showed it is

going to provide some stern opposition for both Otago and Auckland in pool A when it hammered home four goals against a hapless Auckland B side, while North Shore opened the tournament with a hardfought 2-1 win over Canterbury B in pool B of the premier trophy. The CanterburyHawke’s Bay match was a thrilling encounter, with the Cantabrians snatching the overall honours with a 5-1 win in a penalty shootout, that will be used only if the two teams are tied at the end of the round.

Lesley Murdoch, the Canterbury and former New Zealand goalkeeper, was in outstanding form

for her side, saving twice from the penalty spot in normal time and then letting only one of five through in the shootout. Canterbury was lucky to snatch the draw after scoring with just three minutes left, having just moments earlier watched Murdoch save her second penaltystroke of the game. Otago’s 1-0 win against Auckland was thoroughly deserved. The home team monopolised possession and could have won by a wider margin. Canterbury’s draw with the current joint holder of the national title, Hawke’s Bay, was a hard and closely contested duel and the score was a fair indicatioin of

the. comparative play of the two teams.

Play was in progress only five minutes when Kathleen Martin put Hawke’s Bay one up with a good goal scored after a melee in front of the goal. Canterbury drew level just before half-time when Marie Flannery and Judy Phillips combined to convert a penalty corner. Midway through the second spell Hawke’s Bay went into the lead when a gentle high shot by Harina Kohere was adjudged as having crossed the line before Canterbury cleared.

. With three minutes remaining Canterbury was

awarded a succession of penalty corners and levelled when Judy Phillips moved Into the shooting position and sent in another typical strong shot which was diverted into the goal. Kerry Weber scored twice in North Shore’s 21 win over Canterbury B in pool B of the premier trophy, although the Shore side did not really capitalise on a tremendous territorial advantage. Results:

Otago 1 (J. McDonald) Auckland A 0; Waikato 4 (D. Flannery, L. Adolph, M. Edhouse, A. Cowley) Auckland B 0; Hawke’s Bay 2 (K. Martin, H. Kohere) Canterbury A 2 (J. Phillips); North Shorre 2 (K. Weber 2) Canterbury B 1 (S. Bell).