Umpire thwarts hockey equaliser

Press, 3 September 1986, Page 60

Umpire thwarts hockey equaliser

By

KEVIN TUTTY

in Wellington If Canterbury wins the Challenge Shield at the Post Office Savings Bank national men’s hockey tournament this year it will be thoroughly deserved. Yesterday in its second pool game, Canterbury lost 1-2 to Wellington and now faces the prospect of playing the omnipotent Auckland team in the semi-finals on Friday. Wellington was the superior team yesterday, but in spite of that Canterbury could have forced a draw. It scored first against the run of play and allowed Wellington to equalise through a silly defensive error.

After Wellington took the lead in the second half Canterbury fought back to score what seemed the equaliser 10 minutes from full time only to have the goal disallowed by the umpire, Trevor Ryan.

Chris Leslie struck the ball at a penalty corner. It deflected from the stick of a Wellington player running out high into the net, but Mr Ryan ruled the ball had been hit high into the net by Leslie. (Direct shots at goal from penalty corners are not permitted to be any higher than 45cm). Canterbury now has a win and a loss from two games. If as expected, Canterbury beats Wairarapa this morning, and Wellington beats, or even draws with Hamilton, Canterbury will be second in its pool and will have to meet Auckland which seems assured of first place in pool A. It has won its two games to

date 10-1 and 5-1, and is playing with marvellous skill, speed and precision. Yesterday, Ramesh Patel, Auckland’s most accomplished forward, played his 200th game for the province, but could not celebrate it with a goal.

Canterbury A only sparked to life in the last 15 minutes after Wellington took the lead. Previously the attack had lacked any life and the defence tended to dither and then find itself caught in possession.

It was a moment of indecision 30 seconds from half-time that allowed Wellington to equalise. Paul Boaler (Wellington) capitalised on mistakes in the defence and fired a shot high into the net. Leslie scored Canterbury’s goal after 28 minutes from its only pen-alty-corner of the first half.

Wellington’s second goal came 12 minutes into the second half when the ball was slipped to Peter Miskimmin at a penalty corner. His shot was half hit but it still deceived the defence. Miskimmin had what seemed a legitimate shot from a penalty corner variation disallowed in the first half, and that was indicative of inconsistent umpiring decisions which caused tempers to fray several times during the day. In the previous game, Geoff Deakins, the Canterbury B inside right also scored what seemed a good goal, but it too was disallowed because the umpire considered it dangerous, even though there

was no player in the vicinity. Canterbury B overcame that setback and beat Otago 3-0 with two goals by Richard Schoeman and one by Glenn Hayde. Merv Hill, the Otago goalkeeper, played exceptionally well and probably prevented what could have been a double figure score.

Canterbury B drew its first game on Monday, 33, with Auckland B and still retains the Thomson Trophy which it won at last year’s tournament, and is at stake in every representative game the team plays. It meets Hutt Valley in its final pool game this morning. Hutt lost, 1-12, to Auckland B last evening. Canterbury B will be seeking a similar score to head the pool on goal difference.

Ashburton won its pool in the India Plate yesterday when it beat North Otago, 6-2, and will play Taranaki in the semifinals. Nelson beat Marlborough, 9-0, to win pool A of the same section and will meet South Canterbury in the other semifinal. Those games will be played tomorrow. Results of yesterday’s games were:

Challenge Shield: Auckland 5, Northland 1; Wellington 2, Canterbury 1; Hamilton 1, Wairarapa 0. Newmans Trophy: Wanganui 4, Southland 2; Canterbury B 3, Otago 0; Auckland B 12, Hutt Valley 1. India Plate: Ashburton 6, North Otago 2; Nelson 5, Taranaki 2; South Canterbury 3, Horowhenua 0; Tauranga 2, Marlborough 1. No games in the Havilah Down Trophy section.