Hockey teams hopeful

Press, 29 July 1989, Page 15

Hockey teams hopeful

By

KEVIN TUTTY

The Canterbury men’s and women’s hockey teams want to be as successful on a visit to Wellington this week-end as they were on their last visit to the capital at Queen’s Birthday week-end. On that visit the teams had dual success, winning the Champions tournaments, brushing aside the other top provinces in New Zealand. It was the first time the men had won the tournament, and the fifth successive win for the women. Tomorrow the Canterbury men will play Wellington, while the women have assigned themselves a more difficult task, playing Hawke’s Bay and Wellington with a three-hour break between. Both Canterbury teams are unbeaten this season — the women in fact have yet to

lose a match on artificial turf in five seasons — and are eager to preserve that record. The match will be an important one for the men. It will be their last major fixture before the national tournament in Whangarei at the end of August. Canterbury had hoped to secure a match against Auckland but that has not eventuated. It is the second year that the Auckland-Canterbury match, considered a major fixture on the domestic calendar, has not been played. Canterbury will be without two key players tomorrow. Chris Leslie, the captain and inside left and David Penfold, the centre-half, have not returned from the Inter-Contin-ental Cup in New York. Selwyn Wong has been brought into the team for the match because the two spare forwards at the Champions

tournament, David Mills and Craig Mcßobb, are not available; Mills is captaining the New Zealand junior cricket team in England, and Mcßobb has withdrawn from the squad. Wellington will have its three ' New Zealand representatives — Peter Miskimmin, Chris Johnston and Grant McMinn — available. The hardest game for the Canterbury women is likely to be its first against Hawke’s Bay. The Bay was Canterbury’s first opponent at the Champions tournament and Canterbury won, 5-0, but the Bay cannot be disregarded. It beat Auckland, 4-2, the next day. Wellington was in the second division at the national tournament last year, but is keen to prove it is worthy of a place in the top section.