HOCKEY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 205, 23 May 1908, Page 9

HOCKEY.

[By " Driver."] The opening matches of tho season were played last Saturday ' under fairly favourable conditions. Tho sky, however, was rather overcast, and it was diflicult to follow the ball round the field during tho concluding minutes of play. The senior grounds were in splendid condition, the - Athletic Park being very good indeed, while the Day's Bay grounds, particularly Nos." 2 and 3, havo been improved considerably sin'co last season. The junior grounds, however, still leave much to bo desired, being on the whole rough and badly marked. The juniors cannot be expected to play good, scientific' hockey until they, are given good grounds to play on, and the best method 'of'doing.'that, in the writer's opinion,' is to "adopt the scheme mooted at the last Association meeting of double-bankincr the grounds at Day's Bay. ' On the whole, however,' considering that it was the first game of the season, the form displayed was good, and, circumstances permitting, a really first-class representative team.should be got together; In the. Wcllington-Y.M.C.A. match, played on the Athletic Park, it was not anticipated that the Y.M.C.A. would prove such formidable opponents to tho older club, and therefore their win by four goals to three came las a surprise to many. However, it must bo borno in mind that four, of the Wellington',s senior team were away, and their absence naturally disorganised, the; .team as a •whole. The Y.M.C.A. men wore: in splendid form, and it was soon apparent- that this would be ono of the principal factors in the ultimate determination of • the result.. If Wellington wish to win matches this season, they should train consistently; no team can expect to last a fast game out to the bittir end unless its members are in good nick. The play of the United team in tho match against Wesley at Day's Bay last Saturday was not very brilliant, and there was a no-, ticeable lack of form. They have had about four practices, but somehow they simply could not get going. They.willnepcLtoisliow improvement if they are to maintain the premier position as tliey have done in many past years. The halves played a much better game tlian the forwards, but' the best play, was that of the backs; tho backs, however, could not got much to do. Among the forwards, Burkett and _ Organ. were the , most conspicuous, but Elliott, perhaps; the most pushing forward in Wellington,.'.was rather off colour, and did not exhibit his usual

energy. The Wesley team'-'played-'-a' gamo which surprised their opponents.' Tlio Wesley senior team is quite new, but it is made of the very best stuff, and' with more experienep and better combination it will hold up its head amongst the best. Ashbolt brothers will be absent from the United team in the match against Thorndon to-day, but it is pointed out that Thorndon suffered defeat by 6 to 1 last Saturday, and, the United team should be successful. The United juniors defeated St. Patrick's Old Boys by 6 to 2 after a good game. The Uniteds instituted an innovation in playing Pavitt up from the fullback lino to centre forward; Tho move proved very successful, as he'took four out of the six goals scorcd by-his/side;;-;. After an excellent' game the United thirds won their match against T.M.C.A. on Saturday last. This was very creditable to tho 1 winners,'as'• they have worked under diffii culties in the past. Tho three United teams thus won all tho games they played on Saturday. ' ■ | The' St. Patrick's College Old Boys'"v. United juniors match proved to be a wellfought game, despite. :the final resultUnited 6, Old Boys 2. The downfall ~of the younger club was mainly due to ■ lack of combination. This became apparent in tho second spell, when the Uniteds, who were two goals to tho bad in the first spell, adopted a different game, and outclassed the blue , and whites by, their superior passing. Quinn, at full, proved to be the- mainstay of the Old Boys and played, throughout- one of , the best games on the field. /Campbell (back) and Francis and Butler (forwards) also played well for the blues. •Evidently the,prospect of a game last Sat-, urday did not'-appear any too" alluring for the players in the St. Patrick's College Old Boys v. Wesley third-class fixture. Only seven of the former' and nine of tho latter turned out to play. Of tho seven Old Boys, the, four Ryans were much in evidence, and between them scored the goals. M'Carthy was also of great, servico to his side." /— Tho representative programme promises to bo a fairly heavy'ono this year, as, in addition to tho usual matches, thero will in. all probability be one'against Nelson on June 3, and also ono against Auckland for tho Shield. If a match is arranged against Auckland, and if a good team can get away, tho result can bo anticipated with confidence. 1 < At the. meeting of the-Wellington Hockey Referees' Association on Thursday evening, at which Mr. W. J., Organ presided, it was decided that tho rule in regard to rolling iu from the lino bo strictly enforced. Tho ball must be rolled along the ground. It was pointed out that thero was a penalty of a free hit for undercutting. This may not be known generally, hut it will be enforced in future. At the meeting, eight now members wero elected. '

At a meeting of the New Zealand Council,held at Christ-church, a challenge was received from tho Poverty Bay Association for tho "Challenge" Shield,- making six in all. It was decided that Taranaki should play Auckland on July 4 and Canterbury play the winners on July 11. A -letter was received

from the English Association regarding sending a team to New Zealand next year. The delegates were in favour of tho proposal, but the question- of financing the team was'tho principal item to bo considered,, and in order that this might bo gone into thoroughly'the matter was left in tho hands of a sub-com-mitteo consisting of Messrs.:©. Manson, E. Nordon, and Murray.

Tlie " Weekly Press" has received the following from a correspondent:—"That hockey has taken strong hold of the affections of the Auckland public is amply- demonstrated by the success which attended tho Sports and Tournament Carnival on Saturday, May 9, the opening day of the hockey season in tho sub-tropical provinco. Auckland is fortunate, in possessing enthusiastic supporters'of the' 'stick, and ball 1 game, and. they roll up constantly to all matches. The present occasion was no exceptioif,- and, other provinces would do well to emulate their example in seeing that they have a live governing bod.T anxious to promote the welfap of the s»ort." •WEDNESDAY ASSOCIATION. The hockey matches were continued on Wednesday, in splendid weathor. The'games all round showed a great improvement oil the play of last week. There is plenty of room still for further improvement, and in every match there was far too much "stick-s," and players, by a little practice, could avoid this breach of the rules. Players should try and keep from appealing in this matter, and the older players should set'an example to tho younger ones, and leavo.tho question of a breach in tho hands of the referee.

Tho attention .of the Management Committee should ber drawn to..two breaches of tho rule regarding colours. lir tho match, Pakelia B v. Artillery, 0110 of tho Pakelia men • played in private clothes, and ono of the Artillery in tho Wrong colours. The match, Federal A v. Y.M.C.A. I, played on tho Basin Reserve, was very even all through. The splendid .defence of. the Federal goalkeeper was'the only thing that kept the Y.M.C.A. from scoring. Karori deserved their win over Federal B, but it must again' be noted'that tho Federal Club, in sending thoir team'out to play a match with only nine 111011, was not fair to their opponents. This is a question that tho Selection Committee should mvestigntfl. Tho Y.M.C.A. II are going on t,ho right way to make a good team, and they have one or two very promising players. The goal Perry scored was the result of a fino piece of play. It was remarked that they had a' Saturday man playing for them, of which tho Association ought to tako notico. The Artillery just managed to scoro a win oil time against Pakelia B. Tho latter aro a fino body of men, and only want a, littlo moro practice and coaching in the rules, when they will be hard to boat.

Tho following aro the championship points up to tho present:—Federal A, 4; Pakelia A, 4; Artillery. 2; Federal B, 2*. Y.M.C.A. I, 2; Karori, 2; Y.M.C.A. 11, 0; Pakelia B, 0.