HOCKEY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 800, 25 April 1910, Page 5

HOCKEY.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIXTURES. 'United, 4; Y.M.C.A., I.' Wellington, 1; Victoria College, 1. Karori, 4; Metropolitan, 1. The men's' senior and junior matches were commenced on Saturday under the auspices, of tho Wellington Hockey Association. Tho wealther conditions for tho players were splendid; The journey to Day's Bay tended to make the players participating at • that place fee! some,vhat disturbed; but once they got to work the cool -and keen 'biting atmosphere assisted them considerably. 'As shown by the above table of results only three senior matches were played, Wesley 'having a bye. Last year four senior matches were - provided. The iorrh of most players was a considerable improvement above that shown on the previous Saturday's prac- . tice, and; to a great extent improved as the games proceeded. Kelburne Park was in fair condition for the tussle between. Karori and Metropolitans, tho ,former having an easy victory over their opponents by 4 goals to - 1. Although United defeated Y.M.C.A. by 4 to 1, this score doeß not ny any means clearly show the strength of these two teams. .It was a surprise to many. Wellington have commenced exceedingly well by drawing with Victoria College. Following are details of the various games:—

UNITED, 4; Y.M.C.A., 1. Tho ground for the match. United v. Y.M.G.A., was in splendid order. Last, yeai Y.M.C.A. were pitted against United, and won the first match by 3—l. Last Saturday the order was reversed. The game was fast, exciting; and plenty of good', opportunities to score were simply thrown away by Y.M.C.A.; their forwards seemed to go all to pieces when near the goal. The gamG >vas decidedly open, and for tho first 20 minutes of the first . spell Y.M.C.A. forced in upon United with great vigour. Carde (Y.M.C.A.) was first to try his luck, but a hot shot •«nt 'wide of the posts. The Reds (United) then forced' their opponents back, and after a good tussle Elliott failed at goal, Collie (goal, Y.M.C.A.) saving in good style. . Not satisfied, Smythe (United) received the ball from Jones, the new. inside-loft man, and' secured an easy goal. Unfortunately, Collie; the goal-keeper, was away hunting, and gave, the, goal i away easily. Only, ten- minutes Had now gone. United 1, Y.M.C.A. 0. Allen, (goal, United), mail', Vsaved" well when tho. Y.M.C.A. meii forced, but Carde'' "flew" and jumped, the. claim. United 1, Y.M.C.A. 1. From a good passing rusli Lodder missed an opportunity. The result of a "corner" in Y.M.C.A.'s favour gave Smythe the chance of saving, which he did well. Wheatley still working hard for Y.M.C.A. unfortunately lost his sido. the opportunity now of scoring through giving "sticks." Splendid combined play followed, but at halftime the score was still I—l., Y.M.C.A. had the best of the first spell, but went to pieces towards the end of tho second, Umt«d adding threo more goals. Y.M.C.A. were huddled, together anyhow, whilst United were keeping their positions in good style, and also seemed least fatigued. Y.M.C.A., attacked vigorously ; with good passing rushes. Later, United came with a hard pushing rush, and Collie, in attempting to "save," was injured. Another attack followed, and Elliott, with his usual ingenious delivering, sent another homo. 2—l. United's right flank moved again in good style, Y.M.C.A. sticking, to the field in earnest, Parton doing good work in saving. From- a corner Elliott scored again. 3—l, with 22 minutes to go. R. Parton had a corner,-but,Allen in goal "saved." Y;M.C.A. rushed United's goal again, but the pass given from R. Parton. to his . partner proved fruitless. . The wind, was helping Y.M.C.A. greatly now. Wheatley was working conspicuouslyso were . Holmes and Dawson, although the former missed a shot at goal. Hayes and. Wheatley still pressed, but without avaii, a corner bringing -no further score for Y.M.C.A. Organ now banged bard to the posts, but Collie saved well. With only a few minutes to go United had a combined battle, Collie clearing. The ball bounced off the latter's pad, and Smythe, in a cool and determined fashion, quietly but qujckly notched- the fourth goal for United. 4—l. For United the following played well(Hickson, Smythe, and Elliott, .whilst Dawson, Lodder, Parton Bros., Wheatley, Benton, and Collie did serviceable duty for Y.M.C.A. Mr. H. V. Walton was tho referee.

WELLINGTON, H COLLEGE, 1. Even play wasthe order of things in the match,-Wellington v. Victoria College, and some very fast work was put in. _ Wellington backs were only fair, their forwards very slow. College forwards seemed greatly oonfused, .combination being a missing item. Cleere scored for Wellington and Strack for College, the, former working hard and well. Some extremely long shots were indulged in. After about ten minutes' play combined rushes by the College proved fruitless, through their forwards' blind shooting. . vPlenty of. opportunities for both sides were lost through lack of direct shooting. The first spell produced no score. After 15 minutes' play Wellington livened, things up somewhat, and the defending goal-keeper was ' called upon frequently to prove his skill at saving goal. Cleero got anxious and soon found the posts. Wellington,'l; College, 0. This started College off, and very soon Strack scored. Wellington, 1; College, 1. Although the game proved 'interesting at this stage, no further score was-added, both sides drawing. For College, Kibblewhite and Burbidge played well, giving good passes, whilst Smythe (centre-half) played a good game also. Morpoth in goal was very fair on Wellington's side, as also was the College goal-keeper. The defence of the College backs was good. Monaghan's absence as oentre-half proved serious'for tho College. The two ; Stracks played well. Mr. Southwick was tho referee.

KARORI, 4; METROPOLITAN,' 1. Metropolitan have . started well with their now and efficient senior tealn, tho play on Kelhurne Park appearing by nn mciuii Qoor m oi the Iw

score registered. Karori are a hard team to encounter, and the first game lost by a now senior team proves nothing. Open play for tho early part of the first spell was indulged in, Oram registering Karori's first, goal. I—o. Metropolitan then got going solidly but Spiers saved admirably, and a rush by Ivarori proved useless, although they fairly swarmed in their opponents' circle. The second scoro was notched by Oram, who after several attempts by his side rccoivcd the leather and found the net. 2—o. Thus ended the first spell- The combined efforts of Davies and Pope right from the bully was good, but resulted iv nt addition to the scoro for awhile. . Gendall next received an opportunity, and quickly passed to Davies, and the latter as usual cleared the opposing backs, and notched a third goal for Karori. 3—o. Metropolitan then almost scored per mediun; of Hali,, whilst Karori fared likewise, with the assistance of Pope. Later, Metropolitan attacked i vigorously, and Gendall, in defending the Karori goal, gave "sticks." The corner was taken by M'Kenzic, the ball going to Burbush, who scored in good style. 3—1.. Murphy next added one to tho total for Karori. 4—l. Further play ' was fairly evenly contested. Mr. H. J. Hunter was referee.

JUNIOR. Playing on tho No. 5 ground, Day's Bay, United defeated Victoria College B by seven goals to five. For the winners goals were obtained by Brothertoh (3), Willis (2), Sargent and Hojlis (1 each). Vernon (3) and Cook (2) scored for Victoria College: Mr. Keall was the referee.

Wellington won their match ,against Metropolitan juniors after a fast and even game by four goals to two. Dunn (2), Lynch and Turton (1 each) were responsible for the winners' goals, while Rowbery and. Burdekin obtained Metropolitans' total. Mr. Keys was the referee.

St. Patrick's College Old Boys, playing against Petone on the • latter's ground, defeated them by 5 goals to 2. Th-s scorers for the winners wore: J. Quinn'(2), F. Francis (2). and Twohill. For the losers: Webley (2).

Victoria College A (6) defeated Wesley (2). Thfe scorers for the winners were: Rutherford (2), Smith, Kibblewhite, Griffiths, Brodie; and for the losers James and. Wilson were successful. - . ;

Government Life defeated the Y.M.C.A. team to the tune of 8 to 1. The scorers for the winners were: Macdonald (3;, Wollorman (2)" Mushet, and Williams. The other goal was shot by a Y.M.C.A. man. Mr. Turner refereed.

THIRD CLASS. No matches in this division were contested. This'gride will commence next Saturday, if fine.