HOCKEY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1866, 27 September 1913, Page 21

HOCKEY.

THE CLOSE OF THE SEASON. I'Br "Jiui.i.Y-oi'i'."] Saturday's Struggle. A fitting wind-up lo a successful season was last week's shield match. A. win for Welling)oil would lijive heen an improvement,: hut it was a'went-.game hi-tweeii two line teams, and the winner desei-ved the shield. Whether it was wise to play the game oil the liasin Uoserve is just (jiiestionable. The ■ basin at any time is not a particularly Hat .ground, and on Saturday there is little doubt hut that it proved Wellington's undoing. ■ Karori t'ark is like a billiard-table compared with the,' liasin, "and-"Hull,v-o(t" inclines to tlie belief that on Karori -Park Auckland would have been beaten. The ■Northerners were not a bit the better team, and . what luck there .was (there was wondrous little) .was with-Auckland. Wellington' record for the season is a lino one, and it is hoped that bright and early in the next season they will , sally forth to Auckland and recapture that shield. The Forwards' Fail. A curious thing about ihe ; game all through was the failure of our.-'for-, wards. They absolutely could lidt'.sciire,'' 'although on at least, two occasions; tlicy ; . had tlie best chances. ; cwr'..; had one. lie was .welb ekv.r in ;the. circle), and between' him aivd : (some yards cut) -was the goal-keepei::''. Griffith's is', a' ■ remarkably ; ac.etirat.e . shooter,, and.a good, hard hit mnl6fc;hayc, found the .net. In. or other (more than .probably a..ljui lip in. the 'ground), his feet, A '.little, tangled, and'over.'lie \\ciit, arid; a;valu-; ablo goal wont I'.egguig. , I^ Con: Strack's effort late in spell was even more dcpliirablt'. ITe..was. sailing ' along with th£ hall, at the end of his stick' nliks. frorb': anybntj; and with only the self-same -goalkeeperto beat'-t He got to within easy (lis- | tanee, and all held their breath but no, Strack rolled over as if he had been shot, and the' ball just lay there folthe goalkeeper to kick. Those were 110 two "that were most calculated to nial;e a keen spectator ill, with regret, but there were other times when our ioiwards threw aw.ay goals in deplorable fashion: Overrunning the ball or Uriubiing the ball too near to tlw goal noforo shooting were other common mistakes. . Some of the Players. N. .Tacobscii (Auckland's left-wing); was tlie best forward ou the ground.; He is a very fast runner; he beat Ins man nine times out of ten, and wlien he did get the ball awav made woncler- ' fullv good use of it. "Really, although ho did not actually ■ shoot it, ho was. responsible for the goal that won the shield. He is easily the best left-wing we have seen here this season. ••U course the man that won Auckland t ie rrame was Hallam, the goalkeeper. I 'AM .shots that- were possible to ; . stop, li£ stopped, and those that were impossible to stop-well, 1 he stopped them ; too I T.ike Dwver (Wellington) : h a foot! and it was a treat to-see him nis i out to meet the ball and senu it scuudine off back up the fie d. _ Dwver was not as good. TTe_inade one terrible mistake—came out of his goal to &top a ball and missed" it batlij • However, to come through two strenuous snells without, letting a shot-ill was not bad. M'Cregor and M'Eldowney—Backs. The Wellington backs were the busiest people imaginable 'in Saturday. I hey i al plaved sterling gjames. but, M and M'Orogor were t-e best o them, and worked to better effect.. T>v a both hard hitters and once or twwm a. tight corner a hefty, slog did ,«e iin"ton a world of good. One of M'Gregor's was- a groat lnt-it- sent nlav from one. end of-the field to the other. Some of the rear division, ho - over, seemed to bo particularly adent at f alii us over at critical moments, but iiot to the same extent as the forward.. The End. The season, has been Troiii every pointnf view a vorv successful ono. lit icpreseiitative liiatcbes Wellington lias , i,roved to be as'.good as any, and much better than most other an , it was onlv after an exceedingly tough ' struggle that the shield was wresjed , from us.