HOCKEY INCIDENTS

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 265, 4 August 1932, Page 10

HOCKEY INCIDENTS

Hospital-Toa Game DECISION TO REPLAY An Independent Witness Holding that no further evidence had been produced to justify a reversal of their ruling that the Hospital-Toa women’s hockey match should be replayed, members of the management committee of the Wellington Ladies’ Hockey Association.at a meeting held last evening decided that they would stand by their decision. This decision was arrived at at a special meeting of the committee held on July 21 to hear evidence in connection with incidents during a match at Porirua, between a Toa Maori team and a team of nurses from the Porirua Hospital, when a display of feeling was alleged to have been shown. The secretary read a letter from the Hospital club, which appeared in last Saturday’s issue of “The Dominion,” and which stated that the committee and members of the club felt that insufficient evidence had been produced at the special meeting of the Wellington Ladies’ Hockey Association held on July 21 to cause the fixture to be replayed. The' committee decided to receive a delegate from the Hospital club, who amplified the formal protest,' and who asked the committee to hear the evidence of an independent witness. “Language a Disgrace.” This was agreed to, and the witness gave his impressions of the game. He considered that there was nothing against the control of the game, and he could not see any cause for complaint. There was no doubt that the language from the Maoris on the sideline was a disgrace. He also said that he heard spectators calling out to the Toa girls to "put the boot in” and "use the sticks.” The witness alleged that he saw one Toa girl hit an opponent on the ankle. The ball, at the time, was eight feet away.. The referee did not see the incident. In the opinion of the witness, a spectator on the line could always see more than the referee could. The Maori team, the witness continued, was really ■ rough in obstructing, and on one occasion, he saw a Maori girl deliberately sit on the ball. The obstructions were of the type that did not go to making a clean match. Rough. To a member of the committee, the witness said that the rough play was more noticeable on the Toa than on the Hospital side. After the witness had retired, the matter was further discussed. The chairwoman, Mrs. J. Poulter, remarked that the evidence right through, had shown that the game was undoubtedly rough, and if the referee allowed rough play to continue, then he did not have the game under proper control. Miss M. Wilkins said that she had refereed the Toa girls and had not had any trouble with them. She considered that they were hard players, but not rough. Other members of the committee were of the opinion that the Toa girls played a hard, but not a rough game. After further discussion, it was unanimously decided that the decision to have the match replayedshould stand.