MEN’S HOCKEY

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 256, 26 July 1937, Page 16

MEN’S HOCKEY

Karori B Just Stave Off Hutt A TEAM HARD PRESSED Huia Win Comfortably There are no changes in the leadership of the men’s hockey championship ni Wellington as a result of Saturday s games, although Hutt put in a strong challenge in their game with the leaders, Karori B, at Karori Bark, lhey lost by only two goals to one and are now third on ‘the. ladder. Th rough Hutt’s loss Huia are now alone in second place on .the ladder having beaten Technical by five goals to one at Nai Nai. Wesley made Karori A give of their best to win 1-0, and in hie third game at Karori University defeated Wellington by the unexpectedly wide margin of 5-2. Karori B 2, Hutt 1. Having climbed to second place on the ladder after an uncertain start to the season, Hutt made a great effort to inflict the first defeat of the year on the leaders, Karori B. at Karori Bark on Saturday. They at least shared the honours‘in a game that was of high standard from end to end, and a draw would have been well deserved. Karori’s first goal came within two minutes of the start of play, and there was barely two minutes of 'the game left when they scored the winning goal. Despite a sodden ground which cut up badly and made anything faster than a trot a strenuous effort, the game was played at an extraordinarily fast pace, and both teams showed fine stamina in maintaining the pressure to the end. Play at times flashed from end. to end of the field with bewildering rapidity. Hardly had Karori opened the scoring before the Hutt forwards were at the other end, and Chapman sent in a fine shot, only to be recalled for an offside infringement. That was not the only occasion on which the Hutt forwards found themselves unexpectedly off-side, for that shrewd old stager Perrin, at full-back, has a trick of running up to put a man offside when he sees that the attacker is beyond reach of a tackle.

Goals are not infrequently scored after a scramble following a long corner, but seldom has one resulted in such a fine goal as was scored by McLeod for Hutt, lie stopped a hard hit cleanly and in the face of a concerted Karori charge drove in a shot like a cannon ball which even Moore could not stop. It was as fine a piece of individual play as has been seen/ at the park for many a season, and drew applause from even the most hardened Karori supporters. The second spell was as fast and spectacular as the first. One of the highlights was a run for Karori by C. Edwards, which covered half the field, but his shot passed inches outside the post. A little later Bullen, the Hutt left wing, drove in a magnificent high shot from wide out, but unfortunately gave sticks. Edwards was in the limelight again when he took a hard high pass on the full with a graceful reversed stick shot, hut the ball was stopped on the line by the Hutt goalie, McColl, who came through a stren'uous afternoon's- work with flying colours. Hutt’s forward line was slightly shuffled, the centre forward, Graham, and the inside, Muir, having changed places. Both men seemed happier for the change. Karori A 1. Wesley 0. In their match with Wesley at Karori Park, Karori A did 'not produce ■ the form which had won them their four previous games and enabled them to beat Huia, and they were hard put to obtain the points. Wesley showed from the start that they were little impressed with the reputation their opponents had made for themselves, and the game was not long in ' progress before they were within the Karori circle. The Wesley forwards, with Maloney always conspicuous and hard working, played with great dash at limes, and sorely tested the Karori defence, the mainstay of which was P. Adams, who was undoubtedly the best back on the field. His brother, E. Adams, at right wing, was invariably a source of trouble to the opposing defence when he had the ball, and his only shot at goal missed by the narrowest of margins. The only goal of the match was scored for Karori by McDonald a few seconds before the half-time whistle. The second spell was as even as the first, and Wesley were several times within an ace of scoring. The pace seemed a little too much for some of the players, and there were some exhausted-looking figures on both sides at the final whistle. . Huia 5, Technical 1., The state of the ground at Nai Nai made any really fast hockey impossible in the game between Huia and Technical. Both umpires were quick to penalise undercutting and the hardest of ground drives slowed quickly. Players frequently fell when stopping or turning and this slowed the game still further. Technical started with a short pass ing game. The forwards, however, often tried to pass back to their halves in a tight corner, and after the halves had missed several times the team abandoned these tactics. Both' sides were too inclined to slash at the ball when it was in full flight rather than stop it with the baud first. I-luia’s forward line moved well as a unit, and nearly every centre by either wing found the inside men ready ami waiting. Wheatley scored first for Huia. after the right wing had centred well. Almost immediately afterward Marlin goaleil from a shot which bail bounced off the goalkeeper’s pads back into play. Before halftime Kelly scored Technical's only goal with a quick push-shot. In the second spell Huia established superiority. and their third goal came after the ball had been taken the length of the field in a single movement, Wheatley scoring. Huia was playing more carefully and Williamson made no mistake with a fast rising shot. Their final score came when the forwards completely drew Technical's defence, leaving the way clear for Wheatley to drive into an empty net. Credit is due to the performance of Rough, whom Huia were giving his first game in senior A hockey. University 5, Wellington 2. Hard, fast and even, the chief feature of the Universit.y-Wellington match w.m its continuous succession of attacking movements’, [day at times being centred in either one circle or the other. The game wnr> largely a matter of luck—the scores gave no indication of play—and twice when Shaw was- guiding the ball toward the Wellington net. the defending goalie, B. 11. Sharratt, slipped. Wellington might have done better had they not used “hit-and-run” tactics in the circle. Though nt times- scrappy, combination on the whole was good and play was always interesting. Due to the had condition of the ground passing was short throughout the game, the ball being hard to stop. University's goalie. Benjamin, played a very-sound game, and F. Newcombe, the right half in the Wellington representative team, and Shaw provided a bright display. Fur Wellington Osborne played a sound game at full-back, ami Newport, nt half, directed the ball well. Noeil, Wellum and Ferguson combined well to make a strong attacking line, but wore unlucky not to score. University opened their account after 10 minutes' play when right half ,1. .Johnston stmt, the ball in from a melee around the net. Several times after this the students were within shooting distance

of the net, but were unable to get past the AA’ellington goalie, who was always on his guard. A minute before half-time AVellington equalised when L. AVellinn caught the A r arsity goalie napping and netted easily from a good central position. On resumption of play Shaw went straight down the field and got the ball past the AA’ellington goalie when ho slipped. This encouragement gave the University men a new lease f life and Shaw scored two further goals in quick succession. Cole scored a fifth goal through an error of one of the Wellington men who kicked the ball into the net. Ten ininules before time T. Fci-ginson won a penalty bully for AVellington to make the final score livc-two. CHRISTCHURCH MATCHES By Tele^rapn—Association Christcluirch, July 24. Hockey pjatches to-day resulted:— Redcliffs 1. Sydenham 0; Selwyn 3, Varsity 1 ; Trinity 5, Technical 3.