H.M.S. NEW ZEALAND v. HOSPITAL

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 47, 25 August 1919, Page 10

H.M.S. NEW ZEALAND v. HOSPITAL

The team from H.M.S.. New Zealand played their first game in the Dominion on Saturday, when they met the Hospital team afc Porirua, and substantially defeated them by 4 goals to nil. The teams were:—H.M.S. New Zealand—Chamberlain, Southcombe, Laycock, Sontag, Neilson, . Hamilton, - Shepherd," Busby, M'Gregor, Gibson, Scott. Hospital—Porteous, Cross, Wallis, Cobb, Batten, Young, Daily, Tyrer, Hughes, Riordan, Hassell . The Hospital team, was purely a. house one. Hospital kicked off, and afc once set up a strong attack, through the efforts of Hughes and Tyrer,. but the latter's shot went wide. The- Blacks (N.Z.) now made a forward movement, and M'Gregor, Scott, and Gibson, with nice combination, took play well down the field, and Porteous was forced! to concede a corner to save further trouble. A fine shot by Neilson followed, and the home team were for some time' in' difficulties, but Cross at last brought relief. Hassell and Riordan then got away, and covered a good deal of ground before thex were stopped. The sailors returned to the attack, and M'Gregor. was very prominent. Porteous was frequently called on to save his goal. A grand run by Shepherd gave Busby an opportunity, and his shot only just missed. Then M'Gregor found the net with a flying shot, but was ruled offside. The pressure was kept up, and from a melee in front of goal Cross handled the ball. The penalty kick -was taken by Laycock, and he made no mistake. H.M.S. New Zealand 1, Hospital 0. Close on half time Porteous brought off a miraculous save.

On resuming, Hospital attack vigoroustyj and a splendid shot from Hassell almost succeeded. Then Daily and Tyrer broke away/but the former's centre was smothered. A grand' run by Shepherd altered the aspect of the game. He took the ball well down the field, where his centre was secured by Scott, who found the net with a fast shot. . H.M.S. New Zealand 2-0. The game was now very fast, but the Blacks completely dominated the play from now on, their combination and general play being far superior to the local team. A fine piece of play by Batten averted a certain score by M'Gre^or, and then a.sharp shot by Hamilton just missed by inches. Then Busby secured in a good position, and scored the best goal of the match. New Zealand 3-0. Shortly 'after, tnisldeldng let Scott through, and he gave Porteous no chance. New Zealand 4-0 The game ended without any further score. For H.M.S. New Zealand all the team played well: Chamberlain had few opportunities in goaf. Laycock and Southcombe were particularly • good at back, especially the former. The halves were a splendid trio, and played with good judgment. The forwards were fast and well balanced, the most noticeable being Scott ; Shepherd, and M'Gregor. For Hospital, Porteous played a grand game. Cross and Wallis. lacked well at back, while Batten was the best of the halves. The most noticeable of the forwards were Hughes, Tyrer, and Daily. Leading Seaman Knight, was an efficient referee.

At thi> conclusion of the match the Hospital authorities provided the visitors with a hot dinnes A dance followed, which was greatly enjoyed Sy !the sailors, staff, and patients.