HOCKEY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 48, 25 August 1923, Page 17

HOCKEY

[■V /'STICKS'*

COMBINA^OIStfrELLS

SOUTH AGAIN I DEFEATS NORTH

PLAY AND PLAYERS.

TrMefideat-weather conditions, . the most important 'hockey fixture of .the season was d'eci3ed\at the Basin Reserve on Saturday afternoon, when the South Island '.'. representatives defeated the North Island by 5 goals to 2i As set out in these columns last week/the combination of the Southern men proved too strong for.the Northvislanders, who, in the second spell, were totally outclassed and could put up but a feeble resist ance. It was, a triumph of a team over eleven .playeis; there is no. doubt that individually tha latter were the best available, and there was hardly a man who did not show up to advantage, yet it must again be pointed out that eleven first-class players, who cannot ■ combine and work together do not form a team worth much consideration. However, the game itself, although by no means " spectacular, was interesting to watch, and at times the enthusiastic gathering of spectators was treated to some pretty pieces of play. The. ground on which the match, was played was in splendid condition, by no means hard, and yet with that springy .firmness which gives one a safe ' foothold and does not fatigue as does a. field of a much softer nature.' There was tin almost entire absence of wind, and the sun; did not present a particularl disadvantage to either side. Play in the first half was fast and even, although when' the interval was announced, the scores stood 2-1 in favour of the North. The Southern men won the second spell.; by their forceful tactics, and,' indeed, co Btrong was.their combination that they were able ahnost to ignore the opposing backs. Taking the gamei generally, it was 'fa hard and an exacting struggle, with the better team 1 winning, and winning "in such a manner that the scores may bf taken as a fair indication of the respective merits of the two sides.

Among 1 the members of the winning team, Giblin stood out as a fast, dashing," andrparticularly capable left-wing-. He was always" "on the ball," not actually fightiijg'.for possession, but waiting in a favourable position, ; whence he could secureTimmediately the leather as it came out.tfrom the rnck and sprint down the line. ' His clean, heady play was responsible, for the addition-of- no les3 than threeV>goals to his side's tally, and oh the day's play ho was certainly one of the best.men in this -particular position.seen;in."Wellington this season. Sheriffs, on the-, other wing, did not get quite so much work, to do as did his colleague, but he always managed to be on tha spot when his services .were required. S. : Bell proved to be a particularly hard proposition at. bully,:-and, though scarcely what mightbe termed a.heady player, he is solid .and.reliable, -with ' many of the qualities necessary, to the leader. He, was at the head of.."most of the Southern forward onslaughts, and was well supported by the inside' men,.,P. Calder. and W^.Eichmond. ' These players formed a particularly\dangerous trio and once they got on the'move considerable effort was. always necessary,to,check them. ...Headed 7 .by Mander,:;the'. team's skipper; the h^hhe backed rip. the' forwards well, with short well-placed hits which offered a distinct constrast to the hßf. d.,fogging of.' their Northern via-a- ---""?;, " Ward, on ,the right, was always well in the picture, and Mahoney, on f fv'fc }' J^v™ 1?" 1 well- left full-back, Gibbs, of Nelson, caught the eye by his clever trickery of the North lor wards and his manner of turning delenceinto attack. The Otago man Gillespie, who filled the right full-back position, made very few mistakes. G Aeal, the goalkeeper, had very little to do, though he had ample opportunity of proving that he is all that fie has been stated to be. He was particularly cool and calculating in the few situations that he was called on to handle, and" it may be added that he was rather lunluckv to have' the second goal registered against him. The ball glanced .off his pa/s and rolled between the; posts. The Northern men" are" to be considered unlucky in that very shortly after the .of." the game their goalie C. Moore, was : injured, and although ho.^vas. between the posts\right up to the final -whistle, he played nothing like his usual safe game. ' On His best form lUoore stands out among~ New Zealand's ni-ariy capable! custodians, but lately he appears to have dropped back very considerably. Taking all the circumstances into consideration, even including -the injury; his showing on" Saturday was not such as i to justify ' his;" reputation, and .fcticks; is inclined to think that lay in the rearguard, as previously ■malady- all glasses of athletes, 'staleness.' '■'■ The team's main weakness lay in- tho reaTguard, as previously p.iiDted- out, not individually but collectively. ..The backs did not seem to be able to work together in repelling a-forward-attack'; and their main line of '■defence" seemed to ;be finding the line in true.-B,ugby style. Burgess and BanninV. the full-backs, had plenty to do, but were no match for the opposing forwards. Louisson, of Wairarapa, was tho pick of. the halves, though the Wellington man, Thorpe, also did good woi-k at times. The showing of the forwards "on the whole was rather poor. There was very little attempt at passing made, while ' whenever Hostick,' on the left wing, endeavoured to centre, the ball usually rolled behind the other forwards. The noticeable fault with Wells, the right-wing, was that he'played lonV handed too often, and. dribbled the ball far too long ' before sending, it out. Cousins, the bully, played a good individual game, But was rarely supported, except" when G. Fitt came to the rescue and exchanged jasses with him. However, it is not necessary to enter upon a lengthy explanation as to the poor showing of the losers; it is explained in a fetv words—lack of combination. „'

The curtain-raiser to the big match, between teams ' representing Wanganui and Wellington, was rather a one-sided affair, the local men, after completely outclassing the visitors, gaining a substantial victory by 7 goals to nil. The Wellington team gayer the Wanganui players little chance" of showing their real ability; ilb the winners were oh the attack and pressing hard most of ttie time. The full-backs and: goalie of the victorious team Baw very little of the ball during the game,: and,'perhaps this to some extent accounts for Martin, the right full-back, dribbling the leather on several occasions almost right up to the forwards. The halves played exceptionally well, and fed the advance guard in fine style. ' Scott, on the right; was seen to distinct advantage in the earlier' parts of the-game, although he seemed to lose much of his' dash towards the finish": Cartwright performed well what little work he was called upon to do at left full-back. It would be hard to pick a stronger Wellington forward line' than: that which took the field. Strattoij -at bully, D. ■ Hood inside-left, and W. Hood left-wing,-all members of the' Wakatu Club, obviously 'had a very sound^ knowledge of one another's play, ahd_ the way they opened up a strong niovement and then combined jvith tha

! other men, Lusty and O'Brien, was really interesting to watcH. The-selec-tor, Mr. A. Needham, has every.reason to feel satisfied with the team he chose. The hardest-worked man among the visitors was Young, .the goalie, who helped his. team out of many a difficult situation, but had no possible chance of stopping the shots which actually did find the net. Hawkins, the bully, was the best man among the Wanganui players, and did quite a considerable amount of effective solo work. Blundell, the left-wing, could not get going, and j was met at: almost every turn by the Wellington halves... . -„.■■■'".. THE NEW ZEALAND TEAM. Some slight idea of the splendid treatment which the'touring New Zealanders are receiving .from the people of the Commonwealth is given in the following letter, which one of the Maoriland players has been thoughtful enough to send to "Sticks.":—Just a little about our trip so that our enthusiasts and those we wish to make enthusiasts will know of the particularly fine time ,we are having 1200 miles from home. First of all we are;all well and fit, though one or two have had minor knocks, not sufficient to stop our playing nor to mar our enjoyment of all that is coming our way. As you know, we left on Friday, the 27th, and had fair to good weather, though the long swellß and the fact ■ that most of the ■ team were quartered | directly above; the propeller put most of us .-'down" for some portion of the voyage. Lesson No. 1: The executive must book early and secure cabins amidships if a team is to arrive in port sufficiently well to play a hard match after 3s' days shipboard, otherwise a proud record might be spoilt through a little lack of foresight. During the voyage our popular, and, let me add, our efficient manager, Les Norton, called us together on the question of general tactics. Speight, our veteran skipper, and Reg Thompson,. the vice-captain, also spoke on tactics and the necessity ,to prove' ourselves worthy representatives. ■■.''■ •,'■_.. ' ' V

Unfortunately, we arrived in Sydney at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, thus missing tho views of the entrance. We were met by Messrs. Rothwell, Ayling, and Bates, whom, it will be remembered, toured New Zealand last year, and later "Roily" Parton, an ex-Wellingtonian, came aboard with other. N.S.W. hockey enthusiasts.' We proceeded to Pfahlert Hotel, a very comfortable home, and after a welcome by the New South Wales people, were driven to Rushcutter's Bay Oval, where_ a scratch match Was played in order that a team might be picked from those well enough, to play on v the following day.

} A very fine smoke concert was given us on Tuesday, and also the official welcome by Mr. Lloyd, president of the N.S.W. Association. The main features were the heartiness of the. welcome and the great number attending. .Members from the-various sports bodies were there, .and the broad-minded views expressed by these gentlemen; were very pleasing to hear. I don't think we are qnite so genuinely enthusiastic about the claims of other sports bodies in New Zealand as these people, were.

Our entertainment finished in time to allow of our retiring, shortly after midnight, so next day it was a very tired team that, after such "a' sea trip and such a full day, attended at the Sydney. Town Hall for a civic welcome by the Lord Mayor. We - were photographed marching in, and then the cameramen arrangedl for -a.photo to-be -taken: of the" Lord Mayor-and •Speight," thetain, ■ shaking hands, with Messrs. Thpmpson> vice-captain, • and Norton, manager' of the team, ■ in close attendance. After, the welcome"we w§re able' to see Sydney from the' Tower, and later viewed on. foot what we had seen, it seemed, almost from the'skies'.' Sydney impressed us all 'with its greatness, its huge buildings,, its civic industry in widening roads, and the building of its underground railway. The harbour ferries are quick moving and the suburban trains are not like, ours; they wait just long enough to let one put, providing one is quick enough. Friday morning we were driven out to Kenmofe. We were shown over the extensive grounds and wards of the large mental hospital, a sad though an interesting experience. All the attendants seemed to have the one object in view of Beeing to the welfare of their less fortunate fellows." The writer concludes by referring to the various matches played, details of which,have already been published. -'■„