THE TWO TEAMS COMPARED

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 6, 6 July 1935, Page 22

THE TWO TEAMS COMPARED

Although New Zealand had to accept defeat at the hands, or rather sticks, of the Ail-India team last Saturday, there was an exceedingly narrow margin between the teams on the field as far as actual ; advantages. were concerned. On the otaher hand, there was a wide line of demarkation between the methods of the^players, and it has to be admitted that the Indians obtained their goals with a minimum of effort while the New Zealand team had to work hard to scoreand to keep their opponents'from scoring.

While. the Test Was a pleasing exhibition of good solid hockey it was disappointing to those who had expected to be entertained by sparkling dashes and tricky stick work, as the Indians did not show to any greater advantage than the.New Zealande'rs in that direction. Compared with some of their former games their play was stodgy and that was probably due to two factors. First, they went on to the ground in heavier footwear than they are accustomed to wear and found the going harder than usual, and on top of that the New. Zealanders put up such a good showing from the first bully that the visitors decided to play safe and take no chances.

Right throughout the game the Indians relied largely on quick passing for advances, only two or three solo runs being attempted. Their positional play was almost perfect and might well be copied by New Zealand teams. While the New Zealanders were frequently robbed through pausing to find a man to pass to, the Indians never hesitated but passed smartly even when the pass was "blind," knowing full well that another team mate would take the ball if it wa3 not intercepted. Another very noticeable feature in the visitors' play was their reliance on each line as a useful unit. While the local men chased the

ball with commendable zeal, the Indian forwards left the1 defence to the "backs and saved their, energy for attack. They did not lose the closelyknit team- work essential to good hockey by doing so, but rather strengthened the team spirit,'.the backs feeding their forwards in good style. . Summed up, the Indians relied entirely. on quick passing, combination, and the» co-ordination of the three lines, while the New Zealanders relied on quick interception, frequent hard hitting,, and a great deal of running. The visitors' method was obviously the better one for the players, but it has

:to be remembered that they 'have been playing long enough to become welded into a thoroughly efficient team while-the New Zealanders have not Under the circumstances trie method adopted by the New Zealand players was the best for.them. It ijnight have been modified slightly, however, without a .great deal of risk. Tjhc forward line showed dash enouga. to make things interesting for the Indian goalie. and if the forwards had iielied more on the backs they wouldj have had more energy to hammer at their op^ ponents1 net. Probably the imost noticeable weakness in the Nejw . Zealand method was the weight of some of the. hitting. Hard hitting raijely pays in hockey when it is done fby the forwards or half-backs. Onqe the ball is hit beyond reach it is outt of control and the other team gains; an immediate advantage—an advantage that the Indians never give in that w,ay.

The sparkle usually associated with the play of the Indians was not much in* evidence, but the ctintre-forward. Dhyan Chand. and hi:i immediate neighbour, Rup Singh, did their best to provide it and gave/some bright exhibitions of clever passing. Shahabuddin showed up best an wing work and he got a lot of support from F. C. Wells. ■ For really sensational solo work the crowd had t6 turn to the New Zealand inside-left.lT.'T. Turbitt, who brought the thousands of spectators on to their toes a brilliant run down the line just ibefore the call of time. Like the Indiaps, Turbitt had been playing safe, but [he decided to take a chance at the finish and it was a pity he had not made that decision earlier. With beautiful stick work he carried play into the .Indian territory on two occasions, and) did it without effort. I '