HOCKEY Rangers Defeat Pacific To Win Competition

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 June 1948, Page 8

HOCKEY Rangers Defeat Pacific To Win Competition

After a match in which the winners had a decided advantage, Rangers defeated Pacific at the Recreation ground on Saturday to win the second competition in the men’s section of the West Coast Hockey Association’s competitions. The match was not a good display of hockey, being too onesided, and Pacific, which included at legist four players of little or no experience in its team, was unable to cope with the strong attacks launched by the Rangers forwards. Rangers won comfortably by six goals to nil. Again it was the Rangers forwards who pressed home the attack, and at no stage did the team look like being beaten. The inside forwards, Walsh, Clarke and Boustridge, all of whom scored goals, were the leaders of the forwards and they combined really well at times to leave their opponents standing. The final matches were also played in the first round of the women’s competition but adverse ground conditions both at Greymouth and Hokitika prevented play from reaching a high standard. By defeating Trinity at Hokitika, Hokitika A increased its lead to 12 points and has yet to be defeated this season. Results of all matches played on Saturday were:— Men’s Compettion.— Rangers 6, Pacific nil; Runanga 5, Greymouth 1; Cobden 3, Wheelmen 2. Women's Competition—Hokitika A 9, Trinity nil; Cobden 3, Greymduth 1; Runanga 2, St Columba 1; Hokitika B 1, Blackball 1. Won Comfortably

In a game full of incident Runanga, the winner of the first competition, defeated Greymouth comfortably, if not decisively, by five goals to one. G,reymouth was playing under the handicap of being one man short, and in the circumstances, put up a creditable performance. One mistake made by the Greymouth team was the tendency of the wing halves to crowd the centre, leaving the opposing Runanga wing forwards unmarked. Runanga took advantage of this weakness and repeatedly broke through the gap. For Runanga, goals were scored by S. Gatton (2), K. Kendon, W. Fields, and L. Ford. E. Newton scored for Greymouth. With superior combination m the forwards and a better understanding between the halves and backs, Cobden gained a good victory at the expense of Wheelmen by the odd goal in five. Wheelmen failed to effect any semblance of combination or teamwork in the forwards and again the players were too much inclined to individualism. In the rearguard, too, Wheelmen was inclined to bunch and to rob each other of the ball, allowing the fast Cobden forwards to gain possession. F. Grogan and. R. Pascoe played well as full-backs, but Rushton who later replaced Pascoe in the backline, did not impress. For Cobden S. Hill was easily the most impressive forward on the field, while H. Eatwell and J. Elcock played hard in the half line. Hill scored all three of his team’s goals, while S. Knapp and G. Williams netted for Wheelmen.

Women’s M'atches The final matches in the first round of the women’s competition were also played on Saturday. Playing at Hokitika, Hokitika A had a clear-cut victory over Trinity by nine goals. Scorers for the winners were O. Stapleton (5) and J. Gilman (4). Playing improved hockey and combining more effectively in the forwards Runanga gained a good victory over St Columba by two goals to one. E. Warwich and N. Todd goaled for Runanga while G. Dunn scored her team’s goal. Greymouth suffered a defeat by three goals to one at the hands of Cobden after a poor display of hockey. Neither team impressed as a combination, players in both teams giving the impression of having little idea of positional play or team work. Z. Anderson (2) and C. Silcock scored for the winners while M. Newton netted for Greymouth. Hokitika B and Blackball played a drawn game, after a match in which both sides showed considerable improvement in positional play and combination. H. Mountford netted for Blackball, while O. Rankin netted for the southern eleven.