HOCKEY Standard Of Play Not High In Saturday’s Matches

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 August 1948, Page 7

HOCKEY Standard Of Play Not High In Saturday’s Matches

The standard of play was not high in the West Coast Hockey Association’s competition matches in the men’s section at the- Recreation Ground on Saturday. With only two matches to play to complete the competition, teams are fairly even in points, with the lead held by Rangers, with six points, having won all three matches so far played in the round. Then follow Runanga, Greymouth, Wheelmen, Pacific, and Cobden in that order. The best match on Saturday was that between Greymouth and Wheelmen, with the Greymouth eleven giving a good exhibition of team-work and positional play to win by two goals to one. In the other two men’s matches, the teams did not reach the standard set earlier in the season, although there was an improvement in the general stickwork of some players. It was obvious that they were attempting to copy the style of play adopted by the Australian team. Matches were also played in the women’s competition, but again the standard of play was not high. Results of Saturday’s matches were as follows: — Men’s Competition.— Greymouth 2, Wheelmen 1; Runanga 1, Pacific nil: Rangers 3, Cobden nil. Women’s Competition.—Blackball 2, St Columba nil; Trinity 6. Greymouth 2; Runanga 3, Cobden nil; Hokitika A 5, Hokitika B nil. Greymouth thoroughly deserved its win at the expense of Wheelmen on Saturday by two goals to one. Wheelmen, as a team, possessed superior pace and was unlucky not to have scored on at least another two occasions, but the forwards did not combine to any extent and their positional play was not comparable with that of their opponents. The Greymouth delence worked hard all day, the more prominent players being N. Gardner and G. Swinburn. In the forwards N. Batty, E. Newton and D. Bradley all played well, while the inclusion of J. Curnow in the Wheelmen team added penetration' to its forward line. E. Williams and F. Malloy were also good players for Wheelmen. Both of Greymouths goals were , scored by Bradley, while Curnow netted for Wheelmen. Runanga Extended

Runanga did not display the form with which it won the first competition this season and its match against Pacific on Saturday was patchy. Runanga won by one goal to nil, but at no time did the Runanga eleven combine effectively. In the concluding stages of the second spell Pacific had the better of the match and at times Runanga was hard pressed to keep the opposing forwards out. Admittedly Runanga was playing short m the forwards, but they failed on many occasions to take the ball cleanly and could not penetrate the solid Pacific defence. Prominent for Pacific were T. McKenzie and T. Pfahlert in the forwards, while J. Dixon and, G. Chapman combined well as fullbacks. The best of the Runanga forwards were L. Forde and G. Brown, while E. Archer played well in the haif-lme. Archer scored Runanga’s goal from a penalty corner. Improved Stickwork Neither team combined well in the Rangers-Cobden match and it was not until well on in the second spell that Rangers finally gained the upper hand and won by three goals to nil. Although the stickwork of both teams showed some improvement their positional play was poor. In the Rangers forward line G. Watson plaved a much-improved game on the' right wing, while inside him J. Walsh' went well. Boustridge gave a good exhibition of stickwork. J. Hurren and V. O'Brien combined we’ii in the Rangers half line, while J. Ranger and Neame were solid as full-backs. R. Beckman was the pick ( fi a weak Cobden forward line, while (n the left wing C. Douglas got in sonic good centreing shots. J. Elcock was the best of the Cobden half line and L. Nimino was the better of the two full-backs. Ranger’s goals were scored by P. Clarke (2) and G. WatSOll.