HOCKEY GREYMOUTH AND COBDEN DRAW FOR THIRD TIME

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 August 1949, Page 3

HOCKEY GREYMOUTH AND COBDEN DRAW FOR THIRD TIME

As in the case of their two previous games, the match between Greymouth and Cobden in the second round of the West Coast Hockey Association’s championship competition, on Saturday, resulted in a draw, each side scoring two goals. The standard of hockey was good until the final 10 minutes when both teams began to tire on the heavy ground. Neither team has been defeated in the championship series, and both have had drawn games on three occasions. Cobden leads in the series with' a total of 11 points after having played seven games, and Greymouth, which is two matches has scored seven points. Cambridge had a narrow but welldeserved victory over Rangers by three goals to two in the earlier match and at the moment is second on the championship ladder, having suffered a defeat at the hands of Pacific the previous week. In the other game at the Recreation ground, Pacific scored its second successive victory when it defeated Tahua (Hokitika) by five goals to one. Pacific leads in the competition for the Nimmo Rose Bowl, which is being played in conjunction with the second round of the championship, having won both of the matches so far played. Ground conditions for Saturday’s matches were not good and showers fell throughout the afternoon. Results of all matches were as follows:— Men's championship.— Cambridge .3, Rangers 2; Pacific 5, Tahua 1; Grey mouth 2, Cobden 2. Women’s competition.—United 1, Runanga nil; Blackball 5, Trinity 1; Hokitika Rangers 2, Greymouth nil; Hokitika Rovers 9, St Columba nil. No matches were played in the schoolboys’ competition. A friendly game, however, between a combined Greymouth-Wheelmen team and a combined Cobden side resulted in a win for the former by one goal to nil. Teams Below Strength Both Rangers and Cambridge were evenly matched and the game was a good one with the latter team haying a slight advantage throughout. Rangers played the better positional hockey • but at times its combination was lacking and the forwards were not able to penetrate a solid defence. Cambridge, on the other hand, combined well, and the forwards, well led by P. Smith at centre, were always dangerous. Smith, however, was too inclined to get off-side and earned a number of penalties against his side.

Outstanding for Cambridge on defence were W. Fields (left half) and R. Mellett (right back), with Fields doing the better of the two. P. Grogan was a solid worker at centre half, while Brown, Smith and E. Williams were the best of the forwards. R. Blythe, G. Watson, P. Clarke and J. Walshe were the pick of the Cobden team. Scorers for Cambridge were Brown (2) and Smith, while A. Boustridge netted both of Rangers’s goals. Greymouth had the better of its game against Cobden until the final 10 minutes when its defence failed to function properly, enabling the Cobden side to draw even. As on previous occasions, the two teams were well matched and the game provided some solid hockey, with both sides striving for victory. Positional Play Poor Neither team played good positional hockey but both adapted themselves well to the heavy conditions. Both goal-keepers, I. Emmerson (Greymouth) and A. Eatwell, made a number of good saves. N. Gardner was the better of the two Greymouth full-backs and saved his team on a number of occasions in the closing stages of the game. The only forward to strike form was K. Ken don at centre.

The best of the Cobden team were D. Nimmo, H. Eatwell, M. Eatwell and S. Hill. Kendon scored both goals for Greymouth and S. Hill netted twice for Cobden.

The match between Pacific and Tahua was rather a one-sided affair, and Pacific, with its harder hitting, was soon master of the situation. Tahua, however, showed some improvement but lacked sting in its forward line. J. Knapp (2), T. McKenzie (2) and G. Knapp were the scorers for the winning team. V. Stapleton scored for Tahua.