HOCKEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14680, 15 May 1911, Page 4

HOCKEY.

GRADE CHAMPIONSHIPS.

LARGE GATHERING OF PLAYERS.

A great'gathering of hockey players took place on Saturday afternoon. The Remuera polo ground, where the greater number of games took place, was a scene of extreme activity, several matches between men's teams and ladies' being in progress at the same time.

Four senior grade championship matches were played. Auckland beat Ponsontw by three goals to nil, and United beat Christchurch by seven goals to nil at Remuera: University beat Grafton by four goals to nil at the Domain, and Parnell defeated North Shore by three goals to one at Victoria Park. At a convenient interval in Saturday's proceedings Mr. H. Rees George presented the prizes won' at .the-opening tournament.

SENIOR GRADE. AUCKLAND BEAT PONSONBY.

The game was soon in Anckland territory, but the defence was sound, and the ball was sent towards Ponsonby's line, a corner being conceded. Two free hits for obstruction assisted Auckland, and another free hit from the goal-line, made by Wolham, was picked up by Mason, who shot a goal: Auckland, one; Ponsonby, nil. Some good work by Kavanagh was followed by another corner to the advantage of Auckland, whereupon sound work was done for Ponsonby by Hay, Parton, and Young, till Norton put a stop to it, the ball going out of play. .Then Ponsonby, through the agency ot Mincher and Hay, had the ball over the Auckland line. From a bully in the Ponsonby 25 a strong rush was made by the defenders, led by Young, but the ball was stopped and sent back. Another attack was made on the Ponsonby lines, but the score was unchanged at half-time: Auckland, one; Ponsonby, nil. Auckland, on resuming, attacked strongly, and Moore secured the second goal. Tile next notable incident was a strong attack on Auckland bv Young and Hay, who were met by Whitley, Baker, and Mason. The latter taking the ball out of the dangerous area. Lepine forwarded the ball to Hamlin, and from his centring stroke Mason shot another goal. No further score was made, but some lively play followed. The final scores were: —

Auckland ... ... ... 3 Ponsonby ... ... ... 0

Mr. E. Hay was referee

UNITED'S EASY "WIN.

The United-Christchurch match saw the former make an attack right away, and in a few minutes Dawson had scored. The pressure was maintained, and twice the goalkeeper alone stood between Porter's shots and a further score. The same player later gave an opportunity for another score by a pass to his next man, who failod to make use of the opportunity, and the ball went into the field again. Christcliurch pressed an attack then, and a score was narrowly lost by a poor shot. The Uniteds again drew towards Christcliurch, and Dawson found his chance once more, scoring an additional goal. United still -pressed hard, but could not get the ball through, and the tables were turned for a while, a shot by Hill going too high. A littlo later Christchurch had another chance, but the ball flipped past the side of the not. and the first half ended. United, 2; Christchurch, nil.

. After the spell United got away with the ball, but the advantage was lost, and longrange play followed. Porter succeeded in sending the ball into the net twice in suecession, the first time striking the post, and the second with 'clear shot. A freehit gave Christchurcli some relief, but Dawson got the ball again, and scored a fifth goal, and the visitors' game, alraa chiefly defensive, was now far from careful. An effort was made to save a round score, but it was stopped, and the frame ended with some lively play, in which Munro paßsed in two more goais to the credit of United. The score was thus: — United .. r. 7 Christchtirch ..0 Mr. Strude' was referee. PAR NELL'S PROMISING START. The Parnell team signalised their promotion to senior grade by defeating North Shore by three goals to one. The winning team played with line combination, their forward play being very good, and they had their opponents beaten all the time. Turner made the first contribution to the winners' score early in the first spell, and this was followed up by his team, with a full attack, though no further score followed, largely owing • to the good defensive play of Farquharson. Little was the agent whereby North Shore made its goal, driving homo from a rush. The rest of the score for Parnell was compiled by Aicken and Timms. both of whom put the ball in nicely from corner shots. The second spell showed no score, and was marked by an ineffectual attempt by North Shore to recover some of the lost ground. The game thus ended:— Parnell ... ... ... 3 North Shore ... ... 1 Mr. Cummin acted as referee.

UNIVERSITY BEATS GRAFTON. University beat Grafton by four goals to nil, and the game was to the winners throughout. Grafton was, in iaot, on the defensive nearly all the time, and though they cleared their own lines and got, the ball into the University grounds now and then their play was not sound, and two good opportunities to score were missed. Jacobsen scored three of the goals lor it>o University team, and the other was shot by Reynolds. Speight also played well. Lep.ine. Horspool, Eastgate, and Eraser were noticeable for their play on the losing side. The game ended:— University .. .. • • •• >. 4Grafton 0 Mr. Horspool was referee. SECOND GRADE.

"A" SECTION.

Ponsonbv defeated Epsom by four goals to two. Goals were scored for the winners by Blomfleld (3) and Bunker, and for the losers by Butterworth and McCowan. College Rifles defeated United by four goals to one. For the winners goals were scored by Macfarlane. Woodroflo, llishworth, and Mark, and for the losers by Knight. Training College and Pimpernel drew, one goal being scored by each side. "B " SECTION. North Shore drew with Ponsonby, two goals each. Fordham scored for North Shore, while for Ponsonby Prescott and Mason scored. Auckland beat College Rifles by four goals to one. Goals were scored for Auckland by Cooper (2). Bayliss, and Henderson, and Thorn scored for the losers. University beat Mount Eden by six goals to one. The.scorers for the winners were Mcuzies (2), Cronin (2), Spencer, and Burton. THIRD GRADE. Y.M.C.A. defeated Tui by 15 goals to nil. Goals were scored by Thomas (5), Spooner (5). Edmunds (2), Campbell (2). and Scott. Parnell defeated Auckland by two goals to nil. , , , Unitarian defeated North Shore by three goals to one. For the winners'goals : were scored by Massey and Kerr, and one came from a scramble. McArthur scpred for the losers. University defeated Mount Eden by two goals to one. Goulding (2) scored for the winners, and Newman for the losers. . Ponsonby and Areta drew, two goals each. Goals were scored for the former by Kingsford and Banker, and for the latter by Bailey and Ellison.

THAMES MATCHES. [BY TKI.EUUAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

THAMES, Sunday.

The hockey season was opened on Saturday in favourable circumstances. lhe weather was, if anything, a little too nice from a players' point of view. In the junior grade competitions High School met i .Ai.A.! and after a fine game the Y.M.A. proved the winners by three goals to one. In the Crease cut) competition (senior grade) unfortunately on!v two teams have enterde. Cricketers, who for two years past have not won a match, began strong on Saturday by defeating the Thames Club by six goals to four. The honour of scoring the first goal of the season goes to A. Brokenshire, the veteran cricketer. Three goals were secured .in the first spell for Thames by Whitehead (2) and Packard, and two for Cricketers by Brokenshire. In the second spell four more goals were obtained by Cricketers, Griffin (2) and Brokenshire (2). ■ , There is every likelihood of several ladies clubs being formed this year. Already the Cnth?lio Girls' Club is in existence, and their presence on No. 2 ground in a practice match was favourably commented on.

' LADIES' MATCHES. SENIOR GRADE. Arawa v. Training College: This match resulted in a draw, each team scoring a goal. Arawas were first to score, Miss Probort finding the net. Before the game ended, College scored and .a draw thus resulting. Rangitira v. Ao-tea-Roa: This match was won by the latter team by one goal to nil. scored by Miss de lawney. This is the first' occasion for two seasons on which. Rangitira has suffered defeat. Rawhiti v. Ko.pana: This match was also won by the narrow margin of one goal, scored by Miss Dawson. JUNIOR GRADE. Martino defeated Wailiora by three goals to nil. The goals were scored by Miss Geor (2) and Miss Wormgoal. . Ao-tea-Roa defeated Mount Eden by four goals to nil. The goals were scored by Misses Hazard (2), I. Hazard, and Renan. Technical College drew with Unitarian, neither side scoring. ,

COROMANDEL CLUB. [BY TKL2GRAPH-—OWN CORBESPOXnKXT,]

COROMANDEL, Saturday.

The Coromandel Ladies' Hockey Club opened the season to-day in Bridson's paddock. There was a good attendance of players. The Misses Wharfe and Moir captained the teams, and Mr. George McNeil acted as referee.