HOCKEY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20306, 13 July 1929, Page 15

HOCKEY.

COUNTRY WEEK TOURNEY.

WHITE HORSE CUP CONTEST WAIPA WINS THE FINAL.

Beautiful weather favoured the country hockey players yesterday for vliat was practically the final day c»f their annual tournament. The grounds were in good condition, if a trifle heavy, and in what prove! to he the final for the Whito Horse Cup an excellent exhibition of the game was enjojed hy a large crowd of spectators.

The contestants in the final were Waipa and Rodney, and the former's victors* hy the odd goal in seven means that Waipa holds the White Horse Cup for the coming year, and Rodney, as run-ners-up, has the Captain White Cup. The plav was marked by skill and clever stick work, as well as speed and vigour, and therc'*"was little to choose between the two teams. Waipa Scores First. Waipa was first to attack, and a combined forward movement ended in P>. .Spiers shooting into tho net. Rodney rallied, and for a few moments Waipa's goal was in danger, but, aided hy free

hits, Rodney was quickly back again. After a nice shot from T. Grimmer had been turned aside by Jack, T. Finch headed a pretty run through the Rodney backs and passed to Woods, who drove with a flying shot into the net. He was, however, offside. Plav was fast and open, characterised by plenty of hard hitting A sudden Rodney rush went through the opposition, and a good shot from T. Grimmer made tlir scores even. A iniss by a Rodney hack let Waipa away, but Civil's shot lacked direction. Waipa had to concede several corners, but always escaped safely. At this stage Rodney was doing most of the attacking, arid Jack stopped some hard shots. Tiie Waipa forwards had several adventures in the Rodney circle. but lost chances through being unable to keep their feet. Waipa forwards moved off in order together, and Woods completed the movement by going straight through to the net. Just before the interval Civil took the hall down the line and centred, and again B. Spiers beat the goalkeeper The Second Spell.

A free hit helped Rodney early in the second spell, and Jack had some anxious moments in the Waipa goal. L. Spiers helped to clear, and set his forwards going. From loose, open play Finch seized a chance and put in a shot, that gave the goalkeeper no chance. Rodney forwards responded vigorously, and from a frontal attack T. Grimmer netted. Thus encouraged Rodney continued to make assault after assault, T. and J. Grimmer being prominent in the lead. The fortunes of the game varied very quickly, play swinging from end to end of the field. Two free hits went to the credit of Rodney, and from the. second of these J Grimmer added a sudden goal that Jack just failed to stop. Tho speed of the game eased down a little before the close, and there wa.s no further score, the game endinc: —Waipa, 4: Rodney, 3. Messrs. R. Avery and A Rivers were referees. Other White Horse Cup matches, which had no bearing on the final issue, resulted as follows:—Whangarei, 4 (Munro 2, McAllister 1, McKenzie 1), Whakatane. 0; Thames-Hauraki, 2 (H. Candy 1, Menzies 1), Maniapoto, 0. LADIES' PROVINCIAL CUP. TWO HARD-FOUGHT MATCHES. The tournament for the Ladies' Provincial Cup was advanced to its final stage yesterday, and Raugitaiki is now the winner of the A section. The final will be decided on Monday between Rangitaiki and Whangarei. Ttie team with the most wins will hold the cup for the season. This afternoon Rangitaiki will play Auckland A on Remuera No. 1 ground, at 1.50. Messrs. A. M. Burton ana H. £. Watts have been appointed referees.

Much enthusiasm was aroused over the match between the Rangitaiki Maori girls and the Auckland Collegiate girls' team, these two having played a drawn game tho day before. The final of the A section depended on the result. The visitors were tho first to score through Miss W. Rota, but Miss J. Carlaw, for Auckland College, evened the scor* shortly afterwards. The scores were still one-all at the interval.

Auckland College took the lead after 15 minutes' play in the second f-pell, when Miss Hayes found the net. Almost immediately tho score was again brought even by Miss S. Moko, who found a way through the defence. The visitors took tho lead when Miss M. Minarapa scored 10 minutes before time, and they held it to the end. Tho intense enthusiasm that tho Maoris put into their play delighted the spectators. Players on each fide were injured and had to retire, but. replacings by others was allowed. In the closing stages each side in turn attacked desperately, but could not finish off their efforts. The final scores were:—Rangitaiki, 3; Auckland Collegiate team, 2. SEMI-FINAL MATCH. Auckland A met Whangarei. in a semifinal of the Ladies' Provincial Cup. The country team had the advantage in the first spell, the local players lacking combination almost entirely. About 'halfway through the spell .Mrs. McLeod scored for Whangarei from ft narrow angle and Miss Berrick quickly followed with another goal. Whangarei continued to make most of the play until half-time.

Auckland rallied after the interval and set up a persistent attack. The forwards, however, were exceedingly weak in the circle and chance aficr chance went Kegping. When Whangarei attacked again Mrs. Cooper frequently helped to clear. A series of bullies took place in the Whangarei circle, but Whangarei cleared successfully and reached the other end of the ground No goals were registered in the second spell, the final score being:— Whangarei, 2; Auckland A, 0. In a friendly game Wesley Seniors 2 (Miss Hark i, -Miss Saunders 1) defeated Northern Wairoa, 0. TOWN AGAINST COUNTRY. THE TEAMS FOR TO-DAY.

The following teams have been selorted to represent Town and Country in the annual contest today, which will provide a fitting climax to the country week tournament :

Town.—Goal, Rankin (North Shore) ; fullbacks, H. Williams (St.. Luke's), Gardner (Somerville); halves, Clarke (St. Luke's), Radcliffe (University), Cole (Somerville); forwards, Anthony (North Shore), C'hiplin (Mount Eden), E. Watts (Somerville), C. Watts (Somerville), D. Reid (North Shore). Reserves: Back, A. Prater (North Shore); forward, M. Bay (St. Luke's).

Country.—Goal, Thompson (Piako); fullbacks', Powell (Franklin), Comfcot (Maniapoto) ; halves, R. Smith (Rodney), Turnbull (Whakatane). Johns (Whangarei); forwards, Dawson (Whakatane), Sloan (Whangarei), T. Grimmer (Rodney), J. Grimmer (Rodney). Matthews (Rodney). Emergencies; Back. _E. Smith (Franklin); forwards, Ellison (Whakatane), Moore (Piako).