HOCKEY TOURNEY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22465, 8 July 1936, Page 18

HOCKEY TOURNEY

ANNUAL COUNTRY WEEK, LADIES' GAMES COMMENCED j PLAY ON MUDDY GROUNDS Very b:id ground conditions greatly affected the standard of play at the second day of the Auckland Hockey Association's Country Week tournament, which was continued at the I'emuera grounds yesterday. The morning's heavy rain made the fields very sodden, and play had been in progress hut a few minutes before they were badly churned up. Effective and accurate passing was practically impossible and hard hitting was of little avail, for the ball seldom travelled moro than a lew yards before it became firmly affixed in a muddy patch. At tho conclusion of the day's play the umpires of the various matches expressed the unanimous opinion that, taking into consideration the atrocious statu of tlui grounds, tho standard of play was much above what they had expected from the country teams. The men's game, in which Rodney A, the present holders of the While Horse Cup, defeated Whangarei, produced hockey of a standard seldom witnessed in club matches in Auckland. The speedy exchanges, bright passing and effective hitting indicated that, under dry ground conditions, the contest would have been extremely fast and spectacular. It was a keen match throughout, but Whangarei fully deserved a draw, for it attacked strenuously in the final stages, during which Rodney was lucky to keep in front. Tho second men's game, between Rodney R and Waipa, which was drawn at three goals all, was also exciting, not only on account of tho closeness of the scoring, but also on account of Waipa's efforts to register a winning goal in the final few minutes. Its forwards netted at least six splendid shots, bat on every occasion they were recalled for "sticks." Tho second spell, throughout which Waipa held a territorial advantage, was notable for excellent stickwork by both sides, the ball, in spite of tho inud, being tossed about well. in defeating Franklin, King Country gave a pleasing all-round exhibition, although the score was really no indication of the merits of the teams. The New Zealand representative M. Hay combined well with Logan in (lie forwards of the winning side, while its halves showed a distinct improvement on their exhibition on Monday. In the Franklin team Gilmore, left-inside, and Hunter, centreforward, were the outstanding combination, and they accomplished a great amount of work. An outstanding individual exhibition in the ladies' competition for the Auckland Provincial Clip was that of M. Crawler, centreforward for King Country, which defeated Waipa by 4 goals to '2. This player gave a dashing display to register all the winning team's goals, and she showed promise of developing into a really first-class exponent of the game. Following are tho results of yesterday's matches: — WHITE HORSE CUP Second Round.—Rodney A, 2 (.T. firimmer !2), Whangarei, 1 (Bright 1); Rodney R. Waipa, :J; King Country, 4 (P. Logan '2, K. Kelly 1. M. Hay 1), Franklin, 2 (Gilmoro 1, Williams I). PROVINCIAL CUP Section A. —Whangarei R, 2, Piako, 1; Auckland City, -•! (Misses G. Low 1, Rrown 1, Koefocd 2), Collegiate, 1 (Miss J. Fraser l); Hauraki Plains a bye. Section J!. —King Country, <l, Waipa A, 2; Rodney, 1 (Miss Rootli 1), Paeroa, 1 (Miss J. Clotworthy 1). Section C. —Thames, 2 (Miss Reaver 2). Waipa R. 1 (Miss Cameron I); Whangarei A, JO, Waikato, O. DRAW FOR TO-DAY White Horse Cup.—Franklin v. Whangarei, ground No. 1, Messrs. E. J. Hewitt, R. D. Campbell; Waipa v. King Country, ground No. 2, Messrs. G. Peace. A. Rivers; Rodney A v. Rodney R, ground No. 8, Messrs. 1. Ross, 11. Skinner. Provincial Cup.—Section A: Piako v. Auckland City, ground No. 5, 3.5 p.m., Mr. McQuarrie, -Mr. L. Gubb; Whangarei 13 v. Hauraki Plains, ground No. 4, 1.5 p.m., Messrs. R. S. Hutton, E. J. Hewitt; Auckland Collegiate a bye. Section R.—King Country v. Paeroa. ground No. 5, 1.5 p ai., Messrs. ,T. H. Donaldson, A. Rivers; Waipa A v Rodney, ground No. 8, 3.5 p.m., Messrs. H. Watts, (3. Gutry. Section C. —Thames v. Whangarei A, ground No. S, 1.5 p.m., Messrs. R. Carson, R. McKay; Waipa R v. Waikato, ground No. ■l, 3.5 p.m., Messrs. G. Wells, S. Robertson,