HOCKEY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16121, 9 July 1914, Page 10

HOCKEY.

Bv Bully.

The weather was beautifully fine on Saturday, when the second round of Senior Grade nntchrs was commenced. The Gymnastic and Y.M.C.A. teams tried conclusions at the Oval, and although the ground was not in good order for firet-<-lao3 hockey, a better game can, and has been, played by both teams in former matches.

Luiuloy (goal), a young player, who has a lot to learn, but evm rtop a hot shot at times, should remember that a gortlkeepor is allowed to kick the ball. This would often get his side out of trouble.

Kerr a;vl MncDoiuild (full hicks) do not combine well. F/ieh lraye-. the other too much work to do. I netierd Kerr time after time keep in one p.vtiou'nr pari, of the ground. ivr<tri.id of com ins over to help his partner when the opposing forwards wore swarming round him. In the half backs Rs th" Y.M.'s we,.;knefs of nttark. A half hick should place the bail n<\itiy and quickly lo .a forward, who. in hi'S opinion, is in the Ixv.t position t.n receive til" ball a.nd the mo=t advantage of it. Indiscriminate hitting i« no goini. Not once on Saturday did I notice a Y.yi h-iif buck* put a good pass to his forwards, many good chanew of scoring being spoilt by hitting too hard when in a goal-grtting position. Moxharn. as a representative half bark, flhowld knqvv much bettor, and bis forwards cannot bo expected to score goals when the ball is not placed to their advantage.

The forwards are i likoly lot. but need a lot of coaching. Forwards should go abend when they get the ball, and ako go for go ik Short, nippy passing moans a big advantage when playing on Dunrdin grounds. South soomrd tired on Saturday.

Among the Gymnasts Jildwardo. in goal, had little to do, but what came his way ho c'.<yirod in a cool manner. I expect to hear more of this player later when the representative tram is pinked. Mitchell and Stewart (full backs) did a lot of ui-eiul and hard work. They clear well, and both are hard hitters. It is some timo rsinoo I have seen two full backs give such a clean exhibition. The half backs also pkiyed a solid game. Manny Drake, who appeared with St. Martin!". rnrly in the season, played on« of tho best gaoaes I have aoen from him this *&■

twin. M'Lood placed to his forwards nicely right through the game, but should play morn to the goal wlirn near the. circlo. looto .should kiop his when tackling an opi*>nent. A good half back does not 1m: on tli,|. ground to fake the Iwll. By keeping his feet hi- could always recover much faster. Again, he should not go for goa.'n so much— Ilii' forward.- arc then' for thai. routing to the forward,-,, i like wieir stylo. 'I'lio i-liort passing gained them a ! ot of ground. Why do" not the outsido iron try wing-brwing passing sometimcßY Nome l-kl wards on the left wing k a. young player ol promise. Jvniiie of his dashcts u,? the lino were thrilling, and his grail wiu-i a beauty. \icoU>n combines well with li:h tout re Inward; hut ho should not forget ho is to support, hi* winger as well. Hi.-gg l>lay_r*l hi« usual iranie. hard for his mile. 1 noticed hi' did not, got offside on Saturday When he got<> ri<l of the hall he is inclined to race away ahead and g't offside, Ho cihould waWh the .ball, and then go ahoad. He is a dangerous man in the circle. Crawford is a clever inside man; hut he gives M'M'.ist'-.r the ball too much. Why not place the hall between the full back* (after drawiu.r the opposition), and give Hopir a cnanoo to" snoot V M'Master. on the right whir, bung to tho ball too much. He cannot expert the inner forwards to score wh< n he is playing the selfish game. He should drive the ball across the goal. 'I'hcre are four other forwards there to assist.

It was University's good combination in the forward lino which won them tho match .'.gainst (Hugo. They are apt to get offside very frequcntlv, h iwover, and should endeavour to rectify this fault- M'Cluru was oasilv the best forward on tho fii-'d, and lie w-ri enceeseful in scoring all of the livo goals for lib side. His s'-cond goal, however, was scored when he was obviously orfs-ioi'. Slater, in the half lino, was of much assistance to his side; but he srerrv* to have lost the fro'-liiicss aid vigour which lru", characterised lis. plav in previous soiwons. Smith, who lias been shif'cd from tho half Junto full bad;, phvod a good, safe game, and should be kept in this position. Among tho Otago bunks Femvio!-:, playing at, full back, wac perhaps the moist prominent. M'Dougall and C'.iliter phivod a good, defensive game in the forward hr.c. Penrose, on the wing. pVoo'.d watch his place a Uttlo more, and keep .on side. In tho frM half ho was not far enough up. but- in the second epell he erred in the oth-'r direction. Tho -voop stroke might have been used to advantage on many occasions in this crame. Members of both teams were inclined rust to liit the ba'l anyhow, whereas if it had been $"nu\ id over" their <ppoiii'iit=' hi ad* to the forward?, much ground would have boon gainid. -Vati-r seems to bo tho oniv player'win attempts to ueo this strok", and once on Snturdav a goal was scored froim 't. The Otag'i full backs hit h"rd. but should see that the hall is phicod well among tho forwards. Generally speaking, however, the game was a good one. Tho.ro was very litt.e obstniotion; but one or two players in each team still have an inclination to turn on i.lie ball. The goalkeepers are recommended to use ihoir foot oftencr. When they employed footuxn-k they Eonon 1 . 11 ? managed to Clear beautifully; but they relied too much on their oticka. This is dangerous. If tlliov hit one of the little mounds which .'.re numerous at Forbury. it might cost them a goal In their match with City, Union .achieved a decided victory by 5 goals to 1. City wero obviously in poor form—one of the results of iae-fc of coaching. The Union forwards took charge of the game almost from start to finish. They Hiowod good, solid combination, and on Saturday, perhaps, played better than they have done so far this season. Their fast rushes completely overpowered tho City forwards. The latter's wing men occasionally sent in good passes; but the inside men wore quite unable to turn them to advantage. The City halves, with the exception of Gurr, were inclined to roam about the field too much. Fitt put up a good defence, and hi? work would havo been more effective had he boon more ably supported by tho right full back. Napier (n-oal) plavcd a good saving game, particularly in the second spell. Five shots as from a catapult got past him; but his displa-y was good all the same, for he stopped many times that number, and thev were scoring shots, too. Tho Union forward line war, well supported by tho backs on Saturday. AMfokl and Gibbs—especially in the second spell— showed much judgment in sending tho ball to tho right man in front. For practically the whole of tho second spell the game was confined to City territory, and tho Union goalkeeper had' nothing to do. The game was a very fast one, and its keennees did not .abate 'towards the finish. There has boon far too much talking and appealing by players in matches during tho last two or three Saturdays. They arc reminded that the capta.n, and he alone, has the right to appeal. I hoard a spectator remark on Saturday that the noiso sounded Ike a lot of gramophones. It is high time ■that this practice was stopped. The players, shou.ti leave the control ot the game to tho lvteree and devote more attention to play. They have boon frequently warned in the lias', and referees will be perfectly justified in taking more drastic steps if the nuisance is not abated. Mr A. M. Payne has been appointed selector of the 'South Island team, to act in coniuncfion wit lithe Canterbury and Southland selectors. He proposed that a trial match should bo played on Saturday, 18th inst., for tho purpose of making a selection, but Ih; executive considers that a trial match at this stage of the competitions would be inadvisable. It was suggested to Mr Payne that ho confer with the other members of the Selection Committee and make his choke from players who have shown the most promising form this season. This course will probably be followed. The Otago v. Southland match will be played at Invcrcargill this year. Arrangements have been made to play off the match on September 2. At the last meeting of the executive the University Club applied for a bye for the senior team on July 18, and for the junior team on July 25, owing to the difficulty of maintaining the full strength of the team during the midwinter vacation. It was decided that the request could not be acceded to, as the granting of it would oiuse some inconvenience and disarrange the competi-

tions. A letter Ims been received by the executive from the Canterbury Association statins that it has not yet bien decided whether a loam will visit the ecu Hi this year. It is certainly ,t.o be hoped that a Canterbury representative team will make a tour south. It has been the practice for many-years for Otag'o and Canterbury to visit each other alternately. Obago is entitled to a visit this year. The hope is expressed on all sidos that the continuity of the arrangements will not be broken. In the Gymnastic v. University (Junior Grade) match there was a good deal of speculation as to which team would prove victorious, but on the day's play Gymnastic fully earned their victory. From the bullyoff ' Reds attacked strongly, and scored in the tir.-t few minutes. 'Varsity then attacked by their left wing; but King and Millar proved too sound, and play returned to "Varsity's twenty-five. On the whole, thp spell was fairiv even, and 'Varsity equalised by a good' shot just before time. Tho game was now very strenuous, and either side looked like winners. Gyms, opened tho second_ spell with good concert.-d play between Wbyto, and Tuko, on th," left wins, and after a few repulses a centre from the left found M'Lauchhn bandy with a good shot. Reds now forced the play, and were well fed by Logan and Foot* at full back, and by the half.?, who were all playing well together. Several hot attacks were repulsed by Morrow at half, who was breaking up tho .Reds' attack. Wright, at full buck, played a safe game, and 'kept the Reds out by accurate hitting. Reds' left forwards a.gain attacked strongly, and two centres resulted in M'T.auchlin roorimr his third goal, and Nieol scoring the last goal just before time. A keenly-con-tested" panic, easily the best Second Grade match of the s'vi.son. ended in a win for Gymnastic bv 4 goals to 1. This given added interest to the competition for the Williameon Cup, as Gymnastic are now just two pointi behind 'Vanity, and the two teams ineet again next round.