HOCKEY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23527, 16 June 1938, Page 5

HOCKEY

By Centre-half

FIXTURES July 4 to 9.— Universities’ tournament. July 9.—New Zealand Universities v. India. July 20.-—Otago v. India. THE SENIOR COMPETITION The following table shows the poshlions of the teams in the Senior Competition:-*

OTAGO V, SOUTHLAND ' Far from repeating its performance against Canterbury on the King’s Birthday the Otago representative team performed poorly in the game against Southland last Saturday. Though various factors ■ entered into the reversal of form, the most important was undoubtedly the weather conditions. It was the first time this season that Otago players had been faced with severe winter conditions, with a wet, slippery ground, and for some time after the commencement of the game the team attempted to put into operation the short-passing game which has been played with considerable success on good grounds this season. It was some time before the forwards discovered the reason they were not getting there, and why their goal shots were failing to find the mark, and by that time Southland had put on four goals. The opinion was expressed by - Mr C. C. Holland, one of the New Zealand selectors, who was present to see Otago and Southland on the field, that the remaining two goals scored by Southland represented the real difference between the teams. The most partisan of Otago supporters could not deny that Southland was the better team on the day, . . There was a period in the latter stages of the first spell and for the greater part of the second half when Otago was at least equal to Southland, but again at the end of the game Southland came away in a grand flourish to score twice. ; Though several matches are in the air” Otago has not been committed to any further games prior to the match with the Manavadar team on July 20. In the meantime, the selector, Mr E. D. Brown, is not dissatisfied with the team, and contemplates little in the way of alterations. He will, in the writer’s opinion, require to reviSe his full-back line, as Harris has not shown up to such good advantage in interprovincial hockey as in club matches, and it is questionable whether he should not also consider a change of goal-keepers. It has been stated that Hercus was not feeling fit on Saturday, and that would certainly account for his inability to stop the Southland . goal shots.

INDIANS’ FIRST MATCH A keen follower of hockey who was In Wellington at the time of the arrival of the Indian team and who saw the first match of the tour writes as follows: “I had the fortune to be in town : last week, and wandered over to the . Wanganella upon its arrival. Excepting that there is not the suggestion of white blood, the general appearance of the Indian team on first observation was much the same as that of the last two teams. Strangely enough, Peter Fernandez was the first one I spoke to. A wonderful personality he is, too. When he was here last he was the baby of the team, but now he, has filled out a bit and looks quite grown up. He is popular, and this is supported by the fact that already he is receiving a large ’fan’ mail. I would say that it is all coming from the fair , pssuA ;■ '.as J ..... - > • S. M. Hussain is still as shy as #ver and probably feels a little refponsibility in being captain of the team. Should the Prince of Manavadar arrive in New Zealand later, I ' should say that Hussain will be a dif--1 tferent man. Shahabuddin is the same as ever—just that quiet, unassuming individual that he was when he was here last. A fine chap. “The manager (Professor Jagan Nath) is a n\sn of intellect, speaks well, and is very frank, as we will all know too well before we are much older. Personally, I think he will prove a more efficient manager than even £ Berham Doctor. I met Mr Goodman, Mr Down, and Mr Quartermain, of the New Zealand Association, and on the afternoon Of their arrival I went out to see the Indians practise at Miramar. They were just out to limber up a bit, and so one could not form much of an opinion. “I went to Masterton to see them play Wairarapa. It was pouring with rain In Wellington, but quite fine in the Wairarapa. There was a .good . crowd lor Masterton, and those few of u$ who follow the game more closely ‘‘were anxious to see what the showing would be. For a start, both sides ; were wary of each other, and for a while I think that Wairarapa had the better of the play. It was not long belore the Indians began to settle down, and the three inside-for-wards—M. Sultan Kahn, A. Latif, and Feroz Khan—were keeping the green backs busy with their Sositional play. I am sorry to relate, owever, that the umpiring at both ends left much to be desired. As the Indians’ manager said frankly, the umpires were pulling the game up in the open field for slight sticks and slightly faulty roll-ins and letting obstructional penalties slip by as well as many serious faults which were obvious to a "keen eye. Of course,/umpires must make a few mistakes in every game, but in a first-class game mistakes, especially, serious ones, should not occur ' too often; I saw the Indians robbed of tv/o goals through wrong decisions. I saw a 25-yards bully given when the defender deliberately hit the ball over the goal line. In my opinion these mistakes should never occur. Ob'struction penalties in many instances went to the wrong side. At one end the umpire had very little idea of offside play and both sides were penal- , ised when the players were onsicle ■ when the ball was hit, but on the other hand a lot of offside was let go mainly through the umpire standing in the wrong position. One of the Indian goals resulted from Shaba- , buddin starting from the wrong position. I think Shah buddin knew it too. “B. Abrahams, the goalie, played an unorthodox game and very often he was nearly up to the twenty-five while one of the full-backs relieved him in goal. I see a certain amount of wisdom in this if the goalie can keep possession of the ball. His’ object is to trap the ball with his stick, while moving towards the circle edge, using his pads as a wall (he wears big pads) ,thereby using to the full the extra privileges of a goal keeper. Immedi ately he loses possession he goes back .to the net. This anplies to close nlav but it is a good ‘gag,’ G. Singh is a first-class full-back, very fast and an adept at trapping the ball. He will be a thorn in our side in New Zealand. He outshone Hussain In this match, but that is not discounting Hussain’s capabilities. The latter is steady, but there again I think he felt the strain of captaincy The halfbacks were Quirrashi. S. Kahn and Rai. I think that a player like Masud would have made a great difference. Still, it was their first match, and they should improve. “As for the forwards, the three insides I mentioned played a good game, and on a more even surface would put up a spectacular show. Fernandez, left-wing, is clever, but was inclined to potter around with the ball too much. On a dry. hard, even ground he would be the best and most dangerous player in the team. Under these condition I would play him centreforward. ■ , • . , “One of the best players on the field •was H. B. Massey, left-back for Wairarapa. You will probably see or hear more of him before the season is out.

WOMEN’S NOTES FIXTURES June 18.—Otago A v. South Otago, at Milton. June 18.—Otago B v. Central Otago, at Milton. June 25.—Otago v. England. July 7-9.—University tournament. July 9.—Universities v. Otago. A GRADE COMPETITION The following table shows the positions of the teams in the A Grade competition:—

VISIT TO MILTON Arrangements have been made for the Otago A and B teams to travel to Milton on Saturday, the former to play South Otago and the latter Central Otago. The games are looked upon as final trials for those who will have to meet the touring English team It was not possible to arrange matches with Eastern, as was intended on the previous Saturday, when the fixtures had to be abandoned owing to the weather conditions which prevailed. The justification for the trip is questionable, and it would be far from wise to continue with the arrangements in wet weather. It will be remembered that the Otago team went to Invercargill last year with several players suffering from severe colds, and it would not be in the interests of the Otago team to risk a repetition of that disaster so near the date for the English match. _ ~ It is not likely that the South Otago and Central Otago teams will be able to give the Otaf'o girls as good a tryout as would Eastern, but the selector may derive some indication regarding the strength of his players which may assist him in the final selection of the team for June 25. _ . Mr Ireland indicated to CentreHalf” that he proposed to make no alterations in the teams announced last week. He added, however, that he hoped every player was taking training matters seriously and training regularly and methodically for a set period GoLcb day. The teams to meet South Otago and Central Otago will be as follows: A Team.—Goal, J. Anderson (Dunedin); full-backs. E. Symon (Kings). M Fisher (Kings); halves—A. Mackle. (Otago), H. .Robinson (Kings), B. Campbell (Otago); forwards-J. Thomson (Otago), J. Arnott (Kings). A. Harley (Kings), N. Cannon (University). E. Sonntag (Kings). B Team-Goal, H. Ponder (University); full-backs. N. Oliver (Momona). B. Andrews (University): halves—p. Kennedy (Dunedin), B. Mackie (Otago). I. Palmer (Momona); forwards—R. Cumberbeach (Kings), E. Blackwood (Otago). M. Kerr (University), M. Stevens (Dunedin). R. Warburton (Otago). , Emergencies.—J. Gilchrist (Kings). G. Simpson (Dunedin).\

P. W. L. D. Goals F. A.Pts. H.S. Old Boys 6 5 — 1 22 7 11 University A 6 5 1 — 34 8 10 Albany .. 6 4 2 — 24 14 8 Technical O.B. 6 3 2 1 11 12 7 University B 6 1 '4 1 11 17 3 Training Col. 6 — 4 2 11 21 2 Collegiate 6 — 5 1 4 30 1

P. W. L. D. Goals F. A. Pts. Kings . 6 5 1 — 33 4 10 Otago . 6 4 1 1 U 3 9 University 4 2 1 1 7 6 5 Dunedin . . 6 2 3 1 6 9 5 Momona . . 6 1 4 1 1 18 * 3 Training College . . 4 — 4 — 2 33 -