HOCKEY SEASON ENDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24413, 26 September 1940, Page 4

HOCKEY SEASON ENDS

The hockey season in Otago ended last Saturday, when Southland senior and Junior teams paid a return visit to Dunedin and played Otago teams. The junior match was ■ 'on by the visitors, who held the advantage throughout; but, as was the case earlier in the season when they met in Invercargill, Otago seniors proved too good for the Southland players. It was Otago’s forward line which won the day, and it had no easy task, because the visitors showed up to advantage on defence and held on with a dogged persistence which frustrated a good many strong attacks. Southland managed to put on three goals to Otago’s five, and would, in all probability, have had a better score if there had been a little more finish in its circle play. It was a dry, fast ground, and the Southland players’ hard-hitting tactics gave them more hard running than results. Otago's inside forwards again played a pretty game, displaying clever passing and maintaining a territorial advantage. The final official hockey gathering was on Tuesday night, when the cups and representative badges were presented at a dance. Mr E. D. Brown made the presentation, and congratulated tlTe winners. The Gilray Cup for the senior competition, the Hayward Cup for the senior seven-a-sme competition, and the Williamson Cup for the second grade competition were all handed to the University Club, while the Air Force Club received the Moller Cup for the junior seven-a-side competition and Technical School the Gymnastic Memorial Cup for the third grade competition.

Exciting Encounter From the point of view of the Fixtures Sub-committee of the Otago Basketball Association, the wrong team won last Saturday, when High School Ex-girls beat Albany by 12 goals to 11. If Albany had won, it would have won its section, and the final game between Ravensbourne and the winner of section I could have been played next Saturday. Albany and High School Ex-girls are now equal in cup points, however, and the two teams will have to meet again next Saturday to decide the section winner. The game last week was very exciting, both teams playing at the top of their form. With one game each to then: credit, the final game between the two teams should hold more than the usual amount of interest.

Another Cricket Season A factor which has contributed largely to cricketers’ enjoyment of their sport in recent years has been the early starting of the season. Formerly there was a big gap between the completion of the football season and the start of cricket, but it has been considerably reduced by the prompt laying down of wickets at Logan Park. Good weather is the main requirement in this work, and, if present conditions continue, players should be assured of matches in the very near future. Now that the administrative preparations are almost complete, players will be anxious to get into flannels once more. They will notice the big gaps that the war has made in their ranks, and the general

standard of play is certain to be lower than usual, but the competitive aspect of the games will be unimportant, and the carefree type of play that is to be expected will provide welcome relief from the responsibilities which so many cricketers will be shouldering.

Basketball Rules An opponent of the thrower-in shall stand off the court beside her, and shall take no part in the game until the ball leaves the hands of ths t.hrower-in. when she must immediately re-enter the court, crossing the line at right angles.” states the basketball rule book. “ Does this mean than t! i thrower-in must wait for her opponent to take up her position, or may the thrower-in play the bah as soon as she is ready, even though no opponent is outside the court? ” was a query after last week’s games. It is not necessary for the thrower-in to wait until her opponent is off the court beside her. She may play the ball as quickly as possible: but if her opponent takes part in the game inside the court before the ball has been touched by another player, then she should be penalised for not complying with the rule, an unguarded pass being given from the spot where the opponent of the thrower-in was when she touched the ball. A Hybrid Golfer Here is a tale that will make golf worshippers shudder. It concerns Mr J. N. Millard, president of the Wellington Rugby .Union and a personality with a remarkable athletic record. But let the Sports Post tell it in its own way: “The whole story of Mr J. N. Millard's attainments on the field of sport has never been told,” it says. “It covers a range far beyond the realms of Rugby and amateur athletics, in both of which branches of sport Norman Millard has won distinction. He's an accomplished golfer, and. though e may not be prepared to admit that much, there is performance to prove it. Moreover, he has just lately been paying the penalty for doing the big thing in golf that gives the 39th much of its popularity. If, was something that, on the particular links, had not been done before. The Wellington Rugby Union chairman holed his tee shot from No. 4 at Shandon. a distance of 200 yards. “That makes another notable entryin a glowing account of achievement on the field of sport, but there is still much more to be told of this sportsman. For one thing, he has earned the distinction of being the hybrid golfer of New Zealand. Years ago he was a left-handed iron player on the Mornington links at Berhampore, and as such he knocked hole after hole in his handicap, bringing it right down to 6. Then, for some unaccountable reason, the game left him. He tried right-handed play, but with results that evidently were not satisfying to him. Back to southpaw again, and still it was of no avail. “ His form had gone. A trial at mixing matters produced possibilities. And so to-day this well-known sportsman plays the long shots right-handed and the short left-handed, a unique type of game by which he has brought his handicap down to B—almost back to his previous best mark.” Whitcombes for Golf.*