HOCKEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2734, 8 August 1906, Page 53

HOCKEY.

AUCKLAND v. OTAGO.

A WIN FOR THE VISITORS.

A hockey match was played on the Cale- ; - donian Ground on Saturday afternoon, commencing at haK-past 1, between teams representing Auckland and Otago. There was an attendance of about 500 persons, including many ladies. The ground was in " fair order, though soft in places owing to recent Tains, and dnriny the progress of the game these wet spots out up very badly. The following were the teams: — AvotXAOT (Blue-ana-white).-Goal, W. R. Bloomfield; full backs— H. D. Gill and H. Anderson; halves— C. R. Orispe, D. K. Port«r, V C Kavanagh; forwards — J. Jessup, R. B. Young, F. R. Mason, W.-iepine, J. Lepine. Otago (Light Blue).— Goal, N. White ; baoka — E. Ackroyd and Hobey ; halves— G. G. Austin, H. Goodman, J. Moore; forwards— J. Hobbs, R. Site, B. Midgeley, T. Cuttle, Rutherford. r Midgeley (Otago) beat Mason (Auckland) in -the bully.- Crispe placed the -ball well torW. Lepine. Mason followed up well, bnt w«a rather slow in stopping the ball x from going over the goal-line. Midgeley ' agmin beat Mason for the bully, but the ball was' soon returned by the Auckland half baok line, who, placing well to their forl.' wards, tame with a determined attack on, the Otago goal, which tesulted in Young ?- icoring with a good shot. Auckland 1 goal, *' Otago oil. Goodman placed well to Rutherford, on the left wing, who centred well, but the Auckland goalkeeper cleared splendidly. The ball was again centred by the Otago right wing to Rutherford on the left, who shot wildly, missing a good opportunity. Some even play followed in the Auckland territory. Otago set up a good attack on the Auckland goal, Cuttle putting | in a fine shot just outside the post. Hill El the ball well to his right wing, but j, by a splendid piece of play, beat or the ball and transferred to his own

forward, who, however, lost a good chance by running the ball out. Otago was soon 33% again attacking, and Auckland had to con- —^ cede a corner, from which, however, no- ■-£? thing resulted. The Otago forwards, so far, - not combined very well, and too much * #% reckless hitting was indulged in. Porter -"■^placed weH to his forwards, who made a ;gp»rtr.ong attack on the Otago goal, but the pressure was relieved by good play on the part of Moore. A pretty pass from Mason to Young •nearly resulted in a goal, but White saved. Midgeley beat Mason for the ball, and transferred nicely to Hobbs, on the right wing. Auckland was hard pressed until well rebered by Hill. The Auckland * forwards, however, were soon again attacking strongly, but a foul on tho part of one of them relieved Otago, Otago now had a look in, and Rutherford, taking the ball well down- the line, failed to pass at the ; psychological moment, and wag intercepted by/ Anderson. The Otago forwards got well away, and Midgeley, dodging the back, got : w«ll into tKe circle, but the goalkeeper cleared. The Otago forwards attacked ' strongly, and Mason passed well to his right .wing, who centred beautifully, but '- the attack was well stopped by Moore. The Auckland forwards came with a rush, but owing to hard hitting near the circle the ball was lost by going over the line. Bad play by the Auckland backs gave the Otago

forwards a graud opportunity, which they failed to take by bitting too hard- A corner, however, Tesulted, which -was well cleared by the Auckland backs, but the ball being once more returned another corner was conceded, which was cleared^ by the visitors' backs. Otago at this time was attacking strongly and having the best of the game. Splendid combinatioji on the part of Auckland brought the ball right into the Otago circle, but White saved brilliantly. Otago forwards, getting possession, made a fine run into the Auckland quarters, but the backs again came to the rescue of the visitors. The Auckland forwards were soon attacking, and a foul on the part of Otago gave them a free hit just outside the circle, but good play on the part of the Otago boys cleared. The home team then invaded the visitors' quarters, and in the circle Cuttle made a fine shot, drawing first blood for Otago. The Auckland goalkeeper made a capital effort to save, but failed. Auckland 1 goal, Otago 1 goal. Even play followed for some time. A good pass from- a roll in near the Otago circle allowed J. Lepine to score an easy goal. Auckland 2 goals, Otago 1 goal. \ strong attack by the Auckland forwards resulted in Otago conceding a corner, which however, resulted fruitlessly owing to the Auckland men shooting wide. From the bully a splendid passing rush by the- Otago forwards ended in Rutherford shooting wide. It .was in this rush that Otago, so it is said, scored a goal, but the position being misunderstood by the referee it was not awarded to them. A good attack by the visitors' forwards was relieved by one of their number kickins Half-time was then called. In the second half Otaeo got possession of the ball from the bully and ma c a K ood attack, but good play on the part of the Auckland backs relieved the P^ure. Give-and-take play followed until the Otago forwards attacked strongly, Hobbs missing an easy opportunity. Otago.however, soon returned to the charge, though splendid play on the part of the goal-give-and-take play the Auckland forwards made one or two determined attacks on the; Otago coal, but splendid play on the part of White repeatedly P«™*«d » «coro The Otago forwards had another look in, but capital play by the Auckland goalkeeper relieved the P^ure. Both sides for some time seemed . to •** » °* reckless and indulged in hard Then the teams rested on their .oars tor a time until, as time drew on the Otago men HVened'up and made a determined the result: Auckland ... 2 goals. Otago ... 1 goal. Unfortunately for Otago, through the misunderstanding on *"*"*?* wh £h referee they were robbed of a goal, wnicn appear to be as follows, viz. r-Otago were attacking, and the ball wa. * shot^ quicWy through the goal close to the P° s *- £ he was bullied off at the twenty-five flag. When Begg saw what the referee was doing he should certainly have at once spoken to him about it. The captain should have done likewise. However they have only themselves to blame. , The Auckland team certainly displayed better combination than the Otago boys. Their play throughout the first spell showed a certain amount of reserve, as if they knew exactly what they were doing. lne Otago boys " in this respect did not compare favourably with their opponents. There was far too much hitting without an object, and in doing this they frequently played into the hands of their opponents. The Auckland forwards played the shortpassing game, which is much more certain than the long-hitting from "wing to wing. When in the circle the Auckland forwards sparred for an opening, and it was simply owing to the splendid play on the part of White (Otago's goal-keeper) that the score was kept down. In defending they also worked for an opening, and got the ball well away to the wing. It is a difficult matter to individualise, as the team, one and all, played well. However, special mention may be made of Porter, Mason, Kavanagh, and Lepine. The Auckland team had the best of the first spoil, but fell away in the second, when the Otago boys combined better, and played with much more vim and dash. Hobey and Ackroyd at back played well; Hobey, especially at times, played brilliantly. Austin at left half back, did not play up to form in the first spell, but made amends in the second, and it was chiefly owing to his and Morris's eood placing of the ball to the forwards that pulled the Otago team together in the second spell. Goodman was the weak link in the back division, the opposing forwards beating him easily. Midgeley played well at centre forward, but was not backed up by his inside men (Cuttle and Sise) as he should have been, although they both played individually splendidly at times, but there was a want of combination. Rutherford, on the left wing, was disappointing, and Hobbs, on the right wing, frequently failed with speculative hits, but, on the whole, played a good game. No doubt the long travel the Auckland team had had a good deal to do with their falling-off in the second spelj, and as the game drew to a close they tired perceptibly.

The representative match between Wellington and Taranaki, played at Day's Bay, resulted in a win for Wellington by 5 goals to nil. Both teams were in fine condition, and the game was fast and interesting throughout. The Taranaki representatives showed individual brilliancy, but were outclassed by the splendid combined play of the Wellington forwards. Goals were shot by Organ, Smythe, Davis (2), and S. Hickson The game was a triumph for scientific play over individual endeavour.

The Bruce Coal Company, Milton, is on the market with its new deep seam coal, to which it has given the name " Waronui," which means in English " plenty of coal." Tho coal is obtained on the Coombe Hay Estate, on the boundary of the Kaitangatz district..