12 GOALS TO NIL

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19667, 27 June 1938, Page 12

12 GOALS TO NIL

INDIANS’ RUNAWAY WIN

WELLINGTON OUTCLASSED BRILLIANT DISPLAY DRY GROUND FORM (Por Press Association.! WELLINGTON, this day. Before a crowd of approximately 10,000 at the .Basin Reserve, Wellington, the Prince of Manavadar’s Indian hockey team defeated Wellington by 12 goals to nil on Saturday afternoon. The ground was in perfect order and there v/as no wind. The Indian team gave an exhibition of hockey that delighted the crowd and made the Wellington team look like schoolboys. In the six previous matches which have been played by the Manavadar State team, it has won on wet grounds by margins of four or five goals. The visitors’ remarkable form on Saturday afternoon was, in some measure, a revelation. It was the first time the tourists had played on a ground measuring up to their standards. Their play was faultless.

“It was the cleanest game I have ever played in New Zealand,” said S. M. Russian, captain of the team, who toured the Dominion in 1935 with the All-India side. The Indians fielded their strongest side. From the first whistle, they were out after victory. Sultan Khan, the phenomenal inside left, scored sixgoals, Abdul Latif scored three, and Ilitfat Khan, Shahabuddin and Fernandez scored one each. The first half of the game produced the best hockey. Though six goals were scored in each spell, in the second half the Manavadar team played about. The Wellington men were tiring in their desperate efforts to keep the visitors out of the goalmouth. The Wellington team played first-class hockey according to interprovincial standards, but it was outclassed in every move. <k The teams were: — Manavadar. —Ben Abrahams, goal; S. M. Hussain, captain, left fullback; Gurnarain Singh, right fullback: Lajpat Rai, left half; Shahnoor Khan, centre half; Shafat Khan, right half; P. P. Fernandez, left wing; Sultan Khan, inside left; Feros Khan, centre forward; Abdul Latif, inside right; Shahabuddin, right wing. Wellington.—J. Marshall, 'goal; O. K. Perrin, left fullback; S. Andrews, right fullback; W. Shaw, left half; R. Harrison, centre half; F, Newcombe, captain, right half; R. Brown, left wing; M. Browne, inside left: M. Dentice, centre forward; C. Edwards, inside right; F. Chapman, right wing. Professor Jagan Nath and Mr. W. R. Keys were the umpires. The one complaint of the Indian team on this tour was that they had to'play hockey on wet grounds at Masterton, Palmerston North, Pahiatua, Wanganui, New Plymouth and Hawera. They battled nobly in the mud on each occasion.

Trying; For First Time They beat the local teams comfortably, but not once did they show a glimpse of the outstanding form they produced against Wellington on Saturday. Even allowing for the difference made by the ground, it seemed as though the Manavadar team were trying hard for the first time on the : tour. Gurnarain Singh, whose game on wet and uneven grounds was not particularly impressive, did not make a mistake. He stopped passes with uncanny accuracy. His combination with Hussain was pretty to see. Wellington’s Faults The Indian half line were master tacticians. Always in position, the forwards played with understanding, speed and skill equalled only by their all-India predecessors in 1935. They dragged the Wellington team out of position time and time again and then shot through the resulting gaps without faltering. The claims of the Manavadar side that it could play hockey, given the conditions to which it was used, were justified completely. It would be possible to point to I many faults in the Wellington team’s display. The fact remains that it played only as well as it was allowed. It had possession of the ball for about 20 per ceni! of the time. While \it had possession it made the most of its chances. Two goals were scored, but were disallowed because of infringements. The team was not as strong as it might have been, as K. Kelly, D. S. Wilson and O. Wheat- | ley, three men who would have been in the team had they been available, were sadly missed. Master Tacticians The fullbacks and the halves played too far apart. The clearing shots of Perrin and Andrews were invariably collected by the Indians. Wellington was immediately at a loss. At times, members of the Wellington team were not sure where the ball was, so dazzling and unexpected were the movements of the Manavadar side. At all stages of the game the Indians had possession and maintained their position all the time. Saturday’s game left no doubt as to their merit.