HOCKEY

Southland Times, Issue 21384, 4 May 1931, Page 9

HOCKEY

MEN’S OPENING MATCHES. GOOD STANDARD OF PLAY. HIGH SCHOOL A DOWN COLLEGIATE A. The first matches of the Saturday competition of the Southland Men’s Hockey Association were played under ideal weather conditions at Queen’s Park on Saturday afternoon. Though, as was to be expected, the games were at times characterized by a certain amount of raggedness, on the whole the standard of play for the opening matches was distinctly high and two of the three tussles were close and exciting throughout. A Bright Display. Undoubtedly the best game of the afternoon was the tussle between High School A and Collegiate A, the play being of a high standard. The game was keenly contested throughout but School, settling, down to work immediately, managed to so bewilder their opponents’ rear-division by the rapidity with which they launched sparkling attacks that th?y netted twice in close succession before Collegiate awoke to the position. Thereafter the game was very even, Collegiate making desperate efforts to wipe off the deficiency. Although the forwards were excellent individually, combination often went awry, while, to make matters worse, the School full backs, Morgan and Mackley, stood up to the onslaughts in determined style and repeatedly stemmed the attacks. Poole, Collegiate’s goalie, was responsible for some clever saves while Lindsay (centre-half) was a tower of strength throughout. School netted again in the first spell while Boyd scored a goal for Collegiate, but there was no further score, the game thus finishing in School’s favour by three goals to one. The teams were as follows:

High School A: Mehaffey; Mackley, Morgan; Anderson, Hobson, Treeby; Barham, Dakin, Paterson, Hardcastle, Hughes. Collegiate A: Poole; Ferguson, Hodgson; B. Bayne, Lindsay, D. Bayne; Donaldson, Rigby, Boyd, Arnold, Shields. At the outset School attacked strenuously and the situation looked dangerous until Arnold cleared temporarily. Hobson sent out to Hughes and the whole forward line dashed into Collegiate’s territory. The left wing centred crisply to Paterson who was standing handy with Dakin and the first named player scored a good goal right in the corner of the net. High School A 1 v. Collegiate A 0. At this stage Boyd was playing centre forward in the Collegiate team, Lindsay going back to centre halfback. Stung by this reverse, the Collegiate vanguard attacked determinedly, Boyd leading an onslaught which saw the forwards penetrate the School rear division. Shields receiving sent in a hot shot which just missed. Collegiate kept up the attack but could not finish off their hardwon advantages. Hobson and Morgan were putting in some splendid defensive work and ultimately Morgan brought relief by clearing to midway. Shortly afterwards Hughes put in a dashing effort on the left wing to elude the defence before sending in a beautiful centre. Poole, left alone to face the School forwards who had darted in to the circle, rushed out to meet them but Paterson netted with a hot shot. High School A 2 v. Collegiate A 0. School again, with pretty stick work, engineered several promising movements but the Collegiate full-backs livened up at this stage and the game became more even. Lindsay sent to Rigby to Boyd, who, however, was penalized for kicking the ball when he was in a handy position. The free hit put School on attack, and, Barham, racing down the wing, centred to Dakin. Paterson was waiting and he received a short pass and sent in a shoulder-high shot which gave the Collegiate goalie no chance to save. High School A 3 v. Collegiate AO. Collegiate attacked desperately and School were forced to concede a corner which, however, proved abortive. Dakin and Barham were prominent in a good passing, movement for School but Shields and Donaldson returned play to ..midfield. As the result of good work by Donaldson and Rigby the leather came to Boyd, wno scored when in a handy position. High School A 3 v. Collegiate’ Al. School were attacking when half-time sounded shortly afterwards.

The second half proved a ding-dong struggle but there was no alteration to the score. Poole ’ was responsible for a splendid save when Barham, who received from Hughes, sent in a hot shot. Dakin, who had been aggressive throughout, rushed in to the circle but the ball went over the top of the cross-bar. The Collegiate forwards continued to show good form, Boyd playing a great game at centre-forward, and he was unfortunate in not scoring. Mehaffey, School’s goalie, saved an almost certain goal off Boyd’s stick and, although Collegiate kept up the pressure, the de- ■ fence stood stout. 1 Shortly before time School let loose a strong attack, but, although Collegiate were forced to concede a penalty corner, no score resulted. The final whistle sounded with play about midfield. Messrs H. S. Cordery and J. D. Gregg controlled the game. A Closely-Contested Game. Although Central downed Collegiate B by three goals to nil, the play was more even thari the final score might seem to indicate. Both teams missed several promising opportunities, the Central forwards being the worst offenders in this respect for, after working themselves into good positions, they often seemed to lack the necessary finish to bring their efforts to fruition. There were several new players in both teams who gave promising displays, Dixon (Collegiate) especially creating a fine impression by his hard work throughout. For the winners Tarr (2) and Hamilton netted. The half-time score was 2 —nil. Hopgood, Collegiate’s goalie, was responsible for some good saves while ’ Tarr and Smith played well in the Central vanguard. Mr J. D. Gregg controlled the game. An Easy Win. Civil Service had an easy win over High School B who went down in defeat by 15 goals to 1. Although they were opposed to elder and more experienced players, the School eleven pluckily stood up to the repeated Service onslaughts and, with additional practice, School should improve considerably as several of the lads showed promise. The half time score was 9—nil. For Service the scorers were Woodfield (8), Blee (4), Robbie (2), and Roberts (1). F. Poole netted School’s only goal.. Hazeldine (School’s right half-back) gave a bright display while McChesney and Poole also acquitted themselves creditably. Mr H. L. Cordery was the referee. LADIES’ SECTION. Collegiate Down High School. Only one game was ptayed in the Ladies’ Saturday competition, Collegiate meeting High School. The Collegiate players proved too strong in all departments for their younger opponents who were defeated by 10 goals to nil. The half-time score was 5-nil. For the winners M. Mclntyre (4), N. Thomas (2), D. Gray (2) and E. Donaldson (2) were the scorers. J. Anderson was the mainstay of the School team while M. Mclntyre (left wing), D. Gray (left inner) and E. Donaldson (right wing) gave bright displays in the Collegiate vanguard. Mr J. Wren controlled the game.