HOCKEY GAMES MARRED BY RAIN

Southland Times, Issue 24132, 22 May 1940, Page 10

HOCKEY GAMES MARRED BY RAIN

By

CENTRE-FORWARD

The conditions were most unfavourable at Queen’s Park on Saturday afternoon when the men’s, hockey competitions were continued. Fine rain swept across the park throughout the games, reducing visibility and. making the ground heavy and its surface slippery, and play was slow and at times ragged as a result. In spite of the conditions, however, there were some good exchanges in both games even though the standard of hockey was not high. It was a pity that the match between Civil Service and Collegiate could not have been played in good weather as these two evenly-matched teams usually stage a good exhibition. Although the first half of the game on Saturday did not favour either side. Collegiate demonstrated its superiority on attack in the second half. The Collegiate forwards hammered away at the Civil Service defence and play was more or less confine's to this team’s 25 or to midfield. The Collegiate goal was scarcely ever in danger in the second half and,'if it was, N. Poole was equal to the attack. S. Hunt played his usual strenuous game in the half-back line and his accurate passing sent the forwards away on many occasions. A sound and versatile player, Hunt is equally at home in the forwards or the half-back line, and there are some who think he could serve his team better as a forward. The Collegiate forwards played well as a combination. Probably they are as sound a combination as there is in the game in Invercargill; they certainly won the game for Collegiate on Saturday. The back division was not so strong, though fortunately it was not called on so often. Civil Service was unable to field a full team, so that its form can scarcely be judged on its game against Collegiate. Campbell played his usual good game both on attack arid on defence, and was well supported by Dawson and Gray. The exchanges were even for a great part of .the game, but in the second half Civil Service was unable

to ward off the Collegiate attack and the last-named team managed to secure a two-point win. IMPROVED SHOWING Old Boys played well against Central, the leading team in the senior competition, and although a large number of goals was scored to the other team’s account, the new side gave an improved performance and appeared undaunted by the strength of the opposition. The Old Boys team was more of a scratch side and its personnel on Saturday included outsiders who were recruited to bring the team to full strength. Perhaps the most prominent player in the new team was H. Bennie, who shows a better understanding of the game than most of the players and who did some effective work with the stick. It will naturally take the Old _ Boys team some time to be in a position to give the other senior teams a run for their money, but next season it should be able to take its place with the other teams.

The following table shows the position of the teams in the senior competition: Pts. Ch,

During the past week, largely through the efforts of Mr H. E. Perrin, the Southland Hockey Umpires’ Association was revived, and it is hoped to place the association on a better footing than previously. The association has not been absolutely extinct, but it has ndt been very active during the last season or two. There are indications now> of stronger support than in the past and the benefit of the re-formed association should be felt in the future. It is understood that the Umpires’ Association will control both women’s and men’s hockey matches in Invercargill.

R W. L. D. F. A. Pts Central 4 4 32 6 8 Collegiate 4 2 2 — 19 11 4 Civil Service 3 1 2 — 10 12 2 Old Boys 2 — 2 — 2 24 —