HOCKEY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 138, 17 July 1914, Page 2

HOCKEY.

POSITIONS OF TEAMS.

TRIAL TEAMS CHOSEN. Subject to slight alteration, the following; are the positions of the teams in the various competitions: — • FIRST GRADE. Matches. Goals.

.:?.'.'-v NOTES. •'■' .'The SelWyn'third grade team; is the; only 'tearii that has won all its friatehes. : Technical College' fdurth gradtf'havS Scored iriotfe' goals than any :other competing; team. , Their,,reco.rjdv'is 61, ; w^ ie Kiast; BeJLt t fourth-grade Jttayie. .#xs tinction.of haying,given more shooting practice to their opponents than any other team. They have. 50 goals, scored against them. .■■.■•■>_.■'.. The. following teams ha,ye lost all their matches:—Christchurch ..second grade, New Brighton third, East Belt fourth, and Bible Class fourth. Sydenham teams have scored 176 goals, Selwyn being the nest with 146. East Belt is the only e*lub that has; had more than,, a century of goals scored against' it, .with 112; Christchurch is nixt with 84. Selwyn with five teams cciripetirig hive had only 46 goals scored against them. The averagel number of goals scored per,' match in the various competitions is as follows:—First grade 4, second 5, third 5, fourth 7, fifth 5. ~, ■, Nine hundred and six goals .have, been scored in the five competitions,, niakihg an average of a little over five,goals per match. . ; . [The! Selwyn fourth "grade team has tfed only four goals scored against it, which is less than any other team. * In the first grade competition, Throp (Sydenhain A) heads the list of scores with 14 goals, having scored in all but one match. Hawkins (Sydenham A) is r ext with nine, D. .Smith (Addington) arid C. Hutchmgs (Sydenham B) being close up with eight each. Hawkins scored in all but two matches, Whytein siix out of eight, and D. Smithln five out of eight.. ■' "' '' Oxford .Terrace and Te Whaka are the only senior teams with less than five scorers, while Selwyn have, seven. ; Tt.R.C. and Christchurch are the only senior teams possessing scoring half : backs. Parton leads with three goals, Haigh and Ridley one each. ..-. E.very forward in the Sydenham. A, Addirigtoni Sydenham East Selwyn teams has scored. '; The fourth grade match between Cranford and Bible Class, set down for j decision to-morrow, will not be placed, the latter team having notified its intention of defaulting. Advice has been received from the Wellington Hockey Associatiori that a junior will visit Canterbury shortly, but so far no definite date has been fixed on.

THE TRIAL TEAMS. The selectors have selected their teams for the first trial match, to be played at Sydenham Park to-morrow. The A team" is a particularly strong combination, both in attack and defence, and is verv much the same team which defeated "South Canterbury on June 3, with the exception that Sherwood, Hawkins, and Chappell have secured places. The B team ha.s eaused a good deal of surprise. What was in the minds of the selectors when they chose the team is hard to say, but surely they do not consider the B team to be Canterbury's second best eleven. Borrows (East Belt) is being given a trial ait left half, but why shift Duffield from left to right 1 Has he a better chance of going to Auckland as a right half than a left! In the writer !s opinion his play this season has been sufficiently good to give Sepie a good run for his position, and in the event of Sepie not being able "to go north, will Borrows be or will Duffield be chopped rdund again, or is it that Canterbury's righthalves are so very weak? If so, what is wrong with Haigh, who was ;good enough to send to Timaru? In the forwards the inclusion of Wilson and Warburton is indeed a surprise. Both men

are quite new to first grade hockey, and while both play fair games, are they anywhere near shield form! The pro-r vince is decidedly weak in right wing- ; t pts, but C. Hutchings should certainly;; have been given a trial before Wilson,. The former has been showing consist- • eiitly good form this season, and the fact [ that he is third top in the list of scorers says much for his circle work. Wilson has scored one goal. Warburton can consider himself very lucky in find- - ing a place, as he has only played in ts.-ree senior matches this season, and his I fnrm has been nothing approaching that !tJ a shield player ; and I take it that; the object of the trials is to pick the ■ very best team to go in quest of the shield.- What has so suddenly gone wrong with Joe?- He was good 'inough' to send to Timaru a fortnight ago, and has only played one game since, aad Warburton, too, has only played one game since th 3 match at Timaru, and when that team was chosen Warburton was hardly thought of. Has his play improved so "much in his one game as to give him a place in the B team over Joe, and again, what of D. Smith, the Addingtou right inside? Cummins at last is given a trial,, and quite time-\ too. His play this season has been of. a high standard, but he has not been given the support he deserves by tha' rest of the forwards in his team. While, the B team's defence is fairly solid, its" attack is weak, and the result of the. game depends very largely on the performance of the baeks. Such players as Berry, Snell,'Brown, and DuffieW are all capable of giving the best.of good and lively tinie. The, selectors are apparently ** speculating with the B team in the hope of nnearth-: iiig some If this is so, why" not/ give Kobb a chance? "Brown's cap-, abilities between the,posts ar,e well' known, and Eobb has brought off many good saves this year, but playing with, the ,-teani he does,- he gets few opportunities of distinguishing'himself. Why not give Him a fair try out? Sydenham have no less than thirteen representatives in the 1 two teams, Addingtonfivei Christchureh 2, and East Belt one each, with Selwyri,.Ox-r ' ford Terrace, and Te Whaka unrepresented. ~ , ',' , LAST SATURDAY'S MATCHES.. The_ feature of last; Saturday's games was" the drawing"' of Addington' &7id\ Sydenham A, "' especially the former. While t it was expected that Oxford Terrace would extend Sydenham, it was generally thought that %he blues' would have a margin of .goals' xix their favour at the conclusion" of .the matcb ? and [ few dreamt, of Christchureh drawing with Adding-" The results even up the' competition ''.considerably, only two and a-half points' dividing the four leading learns.

Oxford Terrace, who made their debut into senior hockey this season, are. to be congratulated on drawing into A 1 fourth position, especially as they have been able to- draw with.,both the leading Strange to" relate, they also -drew with the weakest team. The ground at St. Albans Park used in the Sydenham AtOxjEprd Terrace. ma,tch\was in a dreadful state, and quite unfit for .first grade" hockey, the eastern end being nothing njore nor les£, ( than a quagmire. In #v&% spell Terrace men made no race of it, and. it I looked very much to "be merely a' ques-' ition of "how many goals Sydenham... j would pile up, but the blues'' apparently | thought they had the game well in. hand, and did not exert themselves. In. the second spell the tables turned, and the river bank teani gave their opponents a lively time defending in the mud. It was not until the scores were even that Sydenham realised that victory would possibly be snatched froniT. them, and then, alas, it was too lateSydenham, who have generally , 40-minute spells ; did not remember that this match was only 35 *s, and left their "dash" too late. Drayton, in goal for Terrace, brought Off several clever saves, although he would be well advised to drop the - flying hit stroke. Velvin was the best of the backs, and completely outclassed MeCullough. His practice of' playing in front of his halves is not tobe commended. Crawford was the pick . of the halves. He played very solidly throughout, and marked his man w T ell. fctillwell was only fair, and did not keep his position at all well. Of the forwards, Whyte and Drayton stood out prominently. Tn the first speil, playing inside right, Whyte was a failure, butwhen, in the second speD, he went to the wing, he played really well, sending in many timely centres, besides getting a good goal. Drayton shot the best _" goal of the match. Getting the ball on ' his stick in the air he quickly piloted it to the net. Robb, in goal for Sydenham, gave a very good exhibition of ''keeping. '* ' The ground, however, gave him a good ' deal of trouble; and was responsible for . two of the goals" stored against him. He went but to meet a long Terrace - drive, but the bait landed firmly in the mud, and the green forwards romped down and smothered his shot; Sherwood and Skelton played rattling good games and combined well together. Considering this was Skelton's first appearance since June 3, and that with" an injured hand, his, was a particularly good exhibition. The half line did not work quite so harmoniously as previously. Pasebe found.the ground quite unsuitable for flying hits, and in attempting this he missed the ball frequently. Apart from this his exhibition was good. Snell played his usual solid game, but his passing was not as well placed as usual. . To continually adopt one line \'oi attack is a bad policy, as it is. quickly detected by the opposition., This was.the case on Saturday -last. Duflield was perhaps a little better than his fellow halves; His tackling , was good, and his clearing shots were'well executed. When taking corner hits he would do better to dis-tribute-the work mpre. The heavy ground did not give the forward line much opportunity to give an exhibition of combined playj the' ball, being very ; difficult to take on the stick. Hulbert, was not nearly so good as usual, he. lacked that "ginger" which is necessary in a good forward on such a ground I as St. Albans Park; Throp, too, had a day off. (Few things would come right for him. Patrick sent in some good centres, one of which was scored off* He still uses one hand too frequently* Hawkins put in a useful afternoon'a work, but his brilliant dashes were prominent by their absence; It is not; often ; that you v see two [different <codes of winter siport' being played on the same ground at the same

time. This was so on Saturday at St. Albans Park. The . League football

ground butts on to the side of the hockey ground, with the result that; to score at one end, the footballers have to come on to the hockey ground. Against Addington, on the Polo ground, Christchurch put up their best performance of the season, and gave the blacks a busy time making the result a draw; The ground, although dry, was very bumpy in places. Addington were without the. services of Templeton,. Arnold taking his place, while Rodgers played centre half, -and. S. Smith right half. With these changes Addington's .combination was affected, and Christchurch, rising to the: occasion, made the game a draw—on« all. Brown, in goal '■>' for Christchurch, played a creditable game, bringing off several clever saves. Martin, as usual, was the tower of defence, and to say he played his usual game is giving him sufficient praise. Gtoldsbury was the pick of the halves, while Hutchings,' Gleeson, and Key combined well in the - forward line. Bellamy* as usual, played a Very safe game, and but for his clever keeping Christchurch must have won. More--tori's game was very solid and safe. He •used his pa l ds with much advantage. APnOld, 'at fiM-back, played a rattling good game, and gives one the impression that he is a better back than half. Sepie, as usual, played very solidly, and Rodgers gave a fair exhibition of a centre half's play. All the . forwards went well, except perhaps Peters, but his tackling showed, a great improvement over his previous* display. The executive of the C.H.A. has decided to send a team to tour the" South this season. "The same body has decided to play the .final of the first and second grades as a benefit to the Children's Open-air Fund.

P. A W. L. D. for. ags*. Pts. Sydenham A 8 6 0 2 35 9 7 Addington 8 5 0 3 20 9 «i U.R.C. 8 5 2 1 17 19 5J Oxford Ter. 8 3 2 3 16 15 4J Selwyn 8 4 4 0 16 16 4 East Belt 8 3 4 1 13 15 '61 Sydenham B 8 3 5 0 17 16 3 Christchurch 8 1 6 1 13 21 11 Te Whaka 8 0 7 1 4 31 03 SECOND GRADE. Matches Goals. P~ W. L. D. for. agst. Pts. Sydenham A 8" 7 0 1 34 5 n Sydenham B 8 7 0 1 48 10 71 Selwyn 8 7 0 1 32 6 i\ Bible Class 8 6 1 1 22 10 6% Cranford 8 3 2 3 24 13 4i Addington 8 3 4 1 14 24 H Te Whaka 8 3 4 1 11 21 3J Woolston. ; ,8. 1 4 3 12 17 2 ft East Belt 8 1 5 2 12'31 ';' 2 St. Luke's 8 1 5 2, 15 28 2 U.R.C. 8 1 7 0 10 22 1 Christchurch 8 0 8 0 2 49 0 THIRD GRANDE. Matches Goals. r — V. W. L. IT for. ag&t. Pts. Selwyn 7 7 0 0, 49 '■'4: 7 RiccartonG. -7 5 0 2 27 T: 6 Cranford -7 5 1 i 15 10^ 54 Woolston 6 4 1 1 14 5 *i Oxford Te*. 7 4 3 0 16 23 4 Sydenham 7 3 3 1. 9 . 11 : .sa East Belt -7 3 4 0 20 16 3 Addington 7 2 5 0 11 17 2 Bible Class 7 2 5 0 6 23 2 Technical C. 8 16 1 18 • 25 \.ii N. Brighton 8 0 8 0 2 46 0 FOURTH GRADE. • ;j.: ; Matches. Goals.; r~ P. W. L. D. for. agst. Pts. Te Whaka 8. 6 ,0 2... 34 ,11 J. Selwyn 6 5 6 1 30 ~ -.4 55 Woolston 6 5 1 0 26 /" 7 5 Technical 0. 6 5 1 0 61 4 .5 RiccartonG., .7 a 3 1 11 41 3£ Aldington "7 3 4 0 12 23 3 St. Luke's 7 2 5 0 17 . 18 2 - Cranford 6 2 4 0 16 10 a Bible Class 6 OS0 6 49 ' p East' Belt .7 0 7 0 • ■4'. 50 'V' FIFTH GRADE .''■' '; ■'. I'"" 1 :• ••i..',,i Matches. Goals! ! " '/ — P. W. L. D. for f ;aget. Pts. Oxford Ter. 7 5 .1 i 15 ■■ Vi 8 .' ';'■?* Technical C. '-'7 4 6 •^..i< 33' -'" ; 10" "•5'i Sydenh'anr 7 ; *"-""-S : "' 0 33' '■■■Vt'-'i-4v Christchurch 7 2 2 3 12 ■■(.."■ .i&k Selwyn ,,,-, .6, 2 2, 2 . 19 * 6 .3. Star '7 1 '" 5'"' 1 ; . : 2' ' 15 • 1J Cranford" •7 ■ r X 6 '■ 0 ; •5 . 45 : ' 1