CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKEY

Taranaki Daily News, 1 September 1930, Page 5

CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKEY

OPENING OF TOURNAMENT SOUTHLAND A BEAT OTAGO./’ . * 1 ■ BRIGHT PLAY ON MUDDY FIELDS?" By Telegraph. —Press Association. „ • Invercargill, Aug. 30.. ._ ( The New Zealand ladies’ hockey. championship tournament commenced Queen’s Park this afternoon. Owing to unfavourable weather conditions eailiey. . in the day the grounds were converted , into regular quagmires in parts, and after the earlier games sawdust had to be used for the circles. In the after- ■ J noon the weather cleared. The Mayor, 1 Mr. J. D. Campbell, welcomed the visi£ W ors. and formally opened the 1U Considering the heavy nature.--of " the sparkling exhibitions of hockey were witnessed, the games being keen, fast and exciting. In several matches ~;, the issue was in doubt almost until • the final whistle. Notwithstanding the heavy state of ’the playing field, which. ■ was really in favour of the local teanjjtec the northerners were responsible f<?r some bright displays. Results are:-?- ' Section A. , T ■'* Wellington 3 beat Southland B 1. i ■ Eastern Southland B 5 beat North,-Otago 1 drew with West Coast y 1/ • ■ ' Section B. Southland. A 2 beat Otago 1. JManawatu 2 beat South. Cantsroory Eastern Southland A 4 beat Wairarapa 2.... . ■ • • • The star attraction of the afternoon was the match between Southland holder of the cup, and Otago, which was reputed to be a formidable challenger. Great interest -centred around the tussle and the large crowd of spectators was treated to a. keen and exciting struggle in which eleven strove mightily for supremacy. Both teams showed good stick work, their tackling was sound, and play generally was fast. Good combination was frequently in evideuce and the sparkling exhibition kept spectators on the qui vive throughout. OTAGO TEAM UNLUCKY. . - Otago players. frequently assailed 1 Southland’s danger zone in the first spell, and it was only the sound defensive work of the Southland’ halves and full-backs that kept the .visitors’ vanguard at bay. Otago certainly lived up to the reputation'that heralded its visit and' on the day’s play was unlucky in not making a draw; pf the' name. There was little to choose between the two elevens and the issue was in doubt to the last. In the second spell Southland rose to th. occasion splendidly and strong attacks wer? launched into the Otago territory. The Southland vanguard combined in some desperate efforts which swept right through to harrass

the defence. Excitement ran high when Miss M. Clark put her side ahead, and although Otago embarked upon many dangerous movements the defence stood. The Wellington team thoroughly deserved its win over Southland B. Although the local girls had a fair share of attack the Wellington forwards proved much more effective,in attack than Southland did and showed more combination. The Wellington shooting was far crisper. Southland backs had a strenuous time but came through well. The visiting backs had a comparatively easy time. ° At,- the interval Wellington led 2 to nil, goals haying been secured by Misses Wilkins and Hunt. Each side o-oaled after the interval, Miss Baird scoring fdr Southland and Miss Maule for Wellington. Prominent players for Wellington were, Mrs, Smith (back.), and Mieses Wilkins, Hunt, Foreman and Gleeson (forwards). For Southland Miss Burrell did much good work at full-back and Miss Conley showed dash on the ,-wing. ■ •X | . ROTORUA PLAYS BRIGHTLY. ■ One of the brightest games of the day was provided by Eastern Southland . and Rotorua. The Rotorua girls, most of whom were Maori, were fast ant—, powerful and on a dry ground would probably have done much better. They took a while to settle down to the muddy conditions and Eastern Southland notched two goals in the first 2d minutes. Thereafter it was a dinridono? struggle, Eastern Southland being lucky to emerge winners by 5 goals to 4. It .was the sterling defence of the Eastern Southland goalie, Miss M right, that won the match for her side. She was the outstanding player in ths match. Miss Patterson also, showcc wood form. For ■ Rotorua Misses .E. Mitchel), Hato, Davidson,- Rogers and Gray played very well. North Otago and West Coast wen very evenly matched and considering that they were new to tournament plaj they plaved good hockey. At half-time West Coast led by one to mJ, Miss M: Summer having goaled. North Otago had the better of the second spell but had to be content with a goal by Mier A. Wills. • . . The match between Manawatu and South Canterbury was very evenly contented and both teams gave a good account of themselves. With the score one all play in the last ten minutes became very exciting and it was practically just on time thdt Miss B. Hakaraia shot the winning goal for Manawatu. The defence of the teams was oi a Jngn standard and the goal-keepers on occasions saved cleverly. The <rame between Eastern Southland A and Wairarapa provided a good exhibition of hockey fought at a gruelling pace. In the first spell Eastern A maintained a territorial advantage and it was only the sound defence of the-Wai-rarapa rear di - "sion which kept th* half-time score down to 3 to nil in. favour of Eastern Southland A. Ini th* second spell, stung by the reverse, Wairarapa livened considerably and engine eered strong and desperate onslaughts which on two occasions bore became more even in this half and Eastern A was put on its metal to frustrate the attacks. With the score at 3 to 2 the clash'became very excitino- and -crammed with, incident, but the issue was put beyond doubt when Miss V. Nicol scored again for Eastern A.' / • '• ' ; I ■ „ ■ A'-. •■ • . .