CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKEY

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1935, Page 3

CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKEY

WOMEN PLAY AT GISBORNE RAIN FALLS DURING MATCHES. MISS McKENZIE’S BRILLIANCE. / By Telegraph—Press Association. Gisborne, Last Night. The fifth day of thp New Zealand women’s hockey championships was held to-day. The weather was showery during the early part of the day and rain fell just before the games commenced. There were heavy showers during the afternoon. In the A section, largely through the individual brilliance of Miss M. McKenzie, Canterbury beat Marlborough by 3 goals to 1. Solo runs by Miss McKenzie brought her two goals in the first five minutes, but from then on the game was very even, with snappy passing by both, teams. Though Canterbury’s defence Was the more sound. Miss McKenzie added a third goal after a good passing movement with Miss Gudsell. Inaccurate shooting lost Marlborough several good chances, but Miss E. Woolier eventually goaled near the end of the game. Eastern Southland maintained its unbcaten record in beating Southland by 4 goals to 0. Thus far in the tournament Eastern Southland has had no goals scored against it. The Eastern Southland players excelled in positional play and their stick work was clean and finished. The two full-backs, Miss Hoffman and Miss McDonald, were very sound on defence. Southland put up a good exhibition, but was outclassed in every department. The scorers were Misses Reid (2), Nicol and Bond. Poverty Bay A beat Bush by 2 goals to 1, mainly owing to the superior combination and more accurate hitting of the winners in contrast to the individualism of the ' Bush players, whose weakness in positional play sometimes lost them good opportunities. Nevertheless, Bush played vigorously and the game was exciting all the time. Misses Wells and Ruru scored for Poverty Bay and Miss Ryan scored for Bush. In the B section Aslmurton held Ruahine to a 1-1 draw. The game was played bn a very muddy ground, spectacular hockey being impossible as the ball could not travel far. There was little to choose between the teams on the day, though Ashburton had' the better of the game in the concluding stages. Both teams had fast runners among the backs, but the ground was too heavy and only occasional glimpses could be seen of their speed. Miss Monteith scored for Ruahine within four minutes of the opening. Ashburton’s score was not made until on in the second spell, when Miss Donaldson netted. South Otago beat Wellington by 2 goals to nil in a game played on a heavy muddy ground. The Wellington backs were superior to the forwards and at times combination was lacking. South > Otago had good combination and • with good understanding between backs and forwards every advantage was taken of openings. The Southerners showed themselves to be much tha better team on the day’s play. Both goals were scored by Miss M. Scott. Akitio had much the better of its game with Wairarapa, winning by three goals to one. Akitio. had better combination, Wairarapa being frequently caught out of position. Misses O. Heoman (2) and Reid scored for Akitio and Miss Dauber for Wairarapa. ' - To-morrow’s draw is as follows:—

A section: Bush v. Auckland, Canterbury v. Eastern Southland, Marlborough v. Southland, Poverty Bay a bye. ’ B section: Akitio v. Poverty Bay B, Wellington v. Ruahine, South Otago v. Ashburton, Wairarapa a bye.