HOCKEY

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18452, 1 May 1928, Page 3

HOCKEY

NOTES AND COMMENTS, fr*******?

After a night's drizzle and a cloudy morning the weather held fine for the Continuation of the Christchurch Hockey Association's competition matches on Saturday last, although a cold south-westerly blew across the ground. The Hagley Park area was fullv occupied as all grounds were double banked and no less than sixteen matches were played on the area during the afternoon. :: Selwyn had an easy task in defeating a scratch St Albans team, and the match was cut down in the second spell as it developed into a picnic. St Albans were unfortunate in losing the services of Quartermain. who strained a leg on the previous Saturday, and of Soper and Franklin, neither of whom was present. The team's mishaps continued, as during the first spell C. Werren had the misfortune to strain the muscles of a leg and he had to retire. k t* TT The other senior match at Hagley Park was a clean and fast contest, as both teams were fit and willing and the score of one to nil was a fair indication of the relative strength of the two teams. At Ensor’s Road Trinity met defeat at the hands of Technical B bv three goals to two. SELW7N v. ST ALBANS. What promised to be- a fast and even game between Selwyn and St Albans was completely spoiled by the weak team fielded by St Albans. St Albans have suffered for the past few seasons through the laxity of their regular players, and it is unfortunate that the club cannot get their senior team firmly established. Saturday was no exception as there were no fewer than four junior players, while at half time Lucas went on in place of Werren. who had strained a leg in the first •pell. The youthful Barnhill was in goal for St Albans, and while he made some •wonderful saves he had no chance with some of the lightning shots sent in by the Selwyn forwards. C. Werren and Hamilton played as right and left backs respectively. The former was too slow for a fast set of forwards. Hamilton may be a representative left back in a season or two, but at present his fielding is at fault and he needs practice at hitting a flying ball. He has pace and is game and he keeps his place well. . The half line was very weak, as G. Graham was the only player. The forwards were demoralised as a result of the inclusion of stop gaps and emergencies. There was little or no combination but the team did remarkably well to keep the score down to four goals in the first half. Selwyn had a good side. B. Morris, the centre half, played in goal as he had the misfortune to injure a knee during the week. However he did good service between the posts. A. Mahoney put in a strenuous time as right back, and his solid defence kept the play well away from the danger zone. He was inclined to get across too much and leave his own position vacant through his eagerness to get in the game. The half line was excellent, and with C. Hore, F. Squire and B. Hore to deal with the St Albans forwards had a hard job. W. Ewart played as right wing and should he continue his p’resent form the selector should be'bound to give him attention. S. Bell in centre again proved himself a master of the game, a feature being his tricky stick play. Contrary to report W. Bell turned out as left inside and played with his usual energy. TRINITY v. TECHNICAL B. A fast game, in which Technical B held a slight advantage over Trinity, ended in a victory for Trinity by 3 goals to 2. The Technical team was an even side, which kept the pace going well to snatch victory in the last ten minutes They used strong attacks down both wings and hit the ball about well keeping the Trinity defence moving. E. Bastion, on the left wing, made a lot of good offensives and sent the ball over cleanly. At inside left. E. Cockroft was the best of the line, and his clever play was responsible for some dangerous movements. J. Hill was not up to his opponent in the bully and his circle work was weak, though he was good in the open. L. Scott was vigorous and worked well with M'Clymont, who played on the wing.

well at left half, and his stick play was clever, though he crowded his centre too much.

S. Crook and R. Wear, the backs, were a solid pair, with Wear much the better. lie stopped and cleared well. E. Harvey filled his old place between the posts. He was bustled occasionally. but generally went well. Trinity gave some flashes of good play, but the team work 'was, to a large extent, absent. The forwards did not pass the ball soon enough nor quickly enough, and over-hitting by the insides lost some opportunities. In R. Collins and G. Hay the team have a couple of useful insides and the pair did well. Hay is a new arrival from Wellington, and is a good type of inside right, battling well and following up quickly. His goal was from a nice solo effort, and he was unlucky on two other occasions. Collins had a hard job to hold the attack together, but in the close work he went well G. Pattison, on the right wing, was weak and failed to give the inside enough of the ball. A. Graham, on the left wing, was not up to form, though he made a few useful runs. Curtis filled a gap at inside left, but he was weak and did not show enough dash in the circle. The half line was fair. The wing halves were inclined to wander and a lot of work fell to C. Rogers at centre. R. Davis will be useful when he gets over a tendency to crowd into the centre. A hard knock and the fast game may have slowed R. Burburv up, as he was doing fairly well in the first half. C. Rogers failed to keep up with his forwards enough, and sometimes left a big gap. He started several attacks and gave Collins a neat chance, which the latter scored from. 11. Norris and F. Perham were a solid pair of backs and got through a lot of work. They will improve with experience of each other’s play. Perham used his reach to advantage, but the fast ground was somewhat against him. S. Buchanan performed well in goal. TECHNICAL A v. VARSITY. The meeting of the Technical A and Varsity teams produced a clean game of hockey, both sides being fit and fast. The surprise of the match was the fine performance of C. C. Holland in the position of goalkeeper. On the previous Saturday Holland received a nasty cut from a rising ball and had not intended to play, but his team was short and he turned out between the posts. Of the two Varsity backs, Loney stood out as the steadiest and safest. The half line was very even, Thwaites being the pick of the trio. The forwards lacked combination and stick work. P. Hill was the best of the line. The Technical team was rearranged and Matthews was promoted from the B team and played centre, with Gracie on the right wnig. Matthews went well, and with another game or two in the same company, should prove an acquisition. Coffey's play was an improvement upon his previous game, as he passed the ball to better advantage. The half line was good, all through B. Rogers being far and away the best of the three. J. Hitchen was the steadier of the two backs. H. Pickup, in goal, stopped everything, but he appears to have forgotten to use his stick. iei JOTTINGS. Although the entries for the primaryschools’ competitions closed on Friday last, there had been very few received last night, and many schools which were known to have been entering teams have been lax in forwarding their entries. a m m All those interested in schools’ hockey-, and more especially those connected with Redcliffs, will regret to learn of the decease of Mr W. D. Kirk Patrick, late headmaster of the Redcliffs School. The writer was closely connected with the late Mr Kirkpatrick in his work for hockey-, and' can candidly state that the heart and soul into the welfare of his pupils at the school. At the meeting of the New Zealand Hockey Association, held last evening, the motion to extend the suspension of the “hooking of sticks” rule was defeated by a fair majority-. The matter was introduced by Mr 11. Throp and was the cause of considerable discussion. The suspension of the rule allowing the hooking of sticks was given a trial, and, as far as local hockey' was concerned, was a step in the right direction. However, outside, associations held different views, and the rule now reverts back and hooking of sticks is now permissible, according to the laws of the game as issued by the International Board of Control.

The half line was fair. W. Turner was inclined to wander from his place at right half, and often did not stop the opposing winger. lie started a lot of movements. 11. Archer was tried at centre-half, and, while he was new to the position, he performed fairly well. V. Hahn, a left wing, performed