HOCKEY.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 521, 2 August 1932, Page 11

HOCKEY.

Notes and Comments. it J| Competitions Concluded. Saturday saw the conclusion of the senior and junior hockey competitions. Trinity won both senior competitions with an unbeaten record for the season. In the second competition they won four matches and drew. The following is the team’s record for the season: Matches played 15, won 13, drawn 2, lost none; goals, for 39, against 9. Sydenham’s reversal of form came as an unpleasant surprise to their supporters. In the first competition they finished second, four points behind Trinity, but in the second competition they failed to score a point either by win or draw. On the other hand, Technical’s supporters have just reason to be proud of their improvement, as, after being four and a half points behind Trinity in the first competition, they were the only team to draw with Trinity in the second series. The junior A competition has also concluded, Sydenham A proving the winners with .12i points. Technical and Trinity are level for second place, w r ith 9J points each. Canterbury Touring Team. » A Canterbury representative team will leave on Thursday morning to tour the West Coast, Nelson and Marlborough districts. Matches will be played at Westport on August 6, Nelson on August 10 or 11, and Blenheim on August 13. R. Lane, who- was selected as left wing, is unable to make the trip, and L. Edginton has been asked to fill the vacancy. R. Barnhill has been selected as goalkeeper. Technical v. KedcUffs. Redcliffs and Technical turned on a game which was sparkling and full c»f interest. In the first spell Ron Dale* played brilliantly at right back, his anticipation and interception being clever. In the second half, Ron Thompson was seen to advantage, the play coming more his way. On Saturday’s game, Thompson is easily the best back in Canterbury hockey this season, but he has not been consistent. Dale, on the other hand, has played a steady game all through the season and is certainly entitled to consideration. Eric Cooper, right half for Redcliffs, is also a coming boy. He appears a

little awkward in his running on account of his height, but he is clever with his stick and rarely loses possession. L. Sutherland was the weak spot in the half line, but his left-handed play makes him an awkward player to heat. E. Prebble was out of the game until about ten minutes before the final whistle, owing to influenza, and only came on when Reynold Dale had to retire. T. Prebble and Reynold Dale went well until the latter was injured in a collision with a Technical player. T. Prebble made some good openings and played a hard game at left inside. Jack Ainger’s long suit was finding the net, but the slippery nature of the ground was not at all to his liking. T. Barnes, on the right, and J. Sutherland, •on the left, make a poor pair of wings, and neither has either the speed nor stick work for the positions.

After their brilliant exhibition against Selwyn the previous week Technical were disappointing in the first spell, but they went well in the second half. Ro.n Meynell was the pick of the backs and was more at home on the wet ground than J. Coldstone. The half line trio, R. Scott, W. Cole and A. Rogers, all worked well, the lastnamed dealing effectively with Redcliffs’ right attack. Cole fed his centre forwards well and started many promising movements. The forward quartette dry, fast ground. R. Moil’, B. Duffield and M. Lohrey are a good centre trio and only sterling defence by Thompson and Dale prevented them from piling up a score. W. Gracie (right wing) was inclined to carry on too far, as he often went down to within five yards of the goal line only to lose possession when he could have centred earlier to advantage. L. Trebilcock, on the left, shows promise, and his goal was the result of good positional play and clever stick work. SYDENHAM v. VARSITY. After leading by three goals to one at half-timfc, Sydenham’s defence faded and Varsity won by five goals to four. Varsity’s success was due to brilliant play by Ford (left wing), who scored three goals in rapid succession, and to the sterling defence of H. Forsyth, who revelled in the heavy going. The Varsity forwards threw the ball about well and had the .better of the open play, but, with the exception of Ford, their circle play was noox. Wicket t and Peebles worked hardr in the half line, the latter keeping Ford well supplied with the ball. Hall, in goal for Varsity, was sound and the shots that got past him were impossible.

J. Rangridge. R. Ruslibridge and A. Duffield were the only Sydenham forwards worthy of mention. Sydenham's front line weakness Is the right wing, where M’Donald is a failure. V. Wells is the only one of the half line trio who is up to senior standard, as Whittaker is only a junior and G. Graham appears to be getting past his best. The backs, K. Dash and J. Burke, saved a big score being piled up and were safe in the first spell, but failed later against the pace of Barnett and Ford, the Varsity forwards. Although the Selwyn team was rearranged. with two promoted juniors playing in the front line, it put up a surprisingly good game against Trinity, and was one goal up at half-time. R. Davis, by his display on Trinity’s left wing, showed that he is one of the best wingers in the senior competition. The goal that he scored was a beauty and left Bellamy standing. F. Forman was sound on the right wing, but was slow in getting rid of the ball judged and nicely placed. ’ P. M’Corinick got away on his own on one occasion to score Trinity’s other goal—a good effort. G. Jones was solid in the centre position, and D. M’Corinick combined well with Forman. W. Bowden was a great worker in Trinity's half line He was right on his game and was a veritable thorn in Selwyn's side. J. Res ter and I*3. Radcliffe were nevertheless, they constitute a ’strong half line—the best in the competition. H. Norris and O. Rogers had a great deal of work to do In the back positions and did it well. H. Barnhill made a couple of misses when going out to save, but otherwise gave a sound two junior players in, the Selwyn front line was not particularlv strong. J. .Mounsev was never given a chance on the right wing and most of the work went to R. Dane and R. Kdginton, on the left. F. Full wood was out of his position in the halves, but played a fair game. J. Andrews was- the best of the halves, while P. Gfiy, up to his retirement through injuries, was going well. G. Hore played in the back position, with X. Fgan. The Selwyn captain played his usual cool and heady game. Fgan made one or two misses, but retrieved himself later with several good saves. Bellamy ''fi 5 ,n f \ roat form in P°al for Selwyn ami saved a number of-shots brilliantly. His judgment and coolness, combined '\itli a good boot, should gain him his rep. cap this year. WOMEN’S HOCKEY. The Canterbury Women's Hockey Association's competitions were continued on Saturday. In the senior A grade Aranui and Digby’s had clear wins over varsity and Training College respectively. but Rangiora were lucky to gain the Point from West Christchurch. t a&£ church was very even. At the start the country team narrowly missed scoring on several occasions, but West Christchurch improved and gave their opponents many anxious moments Tt was not until well on into the second half that Rangiora gained their goal from a breach of the rules in a penalty bully awarded for obstruction. In the last few minutes the game was, for the most part, in Rangiora's territory, hut lack of penetration by West’s front line nullified good opportunities for scoring. If Rangiora are to maintain the lead they Will have to show much better form when they meet Aranui next Saturday. Playing a weak Training College

eleven, Digby’s had a good win by six goals to nil. The first half was rather one-sided, but the second spell was more even. Digby’s forwards appeared to like the heavy going, for they gave one of their best displays this season. The backs, however, did not have a great deal to do. The Training College backs defended solidly, bu.t the halves and forwards were disappointing. The Aranui-Varsity encounter proved interesting, but the finish of the Aranui forwards gave them the victory. Both sides passed the ball about freely, and only good tackling by the halves stopped many promising movements. Offside play spoilt many Aranui movements. Senior B. Southbrook and Hornby are still well ahead of the other teams in this grade, but to forecast the winner would be difficult, although Hornby are still a point behind. The meeting of these two teams next Saturday will be watched with interest, for a win for Hornby will make a. play-off necessary. Southbrook won by default from Rawliiti, while Hornby bad an easy win over West Christchurch. Playing Lincoln, who were one short. Digb.v’s scored a last-minute victory. The latter’s had shooting lost many chances, for they had the better of the play. Waimairi reversed the first round result by defeating Technical B by 3 goals to 1. while Technical A defeated Rangiora by a similar margin, after having lost in the first round. Junior A. The section play in the junior A grade has now finished, Hinemna winning the A section by half a point from Kiwi A, who, however defeated them on Saturday. Aza are next with the other teams well back. In the B section Redcliffs, with an unbeaten record, are first, with Lyttelton, 5J points behind, as their nearest attendants. The section winners will meet next Saturday to find the winner of the grade, and they have byes in the first round of a knock-out competition which will be commenced on that day. Representative Team. The team i liosen to represent Canterbury in the K Cup tournament at Dunedin at the end of the month is about the best that, could have been picked. Alhough. perhaps, not so strong as the team which was beaten in the final at Gisborne in 1 929. the team should give a good account of itself. Some of the positions were easy to fill, whilst there were many candidates for the others. The only surprise in the forwards was the choice of D. Dickey (Hornby). The lack of a good inside left, no doubt, gave the selectors little choice, but she should fill the position well. Dickey is very fit. and has been a prolific goal scorer for her own team. On her season’s play her selection Is justified, and it will not be surprising to find her one of the outstanding players. A. Kirkpatrick (Aranui) and R. Symons (Technical) were both unfortunate in being passed over, but M. Richards (Digby’s) has shown consistent form, and she has had experience of tournament play, should perform well. The backs have plenty of pace, and are good in defence. D. Maginness is the best of the goalkeepers in Christchurch at present, and. with good backs in front of her she should fill the nosition to advantage. Taken all round, ilie team is a good one. with Plenty of pace in the forwards, and a solid defence.