STRENUOUS HOCKEY.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20363, 21 July 1934, Page 11

STRENUOUS HOCKEY.

Exhausted Women Players Carried Off. INCIDENTS AT WESTPORT. (Special to the ” Star.”) WESTPORT, July 20. The six-a-side tournament for the Elite Cup (women’s teams), -which was played under the auspices of the Buller Hockey Association at Victoria Square, Westport, yesterday, was marked by the most extraordinar}' - happenings ever witnessed in the Buller district. Owing to strenuous and prolonged play, players became exhausted and had to receive attention. In the semi-final between Westport and Rangers (Millerton), seven periods of extra time were played before a decision was reached, the country club winning by a goal. As a result of over-exertion, a player had to be assisted off the ground, while many others were in a state of collapse.

With only a short respite, the Millerton team played Rovers (Granity) in the final almost in darkness, and after half-an-hour’s battling no score resulted. The referee then decided to stop the game. Whilst a meeting of the association was being held on the ground to decide the issue, players became hysterical and were borne off the playing area. Later, the association decided that each team should hold the cup for six months, and Mrs J. M. Robertson, the donor, offered to present two sets of shields, one for each team.