HOCKEY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3598, 10 August 1912, Page 9

HOCKEY.

(By “Bully-off.”) State of Competitions. THURSDAY: West End 13 Civil Sen-ice 10 Te Rau 9 City 0 SATURDAY: Civil A 17 West End 15 Mercantile 10 Civil B 0 West End and Civil B have a match to play. LADIES: High School ... 13 Old Girls ...' ... , 6 Kowliai 5 Gisborne 2 According to the above, both the men’s eomeptitions are at an interesting stage, as it is hard to pick the winner. The Thursday contest does not look the runaway victory for West End as was predicted at the end of the first round. Civils are making a bold bid to oust the Shield holders from the premier position, and Te Rau are also well in the running. The Saturday competition lies between Civil A, last year’s winners, and West End. The next meeting of these two should be worth, watching, as a good game is certain to eventuate. Mercantile aro still to bo reckoned with, and may yet upset piesent calculations.

High School is the probable winners of the ladies’ competition. This they have accomplished by attention to practice and superior combination Comment;:. The match Mercantile v. Civil A last Saturday was disappointing. Mercs, were without the services of Morse, Cramp and Gardiner, and suffered consequently. * * if ■R. Miller played a fine defensive game. Was inclined to give sticks. His stopping was good. * * * W. Reddell ably assisted Miller and cleared time and again. * * * Shan and Robinson both worked

hard, but should 'keep their •wits about them when in u tight corner. * St. Pycroft did not hare much to do, and the same applies to Mackie. * * * Fraser player well, and got in some line runs'. * * * Maynard worked willingly ; should learn, to hit cleaner. * * * Civil's played well together and brought, off sonic fine passing rushes. ■* * « Stevens was very sate in goal, although net called upon very much. * * * Huston and Haughie cleared well, end fed the forwards to advantage. • * * Tiuei -showed out prominently, and •was well backed up by Robinson and Port. • * * Goer and File, on the wings, did their part well. File's stopping was not t-oo good. Auld. Hudson and Hutton were aformidable trio, and were ever hammering at Mores’ goal. Their passing was a high order. <* * * I notice that the Ladies' Tmivna- ( ;ei,t has been allotted to Canterbury, . n d will be held on the Sydenham ground. Christchurch, from the 7th to pith September. The Auckland As-vx-iaiion refused to hold the tournament on account of differences with Hie New Zealand Ladies’ Association. Who reason being this. At this tour- >• ament it is the custom to . hold a ,-unior competition, open to those as-ivK-uitioim which have distinct juni >r teams. Two yeans back AA’ellin 'ton : -mi,.r-- won the Junior Cup, and are '-till the holders, as last year there , ...... ~r it enough entries to Avar a’t . in.r.icr tournament. This year An •kI .('nd could see there was no pro?poet o .-’biicient entries for the inner eont].eV asked, the liead body f.-, r permission to enter teams Hv.m sub-associations, so that a junior L.-uruainont would he assured. I can ' ni-.- understand Auckland’s reason f. , r this. They wanted to make the tournament a highly successful one, n< l l,holding a junior, as well as a ,-enu.r' contest, the entry fees, and .-rehahlv greater gate takings, would mrterbd'v assist the finances. The A-—rtati.m controlling tlie tourna,:,e;U i., responsible for all expenses, -lid any loss has to be borne by that Association. Rut according to the - idm Cf the N.Z.L.H-A. only junior i emu> are eligible in enter the aniii-r competition, and they could not their wav clear to grant Auekt , n ,r s request. The result was that Auckland refused to undertake the tournament, which was therefore ci•mror. to Canterbury. 1 notice that our 'Management Com,yc ~, has decided to send the team to ''fiirist-church. It is a big undertak- -, ;l , and very few of the players nave vnv-idea- what such a trip will cost. Providing that the financial part is .-atirfaetorv the trip to the Cathedral C'itv should be an enjoyable one, and ....-US prove of immense value to our girls • s thev will meet and see the leading imams of the Dominion, find probaby I ene-fit bv the experience gamed. T * *

Tne team will need to leave on \\ edresdav September 4, arriving at their -destination on Friday 6, and' return.n(* to Gisborne on the 13th. * * * 'Hv- matches on Thursday were of an interesting character. Although "West End easily defeated City, they had -tore than their share of luck- City •bad a good team going, the forwards W-inr inclined to selfish play instead of passing. * * * Armstrong played a fine game foi City, "although he was badly handicap •c-d Lv bis injured leg. * * * McLean worked will, but hits too i. art i as the ball, instead of going to Ids own forwards, went right through the imposing backs. * * * Solar depends too much on onei unded play. * * * Milne, Fox, and Constable showed at well, and give promise of beeornr line players. •* * * All the "West Enders played well, - ,nd it would be hard to specialise, lout '■i. Itice, S. Roderick, B. Redgrave, ■end F. Price were particularly noticedole. . » ■* * C.'ivils and Te Ran played a draw. hc-<- two teams are so evenly matched that this is the third occasion this . n-on that the result has been an c -i'll score. * * * Pine played a grand game for Te Man, and it was chiefly through his :ie effort that the draw resulted. * * * i’atibana, Wnana, and Clark, also owed out conspicuously. * *• t Among the Civils, An 1 cl, Duckon, •nd Hutton were the pick, and they - .-ere ably backed up by Robinson, Goer, Huston, and Port. « * * ' The Ladies trial match, was an in- - resting game, and during the sccona • .-If some really fine hoc-key was wit--.-sod. ■ a * * The two goalkeepers, E. Fromm and id Gallagher, both played welt ,auu cleared effectively. • * * * M. Moore and G. Skinner both shone cut to advantage, getting in some fine tackling work.

J. Ferguson was a shade off color. I trust sho will soon pick. up. ** - * M. Malcolm’s play was splendid. Her stick work was excellent-. M. Reddell also shone out, and gave a good ace-cunt of her self. * * * L. Fanning and M. Fromm were always ready when needed. L. Fanning should learn.to stop the ball.® » * * The forwards on both sides played well and gave the backs a lively time. 13. Pearce and I. Parker showed great promise. * * * M. Fairlie, C. Baty and AY. East all worked willingly, and got in some fine dribbles. * * R. Malcolm and B. Butterfield were worthy of their places and passed the ball when occasion demanded. * * * S. Plowman is improving with oaen match, and promises to become a really good player. * * * M. McLeod was off color, but still shone out at times. Taken on the whole the form shown by the ladies was good, and if they pay close attention to the coaching given them will take some beating at the tournament. I notice the team is to be selected-on Monday, and I trust all those who are picked will be able to make the trip and prove themselves worthy of the confidence placed in them by the selectors, and justify their inclusion in the team.