Vic 4th in tournament points

By John Winton

Hampered by anti-student traffic cops, and not a little confusion in the ranks of student organisers. The bed-race started the 22nd Winter Tournament at Auckland.

The Result did not bode well for Victoria's likely performance in the more serious competitions. A winning position was lost following a blow-out short of the finish (a caster fell off) and the team limped in a close second to last.

In spite of this early defeat the Victoria teams did not lose heart and although they struggled in many of the ensuing competitions the final result could have been worse: Victoria came fourth on the overall points.

Thus another Winter Tournament has passed. To those who won, congratulations, to those who lost, our heartfelt sympathy!

Soccer

The Football played was exciting to watch and apart from the game against Otago on Wednesday morning, when Victoria just couldn't move the ball quickly and accurately enough, the Victoria team played meritorious soccer and deserved a higher place than fourth position, with 22 goals for and nine against, Vic was on goal average next best to Otago (24 for and seven against).

Games: Victoria 10, Lincoln 1. In this game the defence was never tested. Lincoln attacks were broken in mid-field by the half-backs. Bob Howell, Dale Reddish, Chris Ryan and K. P. Too played outstandingly.

Victoria 6, Massey 0 (half-time 5-0). Again the defence was not overworked but played constructive football and sent the forwards away time after time. Reddish and Howell played outstandingly.

Victoria 3, Canterbury 3 (half-time score 3-0). Here Victoria had their first shock. Before the defence had time to settle down, Canterbury ripped through to score their three goals in the first few minutes of the game. Victoria rallied but their passing was slow and many possible advantages were lost. In the second half Victoria increased their pace and started scoring. K. P. Too a penalty. Bob Howell a beautiful shot past the keeper, and Mike McErlane who took the ball in a solo run right through the defence. Reddish, Howell and Too were again outstanding.

Victoria 1, Otago 3 (half-time 0-1). Victoria was too sluggish. Players held the ball too long, and against a hardened Otago team that day Victoria couldn't, do anything. Reddish played well but had to come on due to injuries.

Victoria 2, Auckland 2 (half-time 2-1). In this final game both teams played excellent football at full pressure. Vic were unlucky to have a goal scored against them in the last minute. It was not until the game was over that we discovered that Rod Bustard had been playing through the second half in great pain with a damaged knee. It was difficult to select outstanding players in the game because each player did his best. However, a few players seemed to shine more than the rest: Alan Mudford, Mike McErlane and Chira Hongladarom.

Bob Howell, Rod Bustard and K. P. Too were selected to play for the New Zealand Universities side against the Auckland under-23s. The Universities won 3-1 with Bob Howell scoring all three goals.