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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol. 2, No. 12. June 28, 1939

Men's Hockey

Men's Hockey

With four wins, a draw and only two losses, Saturday's results for the first time this season make pleasant reading. A word of explanation is however necessary, for with the completion of the first round, two teams have, alas, been relegated to lower grades. Whether this ignominy was merited is open to question; and it is for the players themselves to supply

As was expected, the Senior team, despite the absence of two of its more prominent players, had little opposition in its match against Karori, leading team in the second division. Nevertheless it had by no means the overwhelming victory an ex-first division team should have gained. The opposition rarely looked like scoring, yet our team, despite its territorial advantage, also rarely looked like scoring. For this, there seem to be two reasons—poor shooting and lack of co-ordination between halves and forwards.

The halves as a whole played well, but Buchanan and Hobson would be well advised to endeavour to vary their play a little more. Newcombe's play, though in itself admirable, does not seem suited to that of the team as a whole, and consequently loses much of its value.

Neither of the backs, or the goal keeper for that matter, was overworked, and their play was flattered by the weakness of the opposition. All three should endeavour to develop a keener sense of anticipation, and also strengthen their clearance shots. As is the case with the whole team, a failure to draw their opponent before hitting was all too apparent.

In the forwards, the main weaknesses were a failure to back-tackle and a lack of finish in the circle. They should remember that goal-scoring is their only objective—that once in the circle, a single determined hit should suffice. The goals scored by clean hits this season can be counted on the fingers of one hand. A push shot from a melee in the circle is admirable in some circumstances; but it is better to have a "snap" shot at goal before the melee develops. It must be realised that the unexpected tactics are the most effective, and so it is with goal-shooting.

Neither of the insides, Cole and Shaw, gave the support to the halves they should have, and neither followed in, in the circle. The wings, especially Naidu, were weak incentering though Souness did some nice work on the right.

Yet despite the faults pointed out, the club has the material for a first-class team. But it is up to everyone to do their bit and pull their weight one hundred per cent.