HOCKEY, 1964 As regards weather the 1964 season compares favourably with most: only one match, against Bootham, had to be cancelled and the second and third games both had more than their usual quota of hockey. However, the loss of a complete season last year was very apparent in the inexperience and lack of tactical skill of many of the members of the First Game; fortunately there were perhaps more players than usual with natural ability and the 1st XI was potentially one of the best in recent years. In Cloughton, Mitchell and Hunt we had a mid-field trio of great ability; that they did not score more goals was due to the usual fault of poor finishing, although Mitchell showed once or twice that he will one day be a very dangerous centre-forward. Cloughton was the most experienced and most accomplished player in the side; he worked tremendously hard and got the best out of his team. Hunt's stickwork was above average for a schoolboy and he worked himself to a standstill both in defence and attack; when he learns the difficult art of making the defence-splitting pass at the right moment he will be an asset to any side. Ibberson on the right wing ran well and hit some good centres but lacked the experience to decide on the right thing to do on each occasion; on the other wing Harding never attempted to exceed his own limitations and thereby sent across a succession of excellent centres before the opposing defence could cover; he was also on hand to have a shot himself on occasions. The defence was usually sound, and the fact that a powerful Styx side was held to two goals until the last ten minutes of the game testifies to their tenacity. In goal Higgins, after a rather tentative start, played extremely well in the last two matches. Of the two backs, Hudson was eminently sound and reliable, rarely making a mistake and positioning himself well, whilst Nettleton, deceptively casual, at times anticipated brilliantly and usually came out of a tackle with the ball. Richardson at right-half supported his forwards well, hitting many excellent cross-passes, but he must overcome a tendency to hang on to the ball too long; the other winghalf, Eatough, improved with every match and proved to be a very tenacious player who marked his opponent very closely and intercepted well; his chief need is to cultivate a really hard cross-pass. In the early matches it looked as if Pickersgill might be too slow at centre-half but a brilliant display against York, the strongest Club side in Yorkshire, gave him the confidence he needed and he controlled the middle of the field very well; he must improve and quicken his distribution, chiefly by means of the push shot.. As usual, the team produced its best performances against the strongest opposition; against York they played some good hockey without much reward, but against the Styx the whole team played well above itself. on 12th March the School sent a team to take part in a six-a-side tournament run by Welbeck College: after losing unnecessarily 1-0 to Oakham, the eventual winners, in the first game, the team did well to beat Worksop and West Bridgeford to win the losers' tournament. The team was: Nettleton; Richardson, Eatough; Cloughton, Mitchell, Hunt. Reserve: W. M. Hudson. The 2nd XI suffered equally from lack of experience but had quite a successful season: of the older players White and Todd did well, and of the younger ones D. E. Hudson, Vooght and Baxter showed much promise,
29
