Hockey

The weather was the worst for many seasons, causing the cancellation of four 1st XI, three 2nd XI and one 3rd XI fixtures. New fixtures were played against Archbishop Holgate's G.S. and Nunthorpe School, and two fixtures for a 3rd XI were arranged. Staffing problems were eased by the addition of Mr. Dixon and Mr. Clark helping with games two and three.

Potentially the 1st XI could have been the best for many years, but as usual the bad weather early in the term prevented nearly all training so that our first match was played after only one practice. The halfback line of Vooght, Pickersgill and Abel were very sound in defence and their distributional play in attack improved with every game. Harding successfully moved from the forward line to right back and Richardson proved a very competent left back in his second season of Hockey. In the forward line Baxter at centre forward was the most improved player in the side scoring over half of all our goals. On the right wing Morris combined more stick work in addition to his speed, and will make a good inside forward for next season. The difficult positions of left wing and inside forward were filled adequately by Roebuck, Willstrop and Lancaster, and by the end of the season all were working well together.

The 2nd XI, containing several rather inexperienced players, since the introduction of the new system won three out of their four games and contained some good younger players to replace the eight who are leaving this year from the 1st XI.

The six-a-side competition at Welbeck was quite successful.

We beat West Bridgeford in the first round, then beat Oakham, last year's winners; losing 1-2 to Welbeck in the final. The team was Vooght, Pickersgill, Lancaster, Morris, Harding and Abel.

A new venture during the first week of the holidays was a School's Hockey festival, held at Scarborough College. Owing to late news of the festival we could not send a full team and just managed to get XI players, four from 1st XI, six from 2nd XI and one 3rd XI. Although all the games were lost, valuable experience was gained by the second XI players, and it is hoped to have a more representative side if it is held again next year. Abbotsholme Lost 2-5 King's Gloucester Lost 4-5 Reed's Cobham Lost 2-6

The players were Reiss, Harding, Dickinson, Scott, A. G., Richardson, Wailer, Smith, C. J., Pickersgill, W. R., Wood, J. R., Anderson.

1st XI RESULTS Sat., 29th Jan. v. Welbeck College ... Wed., 16th Feb. v. Bootham School

Lost 1-2 Won 2-1

Wed., 23rd Feb. v. Worksop College Lost 1-2

Wed., 2nd Mar. v. Nunthorpe School .

Won 6-1 Sat., 5th Mar. v. Old Peterites .. Won 1-0 Wed., 9th Mar. v. Styx Hockey Club ... ... ... ... Lost 3-7

Matches against Leeds Corinthian, Trent and Scarborough Colleges and York Hockey Club were cancelled. 2nd XI Sat., 29th Jan. v. Welbeck College ... Won 4-0 Wed., 16th Feb. v. Bootham School ... Won 2-1 Wed., 23rd Feb. v. Worksop College ... . Lost 1-4 Wed., 9th Mar. v. Archbishop Holgate's G.S. 1st XI Won 3-1 3rd XI Wed., 9th Mar. v. Archbishop Holgate's G.S. 2nd XI Won 2-0

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Saturday, 29th January. Away.

Playing on a fast pitch and played by the "sticks" rule, the School were a long time in settling down, with a result that Welbeck scored two goals in the first 20 minutes, their forwards being a continual menace throughout the indifferent first half. The School had some attacking moves, but could not fully penetrate the Welbeck defence.

In the second half, the Welbeck defence was under great strain, with a result that Baxter scored a fine goal to end one of the best attacking moves of the game. After this the School took command of the game for the last 10 minutes, with both Baxter and Lancaster netting the ball, only to find themselves off-side.

Both teams produced some good hockey, with Welbeck commanding the play in the first half, and the School controlling the second half. A fairer result would have been a draw.

Result: St. Peter's 1, Welbeck 2.

SCHOOL v. BOOTHAM SCHOOL

Wednesday, 16th February. Home.

In this game there was no question that the School outclassed their opponents, and it was surprising to find such a high standard attained after very little practice. In the first half Bootham never had a good shot at goal, with a result that they were mostly on the defensive. Having used the ball to much better effect, the School continually attacked the Bootham goal and eventually Baxter scored two very good goals.

At the beginning of the second half the School produced some top class hockey with the half-back line of Vooght, Pickersgill and Abel initiating attacking moves which were all but finished off by Morris, Lancaster and Baxter. As it turned out goals never came after continued attempts, as frequent good shots at goal were stopped as a result of brilliant goalkeeping by the opposition. Towards the end of the game Bootham made some dangerous attacking moves which were only curbed by some solid defence work by the School. Result: St. Peter's 2, Bootham 0.

SCHOOL v. WORKSOP COLLEGE

Wednesday, 23rd February. Away.

Having won the toss, Vooght decided to play against the strong wind and also up the slope. Both teams started briskly, with Worksop playing a little better as they moved the ball smartly across the field. However, they suffered a severe shock half-way through this first half when Pickersgill following up a goal-mouth scramble, put the School in the lead. This lead was short lived and the Worksop centre forward equalised with a good opportunist goal. From then on the School were under a good deal of pressure, and after a further five minutes Worksop scored again, as the School defence appealed for off-side. Worksop had the ball in the net but the goal was disallowed because of "sticks".

In the second half, with the slope of the pitch and the wind in their favour, the School played with much more confidence, with Thirlwell in particular in the defence, ably dealing with anything that came his way. The attack played much more fluently and in the last ten minutes were very 31

unlucky not to snatch an equaliser, as three short corners and one long corner were awarded, and several very good crosses from the right wing, by Morris, passed through the circle untouched.

Considered the lack of practice, the School put up a commendable performance with the wing-halves, Vooght and Abel, playing constructive games.

Result: St. Peter's 1, Worksop 2.

SCHOOL v. NUNTHORPE SCHOOL

Wednesday, 2nd March. Home.

The first match of this new fixture was played at home instead of away, and owing to the recent rain our pitch was damp and soggy and did not take long to cut up considerably. Our opposition were highly rated, containing two Yorkshire Schoolboy players and one trialist.

The match started with both teams having creditable shots at goal in the first five minutes. After 10 minutes came the School's first goal, scored by Baxter after the opposition's defence failed to give a good clearance. From this moment onwards the School took command of the first half with some good runs down the right wing by Morris, and clever inside forward play by Willstrop and Lancaster. The second goal was from a strong shot by Baxter and Morris scored a lucky goal after taking the ball down the wing from the half-way line.

The 3-0 lead produced confidence in the School side, and with their defence playing as tightly as usual, the opposition had little opportunity to score. Constructive forward play continued and it was not long before Willstrop scored the fourth, and from a long corner Lancaster scored the fifth, with a goal shot. However, as the second half progressed the conditions became very bad and the scrappy play, which had on occasions been seen, became much more evident. The sixth goal came from a short corner; Vooght had a very strong shot blocked and Baxter following in well, managed to slide the ball over the line. A few minutes later Richardson left the field with a cut lip leaving a gap which was exploited by the opposition until they scored a goal from their only short corner of the game. The School victory stemmed from the mid-field control, and by quicker adaption to the conditions.

Result: St. Peter's 6, Nunthorpe 1. Colours were re-awarded to Baxter, Morris and Harding.

SCHOOL v. OLD PETERITES

Saturday, 5th March. Home.

The game started off extremely fast and play was very open. The opposition inside forwards played well together and dominated the first half by using the through pass, to create advantageous openings. The School's defence was worked hard, but managed to repel the repeated attacks which were pressed from all angles. Thirlwell played an excellent game, clearing everything that came his way with the air of a much experienced goal-keeper. Harding was clearing well with goal hits, and together with Vooght, provided the basis of many of the School's attacks. The School by now were moving the ball about the field very well, with many good cross hits from Vooght.

At the end of the first half a position of stalemate had been reached and the start of the second half showed the determination of both sides to get 32