WHAKATANE WINS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 21, 7 June 1939, Page 5

WHAKATANE WINS

FIRST REP. MATCH

< OPOTIKI DOWNED BY 14 TO 6

SOLID, STRUGGLE AT DOMAIN

To a fast pack of forwards, well iheaded by 3est, Whakatane chiefly •■owed their' victory over Opotiki by 14 points to on, the Whakatane Do, main on Monday. The first repiesen- • "tative match of the season, the game ' was watched by a faiir ciowd, who • saw good though it was largely of the forward variety. The Opotiki backs impressed more as n set than the "Whakatane men., and had they had anything like the a. mount of ball that Mcrito gave hi: side, they must have been vei'y hard to stop. The ground was hard and ■ there were several Opotiki casualties ; some due to border line play irom Whakaitane. Main weakness in the Whakatane back line came close in. Rangikotua was generally reliable, but often very slow and the five.eighths dropped a 7 lot of passes. Boynton went well both -at centre and fullback and so did Ruru. Oswald was elusive on attack :and fast to get back and cover up. In the pack Angus was very much .inclined to get offside. Merito hookted in great style, and he showed up Sn some good hunting with Wilson, liis other front row man. Wilson was vigorous all day and was one of the Ibest forwards. Lambert, Brown and Walker, too, were good. Best and Lawson were hard to fault. Best kept his pack's collective nose to the grindstone, and worked! them out; -of danger at one period in the second :9ialf when the lighter Opotiki men -were gaining the initiative. Lawson, •an emergency t played a game which would have justified' his selection in the first place. Of the Opotiki team not so much •need be said. In Le Pine they had 3, solid fullback who found touch well and tackled sclidly. The thieequarter line looked dangerous, with McKen, ■y\e, the centre, revealed as a tricky runner. Jones and Shajfoon combin* ed well as five .eighths, and McDonald %wa s the better halfback of the two ; seen in action. The forwards were .outweighted but played gallantly ail the time. Walker was no match for Merito as a hooker, but whenever he .could get a faiir break at the ball he made a good showing. Due to injuries both teams differed from the original selection. The teams which played most of the game were: Whakatane: Ruri; Boynton, Oswald; Riini. Hotene; Rangikotua; Angus, Merito, W T ilson; Lambert, Best, Walker Lawson; Brown. Opotiki: Le Pine; T. Walker, McIvenzie, Starky; Jones, Shalfoon; McDonald: Collins, I. Walker, Taka; Delamere (2), Keller, H. Walker*. FarronRiini opened Whakatane's account •with a free kick. The Whakatane forwards were going well and a tear, ing rush headed by Wilson, Best and Lawson just failed. Hotene tried to . carry on, but went out on the corncr. Best missed a penalty and Whakatane hammered away. Finally from a scrum Rangikotua fed his backs hut nobody made an inch until the ball . came out to Oswald who took a bad pass over his head and scored. Riini . converted. S-0. Opotiki made a beautiful rush and Delamere picked up to break through Ruru's high tackle for a good tr\ . The kick swerved outside the upright Whakatane Q, Opotiki 3. G. Walker fell heavilv when Boynton tackled him and left the field with a shoulder injury. The Blue backs showed up in, an. • other run and Oswald was almost in. He inpassed to .Rangikotua who waa taken on the line and Opotiki clear., ed. Opotiki forced a moment or so ; later. Then the Opotiki fullback tried to force. The ball .slid away from him and, first Best, then another forward touched down. The referee thought the ba]j had been forced but it could have been 'giVen a try': Whakatane continued to press and for lifting by the Opotiki forwards were given a free kick. It wa s a poster which just rolled in .making the seoro 31.3. SECOND HALF Bovnton went to fullback ar.d Ruru to centre. Opotiki put a couple of new men in. Brown got offside in front and Le Pine kicked .1 goal. 11.6. The Whakatane forwards Avere going much better than Opotiki but •the local backs as a set were no bet—ter. ' Play was tight for a time with "Shalfoon and MeKenzie making good runs for Opotiki and the visitor*

rather holding the edge. McDonald was hurt but resumed after attention and Opotiki stormed the line until a knock_on ended things. Whakatane retaliated. Best 1 making a plunging run and Wilson capping the movement with a try. An Opotiki man was too eager a.nd a no T charge kick was given. Riini missed It was not an easy shot. Whakatane 14, Opotikj 6. Whakatane took the aggression again. Lawson and Merito were prominent in a forward movement but Le Pine saved in good style, as he did a little later when Best headed his pack. Oswald missed an ambitious penalty from the sideline and the game ended shortly afterwards. Mr Boswell kept control of the game well. DRAW IN CURTAIN RAISER WHAKATANE 6, RANGITAIKI (i Whakatane and Rangitaiki Thirds drew with six points all in a curtain raiser to the main game on the Domain on Monday. Play early was in Rangitaiki's fav. our, then from a scrum in midfield a long passi came out to Pakeha. He cross-kicked accurately to Paul 7 and the winger gathered the ball in nicely and ran for the line. Short of i f he stumbled, but he recovered and scored. The kick missed. A moment later Mansell tied with smart following up while Whaka, tane waited for the bounce. The kick missed. Both packs of forwards were loafing, with some notable shin ers revealed in the Whakatane van. There was no further score to half time. After half-time Whakatane obstructed vigorously. Eventually W. Green broke away and booted through to score. Whakatane were having a fairer share of the game now, but Rangitaiki drew level when on the half_waiy line B. Jones kicked past the fulbaclc and kept the ball at his feet until he fell on it over the line. This made the scores 6 all, the kipk failing. Mr B. Norman refereed.