Premier League wins

Press, 23 April 1979, Page 3

Premier League wins

Eastern 1' Suburbs-Hertz and Linwood, the two teams which have enjoyed the most success in the early part of the rugby league season, did not get everything all their own way when they made their first premiership appearances at the Show Grounds yesterday. Although Eastern (at the expense of Kaiapoi) and Linwood (against Hornby) succeeded in joining Papanui and Addington as winners in the opening round, they failed to display the form which carried them into the recent knock-out. tournament final. The credit for Eastern and Linwood having to work much harder to achieve their expected victories Jay entirely with their opponents. Kaiapoi was still only two points behind Eastern entering the last quaiter before falling to a 30-18 loss, and Linwood could never afford to relax while nudging out Hornby, 15-12. Linwood’s tactics seem certain to come under close scrutiny in the week ahead. Two of its prominent players, Cliff Leney and Patil Truscott, served terms in the “sin-bin” late in the match and on occasions the game threatened to become too heated.

Ironically, Linwood enjoyed its most prosperous period while Leney was

temporarily suspended. An outstanding try by Robin Alleld, created when he cleverly ran onto a short pass from his centre, Kelvin Kelly, had put Hornby into a 9-7 lead and Linwood’s prospects looked bad when it was reduced to 12 men. But Linwood lifted its work-rate and Keith Henry and Mike Smith scored tries within 3 min of each other. Then Truscott had his turn in the “sin-bin,” actually passing the recalled Leney on his way, and a try by the Hornby replacement, Darryl Hawker, left Hornby trailing by only one point. A penalty by ' Leney completed the scoring . Hornby played with commendable spirit, particularly after losing two members of its pack, Stewart Weils and Mel Tihore, because of injuries in the first half. The rearranged forward formation dominated the scrums after the resumption, Hornby having an overall advantage of 17-9. But Hornby also made | more basic errors, frittering away the hard-won possession. If Linwood’s handling mistakes were less frequent, , they were still costly, for the ball was spilled at least

twice when tries were distinct possibilities, A fine duel between the inside backs resulted in Merv Manson (Hornby) win- : Ping the McWilliam’s Wines ‘‘man of the match” award and Wally Wilson, of Linwood. becoming the first recipient of the Iron Horse Restaurant prize. Eastern introduced an ; interesting newcomer as a . replacement wing midway through the second half of its encounter with Kaiapoi. Peter Klink, a 19-year-old from Papua New Guinea who is training with Air < New Zealand, scored two tries in just 4min to take Eastern to a safe position. A determined display by Kaiapoi had it within range of Eastern at 19-15 with 15min remaining. Kaiapoi then won a scrum on its own try-line, but to the dismay of its supporters the 1 ball eluded two defenders and Klink was left: un- . marked; he was soon to 1 touch down a second time, ] completing a free-flowing back-line manoeuvre. j It was only laxness on the I defence late in both halves which cost Kaiapoi the chance of causing a big < upset. Kaiapoi itself could have increased its total had I

it not wasted scoring opportunities because of the failure of supporting players to position themselves correctly. Kevin Steel, Richard Hampton and Ray Howard all made their mark in the Kaiapoi back-line, and Tony Stanley, a rangy loose forward. was responsible for several clean breaks. The Jim Beam “man of the match” award went to Eastern’s player-coach, Grant Findlay, who was well supported bv John Maguiness, Barry Edkins, Bruce Murphy and Noel Turner. Results: — Linwood 15 (W. A. Wilson, K. Henry, M. Smith tries; C. R. Lenev three goals) beat Hornby 12 (R. L. Alfeld, D. Hawker tries; K. Kelly two, M. A. Manson goals). Halftime: Linwood, 7-4. Scrums: Hornby, 17-9. Penalties: 1515. Referee: T. Drake. Eastern 30 (P. Klink two, A. Teague, B. J. Murphy, J-. Maguiness, N. Turner tries; B. R. Edkins six goals) beat Kaiapoi 18 (K. G. Steel, R. A. Howard, D. Numa. T. Stanley tries; Steel two, G. Turton goals). Half-time: Eastern, 17-7. Scrums: Eastern, 23-13. Penalties: Kaiapoi, 8-5. Referee; K. R. Blackler.