A HARD TUSSLE

Chronicle (Levin), 4 June 1946, Page 8

A HARD TUSSLE

OTAKI DEFEAT SHANNON After a hard tussle between Foxton and Otaki seniors at Otaki in perfect football weather the latter proved a shade superior to win by 11 points to 6, - On the whole r.he game was well contested and the teams were of equal merit. Otaki set the ball in motion, having -the advantage of the sun, but generally, • they failed to take advantage of it. In the first half the ba.ll spent most oj its time over the side line. Had the rule been foliowed, kick htgh and follow up, Otaki would probably have had the bigger score. From the kick off Otaki forced play to the Foxton line, but a free kick, and these were numerous, removed plav to tlm opposite end of the field, and another free kick to Foxton ww Tayloi" nearly pilot the ball over the bar. Hard rucking play foliowed, and graduaPv the ball was taken to Foxton territory, where Otaki wr-re awarded a penalty kick .vhich relieved the tension. Then Foxton, by some hard poiid work. carried the ball to Otaki territory, and another free kick to Foxton saw Taylor kick a fine goal from wejl out. Foxton 3. Otaki nil. Loose piay foliowed. inter^ner.^ed with more free kicks, and Foxton were so hard m'eased that p-m +o a force-down. Then Nicholls, by a determined rush, just fail ea to T"iq"'h fh° T" ]ino "Rrip-'hf rilciy by the Otaki backs saw Arda Hakaraia nearlv over the ^ - raia and his men kept up the attack, enabling him to score. Huff a r0f,t e-oai, tlius giving Otaki an advantage of five points to three. At this stage Otaki was frequently penalised for unfair tacti.cs, and. Foxton were again the aggressors. Back came the ball to Ihe Foxton line nii it was AvhPe on attack that Willie Johnson made a I determined effnrt to sco^e. in ! endeavoming to do so obstructed an opposing player and in consequence suffered a penalty. Gordon, Peter Hakaraia and W-interburn at this stage appeared determined to score, but the defensive play of the Foxton backs held back attack

after attack. Till the half-time .whistle the forwards played hard. It was only by solid play by the defence that kept them in check. - Wich the score 5 — 3 in their fav- | our Otaki, faced the sun but, never'theiess, did v/ell, making good use i of line kicks, and fine forward play. ! The scrums and line-outs were jhotly contested, and honours were leven. The game continued even, •first one side and then the other 1 getting advantages. Foxton worked 1 hard, but Otaki was not to be taken easily. It was during an attack that ; Otaki were awarded a free kick and Arda Hakaraia kicked ' a fine goal to make the score Otaki 8, Foxton 3. This was after eight min- ■ utes' play in the second half, Foxjton, playing fine football, on sev- : eral oceasions broke away, but back 1 play by Otaki was equal to the demands made on it. While on ; attack a free kick saw Arda Haka- ; raia place another nice goal to his icredit. — Otaki 11, Foxton 3. 1 Foxton were* making the most of ! their opportunities, and gave Otaki jmany anxious moments. Twice j Taylor (Foxton) narrowly missed ! the goal. Otaki in turn had an j unsuccessful shot at goal, although i the kick, taken by Huff, was a crediitable one. Then foliowed one of [the best pieces of play of the day, jthe Otaki backs taking the ball up j the field, only to be stopped when . a score seemed almost certain. Another . good piece of play saw Foxton on attack and Evans went over for a well-deseryed try/r Tay^ lor missed thev:bar.L' :Ot9ife± 1X1/" F^4 i ton 6. With th'e" haa^dlcap' rbduc^d' the visitors tset out" to at least I'equaiise the 'score, and at times hammered on the Otaki line. How'ever, both forwards and backs of the Otaki team were playing well and kept the visitors out. Before the final whistle Taylor (Foxton) had another unsuccessful shot at goal. Mr. J. D. McFarlane was the referee.