Dannevirke Lift Bebbington Shield

Chronicle (Levin), 11 July 1949, Page 4

Dannevirke Lift Bebbington Shield

Horowhenuas Display Was Disappointing

D^appointing football was Witnessed at the Levin Park Domain last Saturday when Danrtevirke, cliallengers for the Bebbington Shield, wreSted this coveted trophy . from J Horowhenua,. defeatirig - them by the, hollow margin of '21 points , to 11. There was 'anpther ' large attendah'ce of spectatprs. • it was expected that heavy: rain dui'ihg the week would. have ■ made the ground mpddy^' but on the. conr. trary the going was very ,good. Horowhenua .did not show 'the " form which they * disjplayed against ManawatU and were a big -disrappbintment. The failure of- the forwards to fotlow up and erratic Work by, the backs Were the main reasons for the local team's defeat. Galloway was not up to his usual form in kicking, and lost at least nine points by missing spots which he has made easily on previous occasions. On the other hand, his defence was good and if it liad not been for his solid tackling the margin would have been been even greater. Fuller played much better football on this occasion and his replacement of Mortimet*'at' Centre proved a wise move. Mortimer was probably one of the most outstanding players for the local team, His tackling was • solid and his kicking well directed. Wallis was alsp good and it was unfortunate that he had to be taken off because of injury.' Of the Wings, Moynihan . was defimtely the more aggressive. Smith was a failure at his position and will have to show a hig improvement. Although the backs played well individually, with the exception of Smith, there was a complete ■ lack of • combination. Lay, as half-back, played good foatball and appears certain of a place in the reps. Of the forwards none p'ayed better than B/yant, and he and Lincoln were the only two to follow play up. These players are fit and that is what counts. Doyle was feeling the "strain before the completion of the first half, as also was Win'terburn; Both these p"ayers were indispensable in the lineouts and scrums, but when it came to displaying speed they could not respond. A. Woods played his usual good game, although better displays have been seen from him. Noonan was.Trmt outstanding,, while Roy Robihsoh wds ncjt Up to his best, I. Robinson also failed to disp1ay aiiy of the dash which he is hoted for. Dannevirke, forwards and backs Wcre'fast, and althdUgh Horowhenua had their measure in the' iineouts, they had the advantage in the ' scrums. Symonds, Bullick, Ingram, Small and Bowden were the most outstanding players for the visitors. The "passing in ' the back-line was swift and clean.- , Altogether there were 25 scrums, Dannevirke winning 14 and Horowhenua 11. The Iineouts were in Horowhenua's favour, for in the' first half the hohie team won 16 to

Dannevirke's ssvdm In the seeond half Horowhenua won 11 to. six. Twenty Iineouts were indeeisive, making a total of 60, with 25 set scrums. The Game. Galloway kieked off for Horowhenua and Dannevirke, after a staggering start, drove deep into Horowhenua's territory, After rucking, Ingram got his backs going and the speed displayed by Bullick, and Small showed that these ' two were going to take -some stopping. Bullick secured the first: try after a .good back movement and with "Smali's conversion Dannevirke led 5—0. Shortly after Horowhenua' were awarded a penaity, which. was successfuily , taken by Galloway. Dannevirke 5, Horowhenua 3. Play was centred about the halfway mark for 10 minutes, • Then the visitors again took up the attack and Horowhenua were sodh defending hard on their 25. A penaity was awarded Dannevirke, which .Small successfuily kicked. Dannevirke 8, Horowhenua 3. From a scrum on the half -way mark, Lay sent the ball to Galloway, who had corrie into first fiVeeighths but bad passing spoiled the movement. Another scrum went down and this time Dannevirke sscured .the ball. Small raced for the line, but his pass to Bullick was thrown forward. Determined play in Horowhenua territory saw another fine movement, which Morris successfuily ended off for Small to convert. Dannevirke 13, Horowhenua 3. Horowhenua's first try came from a fine piece of following up . by Wallis, who scored in the corner. Galloway added the extras. Dannevirke 13, Horowhenua 8. • The Second Spell. On resuming after half time, Dannevirke immediate'y took play into their opponents' 25, but good work by Mortimer saved the situation. Horowhenua forwards slowly regained lost ground and a good break by Bryant put Dannevirke in a dangerous position. Five yards from the Dannevirke line a scrum was ordered and the ball went from Lay along the backs to Smith, but no ground was gained when Smith' was forced out. Again the forwards hooked from* a ruck, .but this .initiative was not turned to advantage. Dannevirke relieved their position when a penaity was given them, and from this point the game moved back to Horowhenua territory. ! „Riddel ~was the next to score for Dannevirke and his try was a particularJy impressive one. With- the scores at 16 — 8 Horowhenua was in a? bad position and it was not long before Bowden scored for Dannevirke and Small converted, widening the gap to 21—8. It was Galloway who secured the next three points for Horowhenua from a penaity, and the - final whistle sounded with ihe scores* at 21—11 in' DanneVirke's favour. l During the game Roy Robinson rep,aced Winterburn, Milroy rep'aced Doyle and Gwynn replaced Wallis. Mr. Parkinson was the referee. *