RUGBY FOOTBALL

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2463, 17 May 1915, Page 3

RUGBY FOOTBALL

ALL TRENTHAM TEAMS BEATEN

SELWYN'S SURPRISE

SYNOPSIS OF RESULTS. Athletic 20 Trentham C ... 3 Petone 22 University 19 Poneke 30 Wellington 3 Oriental 8 Trentham B 6 Selwyn 15 Trentham A .... 12 Saturday was a day of Rugby surprises. All three Trentham teams were beaten, Poneke outclassed Wellington, and' Petone were fully extended 1 by University. The event of the day happened away out at Trentham camp, where Selwyn fought an uphill battle against the crack Trentham A team, and won. This was only Selwyn's second match as a senior team-

ATHLETIC AND TRENTHAM C. The match played on the chief ground, Athletio Park No. 1, was Athletic v. Trentham C. The fact that tho camp is known to be the temporary abode of many of the finest Rugby men in New Zealand gave rise to the impression that, hard though Athletic are to beat, the soldiers would win. Athletic, however, shattered these, forecasts by thrashing the Trentham men by 20 points to 3.- As usual Athletic were well, organised. They avoided mistakes, and' they made sure of chances when within striking distance of the enemy' 6 line. Their forwards worked coolly, methodically, untiringly, and their backs were sound and fleet. Those qualities have long accounted for Athletic's -successes, and on Saturday Trentham found that individual brilliancy went for little against them. Trentham began the game vigorously, but Athletic stalled off these early attacks, and before the end of the first spell were gradually, taking the upper hand. The first spell found Athletic leading by 6 points to 3. Madden and A. Wilson scored the Blues' tries, and Wilson, scored for Trentham.

The second spell was almost wholly i Athletic's. The Blue forwards took the offensive, and inside Trentham's twentyfivo sent tho ball out to their backs. Heley got possession, and flew for tho line. He made good headway, and then handed a timely pass to S. Wilson, wlio scored. Athletic, 9; Trentham C, 3. Athletic forwards sustained the attack awhile, and J. Ciinninghame saw an opening, which he accepted without delay, and scored near tne corner. Heley goaled. ■ Athletic, 14: Trentham C, 3. Bright play by the Athletio backs enlivened the i proceedings for some time, but these incidents did not bring any immediate profit to tie side. ' Well towards the end of the -game Blackmore got over, and the final try of the day was registered shortly after this by A. Wilson. Neither of these tries was converted, so the scores for the match were —Athletic, 20; Trentham C, 3. Mr. L. Simpson was referee.

PETONE AND UNIVERSITY.. Petone and University met on No. 2 ground at Athletic Park. Petone won by '22 points to 19...' At half-time Petone led by 16 to 11. Petone's 22 points were jnade up by tries'by Tancred (2), Dent (2), and Joe Ryan, a goal by Joe Ryan from a mark, and two goals by E. Ryan from tries. For University tries were obtained by Churchill, Greig, Little, Beard, and O'Sullivan. Beard converted two tries. Petone, 22; University,'''l9.'" 1 Mr. J. Moffatt was referee.

WELLINGTON AND PONEKE. Wellington and Poneke mot at Lower Hutt; and' the latter's victory was dua to their backs, whose speed and experieuce. proved superior to that of their opponents. The Wellington forwards, however, held their own and at times threatened the Poneke goal. Poneke's first try was scored by Middleton, who, by rapidly following up a rush, picked up the ball and raced over, the kick failing. Morris made a splendid run, by cutting in, and after beating the whole of the, Wellington backs, he scored Poneke's second try. Tilyard converted. Poneke B—o. In the second spell Wellington, made the pace fast and willing, and an apparent score was saved by Hedges (Poneke) _ marking. Morris then made an, opening, . and passed to Anderson, who scored somewhat . easily, King converting. Poneke 13—0. Tilyard was the next player to score, taking a pass from Morris, King again converting. : Poneke 18 —0. Algar then took a hand and racing down the field, he passed several of the enemy, transferred to Tilyard, then to M'Taggart,_ and another try was scored. King's kick failed. Poneke 21 —0. The Wellington forwards then endeavoured to liven things up and Francis, after _ taking part in an invading •rush, assisted by Alley and Miller, whipped up the ball and drew first blood for Wellington. The kick failed. Poneke, 21; Wellington, 3. Middleton scored next for Poneke, raising the total to 24, and ■ tries were also added by Tilyard and King, bringing the Red and Black rally to 30. Mr. W. J. Meredith was referee. SELWYN V. TRENTHAM A. The Selwyn men trounced Oriental the previous Saturday, but their .chances of defeating the Trentham A team on Saturday didi not look particularly glossy. They did it, however, by the margin of three points, playing, it must be stated, without the services of M'Donald— a star in their team. The soldiers had all the advantages on paper, superior in weight, speed, and having in their number quite a few representative players. But the Selwyn men played like demons, and s were rewarded'. Some hundred troopers watched the tu6sle. The Trentham men got away first from the whistle, and bustled their way into Selwyn territory, where a free-kick to Selwyn checked them They advanced again, however, but could not hold their ground. Selwyn pushed'and l struggled with telling persistency, and eventually established themselves in the Trentham stronghold. They fought hard for a time, but'* the defensive prowess of Lynch (tho All Black) hastened them away. Trontham were pressing when E. Roberts snatched out the leather, and a passing rush carried hostilities to Selwyn's line. From the ensuing scrum E. Roberts picked up the ball and shot over. Tue try was not converted. Trentham, 3; Selwyn, 0. Tho Trentham men worked down again from the kick-out and almost immediately furnished an encore. The kick missed. 6—o. Selwyn _ set out in earnest to reduce the deficit, and some very insistent efforts resulted ill their being awarded, two Tho first failed, but Malin piloted the other one aright. Trentham, 6; Selwyn, 3. The younger team kept at it in commendable style, and out of a melee came a really fine rush, which ended with Galvin touching down. The kick waß useless. 6—6. With things all square, energy increased, and both sides were hard at it when half-time arrived.

Both teams were playing all they knew at the inception of 'the second spell, but for some while honours were easy. From a Trentham back's bad mull came an opportunity for Selwyn, and M'Phee crowned a good effort with a try'(unconverted). Selwyn, 9; Trentham, 6. Soon after, in spite of revived energy on ■ the soldiers' side, Selwvn again pressed home an attack, and Roberts (Selwyn) scored. Roberts did not improve .his score. Selwyn, 12: Trentham. 6. The increased .vigour of

the' soldiers made things lively, and excitement was high when Lynch scored. This kick also missed. 12—9. Nothing very decisive happened for a while until from a good mark M'Phee improved Selwyn's lead to 6 points. The struggle went on strenuously until Letrer, Tor Trentham, galloped away with tha ball and scored an unconverted try. Selwyn, 15; Trentham. 12. Thus, after a few more minutes or hard struggling, tho gamo ended. Mr 11. Fordyce refereed.

TRENTHAM B AND ORIENTAL, Trentham B and Oriental presented a fair exposition of Rugby at Petone, particularly towards the end of the game, when the soldiers made a gallant attempt to finish off their opponents. Shortly after the- kick-off Moffat, who had been doing good work for Oriental, seized an opportunity on tha line-out, and crossed the Trentham line near the corner-flag, the kick being unsuccessful. Oriental, 3—o. Trentham attacked immediately, and -were awarded a penalty kick in a likely position, but Murray's attempt just missed the post. For a considerable time neither side gained any material advantage. An onslaught by the Oriental forwards just before half-time made things look serious for Trentham but Houlihan saved the situation with a good line kick.

In the second spell Trentham played a far stronger game. Ross, who played at half, secured the ball from the scrums, and probably if he had received better support the scores would have been reversed. Sexton took a neat pass from a line-out, and flew, supported by several backs, but the rush was checked by Gilchrist. A pretty piece of play was shown during one of Trentham's passing rushes, when Sturrock intercepted, and passed to Sullivan, who darted over the Trentham line, afterwards converting his own try. Oriental, B—o. By dogged persistence and determination the soldiers forced the play towards their opponent-s' goal, where from a scrum, Ross whipped the ball to Murray, and Gray appearing on the scene just at the right moment, received the leather, and sprang over, amid applause. Houlihan failed with a rather easy kick. Oriental, 8; Trentham, 3. Again and again the soldiers' lrarled themselves at the Oriental's solid defence, until Ross again secured from a scrum, passed to Murray, to Marks, and to M'Grath, who, beating two of the enemy, ran round the posts. Unfortunately for Trentham, Murray failed to add the major points, and the game ended: Oriental, 8; Trentham B, 6. Mr. 'C. D. Fraser was referee.

Junior Games. Petone Juniors defeated Berhampore by 5 points to 3. For the former Hill scored and Corson converted, whilst Hedges secured a try for Berhampore.

MATCHES ELSEWHERE. Mi iKlcuruub.—t'ress Association.) Auckland, May 16. College Rifles beat University by 28 points to nil; Ponsonby beat Parnell by '9 to 3; City beat Marist Bros, by 13 to nil.

Dunedin, May 15. Splendid weather prevailed for the football matches to-day. University 17 points beat Kaikorai 5 points; Alhambra 6 points beat Dunedin nil; Southern 5 points beat Union 3 points; Zinaari Richmond 34 points beat Port Chalmers nil.

05y Telegraph.—Special Oornspondent.) Masterton, May 16. The Wairarapa Rugby Union held a seven a-side tournament at Carterton on Saturday. Eight teams competed in the _ senior competition, and after interesting matches, three teams, Red Star No. 1, Carterton No. 1, and Gladstone. were bracketed as winners, these teams going through without defeat. Owing to the failing light, the finals were not played. Martinborough "B" won the junior competition, _ defeating Gladstone in the final by eight points to nil.