MATCHES DESCRIBED

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 35, 10 August 1936, Page 14

MATCHES DESCRIBED

FIELD GOALS bo THE TRICK

Just when Poneke supporters at the match at Athletic Park seemed ■perfectly entitled to wear a. smile : and feel - that all was well from their . point of view, things began to happen • and they were such as to deliver a ': knock-out blow, in the Poneke quar- . ters, and skyrocket Athletic to success "■ from a seemingly hopeless posi- ■ : tibn. -First came :a "potted" goal. Tin- , dill was at -it again; His goal placed . Athletic oh level'terms with Poneke and disturbed-the peace of mind of the. Poneke supporter's. But more was to- come-^another field goal, this one by Karsteh,:, Athletics second string .:' in. this < department of the game, and : Poneke, -.who. but a few minutes be- ■ fore had been riding on the wave of . success, were now properly torpedoed. After having played so strongly in ' the second spell, the forwards in par- ■' ticular, this sudden reverse was a : bitter pill for Poneke to have to swal- ■ low. But" sometimes this is the way I of the Rugby game. The teams were:— . . Poneke.—Vartan; Martyn, Barrett, Culley; Upchurch, Griffiths; Greenbank;' Mclvor, Crichton,- Kirschberg, Kean, Pringle, Stone, Calcinai, O'Brien. . Athletic—Mclntyre; Forbes, Thomson, Dickey; Karstefn,. McCauley; Tindill; Cooper, Mollier, Wyeth, Wells. Edwards, Guy,' Bowling, Wales. ■ v. -The game had not long been in progress^ before it became clear that, whichever side won, the going was to j be" hard, and keen and that was the .. ofdeKto the finish. Athletic, with1 Guy > sweeping- the ball over to TindiU from /the.ivlinejbuts, > endeavoured to-, open ; out,''but: there was nothing doing. The ' f Poneke tackling ..was strong and with, the. Poneke forwards also showing little tendency to give much away, Athletic expended a great deal of energy ' for very little return. It was well on in the spell before any. points were registered. These were obtained by Athletic. TindiU, who just previously in association with Cooper had _■; sent Forbes-away on a strong run only for the wing-three-quarter to be sent into touch at one of the corner ' flags, worked the' blind side of a scrum smartly, and Wales succeeded in getting through for a try, which Mclntyre was unable to convert. Poneke were not long in equalising, bustling work by their forwards leading to a try by Kirschberg. Vartan did not convert. Poneke were now; showing up well and with a fine field goal/ kicked after the ball had been '■ sent back to him from a scrum, Griffiths -gave Poneke the lead for the first spell. Martyn had retired^ injured. Recce had come on as the second fiveeighth, Upchurch taking Martyn's place on the wing. Some brisk work was indulged in by Athleturat the opening of the second spell, but no success came their way, either from the general: play ol the team as a whole or the individual efforts of TindiU and Karsten, who attempted' field goals. The Poneke ■ forwards were playing very well, making a surprisingly good showing, even [though not at full strength, against ;the; admittedly tough and vigorous i Athletic pack. The struggle for posisession between' the two packs pro-' i.duced some very keen and hard football, with,Ppheke taking everything unto, account; coming out as a team ,just a little better than Athletic. Though straining every muscle and -sinew the Athletic players found the ,four-i points .lead which Griffiths had. j established for Poneke very ' difficult ito.pvertake.- Poneke, far from being willing to concede anything, were giving as much back, and, often more, than they received from the efforts ; by,Athletic, and with time speeding ■■< on the indications pointed to-a hardearned Poneke win. Then it was that i calculationswent astray. A fine field goal by .Tindill (with the wind help-ing-by curling the ball over the bar) , sent the hopes of Athletic supporters soaring quicker than ever any mercury rose, and to cap all and make the crama complete;Karsten followed the example of:Tindill by kicking an excellent field goal from forty yards out. Tnis clinched matters for Athletic, who thus were able to leave the field a minute or: two later the winners by 11 points to 7.

The referee was Mr. J. Moffitt.