EASTBOURNE V. OLD BOYS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 85, 12 April 1937, Page 15

EASTBOURNE V. OLD BOYS

. Wellington College Old Boys visited 1 Eastbourne, where the season was opened before a large attendance and under ideal conditions,.' except for a , ' hard ground. -For an opening game the *' football was of a high standard. - Old Boys, both back and forward, showed good combination,-with Sadler and , s _ Watt, both All Blacks, outstanding. Qf Eastbourne's play was too individualn . istic to be effective. Crisp played a t s very fine game, kicking both accurate,j. ly and deeply, and D; and J. Plank n.- showed individual form of a high order. Both teams made changes in their personnel for the second half of y t the game, giving likely senior players i; a chance to display their form, i, The teams were:— ■ . n, ■ Eastbourne.—Crisp; Orme, D. Plank, !i- McGrath; Berridge, J. Plank; King; c- K. Clarke, Berry, Griffiths, F. Clarke, Waite, N. Dellabarca, Guiniven, J. i. Farmer. ■ i; Old Boys.—Hill; .Watt, Baldwin, i, Burns; A. Wright, G. Reynolds; Sads ler; Bydder, J. Reynolds, Tanner, l Hardy, Amies, Williams, M. Wright, l, I. Gotlieb. . ' . . , l- Eastbourne, winning the toss, dei, fended the southern end of the ground and opened sensationally, as within s1 the first few minutes Crisp, obtaining il the ball from an Old Boys clearing ;, kick, quickly manoeuvred into posif. tion for a drop-kick, which sailed high '- and truly between the posts. This i- heartened the home team, and for a 0 time they had the better of the play, '- the forwards getting the ball from 1 most of the scrums. This, however, r could not last, as Old Boys gradually t worked up to form. Baldwin had a "> chance of sending Burns over, but 3 preferred to short kick and the ball i went into the dead-ball area. Crisp 1 defended stoutly, and Berridge showed • glimpses of his Auckland form. Old 5 Boys took the lead with what appeared to be a lucky try. Burns, fol- : lowing up fast, took advantage of mis- " fielding by an Eastbourne defender, j L" and, kicking the ball through, touched ■ - down close to the dead-ball line. Bald- • ■' win converted. Old Boys 5, Eastbourne 1 4. After a spell of even play A, ' 1 Wright, running strongly to half-way, ' • passed fto Watt, who, when hemmed in ' ; near the line, passed to his forwards, " and Hardy went over for a good try. " The-kick-at goal failed. Old Boys 8, .1 ; Eastbourne 4. Continuing to play c aggressive football. Old Boys were ! agf/in dangerous, but were pressed ' back towards their own line.. Sadler - • secured near his twenty-five and, . 1 working his way through the East- ! bourne team to half-way, he passed to ' watt, who after a fine burst of speed cored behind the posts for Baldwin to .■ add the extra points. 13-4. J Several changes were made- in the J teams for the second half, and play > , quietened down. ..The Old Boys' for- } wards were combining well, but good tackling prevented further scoring ; until towards the. end of the game. ; After some loose scrambling play, Waite scored for Eastbourne, Dellabarca missing the kick at, goal from a i handy position. This spurred Old ' ißoys to a further effort, and Alan ' /Wright made a good: opening, for 'j Watt, who forced his way over at the '( corner. Bydder failed to add the extra points. 16-7. Just prior to the s final whistle Old Boys were penalised n on their twenty-five and Crisp made s the final 'score: Old Boys 16, East- £ bourne 10. . * T The referee.was Mr. J. Gilchrist. . 2