NEARLY MISSED

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 124, 27 May 1937, Page 11

NEARLY MISSED

WELLINGTON'S WIN

NOTES ON HAWERA MATCH

(By Telegraph.)

(Special to the "Evening Post.")

HAWERA, This Day.

A sensational try in the last seconds of the game almost robbed Wellington of victory against Taranaki at Hawera yesterday. The kick failed; however, and Wellington won by two tries, one converted, and a penal, y goal, to three tries. ■ .

Taranaki strove all the seconqT spell to overtake Wellinglon's half-time lead 01 8-0, established by polished back work. Conditions were ideal, and the game was divisible into two sections —brilliant passing by Wellington in the first spell,, and in the second half a battle between the Wellington backs and the Taranaki forwards,.in which the Taranaki pack gained the honours.

Wellington had their fair share of scrums and the • line-outs in tlie first spell, : enabling Sadler, to give a polished display of passing. Veitch was off the mark like a shot, and equally solid work by Le Quesne gave • the three-quarter line every, chance to show its talents, but the trio failed to impress as much as their inside backs, the Taranaki three-quarters seeming to have their-measure. ■ ■

Hunter moved to the wing and Eric Smith went to second five-eighths in the 'second spell. This; together with an apparent change of-tactics, made all this-difference.'-The Taranaki' forwar^Sn^sese.jcapparently fitter;,; -and gradually established a slight supremacy in.all' departments, and 'effectively cramped the Wellington backs. Taranaki concentrated mostly on forward rushes;. However,, the backs remained alert, and added three tries by spontaneous, dashes, Sullivan scoring two and Ford one, while Wellington's total was.restricted to a penalty goal. Pollock, the most valuable Wellington- back, was- slightly hurt when he crashed into the crowd in the first spell. :Me was always in position, and his.kicking and handling were accurate arid his tackling reliable. Sadler, whose passing was in brilliant contrast to Taranaki's indefinite transfers, played magnificently. Veitch and Le Quesne were too fast for Brown and Hunter, but unless they had room to work in they got nowhere. Their handling was always accurate. Burns seemed nervous, and Hudson and Wareham failed to impress. Devine and Leahy played rattling good football, with Guy and Pringle not far behind. Wells seemed to lack condition, and was rarely in the limelight. Andrews played an invaluable tight game. Guy and Pringle did sterling work against heavy odds in the line-outs, and Lambourn beat Gargan in the scrums. TARANAKIS IMPROVEMENT. Taranaki did well after the change in the second spell,' although Arnold was flustered and unable to pick up cleanly. , His passes were erratic, but he: never shirked any work. Brown tackled solidly, and did well against the polished Sadler.-Veitch combination of.the first spell, but his second-half tactics- did not bear fruit against an alert Wellington team. He would have done better had Arnold, been on form, but he was disinclined to follow Wellington's example of rapid passes to the outside backs. Little was seen of Smith in the chain passing in his new position, but his play throughout was tip-top. Quicker than' Hunter, he was a better man to combat Le Quesne, being more adaptable to the situation of the moment. Hunter played splendidly on the wing. Sullivan and Ford were definitely superior to their immediate opponents.

Although .lacking the Wellington advantages 'of smooth teamwork the Taranaki three-quarters' made dazzling, dashes, and.the three tries were well deserved. Richards was not at his best at full-back, fumbling and place-kicking badly. His tackling and line kicks were good, and he occasionally changed defence into attack in brilliant fashion.

The Taranaki pack did splendidly. Coull made up for his slower speed by assisting O'Dowda to give Taranaki an •almost complete supremacy in the sec-ond-spell line-outs. Fastier and Fowler justified their selection. Gargan was not disgraced in another clash with Lambourn. Ted Smith was usually prominent in the loose and combined well with Coull. O'Dowda and Richards were not always in the limelight, McClenaghan playing the best loose game, but each of the forwards pulled his weight and displayed perfect fitness.