FROM THE SIDE LINE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 2, 3 July 1939, Page 17

FROM THE SIDE LINE

MOTES AND COMMENT

Owing to injuries Kiiuwlcs (vviug^hreequarter) and O'Halloran (half-back) were unable to take their piacos iv the Petorie team iii the match against Wellington at Athletic Park. White, one of. the forwards* Wits another absentee, oh account of the death of his mother* to whoiii tile members of the team showed their respect in the timO-honoured way of Wearing a White band oil one arm. In spite of these defections, Petoiie put up a spirited fight, but Were not equal to the task of scoring a win, which would have put them on level terms again with Wellington at the top of tae competition. PetoUe's weakness was in the backs. The forwards placed their tfurt iii great style* There was plenty of strength and devil iii their play all round, with McCarthy showing Up to good purpose in the loose. • Lambourn's hooking ability and the success lie achieve in* this Sphere* which he has made his specialty, was a Very Valuable asset, Backed Up by the solid performance df tile pack as ft Whole, it was something which greatly, restricted Wei* lingtoii's opportunities for. fully three parts of the game. Bill, Unfortunately fdr the Petone team, the backs were Incapable of niaklhg the best use of the Very great advantage that tile fdrwardg gave them. 3. MeGUfk, who filled O'Halloran's place behind the Petone scrum, did so Jefy well indeed. This second division player made Quite a good connecting link, but, apart from Pollock, the other backs Were disappointing. Love made one or two jafczy runs . thai Were spectacular, but hig play id. a large eSteilt Was characteristically individualistic) Dougan, deputising for Knowles, kept a pretty watchful eyo on .the big Wellington wlnget, Sherratt, causing- him to be more subdued than usual, but Dougan at other times was not always Sound in his knowledge 6f positional play. In spite of the years oi football he has had, Pollock 1 showed tfittt ho is Still a Very Able player. Firflt as second fiva-eigfatli/ then as full-back, and later again as first five-eighth, he gave Petone very valuable service. When he was at full-back he received very welt-de&erved applause for some fine work* He is as tricky and as alert as ever in fact, his alertness on one occasion when* sensing the opportunity of a useful blind-side run, he fUShed up to take the ball iri his stride from McGurk, was just too mUch for the Wing threequarter, It was dotle with sUch speed and pfedsidn that the Winger" was net oil the spot wneu Pollock judged that the time was right to let the ball out to the man ho had expected would be 'Up BUpp6rting Hliu. His kicking to touch also was of great help to his team. • • *i • • • • The fact that they won and yet had fewer opportunities thfcn P^tone waß a tribute to tM finish and better all*r6und team work of Wellington. Beaten in the set siertims, the Wellington forwards were not so solid in the tight work, but Stevens, CUmo, and Gompany were lively in me loose, Stefend particularly so. Clear evidence of this was given by the try lie scored And the part he played in the eedfirig 6i andther. The Wellington backs were definitely superior ind.MduaJly and collectively to the Petone back division 1 They Bad opportunities In the early stages Of the game When tho ball Was still dry and they made merry/ throwing the ball about fr'§eiy flhd Very effectively. ThOttip'soß, at first flve*elghth, linked up Well With Egdell, the halfback. Veitch played steadily and did not try to attempt, too Much on his Own, and &t centre SHiltoh Wag at. the,top of his form. His handling Walt Stlfer than it has been Since his illness, and his pace and judgment, notably his pace, made him z force to be reckoned wlth- * It was as well for Petone that Taylor's goalkicking Was not quite as accurate as usual, fie had quite a heavy time of it, and the hard knock he received in the first sjieii wlieH Jumping for the ball lli the face of a strong Petone forward rush Was suffldienl to affect anyone's play. Taylor, however, in spite of this,- stood up to his task admirably, doing all that was required of him. Si * * ■» » * * The absence of Criso, Pringlc, Ongley, and it&gs Wfight affected FoiiekS Considerably for thelf match wittt Jonnsonvllle. Roberts, however, made a very good job of the full-back position, his handling and line-kicking being very reliable, and Allen proved an excellent substitute for Wright, giving everything a "go." The Burns brothers were again of great service to Johnsonville, their efforts having not a little to do With the team's prominent place in this year's Championship* * .« * * « « * fhe best of a hard-working JehnsonvUie pack iii the encounter with Poneke Were A. Kenny (who Is striking top1 foftti), Carfadus, and Thomson. Kenny repeatedly broKe away from the tight with the ball, and his leadership meant much to the Side. One of the best foneke forwards against Johnsonville was fieigglUn* fie was always up with the play and knew what to do with the ball when he got it* In the loose, the two CalcUais and the tall Australian, Winter, also showed up, and in this department of play Johnsonville Wef§ left Well behind. Evans, at first five-eighth for Hutt against Wellington College Old B6ys, played probably his best game of the season. He tackled alia handled (Splendidly, varied his play with judgment, and gdVe his outsides s6ni6 spldndld opportunities. With the Open Order prevailing there was nd mote prominent forward in the Hutt-Old Boys match than Kemp. He had a roving commission and so tirelessly did. he work that he was selddm away from the ball. He scored a splendid try in the first spell through fast fol. lowing, and his support of Evans earned him another in the second spoil. Baldwin figured prominently for W.C.0.8. against Hutt. He picked up some indyjereht passes splendidly on occasions, and until assisted by an improvement in Reynolds's play, he was the only Old Boys back to effect penetration. Baldwin kicked the greasy ball Splendidly. Wright, on the wing, had a few runs and proved a hard man to bring down, but his scoring opportunities were limited. Gray at half Was solid. * ♦ < • • • • Kea and Young stood head ;.nd shoulders above the rest of the University backs in their first division match with Oriental, at Kelbum Park. The former started many back movements with fast and well-directed passes* but —perhaps the greasy ball was ill some measure responsible—the handling thereafter was In and out; Young showed pace on the wing, and scored one CScellent try as the result df outstripping everything. *#*■**** Haßsen, iti the University pack, has given consistently good performances this season, but he played a game right out of the box on Saturday. He worked hard in the tight. and with Burke and the Shannon brothers, was well tc* the fore in the loose rallies-—the best feature of the University play, incidentally. Cl * * * -1! * « Stephenson, at full-back for Oriental, shaded Kissel on the day. He fielded well in contrast to the other's poor handling, but did not perhaps get the length that Kissel got in punts for the line. He tackled soundly, as did Murdoch) the Oriental centre-three-(iuarter. ******* Jack, In the Oriental five-eighth lino and Ausley, a forward iv the same side, iiiiv'3 useful performances in their respective departments until they were unfortunately compelled to leave the field owing to injuries, Jack hurt a shoulder rather badly and Ansley suffered a nasty blow on the leg. McXicol was missed in the University pack, Mis presence Would have given them assistance in the tight rucking work—-and they needed assistance in the tight. Considerable interest centred ih the appearance for Onslow against Wellington of L, Thomas, representative five-eighths. Thomas went very well. His handling and passing were splendid. He made some fine openings for his brother at centre, but the latter overdid the cut in. It came off once, but generally he run into ti-ouble. Thomas also snapped an excellent field goal under pressure. His defence was good. Those who have questioned it have been harbouring a delusion. s.*«* ' * « * The Wellington forwards, were very effective in patches against Onslow, especially in the loose and in the rucks. They heeled the ball splendidly. Cave and Cragg were particularly good. The OnsloW pack occasionally did some commendable work collectively and individually, but their play did not have the consistency (relatively small though it was) of their opponents. *»«* * * ' * The Wellington backs against Onslow several times showed tho virtue of using the outside men. When the ball was whipped along fhe chain the result was several try-producing runs. « » * * * * * C. H. Davidson, at first five-eighths for Wellington, did some very good and some very had things. His best work had a touch of genuine class (he scored one smart try and paved the way for two others), but he foolishly tried to run through a wall of opponents ori occasions. Slnuid, with n deceptive change of pace, made several fine runs at centre for Wellington. He went through splendidly himself once for v try, and gave the speedy Cocli- ! rane, who scored *.liree tries, very good ser* vice. But for the slownsss of Richardson at half, the Wellington rearguard would have been seen to even better advantage.

Oini, at'first "five-eighths, 'made k few smart breaks for Onslow In the early stages, and

' Cameron, with limited chances, showed any I amount of spirit on the wing. Held, at fullback, occasionally evoked applause with his i kicking and fielding. His game, however, was father too patchy id be degcflbed as sound. The feature of the Poneke-Petone Second division game at Prince of Wales Park was the excellent showing of Millie after beinjf shifted in from the Wing to second five-eighth. Though young, ho has dash and Uses Ills he/id. Calcinai did splendid defensive Work, inn his handling Of the greasy ball Was reallr good. . lluch of the forward play was hard In thb Poneke-f etOne game* but a lot of It Was aimless atid marked by indiscriminate kicking, The best forward effort Was the loose rush towards the end which resulted in Millie's second try. # i ' With excellent service from the base of the scrum the M&fist Brds. Old Boys', backs showed to advantage on several occasions against Eastbourne, and one or their tries was tlie reward of a well-planned movement. Receiving an in-pass from OMalloy, JSlcGreevy cut right through the defence, and, with Vile and Wareham in support, sent Vila across for a splendid try. Fitzgerald was useful at first five-eighths for Murist against Eastbourne, and McGreevy was back to form. Vile, too, maintained his reeont fine form and he made many inroads into tho opponents' territory with his speedy and determined runs. , . « Sanson and King were the best of the Eastbourne backs, although Posselt, on the wing, impressed on those few occasions when the ball came his way. Sanson made several fine saves, and his line-kicking was always sound. His place-kicking, however, was not of the usual consistent order. Tho Eastbourne forwards did not %york well as a pack against Marist, although there were a number of good individual efforts. N. Dellabarca was again outstanding, and Griffiths, Mart, and Anderson did useful work. In lineouts Eastbourne more than held their own, but their backs could not make use of their opportunities and the ball was seldom allowed to travel far. » « » « • • • Tindill gave another fine display for Ath-. letic, varying his play cleverly, sending his 1 backs away with clean, crisp passes. It was particularly noticeable against St. Pat's Old Boys that once the greasy ball had eluded his grasp, he had no hesitation in playing the 1 ball with his feet. «**•, • * . • i 'Auld's brilliant goal-kicking for Athletic has been an outstanding feature of this season's football. Although tho surface conditions were i particularly treacherous on Saturday he had little difficulty in adding 13 points to his tally, during the match with St. Pat's College Old Boys. In addilon to his skill in place-kicking, Auld is developing into a flrst-clasa full-back. He fields the ball well and kicks with power and judgment. * # * Jones and Stott were a sound combination at nve-eighths for Athletic, Stott being an effective link between Tindill and Jones. Against St. Pat's Old Boys Jones showed a welcome return to his best form, and often carved bis holes in the defence with clever individual runs. Throughout the match his handling and kicking wero of a high order. Back in the pack Todd showed energy and ability for St. Pat;s College Old Boys against Athletic The solid "work up" should set him up for future events. • ♦*•**•» The value of representative experience was reflected in Dance's exhibition at full-back for St. Pats' College Old Boys, and more .than once he proved a stumbling block to strong Athletic thrusts. His fielding and line-kicking was clean arid accurate, and at times, ho cleared brilliantly in the face of solid forward rushes.