SEASON ENDED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20049, 22 September 1939, Page 9

SEASON ENDED

REPRESENTATIVE RUGBY SENIORS WIN FOUR GAMES JUNIORS ARE UNBEATEN • HONOURS TO THIRD GRADE By “Emergency” Finishing with a last-minute spurt, the Poverty Bay senior representative Rugby fifteen, with three successive victories, wound up with a 50 per cent average for the season, having won four and lost four games. The second fifteen played two games and won both, the junior team met with, the same success, while the third grade players had a draw in the one game played.

Poverty Bay seniors opened their] campaign for the season in Gisborne on the King’s Birthday, Wairoa being the visiting team. On this occasion | Poverty Bay were lucky to win, the game finishing 20- —18 in favour of the home team. For the Bay, Hale (2), J. Anderson and Phillips scored tries, O’Brien converting them all. The next match was the first of the] short tour undertaken by the team. Hawke’s Bay were met in Napier and, in this instance, Poverty Bay were a shade unfortunate in that they left their .run a bit late, Hawke’s Bay taking the honours by 23 points to 19. Ten of Poverty Bay’s 19 points came fr o m O’Brien’s bool, the goalkicking forward converting three tries and potting a goal. Gau k - rodger and H. O. Anderson scored tries for Poverty Bay in this game. In a mid-week match the tourists next met tiie Bush Union representatives and again suffered defeat, Bush winning by 14 points to G. This game was played on a ground covered with snow and slush and the better wet weather tactics of the Bush team carried them to victory. An outstanding member of the l Bush fifteen was the All Black forward, Athol Mahoney. Tiic last game of the tour was against Wairarapa in Carterton and the touring team was badly defeated by 17 points to 3, O’Brien’s penalty kick being the only points credited to Poverty Bay. O’Brien’s Goal Kicking

A fortnight later the Bay played their Barry Cup challenge match in Wairoa, but the latter were too good and won easily by 20 points to !). In this match O’Brien again was responsible for all the points scored by the side, the nine points coming from three penalty goals. One week after the Wairoa game the Bay team scored its best victory of the season when it defeated a strong Auckland fifteen on the Oval by 25 points to 3. There was only one team in it on. this occasion and that was the Bay. Auckland were never in the hunt and the performance of the homesters was a. very impressive one. For the Bay Rogers scored three tries and Phillips and T. Smilcr one each. O’Brien reached his century in points for the season when he scored 13 points in this game, two conversions and two penalties.

In a match played in Opotiki the Bay scored a good victory over the Bay of Plenty, two tries by Read and a penalty and a conversion by

O’Brien making up the score to 11, the Bay of Plenty scoring eight. The final game of the season was played in Gisborne last Saturday, when the Wairoa team, a weaker one than that played in Wairoa earlier in the season, was defeated by the lop-sided score of 41 points to' 4. For Poverty Bay on this occasion Short scored four tries, Read and McAneney two each', Twigg scored once and converted two tries, Malone converted a try and kicked a penalty goal, Phillips scored a try, and T. Smiler converted one try. B Team Wins Twice The B team played two games, the match played between Poverty Bay ’colts and Wairoa colts on Saturday not being included in classifications as both teams were definitely below standard. Both games were won, the team, first defeating the Combined Sub-Unions in Te Karaka by 21 points (McGrannachan, three conversions and ono penalty, Jack Short, two tries, and A. Read and W. Smiler, one try each) to 9. The second match was played in Matawai and resulted in Poverty Bay overwhelming MotuWaikohu by 35 points to 9. In this game A. Read scored a fine bag of five tries, McGrannachan converting four and kicking a penalty goal. Tries were scored also by M. Smiler, P. Livingstone and P. Haisman.

The senior A team was captained in all its games but the last against Wairoa by W. E. Aitken, Old Boys, George Phillips being captain of the team which played Wairoa. Aitken was unavailable for this match. The B team was led by Darcy I-Iceney, Marlst, in both its games.

Honours to Third Grade Players

Poverty Bay junior representatives played two games and in both defeated Wairoa juniors, the first time by 25 points to 3 and on the second occasion by 38 points to 9. The third grade team played one game, that against the Auckland Suburbs team, and gave the best performance given by a representative team this season to share a 9-ail draw. The third grade team was a very good one and deserved to have taken part in more t-lian the one game which it was allotted.. The team had everything against it in the match _ with Suburbs and it is no exaggeration to say that, on this occasion at least, Ihe old expression about the best team losing was a true statement of fact. The selector, Mr. li. Airey, is to be congratulated on the splendid exhibition given by the team, while the players themselves also are deserving of the highest praise. Results of representative games played this season by Poverty Bay teams are as follows: Seniors Poverty Bay 20 v. Wairoa 18, in Gisborne. Poverty Bay 19 v. Hawke’s Bay 23, in Napier. Poverty Bay 8 v. Bush Unions 14, in Pallia tua. Poverty Bay 3 v. Wairarapa 17, in Carterton. Poverty Bay 9 v. Wairoa 20, in Wairoa (Barry Cup). Poverty Bay 25 v. Auckland 3, in Gisborne. Poverty Bay 11 v. Bay of Plenty 8, in Opotiki. Poverty Bay 41 v. Wairoa 4. in Gisborne. Senior B Team Poverty Bay 21 v. Sub-Unions 9, in Te Karaka. Poverty Bay 35 v. Waikoliu-Motu 9, in Matawai. ■Juniors Poverty Bay 25 v. Wairoa 3, in Wairoa. Poverty Bay 38 v. Wairoa 9, in Gisborne. Third Grade Poverty Bay 9 v. Auckland Suburbs 0 ( in Gisborne.