DEFINITEY SUPERIOR

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 84, 26 April 1937, Page 4

DEFINITEY SUPERIOR

Teehnical O.B. Beat Napier H.S O.B. on Forward Play 17 POINTS TO THREE Displaying a marked superiority in forward, play, Teehnical Old Boys decisively defeated Napier H.S.O.B. at Mcliean Park, Napier, on Saturday. At the completion of the second half, Teehnical, who had been plajring with the wind, were expected' to go down, as they had only six points* advantage, but they rallied strongly in the second spdll, and fully 75 per cent. of the total time occupied by the gaine was spent in Napier Old Boys' territory. The teams were:-— Napier H.S.O.B.: Hutehinspn ; Austin, Macey, G. Oox; Marr- Bradleyj Clothier; Ennor, Crawford-Smith. Amner ; Bishop, Miller, E. Cox, Willis j Butler. Teehnical O.B- — Rossiter ; Herbert, Cushing, Bliss; Kauter, Petersen ; Riddell; Girvan, Dalton } Buwmaa ; Brookes, W, Johnson, li. Johu3on, McAuslinj Campbell. Teehnical opened play with a stiff breeze at their backs, and" after &dvancing to the twenty-five, missed a penalty. Old Boys were speedily penned on the defensive by the opposing forwards, who were faster and i eavier, but they kept out of trouble by good tackling and several penaltfes. They burst througih with a veiigeance, however, when Bradley found a gap in the Teehnical line, . to send Max Miher ayay to the Kne. The forward kept i-n for 30> yards, to be brought down ftom behind when alxrost across. Teehnical were penalised a • dozen timeg in the fiyst 2Q minutes, mainiy for forward infringements, and their back lice did not function very smoothly, the exLeague man, Bliss, being rather weak in the first stages: They kept in eneniy territory, howeverj and finally notched three points when Rossiter kicked a good penalty at the end of half nn hour's play. With Butler playing the game of t-n unashamed wing-forward, and doing lt well, manyv of the Teehnical attacks were speedily broken up, ,but they came near enough to the .itie for Rossiter to gain another penalty. Toward the end of the 'spell, Old Boys attacked strongly, but were driven oack, and Rossiter was almost across when Hutr chinson missed a kick. The half-time whistle found Teehnical in the position of having to face a big wind with.tmly six points in reserve.

Teehnical attacked as f-oon as play re-comuienced and narrowly missed two penalties- Old Boys made good use of the wind to regain lost territory. Earl; in the spell the wind dropped slightly and the play, which had been raggted, began to improve. Led by Dalton, the Teehnical, pack forced its way to thc line time and again, and when they changed tactics and thew out the ball, Cushing wfent over, only to be called back for an infringement. The same player then lost the ball on the lir.e after a fine run. Per&istent attacking bore fruit, when R- Johnson went ovei from a ruck. Rossiter missed the kiek Following this further reverse, Old Boys staged a forward xally, and swepi ihe opposing pack down the field, bul the effort flagged. At this ttage th( Teehnical forwards were definitely ( r top, both in rucldng and in set scrums Brookes and Bowman were speciallj prominent in the loose, while Daltor was always on the ball. Playing his last game in Napier, Miller was thc best forward on the ground. Sdor after, W. Johnson dribbled thrpugl and scored, Rossiter again missingHutchinson then kicked a penalty goa for Old Boys, followed by a forwarc passing rush which saw R. Johnsor score between the posts for Rossiter tc convert, Scorers — Teclmical (17) : R. Johnson (two tries), Rossiter (two penalties and a eonversion), W. Jolm son (try) Napier H.S.O.B. (3) Hutchinson (penalty). Mr R. Marcroft refereed.