FOOTBALL!

Hokitika Guardian, 21 May 1928, Page 4

FOOTBALL!

SATURDAY’S RESULTS. SENIORS. Kiwis 12,- Stars 3. Excelsiors 9, Uniteds 0. JUNIORS. Kokatahi 14, Kiwis 0. Excelsiors 3, ltimu 3. Ross 42, Arahtirn 0. KIWIS V. STARS. This game was played on Cass Square on Saturday afternoon 'anil resulted in a win for Kiwis by 12 points '(a converted try. a potted goal and a try) to 3 points (a try). There was 0 heavy south-westerly blowing that gave a great, assistance to the team defending the southern goal. Kiwis had this advantage in the opening half, but in the first quarter of an hour it did not give them e/lvaiitage tlio Stars having somewhat the hotter of the play, and for a penalty Stars had a free kick that did not improve matters. A Blue rush relieved and Brown was ,penalised. but there was "no advantage. Then Whiley ran up to the •25 flag and kicked down to Fong who knocked on, a scrum ensuing. The hall came out smartly and MetTearv got his hacks away. Stevens, Pfnlilert. and TahTuii handling the, latter sending it out to Kirwan on the wing who' finished a nice movement by crossing the line and scoring a pretty try, well out. Aided by the breeze Tainui landed a pretty goal. s—o. From the kick-off Stars attacked, King making a nice dash, hut the Star.backs were having a day off. Stevens the Blue live-eighth was also missing his passes and a knock on spoilt a fine opening. Then the hall went to Stars end, find Tainui took a long kick at halfway and dropped t goal, a beautiful well judged kick that crossed the bar from five yards inside halfway. 9-0. The Blue forards went away again to the line., where offside play relieved, and then Pfahlert broke away and a fine movement was spoilt by his hanging on too long. Caulton broke away from the line out, the Star forwards casyly healing their opponents in this section of the play, but there Was no alteration to the score when half-time was called.

ft was to he expected that with the wind in their favour the Stars would have no difficulty in holding the Blues, hut the reverse happened and from the kick-off Kiwis attacked, the play going to the goal line in front of the goal posts Tainui got offside and the penalty relieved the tension. A Yellow rush saw King collared in Kiwis 25, with two supporters waiting for the ball. Back came the play to the Star lino and from a scrum near the corner, the ball came out to McCleary who sent it on to Stevens, Pfahlert, and Tainui, the latter scoring at- the end of a, pretty movement. They try was not improved though Tainui made a good attempt. 12-0. Twenty minutes had now gone. Tho Star forwards broke away from a lino-out and carpied play to Kiwis quarter. 1 here was a hard tussle near the line the Yellows making a spirited attack that was held up by hard tackling. From a -ciiim near the line Reynolds got the hall and pushed his way -over to score a nice try. Tho kick at goal. an easy one, was missed. ft 12, The play continued in Kiwis quarters and thrice Stars wore an aided a penally kick well inside the 25 flag hul even with the wind in their favour, tho hall was punted across the front of the posts, and the defence being equal to the tusk, Kiwis .stemmed the attack. From one very dangerous position Tainui relieving in fine stylo to tho centre. The, Stars ■showed it lack of dash in the closing quarter of an hour and never looked like winning and after Caulton had ha,d an ineffectual shot from a penalty, Kiwis took the play to the Star line, where from a mark McCleary dropped at garni, which landed in front of the posts and a rally saw Stars'find tho line just in time, the hell then ringing for time with Kiwis winners by 12 to 3. The play was far more interesting than that of tho previous week, in spite of the heavy wind interfering w/ith the play. On tho day Tainui was easily the host hack, his play being easily his best exposition of the year. All the oilier backs worked well, though the wind tricked them at times and made many knocli-ons that the referee promptly took notice of. The forwards worked hard and won most of the scrums, but in tho line-outs they were badly beaten throughout.

The Stars apparently ‘had a day off. The whole side seemed to only have occasional, spasms, and hud it not been tho way the three-quarter line and full-back tackled, the score against them would have been heavier. As it was the score easily shows the difference between the two teams on the day.

M;r Gut-hush, was referee and throughout ho hail the game well under control and there was an absence of unseemly play.

EXCELSIORS V. UNITEDS. The above game, played at Victoria Park on Saturday, was won by Excelsiors after a game in which very littlo good football was shown, a

strong sou’-westerly wind in no wav improving conditions. Uniteds put up a Letter fight than was anticipated, and with a. shade of luck might have made the result a draw. Play was confined mostly to the forwards, United’s pack overshadowing their opponents. The good work done by the forwards was minimised by their backs, for tho latter, with' the exception of Jenkins and M. Jamieson, generally managed to spoil any attempts made at opening up the game. Jamieson did not see much of tho ball, but when he did there were fireworks. He gained United’s points with tries that electrified tho crowd, heating several men both times. Foe the forwards, Kathhun was responsible for some good work, and is a fine type of forward, while 801 l and Forguson also did useful work. For the winners, aill the hacks were useful, but for the majority of the game did a freeze. Had their hookers got the ball more often, the hacks would have beaten tho opposition. In the forwards, (lUgich, Baron, Dougherty and A. King grafted hard. The last five minutes of the match caused some excitement. Uniteds, with three points leeway to make up, pressed determinedly, and play continued for a couple of minutes after tfme had sounded, hut could not get over. For Excelsiors tries were scored by Houston and A. King, and a penalty goal by J. King. For Uniteds Jamieson scored two tries.

KOKATARI V. KIWIS. This same was played on No. 2 ground and resulted in a win for Kokatahi by 14 points (two tries, scored by Ravil! and Moore, both converted by Fleming, who also potted a goal) to nil. The winners had easily the best of the game throughout, and even when playing against the wind more than held their own. Mr Williamson was referee.