FOOTBALL.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 July 1931, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

RIVALS V. COBDEN. The playing ground on Cass Square on Saturday was in splendid condition for the above game. There was not very much sun.and there was also an absence of wind, an ideal day for football. The exhibition given by both sides was. of 1 a poor quality, There was hardly a decent passing • rifD'|Wl day. The,margin qf points' about showed the difference■ of the teams. Cobden,; ;who got the ball from the scrums -the most, gave a very ragged display of passing. With the chances they had the score should heive reached;a good tally, but failure to take or-.pass the' bail at the right time, losft golden opportunities. The Rivals were better on defence",’, in which Houston shone, than in attack. The teams were:—

Cobden -.—King (3), Southorii, Taafe, Rammer, Eggleton, Garring, Wilson. Dunstan, Keith, Gordon, Birchfield, Bolitho, Burgess. Rivals-Carter, Stopforth (2) Pfahlert (2), Houston, Pawson, Webster, Schist, Martin, O’Connor, Mitchell, Richards, Pierson and Lareomhe. The game was started by Houston kicking off for Rivals and the play remained in the centre for a while. Then Houston gained some ground with a free kick. The Rivals, getting the ball from . the scrum. Webster started a passing run but Pfahlert decided to kick instead: of ..passing and .spoilt, what.' looked (ike a, nice movement. Keeping, up the pressure Rivals remained ip Cobden’s territory and then over eagerness gave a penalty and from which J., King gained a big slice of ground with a good. kick. Now in Rivals 25 Cobden tried several times, parsing rushes, but they nearly always went across field and J- King had a shot at. goaly from a free kick, but .though the effort was a good one, he failed to score. Continuing to keep play in

Rivals 25 and in trying to prevent them. Rivals wer© again penalised and this time J. King kicked a nice goal from near the touch line. 1 Cobden 3, Rivals nil.

Even play followed for some time and then Houston put in a short dash and passed to Pfahlert who sent on to Martin and he scored close to the posts. Webster made no ’mistake with the kick. Rivals 5, Cobden 3. v Until half time play remained slow ana uninteresting and, there was no change in the scores.

In the second half Cobden smarted right away to put more life into- their play. J. King made' a nice run and then passed to Eggleton who failed to gather the ball and. . a tin army.; was thrown away. The game remained in Rivals 25 and they were hard put, to keep Cobden from scoring. Carter and Houston were putting in good work. A nice run by Rimmer gave Southern a chance to score but he failed by knocking on: Shortly after he redeemed himself and managed to get over near the corner. J. King made a good, though unsuccessful, attempt to convert. Cobden 6, Rivals 5..

Rivals now made strenuous efforts to score.and got into Cobden’s quarters for the. first, time in this spell and a force down was the only result, cobden returned to Rivals’ 25 and a pood kick by Carter sent them hack to past half way. Back again came Cobden and the forwards took the hall to near the line. Carter, while stopping the rush, remained on the ball and had a free kick given against him, near tlm posts. J. King easily added three points to Cobden’s score.—Cobden d Rivals 5. Another effort by Rivals to add to their score was. only rewarded by a force down. When the final hell was sounded Cobden were attacking hut could not score again and the game ended— Cobden 9, Rivals 5. Mr A. Cutbush was referee.

EKCELSIORS V. STARS

Excelsiors journeyed to Greymonth on Saturday and were defeated by Stars by 9 to 3.

Stars had the advantage of a light breeze in the first spell, , and easily had the best of play the . for.wards playing a fine combined game and running over Excelsiors. Early; in the spell Petrie scored, from a forward, rush, and this proved the only one before half time. In the second half Stars continued, to h..ve [ by far. the better of the play and Mclntosh scored from another rush, and then Deere converted a penalty, making Stars 9 points. Just before time Martyn kicked a penalty goal for Excelsiors. King was ordered off for disputing the ruling of the referee.

BLAKETOWN BEAT UNITED. At the B ground at Victoria Park on Saturday the Blaketown fifteen, avenged their recent defeat by United, last year’s senior champions, to the tune of 30 points to 11. Even play characterised the first spell, in whichboth sets of forwards gave a good display. In the second, half* however, the Blaketown hacks showed out to great advantage, and at times had the opposition overwhelmed in their speedy movements. Blaketown scored three tries in ten minutes in. the second spell.

KIWI V. RIMU. f ” f • The first game, for the. Breeze Shield for junior football wa s played o« Cass Square on Saturday afternoon and resulted in win for Rimu by 8 points to The game was very fast, and inter-

est-ing all through and a great contrast to the senior match on the other ground. In the first spell Kiwi’s had the better of things and scored three points, F. Stapleton kicking a penalty goal. One special feature of the spell was a splendid run, by Heinz from bis own goal-line to within a few feet of his opponents’ alien stopped. In the second half Rimu put more ginger into their play and scored two tries (Fleming and Agnew; and one was converted by Agnew from hear the touch line. There were a few unockouts during th© game, but not rung serious. It was not until five minutes to time that Rimu scored their winning try. The Kiwis made a good defensive game, but -'the better team undoubtedly won. Mr Best was releriee.

at Other places. (By Telegraph—Per Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, July 11. Rugby football results to-day were: Christchurch 11 beat Varsity 3; Old Boys 19 beat Sydenham 8; Merjvale 1 33 beat Linwood 12; Albion 29 beat Athletic 8. WELLINGTON', July 11. Hutt 21 beat Old Boys 0; Wellington 17' bfeat Marisfc 10; Miramar l 9 beat Befhampore'lo; Oriental 3 beat Athletic 0; Petone 19 beat Varsity 17; Poneke 15 beat Eastborne 8. • f DUNEDIN, July 11. Witfi. two matches to go Kaikorai and University are now equal, with Southern one point behind. 'Kaikorai find, Varsity will fight out the premiership. - Southern 3 drew with Kaikorai' 3; University 9' beat Alhambra 0.

BULLED V. INANGAHUA. WESTPORT, July 11. The Rugby match, Buffer v. Inangahua, was played at Victoria Square today in fine weather. Buffer, which fielded a good team, had no difficulty in winning by 20 to nil, tries being scored by McNeight (2), Oaldwell (2), Holder (1), Goodall (2), and Robin, son. Caldwell converted one try.

SOUTHLAND V- TARANAKI

NEW PLYMOUTH, July 11

Taranaki Rugby representatives defeated the touring Southland team today by twenty-two points to fifteen, in a thrilling match, played in fine weather with & dry ball. Southland proved a strong and dangerous team, hut Taranaki kept them in hand with superior back play and general combination. First one side and then the other was in the lead, and every try was a good one. - Taranaki exploited the short punt over the line and quick follow up with, success, and the passing among their backs was good. Southland were always dangerous in the, loose, as they showed in the first minute of the game by scoring a runaway try. Taranaki gave a vastly improved, display compared with the match against Wellington.

HAWKFS BAY v. AUCKLAND. ' ;■ ... NAPIER, July 11, The earthquake benefit Rugby match to-day between Auckland and Hawkes Bay, resulted in a win for Hawkes Bay by 19 points to eight.