RANFURLY SHIELD

Hokitika Guardian, 12 September 1932, Page 2

RANFURLY SHIELD

BULLEHR .BEATEN.

CHRISTCHURCH, September 10,

Canterbury defeated Duller by 13 ‘'points to mil, after a hard battle in wihich th e Buller 'forwards had an advantage in the; first half,-, but in which the backs failed to make the necessary thrust, and 'in the •'fettfer .stages Canterbury backs : showe'd' td. distinct, advantage. .1 r 'v.riri ■ lAri. . :

Canterbury defended the north end, and Buller’®- kick-off wss/ fielded by 'Hart. The ikhcky, was ftobled ■ and -it appeiiired'"a3'' though''the';Buller men were going to -be /in • trouble, but they reputed.' the first onslaught of Mandhester and company, and led by McNeight and GUsenan turned defence into attack. A .lucky speculator -by Graham had Canterbury in trouble • till Innas, snapping: up after -a line-out, gave .relief ih brilliant style. . • Innep, • Brown and . Bouterey. were prominent for :'anappy * rushes and accui’ftt©; kicking, which drove Bulle r hack to the goal; line. Canterbury were ..in a wonderful position, hut their effort® were foiled by an infringement, and a wonderful, kick sent them back. •Canterbury supporters had a few thrills all in a few momenta. Th® IBuller forwards seemed •• in , the set ecrums and well-placed short punts by Head land Lodei- aided by a fumble by Roberts saw Canterbury hard pressed, Desperate defensive work ,an’d a penalty caused by the over-eagernerie of the Buller men saw the danger pass. Play was full of'incident) tlhe visiters wete keen to e«i*e ‘every opportunity, arid in .one instance Jones "just missed with ■ a potted goal from right .under the posts. It wae • a let-off ..for ’.Canterbury. Penalties - were frequent, the visitors appearing, over-eager, arid the Canterbury men no more free. . ;i ro to faults) One in. favour of Canterbury gave Roberts a.difficult shot at goal, hut ffiis fairly '.good feffort • was not quite good enough. . u , Again the Buller forwards ■ - broke through in the loose and they showed their reel worth in the way they

snapped tdie ball to their backs at the ideal moment. 'Higgins short punted to a gap, and only brilliant work by Bouterey, Roberts and finally /Innes kept Buller away from Canterbury's line. So far Canterbury had not had! the best of the gam c and only excellent defenc e had kept their line intact. Gioodall and company were performing, excellently in the set scrums and breaking away continually. Manchester and Thompson were prominent in all Canterbury’s counter-attacks. •Canterbury were seeing more of the ball, but Hazelhurst was not getting i(-,..as .quickly. as be . would have Bleed 'and that .vstopped several!' potential rushes. ;Ei'bm one, free-kick at halfway Holder; had an ambirious and un•successful .dhot ,'Oif, goal. " From ; ;a; frde-k ick Manchester put Canterbury on the attack for .the first time in ten minutes. The Buller, men made a, bright effort to break a 'w£y> but ’Roberts’ accurate back again. From u ball Hashed along the line of Canterbury bjj-ks. Brown was well collared' iby Jones, and the Buller forwards smashed through. 'Roberts wa,s there, and, fielding beautifully, he steadied himself and potted a splendid field goal. Canterbury 4, Buller 0.

»i|he Buller men were showing to mudh better advantage than Canterbury on the attack, but the local men always produced sound defence when it was most wanted, and, helped by another penalty, they had the visitors defending again. George Hart initiated an attack which broke against rocklike tackling, and fast breaking up by the visiting forwards made it hard for Bouterey to get the ball cleanly away. Loder provided, a bright passage with a neat break through, gaining thirty yards befior@ .lie was downed, but again the Buller forwards wasted the ground won, by an offside infringement. Htggiris punted over the heads of the Canterbury backs into a dangerous position, but the ball .ran over tli» line and 'Roberts forced down.

" Brilliant: work by Oliver, who. broke through at the Canterbury • twenty-five with the ball at his toe, took .Canterbury to the Buller goal 'line, - where Jones effected a fin.© save, coming across at express speed ' from, the opposite wing. - v :

Lowther, McNeigfht, Goodall and Doherty led the Bu'Jer forwards in slashing rushes which had the Canterbury backs defending most of the time. On several occasions it seemed that th e visitors must score, but so far .they had failed to reveal that extra thrust which is needed to win shield matches', . ; The ball went along the Canterbury backs to Oliver, .who, though he lost possession, got his to e into it and carried it on to the Buller lino. Brown followed up, but the Buller men got there in time, and the ball went over the line in a welter of struggling figures. The referee ruled a scrum on the line. Bouterey faded in a daslh from the base of the scrum, and Roberts marked in a handy position,*but failed with the shot at g°ah y Half-time sounded wit-ftrißuller surging back to the attach and the score was:

Canterbury 4j Buller 0.

SECOND SPELL

Buller went to the attack .straight away, but 'Loder was hauled down when he tried to cut through. The game wag very willing in the. forwards, 'quarter being neither asked nor given. 'Loder was in dangerous form, and in a blind side dash he was nearly over, a scrum forming on the Canterbury line. Thompson led the Canterbury forwards ■in a desperate counter-attack, which [Roberto capped with a neat mark. He did not find the line, but Ifiiller’s attempted back attack broke down early and Oliver clinched the position with a good line kick. /

Graham's accurate boot gave the Buller forwards ft chance, of which they took full advantage, and again Canterbury were penned on tlheir line. Twice Reid sent his backs away, but the rearguard’s , work was patchy arid the Canterbury tackling sound. Manchester thrilled the crowd with the greatest solo dribbling run that Lancaster Park has witnessed »<>r years. He gained half the length <>' the field, and then the Canterbury Backs went away, but Oliver, after looking dangerous, was beautifully tackl. ed. The Canterbury backs then showed some slight touch of Ran fur ly Shield form. The ball flashed along the line to 'Oliver, but in trying to cut out a man the centre crowded Hart, on to the lime, arid the touch judge’s flag cut the movement short. ; .

Buller rallied momentarily till Brown raced away down th e left wing. Canterbury’s position was promising, but Brown’s centring kick went too far, and Buller forced. McNeight was hurt, but after a stoppage for two minutes he was able to continue. After a free kick had given Buller an advantage, Hazeftuvst flicked the ball out to Innes, Oliver and Hart, ‘ff’he All Black winger shook off two itaeklers, but again he put hie foot over, the line. 'lt was left to King to tstage themost brilliant movement of the, game. Securing from the line-out, he smashed big way past a couple of Buller men and wag out on his own. 'With bo on© to back him up, King .raced (to the fujl-back, short punted, and, with a magnificent dive, gathered' in the ball to score -an outstanding try. Roberts mlsised a bard shot at goal.

Canterbury 7, BulWr 0,

King's great rush uvas for half the length of the field, Reid, fhe Buller half-back, had a nasty bump on v the shoulder, but carried on pluckily, A Buller rush ended when Brown tackled Jones solidly and play swung across to the other wing, where a wild kick gave Hart a chance. Hie was well taken by a Buller forward, and isent in to Innes, but the movement was smothered. Two other rushes by the Canterbury backs came to nothing, the Buller forwards smashing through the second of them and looking dangerous till Bouterey made a clever opening for Cottrell to clear.

Goo da 11 headed the Butter forwards bark to the attack, only for another

penalty to spoil a promising movement. Another likely rush came to nothing when Oliver tried to go, too far before passing to Hart. Thompson and King led the Canterbury forwards in u loose rush which had Buller hard pressed, but after they had staved oft several desperate attempts by the Canterbury forwards, Buller wvere given relief by tlie inevitable penalty. Bouterey sent the ball out on the blind side to Hart, who made a spirited forty-yard dash for the line and was unlucky to be [hurled out when only live yards from home.

Twice Bouterey made unsuccessful dashes from th e scrum ; then another penalty spoiled Canterbury s chances. The home backs were in better form from now, and the Buller line Voiced to b e in' danger when Innes staged a cut-in, but a forward pass pulled up the attack.

Buller took a hand, profiting by inaccurate kicking by the Canterbury backs, and only sound work by Roberts saved the situation. Jones had a splendid but unsuccessful pot at goal, .and Graham with a fine line kick pressed Canterbury again. It was poor passing by the Buller inside backs tihat' gave Canterbury a golden opportunity. A pass to Holder went astray, and in an instant Innes seized possession and sent Oliver and Brown away. From th e half-way line, Oliver ran down to the full-back, Graham, drew his man, and then sent on to Brown, who had just enough pace (to get over at the corner, with Jones not a. yard behind him. 'Roberts made a good attempt, but just missed the goal, and the score wag;

Canterbury 10, Buller 0,

Another good kiek by Graham gave Buller -a chance, but again weak passing let Innes break through to halfway,. From a scrum Hazelhurst secured, and, dummying his opposite number, sent in-field to Manchester, who (showed a surprising turn of speed. The big forward was tackled, but got up again and sent on to King, who smashed his way past -a would-be tackier and hurled himself over for his second try. Roberts’/ kick failed and a minute later (the game ended with the score : CANTERBURY ... 13 BULLER -V.. ... ... 0 Referee: Mr 'E. A. Erripgon.