SEDDON SHIELD

Hokitika Guardian, 19 September 1932, Page 2

SEDDON SHIELD

A GOOD WIN FOB. COAST. BULLER DEFEATED BY 9 TO 3. I ; • WESTPORT, September 17. _ Buller’s long trail of ' successes in Seddori. Shield fixtures was broken on Saturday on- Victoria -Square, Westport, when the West Coast representatives, in the final challenge of the season for the trophy, defeated the holders by nine points to three, in an epic; struggle. The Bullet team made » gallant effort' to keep their laurels but they Were beaten in all departments by a vastly superior team amid Coast thoroughly deserved their victory, and will’at least-have .the Satisfaction of. holding the Shield . for a considerably > v longer period than on •j the';'occasion when they Wrested the honours from 1 Nelson- in-1923 and held the distinction' only for a short percd' of tlrree' .weelcs. a deficit of only three "points interval, and Bulle r getting the half was very ?af advaiwfed, it looked as if the chances of retaining the trophy were rosy, hut another try by Coast lowered Bnller’s hopes and - inspired the visitors with a determination which proved indomitable, and which resulted in Cdast taking complete charge of the game and shadowing Buller in r tiep*ii:mentl.; It was •*' iwngnifi* cent game which was punctuated with many thrills, and in which there were few dull moments. It was the last twenty minutes of thie game that constituted the psychological period and it was there that Buller failed. . • Buller, as. a combining, thrustful Tot : were all at sea and were not worth the proverbial tin of, fish. The fault could be attributed to the! failure of the inside men, and the biggest offender was Holder, who handled badly, over-ran his passes and provided a link ,in a chain that a long way from being nine carat. The others, under the circumstances, played as well as they were . permitted by their opposites, but their defence was poor. Graham played fairly well and at times was applauded for his line kicking but when in a tight corner did npt; inspire ono with confidence and his tacklig was weak. Loder did not play with his usual' dash, hut probably realising that his supports .were not dependable took the snappiness out of his play. Gree r and Hill did not get much - to do on the wings. The latter suffered from an injured knee and was never comfortable. The forwards met their match in the Coast representatives and this probably was a factor, contributing to thj ipoor showing of the hacks which had. fehie very fare . experience of pUying behind, at times, a beaten pack. G. Orman, McNeiaht and Goodail were the best of the forwards. Mc&eight spoiled his good Work by a very unnecessary display of temper, and it was fortunate for him that mx i incident when he struck an opposing forward, escaped 'the' notice ; of the referee. " J. King, the Coast custodian, gave a sound display, and on the play was superior to Graham. Though his

touch finding may not have been as . good, he.did excellent work, and shaded Graham with bis tackling.- The

viwirng hacks were easily the best and their team work and position®! play ■was of a high standard. Fong was ' the hero of the day and gave a performance rarely seen on Victoria .Square. He was prominent in every attacking movement and apart; from this great solo effort in the first period |which ended in a try, hs was the pivot .’which led to all Coast’s points. /He .V I was ably supported by W. Hughes and |ichroder. ■ , > •

Gilbert and Martyn gave a faultless account of themselves. Scandrett got through his work with distinction and together with giving an excellent service from the legitimate and formal scrums, gpt down to anything, and pulled his side out of more than one awkward situation. Freitas lived up to his reputation and was the best forward on the ground, and jlonos, Kelly and Deere were jonly very slightly better than the remainder of a pack composed of scrummagers above the ordinary.- An aeroplane with a pilot and his wife, from Hokitika, (encircled the playing area prior to the game, and landed on the North Beach, the visitors later attending the game. "Mr A. Thompson (Christchurch) gave entire satisfaction With the whistle. In the opening five minutes wards monopolised the play With a decided advantage to the visitors, anti Graham pulled up ,a determined rush with a good line kick to midfield. Coast got possession from the opening scrum and Scandrett sent a good pass to Fong, who gained ground with a useful kick. Hughes a few moments later smothered Reid’s attempt to open the game. Schroder intercepted a pass and made an electrifying dash but was dropped by Hill.' Loder tried to open a bout of passing, but was well taken by Fong before he could transfer to Holder. Reid received from a line-out and sent to Loder, but the movement was not allowed to develop ns a result of Holder being well tackled by Hughes, From n maul Scandrett Bent Hughes away, but the latter’s transfer was not accepted by Martyn. • Orman broke through with the • ball at his feet, but King snapped it from his boot and sent to Schroder,' who was bundled into touch. Coast forwards up to this stage were having the best of the loose work. Coast backs indulged in a passing rush, but a forward passed pulled up a dangerous movement. Coast got possession from the ensuing scrum and Fong kicked to Hill, who marked, and sent play to Coast 25, where E. Jones was penalised for hanging on, and Graham, taking the kick, misled a golden opportunity to put Buller three points up.

The cardinal and blue forwards returned to the attack and for a time severely tested the defence. Iteid was forced to retire with a head injury, but resumed about five minutes later. Whilst, receiving attention on the side line Loder took his position as half and Doherty played as fifist five-eighth. King marked a high kick and his return Was well taken by Re’d,. who opened a neat passing bout between Loder, Holder and Jones, but the lastnamed was well tackled, by Hughes. From a line-out in Coast k 5 Jones pulled up a Coast attack in which Kelly, Freitas and Hughes were prominent. Schroder, with , another Characteristic sclo effort, skirted the side line for about 30 yards' being'’stopped. > Hughes .snapped the ball and on being challenged crossed to the centre, and Greer failing to gather, allowed Fong to score a spectacular, try.

The nippy Coast five-eighth zig-zag-ged his way over from the 25 yards’ line, and his effort was cheered by Coast supporters to the echo. Martyn’s effort to add the extra # points failed. Buller forwards rallied and again the defence was’ called upon to bring all their resources into action which resulted in a great duel between the packs. Doherty and Gilsenan glade a desperate effort to wipe out the deficit but lost possession and Fong forced. Graham a little later was. deservedly applauded for a great line-kick. The Buller hooker. Orman, sent the ball cleanly from the scrum which followed a line-out infringement, but Reid’s pass found Loder out of position. Buller forwards were having the advantage territorially and at the interval were pressing with the Shield three points from their grasp.

On resumption Coast attacked but Holder broke away, but was whistled up for a forward pass. Goodail was caught offside and Martyn missed narrowly to increase his side’s lead and not long after Orman with a great kick just missed a three point goal. The Buller backs, not to be denied, again attacked, and only effective work by J. King kept them otit. How ever, their repeated thrusts were rewarded with a try which the re.eree indicated had been secured by Hill. Holder failed with the kick. With the score even excitement was at a high pitch. Gibert sent a great kick to Buller 25 and Graham returned, to Schroder, but the latter mis-kicked aud. ?l D)e mis take nearly proved costly, Jfjps» ball rolling into touch just as Goodail got up, with no one to pass but King, 'hut;: in view of the latter’s great dis play of tackling in the early part of the *game, it is doubtful if the hefty Buller captain would have got pasi him. W. Hughes was well bottled up but got out of a difficult position with a clever kick over his head. The Coast backs made another great thrust, anu as a result of good work by Fong and Hughes, the bail went to Gilbert, who with a determined dash got over far out.

The angle proved too difficult for Martyn. Coast, with visions of the Shield going to Greymouth, played with great vigour to hold their three point margin. With about fifteen minutes to go, Coast looked every inch a winning team, Fong kicked through and E. Jones, gathering well, sent to Martyn, who capped a good piece of play by scoring Coast’s third tty, which scaled Buller’a fate. The same player failed with the kick. The visitors' had the best of the play in the closing stages of the game, and the whistle went, as also did the Shield, with the (scores :-r

West Coast .' 9 Buller 5 _ i, GRAHAM WISE CUP. KIWI BEAT BLACKBALL. In the Graham Wse Cup match, between Blackball, winners of the Junior competition under the West Coast Union and Kiwi, winners of the Westland Sub-Union’s competition, at Kumara on Saturday, Kiwis proved winners, after a fast, open and interesting . game, by 10 points to 9. Mr McLaughlin was referee. OTAGO Y. NORTH OTAGO. ' OAMIARIIT, Setjpember 1 , 17. • At Rugby Otago decisively defeated North Otago in the Showgrounds this afternoon by 28 points to 8. WELLINGTON V. MANAWHENUA. PALMERSTON N., Kept. 17. In the best representative match witnessed locally this -season, Manawlienua' and Wellington drew on Saturday, 18 all.. Tries for Wellington were secured by Hi slap (2), McLean and McDonald, Masters converting three. For Manawhenua, tines were scored by Cook, McDonald and Hight, all being converted by Roddick, who also kicked a penalty goal, WANGANUI V. HAWKE’S BAY. NAPIER, September 17. Wanganui Rugby touring team were defeated by Hawke’s Bay at Napier this afternoon by ten points to eight. For Hawke’s Baiy, Varton kicked a field goal, Satherley a penalty goal, and Smith scored an unconverted try. Wanganui’s points were made up by a penalty goal, one conversion by Morgan, and a try by Maitland.