FOOTBALL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4429, 19 June 1922, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

INTER-UNION MATCHES. WINS FOR WAIHI AND TE ARQHA. ' The Thames Valley inter-,uiiion inatehes for the Frank Poland Memorial Cup commenced on Saturday, games being played at Te Aroha and Waihi. ; PAEROA V. PIAKO. ) The Paeroa team, (holders of the Cup), after a very even game, suffered a defeat by Piakp by one point, the scores being Piako 8, Paeroa 7. During the second quarter McLeod . (Paerba), retired with an injured knee, bls place' being taken by McNeil. Shorty after halfrtime Goldsbury (Piako) and Treanor (Paeroa) got into holts and were ordered off the field. Piako had a good set of backs, with Kitto and Samson showing up The forwards were a hard-working lot, and played well together. Richmond and McLeod were weak in the paeroa back division. The main fault with the forwards was their slowness in supporting each other. following were the teams: -■ Piako.—E. Timmins, Kitto, J. Magill, Holmes, Samson, Hudson, C. Timmins, Goldsbury, P. Magill, Grattan, P McLaren, F. Miller, Linstrom, Atkins, G. Ryan. J Pam-pi—K' Dean, I. Poland, Richrriond. McLeod, A. Royal, G. Royal, E. Treanor, T. Jqhnson, K. Fisher, G. Fisher, E. Smith, W. Taylor, B. Johnson, J. Benney, G. Long. 1 - .THE GAME. For the first few minutes play was restricted to midfield. Paeroa hooked from a scrum and Treanor sent out to his backs, but the passing broke down- and. Piako took , charge, of the ball, Kitto finishing up in Paeroii’s territory. Off side play by Goldsbury gave Paeroa relief .the ball being sent out at half-way. From the throw-in Paeroa with a loose forward rush reached Piako’s line, where the attacking players were penalised. After an exchange- of kicks Poland sent out near the corner flag, but Piako gained the advantage in the line-out. Dean returned, and a scrum was ordered on .the home team’s line. Piako forwards broke through and kicked to Dean, who'marked,: but failed to convert. Following another k’ckihg bout Piako carried down to their opponents’ line, where Goldsbury claimed a mark/. The kick at goal failed and Paeroa forced. Piako returned the drop-cut, and in tight play which followed Paeroa committed a breach. J. Magill took the kick and scored the first points for Piako. Piako 3, Paoroa 0. ' " Piako went on the attack from the opening of. the second quarter, but could not break through the defence. ,After some open play in neutral territory Paeroa forwards sent down to the home team’s twenty-five line, where Miller was penalised. Dean's kick at goal missed. After a lengthy period of play in neutral territory Piako had a penally kick at goal, but the ball fell short. Piako set up an attack, the ball passing right along the backs to Holmes, who was pushed ou,t near the corner flag. Another passing rush by Piako broke down In the corner, Paeroa ultimately forcing. Piako kept up the pressure till halftime, but could not reach the line. From the opening kick in the second half Paeroa gained a penalty, but Dean missed. Tight play followed in the corner. From a line-out the ball was kicked to G. Royal, who marked in front of the posts. Royal succeeded with his kick and equalised the scores. Piako 3, Paeroa 3. With Piako on the defensive McNeil punted high, a five-yards scrum resulting. After a long struggle between the forwards Dean got possession and drop-kicked a goal. Paeroa 7, Piako 3. Piakp followed up the kick-out to the other twenty-five, where Holmes marked, but his kick went wide. The quarter ended with play in neutral territory. Piako opened the last rpund with a determined attack. The backs started a passing rush, but A. Royal intercepted and relieved the situation. Open play up and down the field was indulged in for some time,. after which Piako again set up an attack, Holmes getting over. Magill converted with a good'kick. Piako 8, Paeroa 7. The visiting forwards gradually worked dowp the field and erpssed Piako’s line, but the latter forced. Paeroa had to defend for the remainder, of the quarter, but Piako gained no‘ advantage. The game epded, Piako 8, Paeroa 7. Mr. J. Cleave was referee. PLAINS V. WAIHI. The senior match played at Waini between Hauraki Plains and Waihi, the latter winning by 10 points to 3, was a . good clean game and fairly even, though for the most part in Waihi’s favour. The first half was disappointing for a representative fixture, play being ragged, but the second half was fast, and exciting, and evoked a continuous vociferation from the couple of thousand spectators. The scores would, perhaps, be a fair indication of the merits, of the two teams bn their showing,. although Waihi’s ten points included only one try. The remainder of) the points were results of a potted tnd a penalty. goal. The Plains defence was particularly sound, which is dejnbnstrdted by the fact that their line was only once crossed. The Plains forwards were lighter than their opponents, who had the advantage in that department. The following teams took the field : Plains.—Costello, Beasley, Stretton, McCollum, Nicholls, N. Lang, Bloomfield, McMahon, A. Banks, K. Fox, Newdick, Bedford, Rapani, Bolton, and Dawson. Waihi.—W. Heath, Price, Roleston, Darby Toi Toi, McDermott, Worthington McLeay, Agnew, Talbot, Graham, Koehan, F. Heath, Riley, and Honey. THE PLAY. Rapani kicked off for Plains and there was an exchange of, kicks during tt:e first few minutes. Waihi >btalned a free kick near the half (way line and W. Heath made a good attempt at goal, but the ball, missed the

objective. A resultant Waihj rush made it necessary for Plains to force. Waihi obtained another free kick at dangerously close range, but Rpleston failed in his attempt. Stretton * returned a kick. Price picked up the ball in the Plains twenty-five and made for the goal-line, but went over the touch-line. A breach by the gave Waihi another kick at goa'l, but Price failed. The home team opened up a good passing rush, but Darby lost the ball. Waihi kept up the pressure, but a free to the visitors relieved the- position, and later Waihi was obliged to force, but the home team came back to the attack. McMahon made a short dribbling rush, A bad pass by Beaslej' spoilt a good opening. A mark by Waihi gave them an opening, but Bloomfield and Banks were successful in breaking up a rush. The game now continued in the Plains twentyfive, but bad passing spoiled the home team’s play. They game was resolving itself into a very slow and uninteresting exhibition when the bell rang for the change-over. From a scrum McMahon was quick to clear, but Waihi obtained a free kick which put them in a good scoring position. Faulty passing on the side of the home team marred their efforts. Roleston made a good run along the line, but went over the side line near the corner. Off-side, play by Waihi gave the. defenders a little relief. Newdick with a good kick succeeded in sending play to the home team’s end, where McMahon, following up an opening made by Fox, scored a try near the corner. Banks’ kick was a good attempt on a very difficult angle, but failed. Hauraki Plains 3, Waihi 0. With three points against them Waihi went strongly to the attack. An exchange of kicks was followed by a futile free kick at goal by Waihi. Waihi were now combining well, and Instituted several fine passing rushes, one getting as far as the corner flag. Through the agency of Nicholls and Bolton play came to the Waihi half, where Nicholls made a good opening. From a breach Banks (Plains) tried a kick at goal from near half way, but failed. Play changed from one end of the field to the other with lightning rapidity, and Waihi looked like scoring. Play came back to the home team’s half, but from a line-out Waihi attacked again. Bolton (Plains) obtained. but by hanging-to the bail too long spoiled a good opportunity. Half-time arrived without further scoring. A FINE GOAL. Waihi attacked early in the second half, hut off-hide play gave the Plains a char.ce. Lang made a good opening and took the leather to the home team’s twenty-five, where McLeay found the line. A good rush by Price was relieved by Beasley, From a forward Agnew took a kick at goal and put it over, making the scores equal. Hauraki Plains .3, Waihi 3. After, resuming Newdick carried piay to th Waihi half, from which Roleston f.ot away and with a tricky run along the line began to beat the field, but Nicholls came from midfield like a streak of lightning and with an exceptionally fine tackle grounded Roleston. From a loose forward rush shortly after W. Heath secured and from short range potted a good goal. Waihi 7, Plains 3. The game now livened up considerably, and became much faster. Nicholls put the Plains team in a good position, but the ball came back to the Plains twenty-five, where it went out near the corner. The game continued in the visitors’ twenty-five till Price had an unsuccessful kick at goal. The final quarter opened with a Wa’hi offensive, and a free kick to the attackers resulted in a good attempt at goal by W, Heath, but the ball missed its mark. From play at ha’f-wajs iJ'arby made a tricky run, but Price failed to receive a pass. McMahon made a good opening from a Tine-out and a breach gave the Plains a free at, goal, but the leather hit the post and bounced out into play again Another Plains rush was broken up by McLeay, who made a strong kick to the opposite half, but the heme team was slow to follow upThe ball came back to the Waihi half, but Waihi instituted a rush which all but got over. Waihi had another f;utile attempt at goal from a free. Rapani made a good opening with, a timely kick, which was followed up by McCollum. Waihi forced. The home team took play to the visitors’ twenty-five and Plains forced. Price made a good run but was forced out. After the throw-in Darby secured and with, a very tricky run scored a good try, but failed to convert. Waihi 10, Plains 3. Concluding in the failing lignt the Plains attacked and Dgrby saved. Play was returned to the Plains twenty-five, and from a lineout near the corner a scrum resulted, resulting in a good passing rush being opened up. Darby secured and got over, but in the meantime the whistle had blown for forward play. From the kick Plains took the ball to their opponents’ half. Time was, called with the scores, Waihi 10, Hauraki Plains 3. Mr. R. B. Penlington (Paeroa) ably controlled the whistle, and his prompt and impartial decisions were appreciated by victors and vanquished alike.

JUNIOR GAMES. PAEROA 9, PIAKO 0. Paeroa v. Piako junior representative match was played at. Paeroa, the local team winning a keenly contested game by 9 points to 0. A. Williams was responsible for two tries, and E. Alley kicked a penalty goal. WAIHI 6, PLAINS 3. The junior match between Waihi and Hauraki Plains was played at Ngatea, and resulted in a narrow win for the visitors by 6 points to 3. The game was a fairly fast and interesting one, and at times there were some good exhibitions of Rugbv. There was a good attendance of spectators. Tries were scored for Waihi by August and M f -‘l>erm°tt, and Ivan scored r O r nains. Mr .Young was referee.