FOOTBALL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4964, 21 April 1926, Page 4

FOOTBALL.

SEASON OPENS AT PAEROA. RESULTS AT A GLANCE. SENIORS : West 11, v. Netherton 0. Suburbs 9, v. East 0. Ngatea 22, v. Kerepeehi 6. Turua 6, v. Coast O'. West 6, v. Waitakaruru 3. ' JUNIORS : Karangahake 11, v. East 5. Kerepeehi 3, v. Ngatea 0. THIRD-GRADE : West Combined 14, v. Stehool 8. SCHOOLBOYS: Nga,tea 37, v. Turua 0. The foimal opening of the Rugby football season took place at the Domain, Paeroa, on Saturday afternoon, when the. first matches in the competitions were played. Fine weather prevailed, and there was a good attendance off spectators. The Paeroa union hap shown lack of enterprise in not, making complete arrangements: for the first matches of the season. Although two playing areas, centrally situated and equal to any grounds in the province, have been placed at the disposal; of the union this year, little wa,s done on Saturday towards making the ground attractive. Reference is specially made to the'fact that there were no flags to mark ,out the divisions; of .the playing areais; and the line umpires! controlled the lines without being equipped with touch-line flags; Pieces of stick and iron piping were, stuck in round the fields to mark out the corner, half, and quarter lines. There was also an absence of seating accommodation, although it is understood that' .the securing of euch was authorised by the management committee. The public generally, as. well as at least one referee, were heard to comment on .the lack of the usual facilities,. With the acquisition of isuch-desirable playing fields it is reasonable to expect that the union would wake up to its responsibilities and have such matters attended to. Another disappointing feature of Saturday’s games, was' the fact that the East senior team took the field with only eight, men. During the first quarter two more players went on, and at he conclusion of the Karanga-hake-East junior match five of the East juniors filled the - vacancies; in' the senior team. It is not suggested that the union should be held responsible for the shortage of players, but. it is to be hoped, that it will in-isis-t, on the- respective clubs, in. the case of senior players-at least, having full, iteams playing in the competition games. As can be imagined, the senior game on Saturday 'from a.spectator's point, of view was farcical, a,nd although the home players put up a good fight they were hopelessly outclassed. The. following were the teams at the conclusion of the match: — Suburbs. —W. Espiner, E. Bennett, A. Morrison, T. Bennett, P. Corbett, L. Rice, R. Wilson, E. Vowles; J. Duncap, B. Bennett, E. Alley, W. Vedder, S. Wyatt, C. Meredith, T Killgour • East.—J. Mead, J. Goonon, H. Moode, W. Hume, E. Moore; D. Smith, F. Fitch, N. Neil, T. Williams, W. Pennell, C. Morrow, F. Bullock, Katapi, C. Treanor, R. Hounslow. Suburbs kicked off with the wind behind them, and immediately went on the attack. Withiin a, few minutes df starting, as the result of a pretty bout of passing, E. Bennett dived over the line.near the corn®/. Alley failed with the kick. Suburbs 3, East 0. Towards the-close of the first quarter W. Morrison kicked a. penalty goal. Suburbs 6, East O'. In the second quarter the home team had filled, up the vacancies, in •its ranks with junior players, and the play became more even and no scores were registered. Shortly after half-time the visitors attacked strongly, and a t s the result of a., concerted movement E. Bennett again crossed the line. Alley failed ,to convert. Suburbs 9, East 0. - In the last quarter Ea,st made a valiant attempt to score,, and the visitors were compelled to force twice in quick succession. The. gameended without any further score being added. Mr E.’G. Sale was; referee. THE JUNIOR GAME. ■' The junior match which was' played on .the No. 2 ground, was a more interesting exhibtiion of Rugby- As could be expected in the first match of .the season, the players were obviously untrained,? and there was 1 little attempt at combination. However,

points will be improved upon as the season advances, and the indications are. that .the junior competition will be keenly fought out. The game wa® keenly contested, and Karangahake, which was the heavier tea,m, deserved its victory. In the first quarter Rackham beat the opposition and scored a good try, which he converted. Karangahake 5, East 0. Opening in the second quarter East carried up the field and looked like scoring, but Lee, with a well judged kick, cleared to neutral territory. A forward rush by the home ’ team was stopped by Rackham taking a mark from which he kicked a goal. Karangahake 8, East 0. Following the kick-out the home forwards ni a loose rush to the line, Williajms scoring. Goonan converted. Karangahake 8, East 5. Up and down play eventuated in the last quarter until R. Mea,d picked up near half-way a,nd with a good run crossed the line. J. O’Brien failed with .the kick, and the game ended Karangahake 11, East 5. Mr' R. B. Penlington was referee. THIRD-GRADE. A scratvh ma,tch, West Combined v. Paeroa School, was played as a curtain-raiser to the. senior game. The combined team won by 14 to 8. Mr F. Byrne was referee.

HAURAKI PLAINS MATCHES. SATURDAY’S PLAY. Hauraki Plains footballers, played the second matches- of the competition organised by .the Hauraki Plajns Rugby Union on Saturday l;ast in good weather. Generally a great improvement in the standard of play was witnessed. NGATEA V. KEREPEEHI, The tea.ms were as follows : — Ngatea.—Wilton, Cotter, Molloy, Williams, Nicol; Pilkington, Birkenhead, Duncain, Alderson, McCollum 1 , Spencer, Cook, McPherson, Cleave, Leonard.

Kerepeehi.—B. Moore, W. Murphy, Adlum, . Courtney, Smart, Murphy, Kidd, Rapana, Steedman, S. Hira, T. Hira, Parata, Harken, Hill. This; wajs: a fine exhibition of RugbyCombination, good tackling and passing, and fast following up made the play fast and interestihg. Up till half-time the- game' was fajrly even, but in the second half the Ngatea team put up a great showing and won easily, scoring eleven points and making the total; 22 to 6.

Ngatea kicked off facing the wind and' nished play to Kerepeiehi’s area. The ball, being returned to half-way, Molloy secured and set his’ backs in motion for Cotter to score. From the kick-out eaah team alternately pressed, but infringments prevented tries being secured from good positions. The backs of bo.th teams were throwing the ba.ll about in a pleasing manlier. kerepeehi. continued to hold their own,’ and Nga,tea again forced. :A good forward 'rush resulted in Hill and evening up .the points. On changing oyer Ngatea attacked, and from a scrum Birkenhead secured and initiated a passing rush, Pilkington- to- Molloy, to Nicol, .to Cotter, who dived over and scored. Ngatea, continued to attack, though, faulty handling always found Hill, Ratana, and Adlum ready to turn defence into attack. Wilton at 'full-back was very isafe, and .the ball wa f s continually sent to’the Kerepeehi end tor a force. Pilkington took the .ball from a, penality kick, tricked his opponents, and ' scored. This was. the first try to be ©suverted, and Mt made .the (scores Ngatea 11, Kerepeehi 3. The second half opened with some tricky play by Nicol, and some good . play by Wilton. From a snrum t,he ball went to the Ngatea ba.cks, and : with in-passing and sidestepping Nicol opened the way for Molloy to score. Cotter fajled with the kick. : Ngatea 14, Kerepeehi 3. Kerepeehi pressed hard, but, Wilton relieved on numerous occasions. A passing bout between Adlum, Ratana, and Murphy saw Adlum touch down. Hira missed witii the kick. From the kick-out the ball was returned to half-way, where Cleave, secured and passed .to Molloy, who scored near the posts-. Duncan tailed’ to convert. Shortly. afterwards - McCollum followed up well and scored, Molloy kicking the goal and making the scores, Ngatea 22, Kerepeehi 6. Mr D. G. McMillan was referee. WEST V. WAITAKARURU. This match wais:- played at Patetonga, and resulted in the home team winning by six points -to three.

It wa,s decided to go ; into the prospects of 'forming a. gun club, either at Paeroa or Karangahake, at Friday n'ight’s meeting of the Ohinemuri Acclimatisation Society.