FOOTBALL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4985, 9 June 1926, Page 1

FOOTBALL.

GAME ON THE PLAINS. THE REPRESENTATIVES. In view o£ the approach of the inter-union matches the Hauraki Plains Union’s senior and junior representative teams played games a,gainst teams drawn from tne rest at Ngatea on Saturday. In some cases the men selected for the representative teams could not be present, and the teams lined out as follows Representatives. —F. Nicol, C. Moir ley, Wilson, D. Molesworth, A. Qtter, K. G. Buchanan, J. Adlum, H. Dunca,n, L>. Berney, W. O’Neil, C. Clark. E. French, K. Fox, 0. Cleave, D. Dalgety. B Term.—L. McCoid, V. Hayward, C. Stretton, E. Johnston, K. Chapman, Pilkington, G. Birkenhead, Madgwick, J. Garry, P. Clark, E. Gill, R. Hutchinson, Madgwick, A. Taylor, P. Leonard. The fi team was .the popular fancy, fcr, as is always the case, those on the l.ipe thought they could find fault with the selection. Encouraged by this barracking the B .team made the pace from the .start, and for the grqater part of the game held the ascendancy. They played more as if they desired a place in the representative, team thaji did those already selected, and several times came within an ace of. scoring. The B s were taking no chances with .the A backs, and spoiling tactics were l general, but a,t the same time the A’s were very slow about the half and fiive-eighths region, and this probably accounted for the. tendency of some of the forwards <to play top far back. Ottei made several fine openings, but ran into .the ruck far too much and either lost the ball or was caught in possession. In the line-outs and the scrums the B’s far outshone the As, a,nd the almost continual, cry by the referee, ‘Tree-kick for the B’s,” delighted the spectators'.

During the first half the A backs were responsible for one fine piece of combined work which resulted in Wilson scoring. Buchanan seized an opportunity and wa£ responsible for a second try. Johnston and Madgwick scored for the B ’ s > and Johnston converted his try, though he failed with several penalty kicks. At half-time the B’s were leading by five points to three, and at the end of, the game by eight points to six. Several alterations in the positions of the representative .team were made at half-time. Molloy went to halfback, and was a decided improvement. Adlum went to full-back, but even his play did not compare favourably with that of the B full-back, McCoid. Nicol went up to second live-eighths and seemed more at home in his usual position thaiii at full-back, where his kicking had not been all that could be desired from a representative player. French was sent to the 'front row in an endeavour to improve the hooking, and O’Neil played in the supports. With the changes in the team some improvement was evident, but the backs still failed to combine well and the ,B forwards still made the better showing. Taylor, of the B forwards, played a very fine game, and at least twice almost scored through the weakness of the A full-back. P. Clark, Gill, Garry, and Hutchinson also played well, and will probably be included in the representative team before long, as they are players who stand up to a hard struggle and .are not too frequently penalised. On the whole the game was devoid of thrills, unless one can be excited by a hard forward struggle. Good defensive work abounded, a ( nd Stretton shone in this department.

Eveii allowing for the fact that the game was staged, for the purpose of finding the faults of t,he representative team —thus the many faults may have overshadowed the good play—and that on every point differences df opinion are held, it seems generally recognised that the team was weak both in attack and defence. It was out-generalled, and in tackling and combination was inferior to the B team. 'Had the B team converted all its penalty kicks and the A team been penalised as often as it deserved a cricket score would have resulted. The days of brute strength in Rugby hiive given place to those of science and speed. Young men with these qualifications are required, and it. is generally thought that more are available on the Plains than were seen in action on Saturday. In spite of the fact that, the A’s were defeated it may honestly be said that they tried to play .the better football. Spoiling tactics are very necessary in certain phases of the game, but no player can hope to gain inclusion in a representative team by means of his ability to spoil. Players should endeavour to show their ability in all phases of the game, so that selectors may the better judge their rights for inclusion in a team. SCHOOL HOOTBALL. The game between the Ngatea and Turua school teams attracted quite a crowd of enthusiasts, and they were rewarded with a good game—a trifle one-sided in Ngatea’s favour on account of superior weight a ( nd by virtue cF better combination among the backs. However, the game was a most enjoyable one to watch, and several budding representatives were seen in action. Ngatea won by 28 points- to 0. Tries were scored by McPherson (4) Donaghy, Crean, Hayward, and W. Costello, while) Donaghy and Costello ea,ch converted a try.