FOOTBALL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5186, 3 October 1927, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

THAMES VALLEY VICTORIOUS.

AUCKLAND NARROWLY DEFEATED

Perfect weather prevailed on Saturday afternoon and there was an attendance of about 700 people at the Paeroa Domain to witness the Rugby match played between t.he Thames Valley representatives and an Auckland fifteen. As an exhibition of Rugby the game was one of the best sfien locally for a long time, being fast, fairly open, and comprisfing for the most part a’forward game. The Valley forwards were superior to the visiting pack, but the Auckland backs were a dashing lot, arid had the local rearguard puzzled by their corkscrew runs and dummying rushes. r ; The Thames Valley team was; the heavier, and the better on the day. The scores were 18 to 17, and the result ,was in doubt right up to the call of time. The following were the teams: Thames Valley.— Full-back, S. E Goldsbury ; three-quarters,. Hake, Black, McQuarters; five-eighths, Towers, Hollis; half-back, Masters; rover, Price; forwards, McLaren, Craig Rolleston, Walters, Mace, R* Smith, Mulgrew. . Auckland.— FulLback, Butler; three-quarters, Goodwin, Stuart, Loft, five-eighths, Bradanovich, Meyer; half-back, Wright ; v rover, Finlayson ; forwards,’Noakes, Stewart, Pope, Miller Stone, Keary, Colgan. Black’s kick-off for Thames, Valley was scrummed near the half-way line. The home tfeam hooked the ball, but Hollis was out of position and Masters’ pass was short. , The backs, however, carried loosely into Auckland’s territory. From a line-out at the twenty-five flag Masters secured, and after breaking through passed to Hollis, who immediately returned the ball to Masters, who then had a clear run to score a nice try near the posts. Black converted. Thames Valley 5, Auckland 0. Play went to Valley’s twenty-five, and following a , scrum nippy close play by the visitors worked operations down, to the posts, from where Masters cleared. Play was anchored in midfield for a short while, until the Valley rushed down for Stewart to clear. Bradanovich and Stuart carried to the other twenty-five, where a free kick to either side took place. Following f these kicks Valley went on the attack again, but Stuart received and made a good cork-screw run, and with Bradanovich and Miller carriejd into Valley’s territory. In the loose Auckland took control and Stuart sent ou to Loft, who crossed the line 1 and registered a good try. The kick by Butler was unsucessful. Thames Valley 5, Auckland 3. Play then went to Auckland’s territory, the; defenders kicking to the line a number of times. Finally Brandanovich and Loft carried into midfield, and a lengthy period of open play followed. The Auckland players threw the ball about, but solid tackling by the opposing side stopped headway from being

made. The second .quarter opened raggear. ly, and Butler h'ad an unsuccessful penalty kick from near halfway. From a scrum at halfway Wright sent out to Loft, who was soundly tackled while gathering in the; ball. The Valley forwards sent to Butler, who placed a nice kick to the halfway flag. In the loose after the throw-in Loft intercepted and had a clear run up the line to score at the corner. Butler failed to convert. Auckland 6, Thames Valley 5. Play became a bit slow in neutral territory until Price kicked.a rolling ball out to McQuarters on the wing. Goodwin was; easily pased, and a nice swerve beat Butler. McQuarters scoring between the posts. Black made no mistake with his kick. Thames Valley 10, Auckland 6. Following the kick-out Loft picked up in the loose, but was unsupported and Goldsbury cleared to halfway. Two more passing rushes by the visitors failed at the critical moment owing to faulty handling, and play again went back to neutral territory. Finlayson time and again broke through in tight play but failed to obtain support. From a scrum Price dashed away, and with •<lf a dozen men in support a try looked certain, but bad handling and holding on too long spoiled the opportunity, Walters being held up when on- the line. Finlayson relieved the pressure with another breakaway. At this juncture Walters was injured and retired, his; place being filled by Riddle. Valley worked back again, and in tight play Rollest.op made a dash but was stopped a few yards from .the posts. A mark taken by Miller re under the; posts found the line, and ' half-time x was sounded. Loose play characterised the opening operation in the second half and a penalty kick was ordered against Valley near the twenty-five line. Loft had a good kick, but the; ball went outside the post. Finlayson sent down a hard kick which went over the line for a force. In open play Butler failed to field the ball and McQuarters gained possession. A short punt made an opening, which was lost through McLaren holding on. Offside play gave Auckland a chance to clear. 9 Black later had an unsuccessful shot at goal from near halfway. In loose play on the halfway line Bradanovich picked up and quickly transferred to Stuart, who made a brilliant run down the centre of the fiejd, stfdestep- / ping and dummying his way right ‘ through the field to score between the posts. The kick by Loft failed. Thames Valley 10, Auckland 9. The Valley forwards broke; away, but overran the ball. Butler marked and kicked to Towers, who set his backs going, but a knock-pn stopped the adygaice. The Valley forwards took control and in tight play Hollis scored well in from the corner flag. Black again added the; extra points. Thames Valley I's. Auckland 9. The ..visitors immediately went on the attack, and from close play near the line Wright, Bradanovich, and Loft •handled the ball in that order for a i try in the corner. Meyer failed with Abe kick. Thames Valley 15, Auckland 12. The final quarter opened with loose play, terminating in a force by Auckland. Masters again put thq visitors

on the defensive with a well-placed line kick. Anderson and Stewart headed a forward rush into midfield, but were nicely stopped by Towers, who cleared. A run was; commenced by Towers but Noakes intercepted his pass and carried to the other twenty-five. Faulty handling by the Auckland supports lost the opportunity. In an Auckland attack McLaren marked and kicked to Goodwin, who ran down the line with Stuart in support. When the latter received the ball he centred to Miller, who made a de|termined run, but collided with the goal-post. From the scrum that was ordered Valley rapidly worked play to the other end of the field. In loose play the visitors immediately worked put again to be; penalised on the home team’s twenty-five line. Black made a splendid kick, finding the line a few yards from the corner. Hard close play followed the throwin. A five-yards scrum was, ordered, and Masters slipped round the blind side, and scored a nice try. Black failed to convert. Thames Valley 18, Auckland 12. Valley returned to the attack, and Black started to run from Auckland’s twenty-five line, at which point Loft intercepted his pass and made a great run down the field. He had little difficulty in beating Goldsbury and scored between the posts. Bradanovich converted. Thames Valley 18, Auckland 17. Time was called a few seconds afterwards, with play in Auckland’s territory. Mr R. T. Reed, of Ngatea, was Of the Auckland backs Stuart, Loft, and Bradanovich were prominent throughout the game. Loft’s work was particularly good, and was dangerous every time he handled the ball. Although a little on the light side, he has playe.d consistently good football this season, and on merit should have beqn tried out as; a possibility for Auckland’s first selection. Finlayson as rover' was ’good, and initiated a number of rushes which came to nothing solely through lack of support. Among the forward division Noakes and Miller wei;e the most noticeable. Noakes did well in the tight play, and when the ball shot out from the ruck he was generally the one responsible. Miller broke a.way well, and was always on the; ball.

In the Thames; Valley teiam Masters and Black were towers of strength to their side, and Hollis a.nd McQuarters thoroughly earned their inclusion in the team. Price as' rover did a lot of good work. Among the forwards Walters, Rollejston, and Mace were prominent in a good pack of men who all did well. TEAMS ENTERTAINED. After the the team§f were the guests of the Thames Valley Rugby Union at a dinner at the Paeroa Hotel. The president, Mr JW. Silcock, extended a Hearty welcome to the visitors, and said that the union was pleased and glad of the opportunity of meeting the famous Auckland players. His union had experienced some difficulty in arranging with the Auckland Union to send a team to Paeroa on account of the Auckland fixtures. However, it was finally managed, and the local public had that afternoon been privileged to watch one of the best exhibitions of Rugby seen here for a long time. He extended hearty congratulations to the visitors on the splendid game they had played, and also the friendly spirit in which it bad been played. It was hoped that next season the Thames Valley Union would be in a position to send a team to, Auckland, when the home side might be more lucky and turn the tables on the Valley players. However, the Valley representatives would do their best to maintain their superiority. A tribute was paid to the services rendered by the referee, who had so ably controlled a strenuous match. In conclusion Mr Silcock offered hearty congratulations to the local teAm on their victory.

In acknowledging the welcome JLoft, captain of the Auckland team, said’quite frankly that his team had come to Paeroa with the idea that they had an easy thing on against Thames Valley, but they were quickly disillusioned after the first few minutes of play. Credit was due to the Valley team for the clean game it had played, and he was pleased to offer the victors sincere congratulations on winning the match. Continuing, the speaker said that, the referee had done his job well, and the visitors had no .fault to find. It was not always that a competent referee was found in country footr ball.

The remarks of the captain wer e endorsed by the manager of the Auckland team, Mr T. uuchanan, who thanked the local officials for the hospitality and consideration shown the visitors, and tendered his own, as well as the Auckland Union’s congratulations to the Valley team on the splendid game it had played. The local team, in his opinion was the better one on the. day and deserved its victory. It Was good nqws to hear that Thames Valley hoped tp send a team to Auckland next season. It was many years since., a#team from these parts had visited Auckland, but when the players did come they could rest assured of a warm welcome apd a good gama

The captain of the home teiam, T. Black, also added his congratulations to the Aucklanders on the splendid fight and clean tactics that had been shown. He too, thought the better team had won (laughter), and he hoped that when they met again the Aucklanders would field a better team (renewed laughter). He assured the visitors that his team had thoroughly enjoyed the contest, and were looking forward to renewing their acquaintance again on the field at Auckland next season. The singing Qf “For They are Jolly Good Fellows,” and cheers and counter cheers followed, and a little later the visitors set out on their return journey to Auckland by char-a-banc to the accompaniment-of further exchange of cheers;.