INTO STRIDE

NZ Truth, Issue 1183, 2 August 1928, Page 14

INTO STRIDE

Horowhenua Bag Two Scalps ! ■ • •-— — (From "N.Z. Truth's" Manawatu Rep.) Last week Bush partially made up for their sound defeats at the hands of the Wairarapa and Wanganui reps, when they offered surprising opposition to the Horo- __, whenua elect on the Levin domain m the second and last Bebbington Shield challenge match of ( the season. DIVALRY between these two districts ** is' always keen, and their matches always evenly contested. In the past five years neither side has won a game by a margin greater than six points. The final score of 13-8 fairly indicates the merits tof the two teams, but it" was no fault/of the Bush forwards that the, pendulum did not swing their way when the last whistle was sounded.. The Horowhenua rearguard had ' it all on their own on attack, but what the Bush backs lacked on attack they made up on defence. It was indeed fortunate for them that Horowhenua did not try opening up the game earlier. than they did. The drop-kick was greatly exploited as a means of scoring, but ihougn there were numerous attempts, only one kick found its way over the crossbars, Taylor, the < Horowhenua fullback, being the man behind the propelling boot. A feature of the game was the excellent showing of the rival fullbacks. ' Udy (Bush) had much more 'to do than Taylor, and was never found wanting. Ever sure with his fielding and kicking he also took some fine marks and knew the right way to stop a dribbling rush. ' Taylor was not quite so good as his vis-a-vis,, nevertheless, he more than pulled his weight. . , Woolland, who found himself opposing Roberts on the wing, failed to shine on attack, but he made a certainty of downing the Manawhenua winger whenever he got the ball, and the only occasion that Roberts passed him was when he went over for his try. W. Parata, half, was the pick of the Horowhenua back line and varied his play nicely.

In Galvin and Mahoney, Bush possess two fine forwards. The latter player has a lot of weight and a fine turn of speed. When he learns to give more attention to his work m the tight he should be worthy of a game m any representative sidei Galvin and Gleeson, the wingforwards, were 'evenly paired off and uoth played well. . The former scored both tries for Bush by clever anticipation. Tatana, Hakaraia, and Satheiiey were a hard working trio m the Horowhenua pack and were ably supported by Moody and Dalz'ell. Horowhenua Again The decisions m the first of the . Horowhenua — Manawatu intercouncil trial matches played at Shannon last "month were confirmed at Palmerston North on Saturday last when the return .matches were played under conditions that should have . made for good Rugby. Horowhenua displayed ■ much more combination than their opponents. Manawatu. have had only one game this season, arid the, team which took the field against Horowhenua differed materially from the Shannon team, no fewer than "nine alterations- 1 ' being made. Manawatu opened well, and within a tew minutes of the initial kick Dais placed. Manawatu m the lead. Over anxiety on the part 6f the home forwards was another factor .which handicapped' Manawatu. Taylor, who played on the wing m the first trial match, filled . the fullback position for Horowhenua very creditably, and to the satisfaction of the Manawhenua selectors who have given him preference to Williamson for the Wanganui game on Saturday next; Taylor fully deserves his inclusion and having plenty of pace, a capable pair of hands and a hefty boot and clever anticipation should acquit himself well. He has yet •to go through the acid tests that proved Williamson to be one of the best of the Manawhenua full-backs. . W. Parata, half, also ; proved his right to the .Manawhenua position by outplaying Shapleski. Gleeson, despite his inclination to get off-side even more than is expected m a wing-forward, was an unpleasant man to the Manawatu five-eighths and saw to it that they were not allowed to .have matters their own way. Hakaraia, Tatana and Dalzell were the pick of the forwards, with Satherley and Moodie also prominent. . The Manawatu full-back, Wasley, was also .very sound, and brought off some fine clearances. Neither Strange nor Dais had many 'opportunities to prove their worth on the wings, but Strange tried hard for the line whenever the ball came his way. „ Robb was another to show good form arid oh the day's play was little inferior to Stevenson, of the Horowhenua B team who was chosen for the second five-eighths position m the cpmbined team. . Akuira has been playing.. soundly rather than/brilliantly of late, but will no doubt improve with the ad- . yerit of the representative fixtures. Crawford and Galpin shone m the vanguard, but Conrad, save for : a few very -•••brief- spasms, had a very lazy Um .»\ '■''.■'.'. . ,•'.■..-.. •'•: ■";■ .'■■.' . ''