RUGBY FOOTBALL

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 221, 16 August 1939, Page 2

RUGBY FOOTBALL

MEETING OF GOMMITTEE HURINUI SHIELD MATCH .The weekly meeting of the management committee of the Opotiki Rugby Union was held oil Monday night. Present: Messrs. T. Hickey (chairman), W. T. Barrett, D. Marjoribanks, V. Sotheran, F. Chapman, JL Roberts, T. Black, M. Delamere and the secretary (Mr. D. Bennett). Before the commencement of business, tlie members stood m silence for a few moments-, as a. mark of respect to the late Mr. C. H. Fleming, who for a number of years acted as honor-’ arv auditor to the union.

Tho services of the late Mr. F. Wingate were also placed’ on record'. Mr. Wingate was at one ‘time a delegate for the Country Football Club. A deputation of; representatives of district Maoris waited oil the committee- and congratulated the Opotiki Union upon.t-lieir performance in winning the Hurinui Apanui Shield. The spokesman, Mr. J. Edwards, stated that the Maoris considered' it a great honour to-’have been allowed to take the .shield back once again into their midst. ' The shield was donated by the Maori people and they wished to loan to the Union, Maori emblems with which to decorate the Shield. Tlie chairman thanked the deputation. for the generous offer, which the Union would gladly accept.

. Shalloon Shield Match.—The Opotiki junior representatives will travel to Rotorua on Saturday next to play lor the Shalloon Shield. Mr. B. Roberts was appointed manager of the team, which will leave at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. Saturday’s Shield Match. Rotor'ua will play Opotiki on Saturday next for the Hurinui Shield, which the Opotiki senior representatives won from Tanranga on Saturday last. Mr. I). Marjoribanks was appointed manager of the team. The secretarv was instructed to get in touch with the Rotorua Sub-Union to make the necessary arrangements. It was resolved that the curtainraiser would be the final o! tlie third grade competition between High School and Woodlands.

It was resolved to ask the Mayor to make an appeal to all shopkeepers to close their premises between the hours of 2.30 and 4.30 o’clock on Saturday afternoon to enable all enthusiasts to attend the Shield match. The secretary drew the attention of the meeting to the state of the finances of the Union. He reported that rents and travelling expenses had been very high and as a result the Union was not in a very sound financial position. It was resolved that an appeal be made to tlie public to support the matches in ail eltort to assist the local. Union.

The secretary was instructed to widely advertise the Shield match and also to advertise the Bay of Plenty v. Poverty Bay match.

BIG DAY ON SATURDAY

tsssssssa Quite a memorable day in Opo-tiki’s Rugby history should take place next Saturday when Opotiki "ill tleiend the Hurinui Apaiuii Shield' against Kotorua. It will he jvmemhered that only recently Rotorua and Opotiki drew in the final for the Pa rat a tup, SO that the next meeting, of these two teams should be a strenuous one. On the following Saturday, ‘JGth. August, Buy. of Plenty will meet .Poverty Bay at the reserve. Opotiki. It was hack in 19G3 when Opotiki last defended the shield on the Upmc ground. Opotiki lost the shield in that year under rather unfort-mu*.to circumstances, and although strenuous attempts shave been made to regain the. coveted trophy, six years passed before Opotiki brought, the shield hack t.) this town. Last year the local team was very unfortunate, badly mottling the holders, but finishing the o-ame against- Rangitaiki with the score .‘J all.

It is well known now how Opotiki wrested the Shield from Tauranga last Saturday in a dour struggle, with the final score G and 5. The Opotiki hoys thoroughly deserved their hard-cdiiud victory and all followers of the good old Rugby game heartily congratulate them. The team has practised hard and played as a unit all through the season, and. it is to he hoped it Mill keep up the performance for the remainder of the season. Rotorua is sending over a very strong team and the local representatives will need to he at the top of their form to withstand this challenge. It is confidently expected that the

people of Opotiki will turn out in full force on Saturday. Already, excitement is at high-pitch and it would be pleasing to see one of the huge crowds on the ground, such as used to support the Opotiki team when it held the Shield against numerous challengers many years ago. The Opotiki Rugby Union’s funds are very depleted at the present time. Idle expenses of the Tauranga trip amounted to over £'3B, and the share of the Tauranga gate will probably only assist Opotiki to the extent of approximately £2O. ■Gate takings to date have been fairly good, but not sufficient to carry the union through. Members of the union have worked very hard in endeavouring to keep down expenses, at. hast 17/6 to £1 being saved each Saturday by union members voluntarily doing the gate-keeping, marking of the field, etc.

Several donations from sports people have come, to hand and any support Stiven to the union to foster football wifMie very much appreciated. inauguration of 3rd. guide loot® 11 in jjrns district, at least 50 youifg'men are now playing every and altogether some 1(50 young play football weekly under the Oootiki Rughv Union.