MANAWHENUA SOUNDLY DEFEATED.

Shannon News, 22 July 1927, Page 4

MANAWHENUA SOUNDLY DEFEATED.

.BRILLIANT display by wairarapa backs. a TWENTY-POINT VICTOR A crowd numbering about flve thousand attended the Showgrounds yesterday to witness the combined Manawatu-Horowhenua go down by the substantial margin of 23 points to 3 to the date Shield holders, Wairarapa. By no stretch of imagination could the game be called interesting to the supporters Of Manawhenua, as the combined :team was sadly lacking in combination and was woefully weak in defence, and when the visitors got going, it was only a question of how many points they would win by. Until half-time Manawhenua did appeal- ' to have a fighting chance but the combination, strategy and pace of the

WairaTapa backs in the second spell made the-.home team look like school- . boys. Their , backs were never in tho ' picture.' In the first place the Mana- . whenua hookers were beaten nineteen fiuieg out of tweuty for the ball, with ’ the result that during the .whole oi the game only a couple of passing bouts were indulged in. and these ' W er« made to look amateurish against the brilliant passing of tho visitors. But the worst feature of the “com- __ bined” back play wa s the feeble defence,’ the collaring being- hopeless,

allowing Cundy, the hefty Wairarapa five-eighth, to go through so often ■ ......that the marvel -was the score was not much bigger. Cooke was as brilliant - as ever both in attack and- defence.

' tfis tries being delightful pieces of work. The Manawhenua forwards robre than held their own in the loose

but otherwise Wairarapa was superior / . In every department and gave a bril- •-; Hant and finished display of Rugby.

.The Game. The teams lined out as follows: — • Manawhenua (red, white and blue): - Hunt, H. Darragh, Brophy, J. McDon r >]d, .Dewe, Warrcm Chisholm, Jacob (captain), Anderson, Hakaraia, T. Parsons; , Tatanaj' Crawford, Payne. Tremewan.

Wairarapa. (dark gre.en): E. B. Booth, R. Booth, C. String-fellow, G. /Booth, A. E. Cooke (captain). R. . Cundy, J. . Hiroti, M. Parkfer, W. Ir.".vtne,’.Qi Donald, I. Harvey,' W. Reside, - K. Reid. K. Fairbrothe'r, J. Ch urch - . ouse.

Wairarapa kicked ; off and Manawhenua pressed early, Cooke clearing well - up .tho field, leaving the fortyard s to follow* up the advantage. In 'stemming* the rush Manawhenua 'tv ere • penalised for offside play, and thy green backs wore set in motion, making the Manawhenua position precarious. Cooke was away in a dangerous manner on one occasion, but he was nicely tackled near the line The ensuing play was hard, and Parker and G. Booth suffered minor injuries, which, however, did not necessitate their leaving the field. Manawhenua opened an offensive and charging down the field were brought down like ninepins. Wairarapa m going back to Manawhenua territory .were frustrated in their attempt to score by Brophy, wlio cleared with a fine kick, Hunt doing the same a few moments later when .Manawhenua \('SVe calied upon to defend. Wairarapa gained a good deal of ground at

thi a stage by -high punting and fast - . following, yp. Tl\e “blues” (as the •^.rcrowd quickly dubbed the weaicr s of the tri-.colour jersey) got down to a •. determined effort however, and War- - >ren working the blind side of the scrum, sent Darragh over to score a clever try near the corner, after 15 minutes' play, Jacbb missing the kick: Manawhenua 3 Wairarapa 0.

Going on an offensive again, Mana-

whenua were sent back by a breach pf the rules, and returning again later, Bootlx bad to clear for tbe greens. Again, Manawhenua forwards put on ’the pressure, but Chisholm afforded

relief to Wairarapa by holding on to

. the ball, a free kick resulting.. The i kick being marked by Warren, he and ' Japob went away on their own. only 'to be brought down when within scoring distance. Manawhenua pressing forward again, Cooke relieved with a

mark, but the relief was only tem...porary, as Brophy and McDonald got ■ " on the move, a forward pass nullifyi} mg their attempt. The ensuing play j. was productive of no advantage to ' i; eitheT side, until Cooke took charge In 1 a sold'effort got- to the full-back, . t ‘ punted over his head and scored almost between the posts, the kick at goal touched the hands of the Mana- • * whenua forwards on route: Wairarapa 3, Manawhenua 3. Manawhenua went into the green's territory from the kick off E. Booth ■ relieving with a line kick,'but Hunt .regained the lost territory with an- ■ other kick. Brophy -had an attempt ''‘C.’at goal from a penalty,, and the ball : I ; ''falling short, Cooke' went away .bn 4iis own to finish well--up in the blues' ~ ‘-'teiritory. Following a'sCTies of scrums Guy Booth was sent hway and nearly -'got over being'thrown out in “touch in goal.” From the twenty-five out. Ctmdy made a strong solo run, and an. £ --- interchange of passes made matters

look serious for Manawhenua again, Warren saving eventually with a lucky kick. Offside play gave E. Booth a chance to put the greens three points in the lead with a fine penalty goal: Wairarapa 6, Manawhenua 3.

Wairarapa now assumed the upper hand and Manawhenua were hard pressed until a free kick gave then, some measure of relief, but the last few minutes’ play till half-time' saw them force down twice, the gong sounding as the ball was forced tin second time. Wairarapa Pile I’p Points. After lemon time W. Farata replaced Chisholm behind the Manawhenua scrum. Manawhenua wort; early on the defensive, but after many anxious moments round their goal were able to get away on the attack Jacob leading the pack out of a scrum and the movement finishing on the Wairarapa line. The game again being transferred. Manawhenua w< re called upon to defend hard, but Brophy came to' light with one of his line kicks and Wairarapa were sent back to look after their own line. Not long afterwards Tremewan went off and was replaced by Gleeson. Cundy and Parker each made solo runs in quick succession, but neither were productive of much good. Cooke. Cundy and Stringfellow wore the trio, who were to finish off. a nice passing bout, Stringfellow making the score read:

Wairarapa 9, Manawhenua 3

A penalty some moments after tho kick off gave Jacob a try at a goal but he wa s unsuccessful. Ho later got away to the full-back who was caught with the ball, but passed to Cooke who cleared with a perfect kick when matters looked bad for Wairarapa By a series of forward rushes, Manawhenua gained some ground and wer e within scoring distance when Waira rapa got possession and Parker, Cundy and Booth took part in a movement which ended in the latter crossing, the kick going wide: Wairarapa 12, Manawheuua 3. '

Cooke was not long in starting Cundy and .Booth going again but Dewe. brought the latter to tinground and Manawhenua had to force almost immediately. ■ Manawheuua made another forward move, a kick from Brophy going to Cooke, who started a.movement in which lie and Cundy participated the former grounding between the posts. Cundy increased the score to: - Wairarapa 17,' Manawhenua 3. The next movement was also start ed by Cooke Stringfellow, R. Booth, and Parker receiving the ball in turn but it wont forward to the latter and it was left to Booth to cross and make he score r<sad: , Wairarapa 20, Manawhenua 3.

The closing stages saw Manawhenua hard pressed. Cundy finished off a brilliant display with ...a goal from a penalty, the score at the bail of time being:

Wairarapa 23, Manawhenua. 3

Mr. P. Skoglund was a capable and impartial referee.

SiAXAWHEJfUA TEAM FOR SATURDAY. AND THE TWENTY-ONE CAMPERS. The following will represent Mana.whenua 'against the Maori touring team at Palmerston North on Saiurday:— Full-back: Williamson. Three-quarters: H. Darragh, E Hunt, J. McDonald. Five-eighths: Brophy, Warren. Half: W. Parata. . Wing forward: Jacob. Forwards f Anderson, Hakaraia Parsons, Crawford, Tatana, Galpin. Payne. Emergencies: Backs, Dewe, T Parata, Cochran. Forwards, Persson, Gleeson, Tremewan. v . The above twenty-one players wi!) go into the training camp at tb* Showgrounds on Monday to get in readiness for the Ranfurly Shield match on Saturday, July 30th.