NOTES AT RANDOM.

Shannon News, 22 July 1927, Page 4

NOTES AT RANDOM.

REPRESENTATIVE GAMES REVIEWED. The representative programme is nowin full swing and for the present public interest in the club competition has diminished somewhat, giving place to the glamour of witnessing the bigger fixtures. Horowhenua is passing through a busy . period as far as representative football is concerned, fo_r, in addition to the demand set upon us in defending challenges for the Bebbington Shield, the return match with Manawatu was played on Saturday, while the Manawhenua games commenced on Wednesday, so that the form shown is being closely followed in anticipation of the Combined Team’s quest for the Ranfurlv Shield at the end of the month. If the standard of play seen on Saturday can be accepted as a true indication of our chances in Napier, it is safe to say that the Shield will still be in Hawkes Bay when Manawhenua return home again. However, move of that, anon. . v - .....

THE BEBBINGTON SHIELD GAME. The Bush reps, with a full quota of supporters, journeyed to Levin last Wednesday in an attempt to lift the above trophy and although not success-

ful, gave Horowlienua the hardest fight they have yet had since holding the shield, the final scores being 20 —14 in the holders’ favour. Conditions could hardly have been worse for this game, and, as only to be expected, it developed into a strenuous forward tussle in the mud.

The treacherous state of the ground in no way suited Horowhenua’s style of play, for it must be admitted that they are more suited to a dry ground. However, they set themselves to the task of making the best of a bad job, and taking advantage of early mistakes by the visitors’ backs, they quickly ran up a commanding lead, and despite this being gradually reduced as the game proceeded, managed to keep ahead until the final whistle, which came as a relief to Horowhenua’s supporters, who were developing a certain amount of anxiety. When the rain set in before the match, Bush followers became very optimistic. It was generally realised what an advantage this would be to the visiting forwards, who have always been noted for their partiality for a heavy .ground. This became evident when play started, for they simply revelled in their work, and, adapting themselves to the adverse conditions, controlled most of the forward play. Their dribbling rushes were a treat to watch, and in this respect, they gave the Horowlienua forwards a thorough lesson on how this phase of the game should be played. That this most effective movement is a lost art in this district, was clearly demonstrated by the fruitless efforts of some of the home players to check these rushes, they being unable to cope with them in any way. Despite this the Horowlienua forwards gave their best display so far this season in this particular game, and although not favoured by the heavy going, all played heroically and in no way shirked the demands placed upon them. The most pleasing feature about their display ivas the improved scrummaging, their packing being excellent, while for the first time this season, they gained control of the ball in the serums.

R. McDonald was given a trial in the role of hooker. He proved an unqualified success,\doing more than his share in this department, while in the rest of the play, there was not a better forward on the Horowlienua side. Another who pleased was L. Dalziell, who has improved considerably in his ■ last two games, while of the remainder, Tatana, Payne and Gleeson were the pick. Tana locked the scrum in good style, but was a very tired man during the second spell, while Maihi did not relish the slippery state of the ground. It is safe to predict that, had the ground been in anything like decent order and the ball not so elusive, Bush would have been beaten by a much wider margin, as indicated by the manner in wiyli the Red backs handled the leather before it became so evasive. As it turned out, they were much superior to the Bush rearguard, particularly on attack, but with the exception of Hunt and Ryder, were very uncertain on defence. The latter player gave a masterly exhibition of full-back play, his defence being of a very high order and his handling and fielding of the greasy' ball at times was remarkable. Owing to the referee’s leniency towards the Bush breakaways’ off-side play from 'the serums, Chisholm had no easy job behind at half-back, and at times was well smothered before getting his hands to the ball. He stood up to a hard day’s gruelling valiantly. Neither wing-three-quarters, J. McDonald or Roberts, could do much under the conditions and were not suited to the slippery ground. Although well marked, Jacob got through a heavy day’s work and grafted solidly throughout. Horowlienua’s next game in defence of the Shield will be against Oroua, and will ‘be played early in August.

MANAWATU avenge themselves. \

By defeating Horowhenua at Palmerston on Saturday by the comfortable margin of 18 points to nine, Manawatu avenged their two defeats of last year, also the one they received at Shannon earlier this season.

Horowhenua w r ent through last season unbeaten, and having played three games to date this season, winning each one, appeared likely to repeat the performance until the Greens checked their victorious progress on Saturday. On the day’s play, our neighbourly rivals thoroughly deserved their win, and nobody wili begrudge them the victory gained after a clean game, played in a sportsmanlike fashion. Manawatu’s back play was the deciding factor in this game, and when it became a question of combination and cleverness, particularly on attack, they were streets ahead of the opposition.

Horowhenua’s form w r as, to put it mildly, disappointing and was altogether inconsistent with that shown previously. One naturally seeks the reason for this sudden reversal, and it is admittedly hard to find. Many contend that the Horowhenua men were stale, but of course this is a weak argument, as Saturday's game was only the fourth representative game this season, and no one can argue that the club competition has been unduly strenuous; therefore, instead of being stale, the Horowhenua team should be at the top of its form, with combination the keynote of their play. We -know that a team is as good as the opposition allows it to be, granted; nevertheless, Manawatu were not that good, and as far as rep. football is concerned, were nothing out of the ordinary. The writer can offer one probable reason, and one abstract reason.

Fiistly: That Saturday’s game, following so closely upon Wednesday ’r hard struggle against the Bush, proved too much for some of the players in the saipe week.

Secondly: That Chisholm, Horowhenua ’s half-back, and therefore the pivot of the Reds’ attacking unit behind the scrum, was physically unfit and should not, in justice to himself and the rest of the team, have been allowed to take the field.

For instance; the writer kept a record of the various scrums, and is in a position to state that Horowhenua received more than their share of the ball. Of'; what use w*as it? Owing to an injured* arm that was obviously causing Chis-

holm a great amount of trouble, he was totally unable to handle the ball properly, with the result that he seldom got it away cleanly, and his slowness in connecting up with his five-eighths, enabled the opposition to harass their men with freedom. It was also unfortunate for the Beds that Warren .retired at half-time, as his brilliancy in : maldng openings was badly missed during the second spell, when Horowhenua were mostly on the attack. “• This player makes some splendid opportunities for his outside men during a game, but after having done so is inclined to spoil them by doing the wrong thing. However, on Saturday, although he opened shakily and dropped a couple of passes, he neatly paved the way for a couple of tries and was just settling into his stride when he went off. Owing to the spoiling tactics offered to Manawatu, Horowhenua’s back play was rendered practically useless, and it was the customary thing to notice players standing still and sending the ball along, the outcome being, that the wings were cramped for room and were compelled to hastily boot the ball to the opposition, or be dumped before any ground had been gained. J. McDonald is developing the habit of allowing an opponent, in possession of the ball, to race up to him, and then attempt to follow him along with his tackle. There is only one way in which to defend, and that is to go and meet your man, and save as much ground as possible. v The whole line suffered from the handicap imposed at the base of the scrum, and consequently were not up to the usual, while even the ever-steady Ryder made many mistakes. Jacob has played many better games and was not in the limelight as much as usual, although he tried • various tricks to avert defeat. However, on the day, Walden proved more than a handful for him, and was here, there and everywhere, but admittedly sometimes on side, and then again frequently off-side. The Red vanguard did not infuse an overdose of zest info their play, particularly in the open, and appeared to be suffering from the effects of Wednesday’s battle. Tatana, R. McDonald, and Payne were the pick, Bond and Hakaraia did not play up to form, while Gleeson and L. Dalziell although battling hard, to some extent marred their game by being frequently noticed off-side. Nevertheless, on one occasion the former was decidedly unfortunate in being penalised in this direction when a certain try loomed ahead, for he was quite within his rights, and by no stretch of imagination could the referee, from where he was standing, have given a decision; he was at least 25 yards behind the play. The referee’s interpretations, at times were very hard to understand. He was entirely inconsistent with his decisions on the forward pasß and penalised both sides, sometimes with a free kick, and on other occasions by ordering a serum. HOROWHENUA’S QUOTA TO THE COMBINED TEAM. ... After witnessing the form displayed on Saturday, it came as a hig surprise to the local critics that Horowhenua had been asked to supply eight players, and three emergencies, for the: first Manawhenua team. The Manawatu se-

lector (Mr J. Ryan) lias been keeping 1 an eye on Horowhenua fbrm in the .various games, and taking a. line through the above selection, he evidently considers the .form shown by the . local men on Saturday was all. wrong;'