SPORTS BUDGET

Southland Times, Issue 24840, 4 September 1942, Page 3

SPORTS BUDGET

Rugby Season Ends Tomorrow The 1942 Rugby season in Invercargill will officially end tomorrow, when Ola Boys-Invercargill will play Marist-BlufE in the final of the senior championship. Old Boys won the Fleming Cup last season and Marist won the Galbraith Shield the year before, so tomorrow’s game win resolv® itself into a game between the defenders of the two trophies, although only one, the Fleming Cup, wiU be at stake. Both Old Boys-Invercargill and Marist-BlufE began the 1942 season with strong teams, but as the season progressed they were weakened and the teams for tomorrow will be dependent upon what material is available. The prospects, according to reports, are tnat the game will be a good one —a fitting wind-up to the season. The Cricket Season September is the month in which cricket clubs make a move in preparation for the new season, but so far little ac fl vlt y- ha ? been noticed in Invercargill. Theßouthland Cricket Association will hold its annual meeting about the third week of the month and by that time clubs may be expected to show their hands. The prospects are tnnt organized competitions will be conducted oy the association, with the possibility of one or two Army teams taking part. Men’s Basketball The Y.M.C.A. indoor basketball league’s competition has now been completed. The match between Y.M.C.A. No. 1 and Bible Class No. 1 which are together at the top of the competition with 20 points each, will be played next week. A knock-out tournament will be played during the following week and with several friendly games to be played, basketball should not be finished this season until the end of this month. The best gamp played this week was between Y.M.C.A. No. 1 and Kittyhawks (A.T.C.), although the Y.M.C.A. team’s shooting was not up to its usual high standard. Skelt (Kittyhawks) was the most versatile player, but Jans, Ronald and Campbell also played well. Bowlers’ Billiards Evidence of the interest taken in billiards by members of bowling clubs was shown by the large attendance at the Commercial billiard rooms on Tuesday night when the preliminary rounds of the billiards and snooker pairs championships were played. Seating accommodation was at a premium. Most interest was taken in the match between J. Holloway (Invercargill), holder of the billiards title, and W. Spencer (R.S.A.), winner in 1940, but as often is the case when champions meet the standard of play was not as high as that shown in the other games. Holloway had a good lead after the 200 mark was passed, but Spencer made a timely break of 26 and beat Holloway in the run home. R. G. Smithies (Georgetown) played good billiards to beat P. Steans (Southland) and on that form he looks like being the hardest to beat when the games are.resumed next Tuesday night. Table Tennis Three teams are equal in the Southland table tennis championship and a play-on will be necessary. Star, Power Supply and United are the teams; they will meet next Wednesday night to decide the title for tne 1942 season.. Basketball Results The first grade basketball competition has been completed, Collegiate occupying first place with 21 points. The order of the remaining teams is as follows: Rata 19, St. Mary’s 15, Kew Nurses 12, Makarewa 7, High School 6, Stuarts 4. Matches have still to be played on August 5 in the second grade competition and Bluff and Woodlands will ■play on September 12 a match which was postponed on August 1. This competition is the most evenly contested and at present Collegiate A and Pirates are leading with 23 points each. Bluff is next with 22 points. Several matches have still to be played in the third grade competition and these will be completed on September 5. Roslyn Bush is at the head of the competition with 26 points, Rata A following with 22 points. The fourth grade competition has been completed with Makarewa, the winner with 28 points. The order of the remaining teams is as follows: Collegiate A 20, Technical 10, Bluff 2. Victory and Bluff withdrew from the competition. The annual challenge match to be played tomorrow between the runners-up and the winners of the first grade competition for the News Shield is expected to provide an exciting finale for the first grade basketball competition. The present holder of the shield is Collegiate and Rata is the challenger. Last year Rata was deprived of the shield by Collegiate after a particularly close game, and the fact that the first grade representative team which recently, played Dunedin was composed almost entirely of players from Rata and Collegiate should guarantee some good basketball. N.Z. Bowls Tournament The prospect of holding a New Zealand bowls tournament at Dunedin in January was discussed by the executive of the New Zealand Bowling Association last week. Last year, it will be remembered, the annual tournament was abandoned because of the war situation in the South Pacific. At the meeting of the executive the chairman (Mr J. Forster) pointed out that the posters for a tournament in January would have been circulated in normal times by now, and that it was desirable to make an early decision about the possibility of holding a tournament in the coming season. It was decided to consider the matter and make a recommendation at the next meeting of the executive on September 21. Star Foundation Member Mr Hugh Graham .whose death in Invercargill was reported this week, was a foundation member of the Star Football Club. He was a member of the first team to take the field for the old “Moonlighters,” as they were known in the days of nearly 60 years ago. Mr Graham was a keen supporter of all classes of sport; he was a member of an athletic family, one of his brothers (Jack) being a foundation member of the Britannia Football Club. In recent years he was one of Star’s keenest supporters.