Stirring Finish

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 709, 8 July 1929, Page 6

Stirring Finish

GRAMMAR HEADS TEACHERS Last Minute Victory UNTIL the last quarter Training College led Grammar Old Boys by 8 to 3 and many in the crowd were prepared to go home. Up till then the Grammar forwards had not shown any of the fire and enthusiasm of the previous week, and it was only the indifferent handling of the Training College backs that had prevented a bigger score being registered against them. Then Gardiner potted a fine goal and that changed the complexion of the game. Grammar was still one point down, but the forwards woke up and dominated the play to enable Gardiner to win the game with a lightning cut in. The last quarter compensated for an otherwise dull game.

The Grammar forwards started off in a very lackadaisical way. Instead of being the pack of the previous week they were seven individuals, and some of them rather tired. Walter Batty was well on the job, however, and from the start did good work in both departments of forward play. It was he and L. Knight who led most of the Grammar rushes at this stage. The scrumming was also affected and Grammar was not hooking as well as expected. If Training College had made more of its opportunities at this stage it would quickly have put the game beyond Grammar’s reach. Bad passing lost one or two almost certain tries, the weakness principally being at second five-eighth, where Lawrie was failing to take his transfers. Weir still being on the injured list, Lawrie had to come in from centre, and playing out of his right position might account for this departure from his usual clean display. The College forwards, also, were not following up the play with their usual spirit, and it seemed as if they wero quite content with the margin of five points secured before halftime. It certainly looked as if Training College would get home without a great deal of opposition, but when Gardiner’s four points stirred the Grammar forwards into action, they wero too hard to stop. CORNERS GOOD DISPLAY At fullback Goodacre, Grammar custodian of two or three seasons ago, made a reappearance and gave a sound display. Bell was very useful at centre, and Menzies on the wing played determined football. Apart from winning the game for his side Gardiner gave a good exhibition at second liveeighth. His try in the concluding stages was a piece of inspired play. Taking a pass in his own 25 he suddenly cut in with a great burst of speed which left the opposition standing. Corner gave another very fine exhibition at halfback. His passing out from the scrum was very prompt and around the side of the scrum he did a lot of very useful work. On recent exhibitions he appears to hold a first mortgage on that position in the next representative team. When they got going in the last quarter the Grammar forwards certainly showed what they can do when they

like. But as stated before in these columns, they have to be in the mood. For consistently good work, \V. Batty took the honours, and he was well supported by his young brother Eric, who distinguished himself by securing a very line try. L. Knight toiled industriously and Arthur Knight,

when he got really interested, came with a rush at the finish. During the first half ho was too b lsy experimenting with a new position as first assistant to Corner to be really effective as a forward, but later in the game he gave an indication of what he can do when he likes. Catlicart was another who shone out toward the end. PROMISING WING For Training College Butler played his usual solid game, kicking with good judgment. In the centre position Connolly played a good individual game and was probably the best back on the side. It was unfortunate that circumstances prevented him from playing in his right position on the wing. He is a wing of considerable promise, and will be heard of again. Abbott was not as good as usual, but many of the passes sent out to him were not as clean as they might have been. Mcßao played a useful game • at five-eighth, and Rae, behind the scrum, was always a hard worker. Stacey was the pick of the forwards with Webb and Blow also attracting attention. Mr. M. Kronfeld was the referee.

PONSONBY EXTENDED TECHNICAL’S GAME EFFORT Leading by two points at half-time, and having had all the best of the play. Technical Old Boys looked likely winners in their game against Ponsonby. With characteristic flashes of brilliance, however, the blues secured a 12-point victory in a slashing second spell. During the first half Technical rushed play to the Ponsonby line time and time again. The fast break-away forwards were getting in among the Ponsonby insides and throwing an effective cog in the champions’ scoring machinery. Technical forwards wero also holding their own in the tight, though Ponsonby hooked consistently from all set scrums. Technical backs, however, were a little slow, and did not combine well or there would have been a bigger deficit for Ponsonby to face at lemon-time. In the second half, the Technical pack, though still forcing the pace in the loose, had tired, and the Ponsonby inside backs were allowed more room to worjc in. Poor tackling on the part of the Technical rearguard let the Ponsonby backs through to gain ground with clever runs. Hook and Lucas fooling the opposition completely. Though the Ponsonby scrum was still supplying McManus with plenty of ball, dropped passes, notably by Cammick, were robbing the three-quarter line of its opportunities. Hann was the !

forward who worried the Ponsonb\ backs most. Though he showed an inclination to share the work of Keane, the rover, at times, he followed up fast, and with a little more pace, would have been over on two occasions on his own. As it was lie had Fraser in diffi-

unities as. supported by a. hunting pack with Xelson and Coll at the fore, he chased a high ball down-field.

Solomon, Bunting, Righton and Hayward were the best of the Ponsonby forwards, whose greatest claim to fame is that they won practically every set scrum in the game. McManus, at half, played a great game. His passes from the scrum were clean and fast, and he worked the blind successfully. Jamieson was a good first five-eighth, but Cammick played well below form. Lucas seemed to have the greens bewitched, as he ran through the ruck, escaping tackles with apparent ease. Hook made some startling dashes down the side-line, but McLeod was well watched, and was given few opportunities to use his pace. Neither fullback particularly impressed, though Fraser was more dependable than D. Keane. The Technical threequartcr line was fair, but tackled poorly and failed to take advantage of the opportunities given in the first half. Haslam was the star of the back division, and Turbott, the other five-eighth, was sound. Harris played below his usual form behind the scrum. Mr. G. Peace was referee. RIFLES GO DOWN VARSITY’S HARD BATTLE

Saturday afternoon at the Showgrounds saw the plucky College Rifles team beaten 9 —o by Varsity after a game remarkable for its evenness and clean play. From the outset Varsity battled hard to wear down the men in dark blue, and how much its , best efforts were required is demonstrated by the fact that it was well into the second quarter before the account was opened and even then the Rifles’ line was not crossed. That was only done once in the game, and then in the last quarter when Minns scored the only try of the match. The students’ other six points came from penalties kicked by the reliable Bush. The game was characterised by bustling tactics on both sides, and Varsity by no means had things its own way. for the Rifles pack was combining well and quite surprised the spectators by keeping a good deal of the play inside the Light Blues’ twenty-five. The College Rifles pack was decidedly superior in the scrums. Souter, Noakes and Fogarty shared honours in the tight and Steere was outstanding in line-out play. The Varsity forwards were inclined to break up too quickly and allowed their opponents to come through more often than not. Coigan gave a good exhibition and Keene was outstanding at rover.

Kirk was a little slow behind the Rifles pack. "Wilson seemed content to gain ground by line-kicking rather than open up the play. McGregor was handy at centre and, with a little more speed, would have been really dangerous and would have had a couple of tries from his smart inetrceptions. Minns and Goodwin saw little of the ball, but this was due to the forwards being unable to get possession. The half, iN. Jenkin, played creditably throughout. Bush was notable chiefly for his kicking. On the whole, during the game there was little between the teams. Varsity’s only superiority being an ability to take advantage of its opponent's mistakes. Mr. G. Hancock was referee.

STEWART’S EIGHT POINTS

MARIST’S LATE EFFORT

The Marist team owed its eightpoint victory over Manukau at Eden Park on Saturday to the initiative and kicking ability of the centre-three-quarter Stewart. His boot produced live points in a penalty and a conversion, and he opportunely followed up to receive a reverse pass and score a well-deserved try. It was a. pretty blind-side effort in which the Marist winger Stoupe paved the way with a dashing run. Unfortunately bright flashes of back play as this were notably absent from the general run of play.. The West Coasters certainly fielded a weak side and consequently suffered lack of combination. The forwards were vigorous enough, however, and on the day shaded the opposing vanguard in the loose. Manukau's backs —intent rather on spoiling than concentrating on attacking movements, particularly in handling in passing rushes—let them down. For that matter Marist’s back division was equally lacking in combination. The fact that the ball was not being delivered cleanly by the forwards accentuated Coburn’s slowness in opening up attacking movements. Particularly in the first spell was this evident, the backs receiving their passes standing still in practically the same positions as they lined out from the scrum. Consequently they were downed before they could move. Passing was not well directed. Individually Stewart endeavoured once or twice to remedy this failing by dodgy, penetrating runs. The defence, however, was fairly sound. At fullback Corntliwaite gave a very fair exhibition, always being willing to meet the opposing forwards on their own ground, and handling and kicking well. The t hreeq uarters rarely saw the leather all day. Stoupe infused plenty of dash into his running in the few chances he had.

Marist’s heavy pack did not work in eo-ncert in the scrums and the slow delivery indicated that their weight was not going in properly. Hadley figured prominently in the line-out and loose work, breaking away well, and with Marshall, rover, followed up persistently. The work of this pair, however, was nullified largely by too hard

kicking of their scrum mates when near the line. Manukau forwards were unlucky in not scoring on more than one occasion with their driving loose rushes, which kept Marist backs very busy in the second and third quarters. Their break-aways from the line-outs, in which the lock, McGuire, Pepper and Housham were generally prominent, smothered the opposition’s efforts to clear, so vigorous were the attacks. Turei, at fullback, was a considerable aid to his pack with his powerful, welldirected line-kicking. Generally he extricated his side neatly from threatened danger, but several times was inclined to take too many risks and was smothered in possession. The incident that led to the ordering off of Brimble, the Manukau hooker, just before the end of the game occurred just in front of the goalmouth. Brimble was rightly penalised for holding on after being tackled Apparently the player then passed some resentful remark to the referee and was promptly given his “walking ticket.” Mr. L. Guiney was the referee. RUNAWAY SCORING CITY TROUNCES GRAFTON With both teams well down on the competition ladder, there was not much interest in the City v. Grafton match. The game, anyway, was of low calibre, and a gallery would have found little in the way of an entertaining spectacle. Play throughout was scraggy, and there was scarcely any semblance of team work. City lost no time in opening its scoring account, and throughout both spells it was the speedy line of City backs that dominated the play. The fowards on both sides laboured energetically, but lack of co-ordination made most of their work, from the scoring point of view, futile. The City backs had no difficulty in making good breaks from the loose, because there was little else but loose play. With its great superiority in the back division. City had all the opportunities, and the best that can be said for Grafton is that the score might easily have been much larger. From the start Berridge, Littlewood and Allen came into the picture. Allen was always quick on the gather-up and, being unselfish in play, he always let the ball out quickly to Littlewood, Berridge or Wheaton. These men were the stars of the game, and not having a great deal of the hard work done for them by the forwards they could, for practical purposes, be accounted the side. Lockie and Holt showed up periodically, and Lockie’s potted goal was an excellent example of the opportunism that could be more encouraged. The way in which he flashed with his kick from a breaking scrum was really admirable.

The one bright spot in Grafton’s play came early in the match. Evans made the most spectacular run of the game when he flew down the sideline with an outstripped field behind him. He successfully eluded Blackey who made a courageous tackle which came just a split second too late. Ruru and Paewai worked hard among the backs, but there was an absence of the combination necessary to enable tries to be piled up. Right through the game lacked sparkle, and the story, after all, is best told by the score of 28 —3 in City’s favour.

BACK TO THE FOLD TEAM AT THE THAMES (From Our Own Correspondent) THAMES, Saturday. The motion carried at an unofficial meeting of the Physical Training Club to the effect “that the senior fifteen be withdrawn from the cup competition,” was rescinded at a properly constituted meeting on Friday evening. The team will take is place as usual in the Saturday competitions. The injustices the Physical Training Club alleges it has been subjected to will be placed before the Thames Union. COLLEGE MATCHES MOUNT ALBERT BEATS KING’S Although at one stage the score was three all, Mount Albert Grammar cut loose in spectacular fashion in the last quarter of the secondary schools Rugby match against King’s on Saturday and won by the shattering margin of 20 points to 3. Auckland Grammar always had the game in hand against Sacred Heart. Grammar led 8-0 at half-time, and finished up with a convincing victory by 1-1 points to 3.

SENIOR B GRADE OTAHUHU V. MANUKAU Playing at Onehunga on Saturday, Otahuhu defeated Manukau by 16 to 10. The winners had the advantage of play for practically the full time and eased up considerably m the second spell. The Otahuhu rearguard gave its best exhibition up to date, and was responsible for a number of sparkling exhibitions, many of which resulted favourably. Lack of training was evident on both sides. Tries were scored for Otahuhu by Bennifield, Inglis. Te Puni and Kerisk. The two first were converted by Knight and Heath respectively. MASSEY CUP MATCH The following teams have been chosen for the first Massey Cup match at Waiuku on Saturday between Waiuku and Waikare: Watkarc.—Pullback, C. Prentice (Waerenga); threequarters, Finlayson (Rangiriri), C. Gordon (Te Kauwhata), Ponipi (Rangiriri); five-eighths, Barclay (Te Kauwhata), H. Austin (Rangiriri); half. Ward (Te Kauwhata); forwards, Souter (Waerenga), Taupiri (Taniwlia). Giles (Te Kauwhata), J. Nikora (Te Kauwhata), Ft. Brown (Te Kauwhata). M. Gordon (Te Kauwhata). Emergencies: Backs, Tumai (Te Kauwhata), H. Prentice (Waerenga), A. de Thierry (Rangiriri); forwards, Stockden (Rangiriri), Waterhouse (Te Kauwhata), Gibbons (Waerenga). Waiuku.—Fullback, A. Mayes (Waipipi); threequarters, A. James (Waiuku), A. Southey (Waiuku), D. Parks (Aka Aka); five-eighths, J. Bishop (Waipipi), B. James (Waiuku); half, R. Laing (Waipipi); rover, W. Pieydell (Waiuku): forwards, Ray MeNaughton (Waiuku), E. Atger (Aka Aka), Ballantine (Aka Aka), A. Kerebs (Waipipi), F. Harvey (Waiuku). Reg. McXaughton (Waiuku), G. Muir (Waipipi). Emergencies: Backs, Macpherson (Waipipi), Xepia (Waipipi). A. Wright (Aka Aka): forwards, Massey (Aka Aka), O. Muir (Waiuku).