NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Issue 19, 23 July 1934, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS

THE PLAYERS REVIEWED

During the . first. twelve minutes ■of play in the Hutt-Marist match at Athletic Park there were seven penalty kicks. The total increased to twenty-three before tho game ended, Marist having; thirteen. Not a few were within, raugo of the goal posts, but in no case was a penalty goal registered. Lynch '(Hutt) went nearest, one of his kicks sending the ball against an, upright." ■ • ,

. Hutt's successful hooking, through Coulston, usually adds to the number of scrummages in a game, and the'match, with Marist was no, exception, Hutt often tailing a scrummage instead of a line-out. In set scrums Hutt gained about.three times as much of the ball as Marist, though the latter won it at times when it was very valuable to them.- There were over fifty scrummages during' the match, and these, with the penalty kicks, made the stoppages all too frequent. ' ■■ : ' .

Marist and Hutt found the greasy conditions rather upsetting; especially in'their efforts to have the backs operating'as a^corabination. Much stab-kicking was resorted to, and" there was an excuse for some of it, though, as frequently happens,, it was overdone. The lrick-and-follow-up idea was all right so long as the kicks were made with good judgment However, a great deal o£ the kicking during tho match simply meant presenting the ball to the opposition.

: Marist missed Leahy "in tho, p;ack on Saturday, and tho match' had not long been in progress before McLean received a nasty jar. McLean later had to. retire and Stiver came on. Stiver j showed up well at his roving game, and he had a good reran in Stevenson opposite him. Steveneou is making, his mark as a rover; he was well in the picture on Saturday.

Peek was full of business for Hutt against Marist, and in spite of the fact that he was hurt, on a couple of occasions he'carried through'with his job, although attention for a head injury necessitated 'his being off the field for about nino minutes before half-time. Saulbrey. had to retire early-owing to'an injury, and his place was taken'by S.! Neal.

Hutt's backs did not function at anything like/their best. E. Neai was up at first' fiWeigbtbs, but his performance was below' that which he' has given in other: games., Lilburiie" played; a heady game without'fully himself? Barry was well to the-foro ainoug the for*' wards. . "": ■'■'*'■; . v?:>.: ''r-i

Spencer played one of his beet games, for Hutt, the half scoring his side's two tries, and generally acquitting himself well behind the scrum, though some his passing was erratic.

Robins played quite a dependable game fov Marist, though well watched. His move1 in going up to the base of the scrum to give O'Connor more room for a "pot"' was Qiiickly and neatly done.

The, Marist forwards toiled away solid-; ly. Ottaway and Keegan were: very active : in tight.and loose. \

-Kilby and. Page, the Wellington Club's representatives'in the All Black team to:visit Australia, were accorded cheers by the University team-before, the commencement of the match at Kelburn Park —a ■ fine sporting gesture on the part of University. Kilby, is <to have 'Page as his deputy, on the coming tour, and this gives the Wellington Football Club still another important addition to its grand record' in the' matter of providing material for.Uew Zealand teams, ;'

! Kilby's able defence was illustrated in thd second spell when he kept working the line.. He did practically' no running on his own. Page was absent, (he acted lino umpire) and the remainder of the Wellington backs were uninspiring. :'-''•'■'■.-

The Wellington, forwards were in their element in the mud.in the second spell at Kelburn. Park. Wellington have a heavy pack^and play excellently in the tight,' but are not so good in the loose on a dry ground. It was the able work of the Wellington forwards in keeping play tight iv the second spell,,plus the defence of Kilby and Cresswell, that was responsible for ths side's victory. Alexander played well until he had to retire, and Donnelly, Kingston, and Carlyon were all solid workers, Thornton spoilt his play by indiscriminate kicking. ,

• •"■ . » ■ « : * Euru lias probably played more consistently good football-than any other centre three-quarter in Wellington this season; and against Wellington,.he was brilliant. He made two great runs for tries, beating Cresswell.. each time, and was very sound on defence. Nearly every time he took the kicks from the. twenty-five, yards Une he; gained the line. Oh his present form it will be difficult-for'the'-Wellington selector to overlook' him. ,

■; Rae started off well against Wellington, making an excellent run, but later he had difficulty in handling the ball, fie does not appear to be, a wet weather player. However, he is "showing glimpses of real form.'now, and" on a'dry ground is one of Wellington's best, half-backs.

Although , University have not won a match since being promoted to the first division of the senior A competition, tho side has played excellent football, and has been distinctly unlucky several times* not to win. University football in Wellington is definitely on tho up-grado. once again, and nest season, with one or two new players in the backs and a. few heavier forwards, University should be one of the hardest teams in tho competition to beat.

J. Dellabarca was again the most conspicuous forward for Eastbourne on Saturday, and his fast work in the loose put Old Boys in an uncertain position on many occasions. Others outstanding in the Eastbourne pack were Bedkober, Clayton, and Sleep, who were all usually to be seen in the van of the Eastbourne assaults. ■

B. Sadler (Old Boys) added further to his laurels by his fine all-round display against Eastbourne, and may claim the distinction of being the most consistent back on the ground. His defensive play was particularly fine, and his passes were all crisp; and well directed.

I ■Fuller,'-mis the'star performer in the Kastbourne backs iv their game • against Old Boys, and was always troublesome when in possession. He was one of the few Bay backs who realised what tb do with the ball, and he was most unlucky when., on one occasion, he had the misfortune to slip when within inches of Old Boys' line. The penalty which he put orcr from the gide-line was a caarau-

teristic effort, and ■ all the more praiseworthy in view of the hea.vy ball and the fact that the kick was right into the sun. ' .

G. Sadler was giveu many golden opportunities behind the Eastbourne scrum, but his play was disappointing. Many of his passes went astray, although this probably would not have been so much in evidence had he received closer support from Diamond. ' ' '■■■;■■

Grenfell, McNeile, .Lauiasoii, and Bydder were_an outstanding quartet among the Old Boys', forwards, and their tireless ettorts contributed largely to the comfortable victory gained by the ex-collegians aheii1 crowding tactics prevented . the Eastbourne backs from getting the ball beyond the centre-three-quarter, and it was this fact Jhat led to ' Eastbourne's &w m Ia the loose >: kamason" •■ and McNeile wereivery impressive and headed many attacks with the ball at toe. In addition to this, Lamason- converted two tries, one of which wag taken well out.

hHithoi Ugli CrisP,Pkyed quite soundly at full-back he-made several unpardonable errors and was inclined to kick the ball up rota the air instead of finding the line Tins gave- the speedy Old Boys' forwards &j chance of getting up with. the Play, and much ground was lost to East* bourne as a result. Crisp was lirnntlf up ,to the first five-eightSfpolft on fn the latter stages and his place was filled by Diamond. The change was effective/ y

Petone very largely owed their win over Athletic to the fine display given % full-back by Pollock, whose fieldbfofthe greasy ball, kicking, and general defensive^ work were of_the. highest order" When the opportunity presented itself he moved up to get the back U ne - moving d such tunes Athletic found him- a.hard mau tO C3>tCxl. . ' . ,

Tindill was again the driviuo- f orce among the Athletic backs ou Saturday and a tremendous amount of work fell on to Ins shoulders, his task not being made easier by the fact that Evans was unable to. play through being absent from the city- As usual, Tindill essayed a "pot/ but though the ball went between the posts it dropped just under the bar

With a large piece ' of sticking plaster covering a boil ou the back' of Sis' neck, Martm, Petone's heavyweight forward should not really have been on the ground' on baturday, and until he surprised everv°4? |»y scooping the ball over'the bar for a field goal near the finish he did little to justify his presence. He was played as the loose forward and was like a, fish out

«: P wli fr? m !*&&> Probably the besVof the Athletia backs against Petobe were Upchurch.and, Scotland. The former at centre : three-quarter, made. some speedy attacking runs, and Scotland, though not up to Pollock's standard, was generally sound, and brought off some difficult saves in workmanlike fashion

The referee iv the Petone-Athletic match had quite a lot of trouble in gettiii" the scrums to function satisfactorily" the scrummaging of both sets of forwards being loose and haphazard, ' .

!--•• '"■'.:. •',.■-.■.....-.*' ,■■.'.',■;.■.;*■ ■', -* ' Chesterman, Ball,' Ongley, -and" Pringle were absent from the Poneke side in the game against St. Patrick's. Pringle was not placing on account of a bereavement m his tamily, recognition of which was made by the members of the Poneke fifteen wearing white armlets when they took the field.

McGuinness was unable to got the St. iatncbs backs moving against Poneke. J.ne college forwards attempted to keep the game tight, but the Poneke front-row men got by far the greater share of the ball, a superiority which was taken advantage of by. their backs. ri .'.■■ • ' " •_