MATCHES DESCRIBED

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 1, 1 July 1935, Page 13

MATCHES DESCRIBED

OLD BOYS AND MARIST

' Far from facing the best match of Jast Saturday's series, the encounter between "Wellington College Old Boys and Marist Bros; Old Boys was one ,'of the worst of the season. It was '.'staged at Athletic Park, where the hockey Test had preceded it, and it was unfortunate that so poor a display -< .of, Rugby 'was .given as.a follow-up :to.'so notable a hockey event. Disappointment in the Kugby display was shown when a considerable portion 61 the large crowd left the ground when the first spell of the Rugby match ended. Spoiling, was rife and there "was an immense amount of mishand."Jing,.causing,much of the play to be 'scrappy, some of it'deteriorating so ■'far as to be crude. Infringements caused many stoppages, which would -have been even more frequent had the referee not been prepared to overllook some of the minor breaches. There were occasional patches ,of brightness in the attempts at combined back play and:in rushes by the for-. ; wards; but -generally the movements vpf promise* broke down. Individuals 'at times flashed out. and it was . a snappy solo eilort by Sadler which -gave College Old Boys their second 'try, the first having resulted from a good passing bout. College Old Boys won easily, although they scored only : two tries, most of their points coming .■from Lamason's place-kicking. . fe,. The.-teams-wcive;— College Old Boys; Hooke;1 A." WrigHf. Baldwin, .'-Hollis; 'Atkins; G. Reynolds; Sadler; Greniell,. McNeiie, Hewitt, J.. Reynolds, Lamason, Harper,' M. Wright, Bydder. Mai--.. ist Old Boys:; Frost;' Gladding, ■ E; Me-. ■ Greevy, L.- McGreevy; vSpillane, Langdon; O'Connor;- Blatch, .Fitzgerald,. McLean, Ropata, Butler; Fitzgerald, Keegan, Ottaway.Gill:-: ; . "'■?■■ . Although winning the toss Marist played into the-breeze, and the •■-sun, and they found Old ~Boys making most of the play in spite, of. the fact •that the ball usually went Marist s way from the set scrummages. Lamason opened the account five minutes alter the start with a fine penalty soal from just over a yard inside hallway. 3-0. M. Wright, G. Reynolds, and Atkins were conspicuous in dashes by College Old Boys, and Sadler at times was more than a handful for the opposition. Clear of their troubles, Marist presented danger to Old Boys when O'Connor and Fitzgerald engaged in a bout of passing, O'Connor having snapped up the ball as it was knocked-on by the opposing full-back. Langdon next made a bold bid in playing a duel part in a thrust, and Butler, Fitzgerald, and McLean combined m a subsequent rush which ended with a knock-on. College Old Boys again took a hand on attack and eventually Kooke paved the way for a passing bout in which M. Wright, McNeiie, and Baldwin linked up splendidly, the last-named scoring a try which Lamason converted. 8-0. A little later Lamason added another fine penalty goal to the account. 11-0. Before half-time a folloW-up by Fitzgerald resulted in that player beating Rooke for the ball as it bounced over the goal-line, but, as" Fitzgerald was offside, no try was allowed. Marist held an advantage territorially Sot a considerable part of the second spell, but their play lacked finish; in fact, the play all round was of poor quality. Marist's attempts at goalkicking, too, were poor, except' that, '..after, several had failed, O'Connor •'potted" a goal. Prior to this Lamason had kicked another penalty goal when a player was obstructed on attack near Marist's posts. 14-4. There was much scrappiness in the ensuing •play, during which:Rpoke retired hurt and was replaced by Tuck. Marist •missed more goal-kicking opportunities and could do nothing right on attack no. matter how hard Butler <Marist's best forward) strived to open the.way for the backs. Old Boys rose to it again, and eventually Sadler slipped round from a scrummage and oleverly jinked his way over for a ■try (unconverted). That was the Jast score in an uninspiring match, which ended: —Wellington College Old Soys 17, Marist Bros. Old Boys 4. Mr. B. Matthews was the referee.