FROM THE SIDE LINE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 8, 10 July 1939, Page 17

FROM THE SIDE LINE

NOTES AND COMMENT

fc'ive week.-, ago at Athletic Park Athletic defeated Poneke by 26 points to :',. .Since then Athletic have scored a string of wins, all but ono of which (against Wellington) havo been by very comfortable margins. Petone. at least, on Saturday were expected to peg Athletic back in this respect, but Petone, too, fell

easy victims. In their last six matches Athletic have scored 142 points and only 38 have been scored against them. Wellington, with a lead of four points, may just prove to bo i out of their reach in the competition for the ! championship, but then again nothing can be t taken for granted in Rugby. Athletic would 'I a little happier, however, if they had i been able to begin their• winning sequence, say, a match earlier.

! Petone s performance was disappointing. The forwards went well enough, but the backs fell wen short of requirements on defence and *..i.: Lambourn, though his opposite in tho Athletic pack, Mollier, had quite a keen conli S} vi,,h ,hlnl- gavo the sido a good share of me ball in the set scrums, and Petone took tZi mL fo£ Jl,"*. -outs. The advantage of winning the ball in this way, however, often was ost after v left the s tim. Some bad mistakes were made by the Petone backs, and ~AI% together with other indifferent play, constituted a handicap which was too pronounced to be overcome. Had not Pollock ?.t« ?? /'!? u30)3,- fl, rst as a five-eighths and later at full-back,, the Petone defeat probably would have been greater. Knowles, on the wing, had few opportunities, but even so he was impressive

The Athletic pack improved as the game progressed. Guy used his height well in the line-outs, jumping for tho ball in good style, and he was seen in some very quick breakaways from the set scrums, which helped to • Voi rrj,j ,tho Petone half-back, McGurk, who judged by his performance against Wellington, had an off, day. Grant and Gunn were two other lively Athletic forwards, and Wales was as pacy as ever. * * * f " ■',-■• * X ♦i A f.°,H cI.. game ,vas Played by Tindill behind the Athletic, pack. His left-foot -pot" in the urst spell was a characteristically fine effort. * * $ * * # tf Thurston, tho Athletic centre, is playing good football at the present time. His straight running was a feature of tho Athletic attack, home excellent backing up was done by Jones, and Badland, on tho right wing, played probably his best game at Athletic Park. He was enterprising and full of dash.

'n ;^ A thIfH f,""-b.ick, Auld, did'not havo a great deal of defensive work to do. Ho was nf^rA^ s, uV cessful with his goal-kicking, ; ot failing with a single kick aud. collecting I hreo goals trom tries and a penalty goal. He iBMIWpWn? atJ !h iihav, ,ng S^ rC(J °6.points.from nnd \vh„, ng-„(a11 p]ace Mck's> this season, ln?n,Hv ™,V * Boal from a try and then a Sinrfc nn? i C to°k ,liS tally OVCr the century !h* J^* ? nly, s thore warra aPPlause from !CT?tSlt?on« aln?'i? Ut + h° reCOlVed aISO tlle COD- , emulations of his team mates, many of whom is now hi-*,"-'- t Hla a^egate for the season the SLS n.ll^' He p,ayed two. tames in s-oroTZL*3l^, 011' V ld 17 of the poin ts were Whether it was that the players were wTs 1- Ule- CoW or "le'firt tha^it of sAIAZ^V aiSer watched by a handful ot spectators, there was not much activity, by tho forwards particularly, in the first snell fonnll' ' occasional isolated burst, but the their hPnf«?" y«vero COntent t0 sit back on rather mo;; ?•" t,- ,e S<?cond I,alf "»<>" was ?2 rJ v ot siln* ™ tholr work, some of the bJ tS , °°sV« shcs being quite impressive, the football VMy Uttle coul,n«»y "bout

wY^hw 1 - m:! y !' c * Wellington representative lock but judged on form on Saturday there thnVh? °Af,V lroV better University fonS md £nn-„ cVeal h was- oulßtanding in patches, and Hake, a clever hooker and useful allround man, and Hansen also did some occasional very good work.

fodd, St, Pat s Old Boys, was the best lineout forward in the match with University. Ho was conspicuous in this phase most of no time. He mado one or two useful breaks, too. Incidentally 110I l 0 scored his side's nine l^'Hts—three penalty goals. Ono, against the wind fifteen yards inside half-way, and towards touch, was a gem. Ho presented University with one try, however, when he foolishly attempted to beat a couple of men in his own Hi-goal instead of kicking immediately. ******* Ready, O'Connor, and Jeffries worked hard in spasms iv the St. Pat's pack, but there appeared a general disinclination for persistent effort. • • • » * • * University made little use of the wind lv tho first half. They kicked too hard. The backs, too, tried to develop long passes, fatal under tho conditions. Tho high wind made uncertain handling inevitable, but some of it was inexcusable. Rae was lively at half, though ho fumbled occasionally, and Larkin was enterprising at second five-eighths, even if he did uso the reverse pass too often. The St. Pat's backs showed to better advantage against the wind than with it. Their passing and, handling were more certain. But •then .it., is generally easier to develop accuracy .111 those departments against a gale than with if. Roche was good ancl bad at half, and O'Connor, at centre, made a few smart runs in the qrst half, though nothing came of them. Paino, wing-three-quarter, but playing at fiveeighths on Saturday, made ono break, and that was all. Dance, representative full-back, was patchy. Some of his takes were excellent, others not so good.

The Wellington second division fifteen which lost to Petone on-Saturday were a weakened team compared to that which beat Onslow the previous week. No less than six of the regular players were absent, four from the backs and two useful forwards were away.

Given a feast of the ball from the set scrums, tlie Petone rearguard was not at all impressive. It failed to effect penetration and oven when under way tlie insides crowded the wing throerpiarters. Nevertheless, McGurk, making much of his own play, was ono of the best backs on tho field and proved himself to be a dangerous scoring man. When Haddy went to the wing and McGurk to centre there was a little improvement.

O'Connor was safe at full-back for Petone. This player is improving as he gains confidence. He fielded and kicked to the lino with judgment and was not afraid to go down in front of oncoming forwards. He overshadowed his vis-a-vis Coupland, who was too often caught out of position. **-* * « « * Saulbrey raked effectively for Petone against Wellington and kept going impressively iv the tight and rucks. He was abl.y seconded by Byrne, Ashton, and Hurley, the last-named being outstanding in the loose.

The Wellington pack went well against Petone for a long while but tired at the end. Cragg, the two Marsdens, Hubbard, and W Taters toiled to good purpose in the rucks and loose, and Wares was often seen leading the open rushes. Davidson at five-eighth was easily the pick of the backs, and both on attack and defence he was outstanding. Stevens at- second liveeighth, came, into 'the picture with some fine swerving runs on attack.

Miramar are leading in the second division, mainly because they have a good pack of forwards. Against, Hutt, however, they did not get going. Periiaps the conditions were too much for them.

J. Potier. gave a very good display at half-

back for Miramar, and it was due to his hard

work that the side won. His handling and [-kicking were extremely accurate, and he gave his suM>orts plenty or chances. Treseder, Hutt centre-three-quarter, gave a promising display'against Miramar. He stopped rushes very ably, and handled well. He kept Ins feet splendidly, too, when running on the heavy ground,

The outstanding feature of the Marist Bros. 0.8.-Johnsonville match was the excellent handling. Both sides opened up the play whenever passible, and accurate #md speedy passing enabled the back divisions to reveal their real ability.

O'Malley and Fitgerald were good links .as the Marlst five-eighths, and' Vile, at centre, added pace and applied variety to the movements. J. Gillespie was the outstanding winger, being dangerous whenever he received the ball, with pace, dash, and initiative.

Tlie Burns brothers were again in fine form behind tho Johnsonville scrum, J. Burns passing smartly and being allowed very little time by the fast-breaking Marist forwards. G. Burns varied his play judiciously, and added dash to the movements. M. Kenny was sound at second live-eighths, with Ivamy, back from injuries which have kept him off for most of tiie season, was fast aud smart at centre. Of the three wingers tried Lyons was the best, and St was here that Johnsonville failed.

lit the solid, hard-working Marist pack Fitzpatrick,' Thompson, McKenzie, and Ingpen was conspicuous. Leading forwards in the loose tor Johnsonville were A. Kenny, 'Carrodus, McBride, and Lewes.

Not many Onslow matches go by without L. Thomas gaining some points for his side, but it looked as if he was going to miss on Saturday until he potted a goal in the closing moments of the game. This made the fifth consecutive club game in which ho has potted a goal, and brought tits points for the season to 55—7 goals from tries, 6 penalty goals, 5 field goals, and one try.

Although the backs did their bit, with Shlvas at half full of energy, McNally at second five-eighth noticeable for sure fielding and line-finding, and Higgins at centre unfaltering in his tackling, it was largely the Marist forwards who stemmed the tide of the Onslow attack. They were workers to a man, and if O'Brien, Barnao, Camphsll, and Reid caught the eye more than tlie others, it was ouly because more opportunities camo their May.

V. Calcinai was responsible for Poneke's determined forward struggle against Oriental and in addition to a fine individual display he led his pack in an excellent manner.

The tall Poneke forward Winter was a useful asset iv line-out work ancl general loose play against Oriental, but often tho referee's rulings and tiieir consequent penalties seemed to have him puzzled.

Frain was easily the best of the Poneke back division aud his try early in the game against Oriental was a grout effort. Johns, at half, was another back who got,'through a good deal, of work very efficiently, his defence in particular often getting Poneke out. of difficulties.

Oriental possess a fine loose forward in Marshrnenl and .1 gainst Poneke lie played ,1 game out of the box. From sturt to finish

no was in the thick of the play and his solo runs gave the opposition some anxious moments. Buttress was another Oriental forward who was responsible for some good work, particularly in tho looso dribbling rushes. <■ o o » t> a * Under the inspiring leadership of Cooper, who gave an excellent all-round display, the Wellington forwards were right on their toes, and they gave Hutt little chance in the rucks and open play. Climo, Morrissey, and Stevens wero outstanding, and McLean showed a complete recovery from the injury that has kept him out of the game for some time.

When in possession, the Wellington backs could always be relied upon to turn on the fireworks, and they made geod use of tiielr manyopportunities against Hutt. Egdell, at half, gave ono of his best performances this season, and, although he received some solid attention from tho Hutt forwards, he was very elusive. Thompson again showed that he is a player of ability, and ho combined well with Veitch, at second five-eighth. Fulton, who unfortunately suffered an injury during the second spell and had to retire, lived up to his reputation as a dashing centre, and the two wings, Patterson and Sherratt, did all that was required.

A good strong wind makes little difference to Wellington's full-back, Taylor, who ! was in his best form in the game against Hutt. His accurate kicking contributed ten points to Wellingon's total of 19. His final conversion at forty yards against the wind was a superb effort.

It was through no fault of the forwards against Wellington that Hutt did not score, and in tho line-out, where Foley was Outstanding, they gave Kilmlster a feast of the ball, and in the set scrummages they broke fairly even. Guy and Kemp wero solid "performers in tlie loose, and Cassidy used his weight and speed to advantage. » s a * « % o Too slow off the mark and erratic in their handling of the ball, the Hutt backs were seldom dangerous against Wellington, although Kvans and Burton wero responsible i'or some fine individual efforts. Sargisson was a useful link without being outstanding, and Phillips, on tho wing, did well with his few opportunities. A. Whitcher, at full-back, was kept busy, and many of his line-kicks were accurate and of long range. • £ 0 Oil V % - Burns was the best of the, wing-three-quarters in the Wellington College Old Boys-Eastboui-uo match. .He is a strong runner, but was too often bored too near touch before receiving the pass. i*$CQ $ * . * | Gill and Cheyne are now playing better at five-eighths for Eastbourne, aud Archer at centre did some splendid defensive "work against Old Boys. ;*«o a * « * There were altogether too many infringements with tho .resultant penalty kicks in tho Old Boys-Eastbourne match. Is it over-keenness to gain an advantage or is it lack of knowledge of the laws of the game that brings players under' the referee's notice?

Picot (Old Boys) and Sanson (Eastbourne* each gave an excellent display of safe and sound full-back play at Eastbourne.

SI evenson (Oriental) got through a solid day's work at full-back against Poneke, often relieving pressure with lengthy line-kicking, whilst his fielding was generally sound.