RUGBY FOOTBALL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLIV, Issue 9874, 23 July 1923, Page 3

RUGBY FOOTBALL

GAMES ON SATURDAY.

WINS FOR HINDS, METHVEN, AND CELTIC.

Positions of Teams.

The following are the positions of the teams in the Senior Competi-

RESULTS AT A GLANCE; Senior — Hinds 4, Ashburton 3. Celtic 14, Spxingburn-JVlayfield 4. Methven 11, Old Boys nil.

junior— Celtic defaulted to Allenton. Old Boys defaulted to Methven. Third Grade— Ashburton 25, Allenton 6, Mr J. C. McLauchlan was referee. Tinwald 19 v. High School nil. The game proceeded for only half an hour, High School having only ten men. Mr Meikleham was referee. Methven defaulted to Technical.

Fourth Grade — High School defaulted to Technical,

Although the prevalence of sickness depleted the ranks of all the senior' teams engaged at the Show Grounds! on Saturday afternoon, and the weather was anything but pleasant, there was a very large attendance of enthusiasts at the grounds. The two senior games played resulted in wins for Celtic and Methven, the defeated teams being Springburn-Mayfield and Old Boys, respectively. (Bad roads kept the two country teams late, and the games were threequarters of an hour late in starting. In the junior grades there were several defaults on account of sickness among footballers. The Blinds team defeated the Ashburton team by a potted goal to a penalty after a veiy ragged game. This is Hinds’ first win this season.

Methven Beat Old Boys. Methven kicked off, and a mull by Christie let the vVhites through to the 25, where a free let the Blacks back to the half. Old Boys got a free; McGregor’s kick was bad, and Eocock saved m front of the goal. Some play in midfield .saw neither team with an advantage.’ Maxwell handled well twice, but his pass was dropped, and Old Boys relieved temporarily. Methven were dangerous when Old Boys got a free, and very soon Nicoll relieved from a scrum on the 25 line, and play went to half-way. Old Boys continued to press, and got close to the goal, where Maxwell saved an opening made by Friedlander. Back again at halfway. McClymont missed, and McGregor saved in tho 25. Pocock made a good run from halfway, but went down to Christie. Maxwell made an opening but Old Boys blocked him. Maxwell started a splendid movement and all handled, but a forward pass right on the line set up a' scrum, the home team getting relief. Maxwell j then ran straight up from near the 25, and crossed. Pocock converted. Methven 5, Old Boys nil. McGregor then stopped another aggressive movement, and an Old ‘Boys’ rush was pulled up by a mark. They came again, however, and play was on. the halfway line till Old Boys fumbled some kicks and let Methven into the | 25. There, a passing rush by the backs let them up, but Old Boys opened it up again for a time. A scrum on the line gave the Blacks a chance, and another in front of the goal let them up to the Methven 25, but the Old Boys- were slow in thenmovements and lost a good chance near the 25. Nicoll got in a good kick after intercepting, and Methven started for the line, .McClymont stopping a dangerous rush. In midfield the Methven forwards got away, but McClymont again tackled beautifully, and play was of an up and down nature. The visitors were playing exceptionally well and were getting rushes away time and again. One was brought up by McClymont, who tackled two men in succession. Methven continued to attack, and Old Boys were compelled to force. A scrum on the line saw Methven nearly over, but Nicoll saved in the mouth of the goal, and Old Boys reached the Methven 25. After the spell, Maxwell missed taking a. pass, but got a free soon after, Old Boys reaching well up to the line. Here they kept Methven penned in for a bit, and Argyle just missed a try on the corner. The disadvantage made Methven come to life again, and they got going, Pocock being pushed out at the corner after a good effort, his forwards giving him a good opening. Offside play in the Old Boys’ 25 stopped a promising Methven effort. Old Bojs attacked strongly and when well m the opposing area a passing rush gave great promise, but it was stopped, and McClymont marked close in. He did not kick at goal, and Methven relieved. In the Old Boys 2d Scott ielieved to halfway, hut they forced under pressure from a Methven forward rush . doG apolyk veßH(u vMd urscj rush. Good play took the latter team to the line, and Laurence crossed. Ihe kick failed. . _ Methven 8, Old ’Boys 0. Old Boys got a free, but McGregor failed to put it across. Methven intercepted a Black pass, but the taker failed to kick and McClymont got a mark. Just on time Duff crossed, and this try was also unconverted, the game ending— Methven 11, Old Boys 0. Mr 1. Fallwell was referee.

Celtic Beat Springburn-Mayfield. Tho visitors kicked off and Celtic were soon in their 25, where play went from side to side for a while, the visitors holding the attacks. The forwards made an opening and reached halfway, where Celtic broke through. Smith got over, and the try was converted by Dennehy. „ „ Celtic 5, Springlrarn-Mnyneld 0. Springburn-Mayfield then got well up field for a space, but the superior forwards of the Celtic team sent play to the visitors’ 25 again, where Celtic, with Fitzgerald’s aid, got well up. A

free for the country team relieved a dangerous position, but play remained on the 25 line. Celtic missed a free from the 25. Dribbling rushes let Celtic to the line, and Fitzgerald crossed. The' kick .was no.t converted by O’Grady. Celtic 8, Springburn-Mayfield 0. The home team were pressed into their own 25, but the forwards got out and reached the opposing area with a splendid run. The visitors became aggressive again and made a good deal of ground. Play then developed in the Green area for a time and the country team made some bright dashes but could not find an opening. Resuming . after half-time, Smith made a great run on his own, right down the field. He lost the ball just on the line, however, and the two teams mixed pretty well up and down the field. Being pressed well into their own area, Celtic made a rush, and Smith again made considerable ground. In a few minutes the visit--ors reversed the positions and were dangerously near the Green line. Kennedy, safe as usual, picked up some leeway with a good centre kick, but- a man going out stopped the movement;, although they got through again, and Farrell crossed. The kick was not successful. . _ Celtic 11, Springburn-Mayfield 0. Springburn-Mayfield were keeping the Greens busy, but some kicks to touch saved the latter. Celtic gradually gained ground, and the country team forced. The cQuntry team then came up, and Walker potted a goal making the scores Celtic 11, Springburn-Mayfield .4. Celtic pressed up again and got a free, and Denneliy put the leather over. The final scores were 14 to 4 in favour of Celtic. Mr H. J. Chapman was referee.

HINDS (4) v. ASHBURTON (3). Playing at Hinds, Ashburton met the local team. From a scrum in the Ashburton twenfvy-five Hinds began a passing rush, but Paterson was tackled when the position looked dangerous for Ashburton. Fast play followed, and from a line-out Irvine found the line well down. From a free-kick Douglas kicked a goal for Ashburton. _ After some resultless play Cairns received the ball in the visitors’ twenty-five, and a beautiful kick, which appeared to .go over the posts, was not allowed, hawing touched an Ashburton player. Hinds kept up tell pressure, and from the ruck Cairns received the ball and dropped a beautiful goal from the field, leaving the local team winners by 4 points to 3. Mr B, H, Biggar was referee.

IN OTHER CENTRES. Marlborough defeated Wanganui after a fast, even game by 17 ot 16. South Canterbury drew with North Otago—a try to a penalty goal.

CANTERBURY v. MAORIS. CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. The representative game between the Maori team and Canterbury was played at Lancaster Park on Saturday afternoon in the presence of a large crowd. The weather though dull was fine. The ground was a bit heavy, but not in such a bad state as it was last Wednesday for the Canterbury v. South Canterbury match. The game was a hard-fought one from start to finish, but evidently the gruelling game they had experienced in Invercargill on Wednesday had had its effect on the tourists, for only on occasions did the members of the team exhibit that fire and spirit characteristic of their previous games and their poor handling and general lifelessness at times can only be put down to staleness as the result of much traveliig and hard games. This is in no way detracting from the meritorious work put in by the Canterbury men, who all through played up to traditions so far as forward play was concerned, while the backs all through played a safety game and took no undue risks. At periods in the second spell the Maoris showed glimpses of form, and on these occasions threw the ball about with a recklessness that spelt continuous danger for the Canterbury backs, several of whom again showed a dislike for the heavy forward dribbling rushes. For a good three-fourths of the game Canterbury attacked, and on numberless occasions were within striking distance of their opponents’ line, but a general lack of scoring ability, or rather the total lack of a scoring man, prevented the score from being in-, creased. The Maoris took many risks. The Canterbury forwards altogether played a sterling game, usually beatino- the visitors for the ball in the scrums, and showing a cleverness in the line-out work that was hardly to be expected after recent showings. As half-back, A. St. George, the only Ashburton representative in the team, nave a rattling good display, sending out the ball to bis backs very smartly, stopping forward rushes, and kicking to the gaps in a manner that proclaimed him a first-class half-back. The first score went to Canterbury, St. George potting a great goal. The Maoris failed to convert a try and Canterbury failed similarly in the last few minutes of play.

tion:— P. W. L. D. Pts. Methven . 8 6 2 0 6 Celtic . 8 0 2 0 6 Ashburton 8 5 2 1 Sp’ gburn-Mayfield 7 2 4 1 Old Boys . 8 2 6 0 2 Hinds ... .. . 7 1 0 0 1