FOOTBALL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 198, 4 June 1935, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

CANTERBURY B v. ASHBURTON. RESULTS IN DRAW, 19 ALL. AN EVENLY-CONTESTED MATCH. Spectators at the Ashburton Domain yesterday afternoon were treated to a good open match when the Ashburton senior Rugby representatives met Canterbury R in the annual fixture. Points came for each side alternately until the final result was a draw, 19 all. There was a large attendance of the public. The County forwards as usual gave an excellent account of themselves and were definitely superior. The back divisions were well matched and although Canterbury threw the ball about much more they did not do much with it. The Ashburton rearguard gained more territory and generally put their work to better advantage. Play went from one end of the field to the other and interest increased as. first one team and then the other took the lead. Ashburton was ahead 16-11 at half-time and then Canterbury caught up. The teams went neck and neck until the final whistle, which sounded with Ashburton holding the visitors up off the line. It was difficult to pick the best of the Ashburton forwards, for they all went well. The Doig brothers were prominent, and C. Pablecheque played a good game until he left the field injured. S. Pennal was also a solid worker. T. Cates, at half-hack, was secure, hut held on a little too long at times. A. Bradford gave a good display, showing a considerable improvement on his club football standard J. Varcoe made a safe fullback and T. Lilley did his share on the wing. In fact, the back division as a whole made a good combination. There were a number of injuries and several players from both sides left the field. L. Mason (Canterbury; was the most seriously injured, suffering a broken collarbone. In a postponed third grade competition match, Rakaia beat Old Boys y 11 points to B, s this being staged as a curtain-raiser. This fixture was a so a good one to watch. Mr L. Hadley was the referee. The teams were as follow: Canterbury B. Full-back: L. Mason (Limvood). Three-quarters: D. G. Cobden (Old Boys), J. Poison (Christchurch), v\ . J • Brown (Sydenham). . Five-eighths: J- Gaskin _ (Christchurch), G. Bisphan (Sunnyside). Half-back: J. R. Masters (Sunnyside). _. Forwards: Front row, R. Thompson (Limvood), A. Pedder (Merivale), \V. Fleming (Christchurch); middle row, J. M. Frengley (Christchurch); M. Buckley (Christchurch), A. J. Bourne (Merivale), G. Newton (Sunnyside); back row, R. Thomas (Sydenham). Emergency: Back, C. H. Mel hail (Old Boys). Ashburton. Full-back: J. Varcoe (Technical Old R°ys). Three-quarters: T. Lilley (Methven), A. Bradford (Old Boys) and C. H. Davison (Rakaia). Five-eighths: R. Palmer (Methven) and D. McCormick (Methven). Half-back: T. Cates (Allenton) Forwards: N. Hawke (Technical Old Boys), A. Argyle (Old Boys), A.

Doig (Rakaia), B. Doig (Rakaia), O. Pablecheque (Methven), A. Dolan (Methven), K. Doig (Methven) and S. Pennal (Ashburton). Emergencies: R. Jackson (Allenton), J. Betteridge (Old Boys), J. Findlay (Rakaia) and G. Day (Technical Old Boys). Mr J. Macmillan was the referee in the representative match. The Play Described. Ashburton kicked off and for the first few minutes play was in Canterbury territory with the home team on the attack. When J‘. Varcoe received from a relieving kick by Canterbury’s full-back, he sent the ball along the back line. Several handled, but when the pass to McCormick went astray the movement broke'down. Soon after, Canterbury had to force. In the play which followed Canterbury had a temporary advantage until Ashburton’s bustling forward play took the ball into foreign territory. There was a clear field ahead of A. Doig when he received a forward pass. From a lineout Canterbury obtained possession and Cobden made the opening for Masters to score. McCormick made an excellent driving tackle just on the line, but Masters got across to open the score. Poison converted. Canterbury B 5 Ashburton ... . ... 0 The County forwards continued) to work effectively and took play back to Canterbury’s Lome territory several times. ’When a try looked likely, a pass to Bradford went forward. A forward melee saw one of the attackers get away and B. Doig took the ball right round to score under the posts. Davison failed to convert. » Canterbury B ... ... 5 Ashburton J %flie Canterbury rear division was doing effective work and the Ashburton lor wards were lighting doggedly and showing results. With the play going from one end of the held to the other, spectators saw both teams on defence and attack alternately. There was plenty of action.. Much of the play was centred in Canterbury territory and Ashburton made several determined bids to reach the line. Cates got the ball away smartly from the scrum and it travelled to Bradford, who did the right thing by passing back to Davison. He was just ready for a sprint down the line, but the pass went forward. Shortly afterwards an infringement gave Ashburton a penalty kick from the twenty-five line fairly well out. Davison goaled to give Ashburton the lead. Ashburton ® Canterbury B - ® Ashburton did not hold the lead for long for Canterbury instituted a movement among the backs and Cobden, whipped down the line to score well out. Poison failed to convert. Canterbury B 8 Ashburton P Asnuurton then began to pile up the score auu muon or the success came uom ’ tne ioiwarcls' ettoits. Fabiecneque lert the iieul witn an injury to ms teg auu was replaced uy rt. jaeffsuu. J c-uuuen was doing ms auty on ute line. o ne was going wen lor a try wnen lie lost possession right at tne corner. Loose, open play in Canteruury's twenty-nve saw tffe ball come out ror Davison to score ana convert. jtsli burton ... ••• If Caniertnny B ° In a loose scramble the ball was nicked. tnrpugn auu jfrauiord lollowed up quickly ana iuened again, toy tins time the pah. was gettmg near tne line and nracli ord dasffed alter it to tail across at tne goal mouth with a defender on his heels. Dayison converted., Ashburton 16 Canterbury B . 8 Play wavered in the centre of the paddock for a time. A penalty kick ior Ashburton practically on tne halfway line saw Dayison aim at goal and he narrowly . missed putting it oyer, bhortiy axtefwards Canterbury was awarded a penalty which Bispnan goalee from auout ten yards inside naifway to make the half-time score : Ashburton 16 Canterbury B H A series or scrums was taken about; live yarns out from Asiiourton s line, but tiie defenders held up well’and tne oaii went out. From tne hne-out all ihe Canteroury backs handled, but isrowii was caught in possession by miiey and in the scram bung play Canterbury was awarded a penalty kick. Alter the hne-out, Asa burton set up an attack and wnen the ball went out near Canterbury's twenty-live Mason sunered a shoulder injury and was replaced by C. H. McPhaii. Bisphan took a well-directed penalty Kick at goal from half-way, but it went slightly w ide. Canterbury commenced to attack but for a while Ashburton held their opponents. A relieving kick which failed to find- the line was nicely taken by Bisphan who ran round and gave Poison the chance to score. Bisphan converted. Ashburton * Canterbury B ... *•• Things were interesting now with the score even. The players were willing and gave of their best. A scium in Canterbury’s twenty-five saw Ashburton very keen to take the lead again. The bail came out to Cates who ran round and scored well out. 'Davison failed with the kick. Ashburton Canterbury B • ■ LO Ail the Ashburton backs handled in a promising piece of work and gamed considerable territory. \Vhen Dayison was tackled, the forwards .earned on with the advance and play was taken well down the field. .Two infringements gave Dayison kicks at goal, but the lirst one did not rise and second went wide. Canterbury i QU S“, back until their full-back was caught with the bail and the attacking towards took everything before them. Play was very keen and gradually worked back to Ashburton’s fine, where the visiting backs threw the ball about nicely and it looked like trauWe. However, Ashburton cleared. There were a number of stoppages for minor injuries and Palmer left the field with a strained neck. Pennal went full-hack until J. Betteridge went on. Varcoe filled Palmer’s place. Ashburton gaye a fine show of tackling when one after another the Canterbury backs were mown down. Bisphan had another penalty kick at goal from half-way, but a point-winning kick as far as leng was concerned went wide. The nex try came for Canterbury. It was secured bv the backs while the forwaid packs of ‘both teams were lying in a tangled mass on the half-way mark. The ball came away from a forward melee and on the wing Cobden received and ran through to score m a

good position. Bisphan’s kick, an easy one, fell just under the bar. Ashburton 19 Canterbury B ... ... 19 Canterbury attacked! strenuously during tne last lew minutes and AsUburton was holding the visitors up olf the line when the nnai whistle sounded, Ashburton ... 19 Canterbury B J-iJ THE ASHBURTON UNION. HIGH SCHOOL CLUB’S PROTEST. The Ashburton Rugby Union’s Management Committee met last evening, tne president (Mr J, C. C. McLachlan) presiding. The manager (Mr G. Lay) reported on the representative matcii against Canterbury B yesterday afternoon. Borne good open play was seen, but some of the Ashburton back movements lacked polish. However, the fixture was an interesting one.

The South Canterbury Rugby Union asked if the annual representative match against Ashburton at Timaru could be played on September 7. The date was accepted. The Buller Rugby Union advised that its representative team was contemplating a tour, the proposed itinerary including matches at Ashburton on ’Wednesday, July 31, South Canterbury on Saturday, August 10, and Canterbury on Wednesday, August 14. Consideration was held oyer until the next meeting. The High Bchooi Club protested emphatically against the fact that, while in the tnree matches arranged by the Union for its fourth grade team, referees had, according to olhcial match sheets, been appointed, on no single occasion had a referee put in an appearance. ‘The referee appointed last Saturday, however, was understood to be no longer resident in Ashburton and it would seem that no serious attempt was made by the Union or the Referees’ Appointment Board to provide a referee for the match. This was hardly encouraging for fourth grade players. Further, no member oi the Management Committee was on the ground until long after the time set down for the match to start, so that no official was present to facilitate the •making of other arrangements. Consequently after a long wait, the match was played under one of the team coaches, an arrangement satisfactory neither to the teams nor to the coach himself. Regarding the third grade team, every match it had played on the Showgrounds had been under a referee other than the one appointed. Mi* H. It. I>. Porter pointed out the difficulty Ashburton was having with referees.

Mr Fi. 3. Chambers asked why some of the secondary school teachers did not assist with the refereeing.

The president said the letter was most unfair. Some members of the Union were at a funeral on Saturday ancT the club also knew the difficulty of securing sufficient referees. It was decided to explain the difficulties to the club. The fact that referees other than those appointed had controlled matches showed the difficulties under which the Union was working. . It was reported that the Rakaia third grade team had defaulted to Methven at 2 p.m. last Saturday, the explanation was that the ’bus was ready to start but sufficient players could not be assembled. The club was having some difficulty in fielding a team in this grade. It was agreed that it was most unusual for a Rakaia team to default. In view of the explanation being satisfactory, it was decided to remit the 10s fine imposed in accordance with the rules. , . ~ jNIr A. Thomson wrote declining the position of third grade selector to the Union. Mr D. L. E. McDougall was appointed to the position. It was reported that the Tinwald junior team had definitely withdrawn from the competitions. , An application from the Old Boys Club for the re-grading from senior to junior of W. Alexander on account of his being too light for the senior team was refused, in accordance with the

The Canterbury Rugby Union was thanked for its assistance m connection with the representative match yesfrom the Mid-Canter-bury Men’s Hockey Sub-Association for the president and secretary to attend the match against the Indian team in Ashburton on Wednesday, June 19, was accepted with thanks. Mr J. F. O’Reilly accepted appointment as a junior selector. . Footballs were granted to tiie Roue and Rokeby iSchools. Draw for Saturday. Following is the draw for Saturday : Junior Grade—Methven A v. ’technical Old Boys, No. 1, Showgrounds, at 2.45 p.m. (Mr S. Alexander); Spnngburn v. Hinds, at Springburn (Mr A. H. Guiney); Old Boys y, Rakaia, at Rakaia (the Rev. EL A. Osmeis). Third Grader—Methven V. High School, No. 4, Showgrounds at 2.40 p.m. (Mr C. T. Miller); Technical Old Boys v. Allenton, No. 3, Showgrounds, at 2.45 p.m. (Mr G Cartwright); Old Boys y. Rakaia No. 5, Showgrounds, at 2.45 p.m. (Mr G. Cates). • . -i Fourth Grade—Allenton v. High School, No. 1, Showgrounds, at 1.30 p.m. (Mr L. Hadley). ALL BLACK TRIALS; , MATCH AT AUCKLAND. AUCKLAND, June 3. Only a moderate standard of Rugby was revealed in the Auckland provincial All Black trial match, played today. It was the only game of the trial series set down for decision in Auckland, and about 15,000 people saw a combined Auckland-North Auckland team which included 11 city representatives, defeat a Waikato-Thames Valley-King Country fifteen by 13 points to 10. The game could hardly be classed as a reliable gauge of current form. Very few of the local candidates tor All Black honours improved their chances on to-day’s showing. Bush and Corner were notable exceptions. The former played a typically sound game, and his touch kicking, although hardly as strong as usual, was always accurate. He stopped rushes in resolute fashion, and on occasions ran powerfully him-

self to break his way through a crowd of opponents. His potted goal in the second spell was a particularly fine effort. Corner was at his best, and played l am admirable all-round game. His passes from the scrum were perfect, and time and again lie saved bis lorwards with judicious kicks to the line.

GAME AT GISBORNE, GISBORNE, June 3. ' A preliminary All Black trial for players of the Poverty Bay, East Coast and Bay of Plenty districts was played to-day in an almost continuous drizzle. A feature of the game ivas a brilliant display .by George Nepia, who gave every indication of returning to tup form with a few more good class games. His kicking and tackling were as good as ever, and he provided a climax to a surprisingly fast game by potting a goal from near half-way and close to touch. HAWKE’S BAY v. WAIRARAPA. HASTINGS, June 3. In their second outing this season, Hawke’s Bay Rugby representatives scored another win when they defeated Wairarapa by 29 to 14 to-day. The game was interesting throughout. Hawke’s Bay had easily the best of the play in the first spell, but after the interval Wairarapa showed improved form and more than held their own. WELLINGTON MATCHES. ■* WELLINGTON, June 3. Senior A matches played to-day resulted: : Athletic 14, Wellington 9 ; Hutt IT, College Old Boys 6; Eastbourne 18, Marist Old Bovs 14; Petone 10, Poneke 9. WANGANUI BEAT TARANAKI. WANGANUI, June 3. In the annual Rugby match, Wanganui beat Taranaki biy 21 points to 20. The game was the fastest and brightest played for many years. AN OFFER REFUSEDNEPIA AND. LEAGUE CODE.

GISBORNE, June 3. When George Nepia took the field to-day in the Poverty Bay-East Coast y. Bay of Plenty All Black trial game, the stands buzzed with the news oi the latest offer macle to the famous All Black to join the League code. Interviewed to-day, Nepia corroborated the statement that a strangei had visited his homo at liuatoria and offered him a considerable amount in notes to sign an agreement to pllyy three League matches as a New Zealand representative against Australia. Nepia is a member of the Maori dairying community, and money does not- flow like water in the settlement, but he rejected the offer, indicating his preference for finishing his career in the code which gave him early piomineiice. MATCHES IN AUSTRALIA. SYDNEY, June 3. Playing Rugby Union a New South Wales country team defeated Victoria by 23 points to 17. BRISBANE, June 3. In a Rugby Union return match Queensland defeated New South TV ales by 22 points to 11.

THE ASSOCIATION GAME. MATCHES IN OTHER CENTRES. Christchurch—Charity Cup match: Thistle 2, Western A 0. Masterton —Wellington 5, Wairarapa 3. Wellington—lnstitute 3, Loner Hutt 2; Hospital 6, Petone 0.