WHAKATANE WINS TREBLE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 28, 26 June 1939, Page 8

WHAKATANE WINS TREBLE

RANUITAIKI TEAMS BEATEN HARD PAR ATA CUP GAME ONE MAN SENT OFF One ganu- or perhaps two games--and not the senior game #t that— was the most that many would eoncede to Whakatane in the morning, but Whakatane surprised by tearing off the treble on the Domain against the Rangitaiki Sub.Union represeu. tatjyes on Saturday afternoon. The largest crowd seen on the Domain for some seasons witnessed the match, -which had been -well advertised and attracted a good deal of interest. The crowd caused trouble by standing right on the sidelines in the second spell ? so that on occasions line umpires were unable to point out definitely where the ball had gone into touch, and the referee had to decide . A feature of the day which was much appreciated was the fact that the Whakatane Citizens' Band turned out and gave several excellent selections from the band rotunda. This, with the bright sunshine and the crowd, intensified the carnival atmosphere .

Wliakatane won the senior Parata Cup game by virtue of a tearing pack of forwards who flaked much of the ball, and when they missed it were among the Rangitaiki backline like a flash. Irresistible forces met immovable objects 011 both sides and the result was a flare up of tempers which resulted in M. Howell, Rangitaiki, landing on the sideline, and, many bouts of fisticuffs and other ille galities which ran, the , gamut from late tackling to obstruction. With the scores three-all until late in Ihe second and the Parata Cup rules i calling for two extra ten minute spells in the event of a draw, the game seemed likelv to drift towards . a blood hath, but time ] Dodds who had kicked Whakatan'e's first goal ( came to light with another excellent penalty. A Soon after the commencement D. IBoynton, fivc.eighths, fell awkwardly when trying to block a kick from R.. Lees, broke a fibula and suffered a c badly sprained ankle on the same leg. ' He was taken to hospital. Good forwards for Whakatane were 1 Brown, Best and Wilson, though the whole pack played dashingly. Merito hooked well. Trainor was quite a sue cess at halfback and the rest of the backs defended well, though Ruri was caught with the goods once or twice. Oswald was jjrobably the outstanding back. 11 For Rangitaiki Schooner, Wh : tcly I and R. Howell battled well. M. Lees ' went excellently in the first spell but c he was not in the best physically. and he faded a little late 1- . ' Rota was good at fullback. E. Honoil was well marked and had little 11 room in which to work ( but this ap. * plies equally to the rest of the backs t i'or whom Whakatane obviously hast v ii wholesome respect. a Held Kaipara not made a pathetic attempt at a penalty kick dead in t; Front of the posts Rangitaiki might b have drawn, but the ball was placed h wrongly and rose little more than *-1 ivaist high. Other penalties which XI. !| Howell attempted were not good ei'. t; orts, but they were not gifts like n the one Kaipara missed. v Whakatane missed one try when Wilson picked up from a loose ruck b i.nd tried to rabbit his way over un- d ler the posts. The .score was three- e; ill at the end of the relatively tame tj inst half. In the second half the; tl 4a.me developed into fireworks. The oi vorst incident came when M. Howell ir tnd D. Wilson tangled on the line b; ifter a tackle. Wilson is said to have truck Howell then but it was prob- M il>ly s : x of one and half a dozen of la he other. Howell jumped to hjs feet w • -pV.jci l . Wiluv's leg- nrd forced hi- tl: : n .ees down as though to hit the Wha tc

katane playerls chin, then spun him on to his right side and kicked him in the small oi the back. It was not a speculator! but a place kick. The referee saw this much, but apparent:, ly looked away for a second to watch another scuffle further down the . line and did not see Wilson get up and punch Howell. Howell got his marching orders and Wilson would ~ .5 have gone too had he been seen, but t there is considerable diflerence be_ tween a punch and a deliberate kick and rough justice was done by Howell , going oft' alone. Punches and handshakes were now . commonplaces, and Oswald and Howell had to kiss and be friends. Os- . wald was knocked over by Rota, but r it was a fair charge. The game Mas . a scramble played at cracker jack . speed with ruthless spoiling by the Whakatane team. With three min- , utes to go from well over the 25 and near" the line Dodds had a penalty which he goaled (6-3). There was no further score though Wliitcly had an ambitious shot from a penalty. Throughout Whakatane held a terri. torial advantage, but met a good defence. The referee, Mr B. Norman, did well to hold the game together and prevent an open donnybrook. A NEAR THING j WHAKATANE W T INS ON THE POST The Senior B game on No. 2 ground won by Whakatane by 11 to 10 was not an inspiring game, though mild interest quickened among the crowd when Whakatane went ahead, Ran. gitaiki robbed them of the lead, and Whakatane scored again on time to win the game. Crapp was solid at fullback and Old, Courtney and Rangikotua were useful backs. Lawson was good. At times the whole Rangitaiki team seemed to be trying to grass the latter. Whakatane held the advantage in the first and in the second Rangitaiki made the pace for most of the journey. Ratima cut through like a train and Laurie and Paul were good. T. Lens, Sunkel Cresswell and, at times, Stewart, made their weight felt., Whakatane opened the scoring with a try from Merito who cut through well.. The kick missed and there was no further score to half time. Rangitaiki were stuck into it from the whistle and Ratima capped a brilliant burst with a try. Rarity goaled (5-3). Ten minutes or so from the end Courtney kicked neatly over jamieson's head. Lawson looked off. side but he gathered up and ran hard. Laurie got him from behind but the throat but Lawson wriggled out from under a heap of Rangitaiki men picked up without the formality of playing the ball with his foot and scored. He missed the kick (5-3). Rangitaiki Avere back in the lead when Ratima repeated his dash and Rarity converted (10-6), but just time Whakatane swept the length o" the field and Old scored. The try wa« converted to give Whakatane victory by one pointy The Rev Iv. J. Watson was the referee. 1 THE JUNIORS ( Whakatane 5 beat Rangitaiki 3 J ( The teams were: Whakatane: Rowson, Brown, Moore Wilson, M. Hotene, Chambers, Morpeth, Dunstan, West, De Lacey . Britten, J. Riini, R. Cleland, C. Mitchell, J. Mitchell. Rangitaiki: Fowlds, Leckie_ Laurie Rendall. Pearce, Hohepa, Pearce, Vil. lis, Penni, Thompson, fan, Merryman, Gardiner, F. Hona Hunt, The official curtain raiser, th's game though fast and interesting, produced eery few effective bt'.ck movement find was confined mainly to soli;! forward play throughout. The Rangitaiki scrum secured 70 pp>-. cent of the jail but any advantage that may lave been gained was nullified by 1 he inside backs overdoing the "cut. - 11". Whaknt ane, on the other hand (J .ackled resolutely, loose forward u.slies and 1 ast foil'nving up proving I' ev cfreetlve, C. Mitchell s try. ■vhieli was converted by Chamber-. )eing the reward of keenness in this lirection. Rangitaiki's only poiiu* •ame from a penalty on the call o l ' ime, Leck'e sending the b:ll over he bar with a good kick from well »ut. Merryman (Rangitaiki) who w«njurcd, was replaced at half tim >y McKenzie. Rowson fullback for Vhakatane played a safe game, C. Plitchell, De Lacey, Britten and Cl<\ *- and working solidly in the pack F< rhile Tari, Hohepa, and Pear-e were li he honest toilers in th» R'^gitaik l •" earn. Mr R. Burton referee. G