CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27096, 20 July 1953, Page 7

CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

SYDENHAM BEATEN BY HORNBY Linwood moved to the top of the Canterbury Rugby League’s senior championship competition when Sydenham was beaten by the unpredictable Hornby side in the third series of games in the second round, played on Saturday. The game produced some good football, particularly in the second half, when fast attacks and cqunter-attacks were maintained right through the spell. Woolston was by no means disgraced in its defeat by Linwood, and held the competition leader to a margin of three tries. Marist was fully extended to beat Addington, the bottom team in the competition. Results:— Hornby 13, Sydenham 5. Marist 14, Addington 9. Linwood 15, Woolston 0. Christchurch 12, Papanui 6. Competition points:—Linwood 18, Sydenham 17, Hornby 15, Christchurch 12, Marist 10, Papanui 6, Woolston 2, Addington 0.

HORNBY v. SYDENHAM Sydenham suffered its first defeat of the 1 season when in the main game at the Show Grounds it lost to Hornby by 13 points to 5. It was one of the best games of the season. The game was played at a fast pace throughout, and the standard was high. Hornby has already proved itself a very strong defensive side, and on Saturday it showed that it can also attack. Sydenham was far from disgraced. It played its usual open game, but on the day met a superior side. Sydenham won most of the scrums, and its backs kept the ball on the move. Hornby’s cover defence, however, halted many promising movements before they had gone far. Every Hornby player gave of his best on defence, and they gradually wore Sydenham down, to have a definite advantage over the closing stages. Hornby's attack was a big improvement on recent displays, and its combination was better than that of Sydenham. It was a change to see the ball going right out to the wings, instead of movements breaking down in the centre because of players attempting too much on their own. The Sydenham backs held their own on attack, but their defence wilted at times against Hornby’s strong attacks. In the forwards, too, Hornby had the edge on its opponents, playing more as a pack. The Sydenham forwards played more loosely, allowing their opopnents to break through repeatedly. Only one Hornby player had faults on defence. This was the full-back, Henry, who on several occasions attempted to bump opponents instead of tackling. This caused his Aide some anxious moments and almost allowed Sydenham two tries. Hornby’s solid half-back, Woodham, was again sound, and made some fine breaks. G. Neiman was moved into first fiveeighths, and although he dropped some passes in the first half, he improved to give a first-class display. D. Neiman, the second five-eighths, was always prominent with his strong running and solid defence. Play was made for the speedy Courtneys, and they took full advantage of their opportunities. C. Courtney, at centre, stood out for fine handling, great place, and fine tackling. McSeveney once again proved that his proper place is on the wing. His defence was very solid, and he made many fine dashes. The most impressive of the Sydenham backs was the first five-eighths, Parkes, whose clean handling, straight running, and ability to find a gap put his side on attack repeatedly. Much of his good play suffered through lack of support. Guy gave Sydenham fine service as full-back. His handling and kicking were first class, and he never hesitated to link with his backs at every opportunity. Yaxley and Mclntyre were prominent on attack, but were found wanting at times on defence. Robinson was the pick of Sydenham’s wingers, and Beales was sound behind the scrum.

In Hornby’s solid pack Rutherford, Cooke, and B. and A. Woodgate were always prominent. Rutherford and Cooke, two young players, should go far in the game. Both very fit, they were in the play from whistle to whistle. Cooke’s cover defence reached great heights, and was invaluable. In a much looser Sydenham pack Williams, Wakefield, and Butterfield were always prominent in the loose, with Casey toiling very hard in all the tight play without much support. The first half was very even, the first points going to Hornby when Henry kicked an easy penalty goal from in front. Sydenham evened the scoring shortly afterwards when Wakefield kicked a fine goal from well out. Hornby took the lead again when Woodham started a movement that went right along the back line. D. Neiman cut through, and sent to C. Courtney. When blocked, Courtney sent a long pass to McSeveney, who dashed over in the corner. G. Neiman converted. Sydenham was unfortunate when after some fine passing Parkes went over, but lost the ball. Hornby led at half-time by 7 points to 2. Sydenham fully tested Hornby’s strong defence from the start of the second spell, and was rewarded when Parkes cut through brilliantly and sent Robinson over in the corner. Hornby attacked immediately, and C. Courtney scored after G. Neiman had made a break. Hornby decided the issue when Woodham and McSeveney made ground, and Rutherford joined in to go over with a determined dash. * Referee: Mr W. Wilkinson.

MARIST V. ADDINGTON Showing vastly improved form, Addington almost had a surprise win against Marist. It was not until late in the second spell that Marist took control after being down by 9 points. Addington showed a big improvement in combination, and its backs showed up in many good attacks. Marist fielded a weakened side, being without its two best backs, Haig and Roberts. The reorganised backs took a long time to settle down against the solid tackling of their opponents, but gradually gained the upper hand. Lewis, P. Smith, and Wiseman were Addington backs who held the side together, with Henderson a sound full-back. Paul,' Berry, and Smith were the most prominent Addington forwards, and worked hard. Shaw and McKenzie were the soundest Marist backs,. with Hislop, Middleton, and Moore leading all the forward rushes.

Allom and . Moore scored tries for Marist. Hislop converted both tries and kicked two penalty goals. For Addington, Paul scored a try, converted by Henderson, who also kicked two penalty goals. ' Referee: Mr A. Allan. CHRISTCHURCH v. PAPANUI Superiority in the backs enabled Christchurch to beat Papanui by 12 points to 6 in an even game played at the Show Grounds. Both teams played bright, open football, with many combined movements in which forwards and backs linked up well. Both packs worked hard, with the heavy Papanui forwards holding an advantage in the scrums and in the tight, where R. Broadhurst, D. Claridge, and E. Griffiths set Christchurch a formidable

task with their solid work. Christchurch made up the leeway, however, in the loose when their lighter forwards moved fast in some good movements. W. Keenan and W. Gray were always prominent, and worked well with their backs, but the best forward in the game was J. Crofts, who has played up to his best form in the last three matches. Crofts did more than his share in the tight and played intelligently in the open to send his backs away wheilever the opportunity offered The Christchurch backs, without one or two of their regular players, played good football, especially in the first half, when they had possession more often than in the later stages of the game. Well served by the consistent R. Brown at half-back, they attacked frequently, and would have gone further had it not been for the solid defence of the Papanui inside men. M. Burney, centre-three-quarters, showed speed and handled well, and B. Mitchell, at full-back, made some good saves. The standard of. play fell away in the second half in the face Of some persistent Papanui counter-attacks. Papanui also fielded rearranged backs, who maintained the improvement shown in recent games. Much of the work on both attack and defence fell to I. Campbell, the half-back, and L. Brown, the first five-eighths, and both gave of their best, particularly in the second half, when they assisted their forwards to hold play in Christchurch territory for some time. J. Tinning, at ceutre-three-quarters and later at full-back, played sotmdly, and when he was taken out of the attack the backs lost much of their thrust. For Christchurch tries were scored by Crofts, J. Purdon, A. McCormack, and W. Gray. Tinning and G. Gill scored tries for Papanui.

Referee: Mr V. Henry. LINWOOD v. WOOLSTON Scoring all its points in the second spell, Linwood, the competition leader, beat Woolston by 15 points to 0 in a game played at Woolston Park. Woolston, which has won only one game this season, offered unexpectedly strong opposition, and the fast Linwood team was able to score only three tries, all the result of sheer pace. The Woblston defence improved still further in the second half, and the side made some strong attacks that came close to success. Linwood also attacked strongly, but was unable to make progress against hard tackling. Play became willing for a period in the second half, when some players were warned by the referee. Tries were scored for Linwood by B. Irving, T. McGee, and C. Atkinson. F. Hudson converted two tries and. kicked a penalty goal.