Sunnyside-Spreydon And Sydenham In Final

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28371, 2 September 1957, Page 8

Sunnyside-Spreydon And Sydenham In Final

Sydenham and SunnysideSpreydon will contest the final of the Canterbury Rugby Union’s senior knock-out competition.

These two teams were the winners of the semi-finals played on Saturday, beating Linwood and Belfast respectively. For the second week in succession, Sydenham ran up a big score, and the Combined team was never in danger of defeat in its match with Belfast. The scores were:— Sydenham 22, Linwood 12. x Sunnyaide-SpreydoDL 12, Belfast 8. SYDENHAM WINS

Sydenham deservedly beat Lin- < wood in a hard-fought match at j Waltham Park, by 22 points (two goals from tries, a try and three < penalties) to 12 (two tries, a ■ penalty goal and a dropped goal : from a mark). Play went from end. to end in excellent fashion. ; but fighting among the forwards < marred an otherwise good dis- ! play. With the sun and the wind behind it in the first spell, Sydenham scored eight points before half-tiihe. However, Linwood quickly took the lead in the second spell, and thereafter the lead changed hands until Sydenham scored 11 points in fine style id the last 10 minutes of play. The best of the Sydenham backline was the half-back, M. F. Whitta. Whitta varied his play very well, and was the architect of his side’s win. He gave a consistently good service to R. Cotton. Cotton’s form was erratic. At centre, D. Bowick used his weight to advantage in some strong runs. On the right wing, M. Gowans was very sound, but the best of the three-quarters line was N. Miller, on the left wing. Miller scored two fine tries, he handled k well and showed great speed in his runs for the line. His second try was a classic example of how a winger should force his way over in the corner at the end of a determined run. J. Mporhead was the best of the Sydenham pack, leading forward rushes in the loose, and he was always in the thick of the play in the tight. T. Bisman, a frontranker, also played well in the tight, and H. Fox and D. Collins were the best of the other Sydenham forwards in the Joose. In the Linwood backline, C. Ellis, at second five-eighths, was the mainstay. Ellis was always doing something constructive with the ball. He was always hard to stop, and even in the last stages of the game his well-placed kicks could have brought points for his side. Ellis received good support from the first fiveeighths, F. McCormick, whose play was sound. The half-back, N. Main, settled down well after a shaky start. At full-back, B Dailey had a most unhappy day, and could do little right. The Linwood pack felt keenly the absence of B. Caldwell,' who was playing for Combined Services against Poverty Bay. Without Caldwell, the play of the Linwood forwards was mostly aimless and unguided. The best forward in the loose was undoubtedly A. Mansfield, the breakaway. Mansfield showed great speed, and was up with the play until the end. B. Trevella, A. Holland and R. Tabb gave good support. Trevella drop-kicked an excellent goal from, a mark. Mr L. S. Kirk was referee. FAST MATCH

In a fast and open match at Waltham Park, Sunnyside-Sprey-don beat Belfast by 12 points (four tries) to 8 (a goal from a try and a try). The match was played at a fast pace throughout, with both sets of forwards playing very loose, and both sides making many mistakes. Sunnyside-Spreydon did well in the first half to lead 6-5 at halftime, after playing into the sun and the wind. Taking full advantake of these two factors in the second spell, the side was nevex seriously in danger of defeat The winning team showed its usual good play on defence, and the tackling of the backs and forwards on cover-defence was of the highest class. A. Oliver was the best of the Sunnyside - Spreydon backline, showing determination and intelligence on the wing. The fiveeighths, V. Sykes and I. Richards, handled well. Richards received a very good service from R. Templeton, the half-back. A. White, at full-back, played coolly, and and was very safe. In the forwards, I. Hoe and L. Stuart stood out for pace in the loose, and they were invaluable on cover-defence. M. Johnston was also quick to the loose ball, and D. Kerr was the best in the tight The Belfast backline suffered from the loss of C. Cassidy and R Alexander. The good flank forward. G. playing out of position at centre three-quart-ers, and the line as a whole looked disorganised. F. Wilson was

sound at half-back, and L. Odgers on the wing was the best of the other backs. In the forwards, S. Tunstall and R. Cox were at the head of many loose rushes, and the pack as a whole hunted the ball throughout with great determination. Mr F. Goodman was referee.