LEAGUE SYDENHAM BEATS PAPANUI IN TAVENDALE CUP

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28963, 3 August 1959, Page 15

LEAGUE SYDENHAM BEATS PAPANUI IN TAVENDALE CUP

Sydenham caused a surprise when it beat Papanui by 10 points to 5 in the first round of games for the Tavendale Cup on Saturday. Sydenham remains the only side to beat Papanui this season, and repeated its fine effort of the second round in the championship. Results were;— TAVENDALE CUP Sydenham 10, Papanui 5. Hornby 12, Linwood 7. GORE CUP Christchurch 43, Marist 5. Addington 28, Dallington 5. Points are:—Tavendale Cup: Sydenham 2, Hornby 2, Papanui 0, Linwood 0. Gore Cup: Addington 2, Christchrurch 2, Dallington 0, Marist 0. I CHRISTCHURCH V. MARIST I Christchurch began promisingly in the Gore Cup competition, beating 'Marist by 43 points w i on Show Grounds No. 2. Christchurch looks likely to retain the trophy. In backs and torwaras Cnristchurcn : was far too good for the weak ! Marist combinmon. By comparison . with Christchurch, Marist was most lethargic . Christchurch completed the first half with a lead of 21 points to 0, five tries and three conversions. The disparity in the ability of the teams , was even more evident in the second : spell when Christchurch added an--1 other six tries two of which were converted.

i In every phase of the game Christi church was superior. In possession 1 the Marist players did not know I what to do, and possession was lost or territory conceded After Marist's promising showings earlier in the season it was hard to recognise the team. Among the Christchurch backs to show out were the half-back, L. French, the centre, A. Edwards, and S Radford, the full-back. French got his backs away many times with long passes, and frequently slipped round the side of the scrum and then swung play back to his forwards. Radford at times gave the line extra penetration with his forays among the five-eighths Of the forwards R. Booth played intelligently. He handled well and was often able to make play for the backs. Others to impress were A. Frater and T Smith. Scorers for Christchurch were L. French (3). A. McDonald (2), A. Edwards (2), C. Radford. A. Frater, R. Booth and K. Diggs. A. Frater converted three tries and K. Grut and L. French one each. B. Curtain scored a try for Marist, converted by R Dalziel. The referee was Mr N. Murray. ADDINGTON V. DALLINGTON

Addington had its second big successive win when it gained a 28-5 victory over Dallington in the first round of the Gore Cup. played on Show Grounds No. 2. Setting up a very comfortable lead of 15-nil at half-time Addington never looked likely to be beaten, and except for about 15 minutes at the beginning of the second half, when no points were scored, it was the complete master of the situation. Dallingtons tactics were most negative. There were very few times when any cohesion was achieved, and the team also repeatedly gave away possession by kicking. The combination of the Addington backs and forwards was most effective and showed a great improvement on that displayed by the team when it was promoted to senior status at the beginning of the season. In the backs Addington had far too much pace for Dallington. All handled capably and moved strongly. On the wing C. Fox had a most successful day. scoring three good tries. Inside Fox, the centre. T. Tavendale, showed skill in delaying his passes. Tavendale’s good turn of speed was also an asset to the team. This could also be said of the fiveeighths, J. Raxworthy. Of the winning forwards the back row man, K. Wilson, showed up most. Quick off rhe scrum, he was able to break up Dallington moves on the few occasions they looked dangerous. His tackling was firstFor Addington tries were scored by C Fox (4). D. Miller (2) and J Raxworthv D. Miller converted four and kicked a penalty goal. Dallineton’s points came from a try by D. Wrathall which was converted by G. Thompson. The referee was Mr R. Broome. SYDENHAM V. PAPANUI

Except for the early stages Sydenham always looked the winning side in the main game at the Show Grounds. Winning the ball from the early scrums Papanui began well and only tenacious tackling kept it out. The fine defence by Svdenham held throughout the game and was one of the deciding factors. Half-way through the first snell the Sydenham forwards came into their own and from then on gave one of the best displays seen this season. They won a big share oi the ball from the scrums and played well in both the tight and loose. Their determined running repeatedly took them through a much looser Papanui pack to open up attacks They were aided at times by some looseness in Papanui's defence. A feature of their play was their backing up. Every time a player made a break there were forwards to carry on the movement. This brought " their two tries. The Sydenham backs appreciated I this, and held their own with theii I opposites. . , The Papanui pack was outplayed lon the day. Except for a few lapses. | the backs did well and many dangerI ous Sydenham attacks were stopped 'through good covering. I R Thistoll. D. Kerr and N. Calder iwere Sydenham forwards who were always prominent. Their hard runining "kept the opposition very busy I and their ability to open up pl*y was of great value to their side. K. Pearce and R. Grant were the i pick of Papanui’s forwards and worked hard throughout. Both halfbacks. M. Burtt for Sydenham and R. Clarke for Papanui. played very I well, especially in the open. I There was little between the two I backlines, both giving displays of

clean handling. However, the defence of the Sydenham line was strong. B. Cairns, at first five-eighths. R. and H. Turton, and a lower grade player, N. Harding, were always prominent in the efforts to open up play.

With Clarke, Jim Bond was the pick of the Papanui backline and was quick to sight a gap. M. Gavin made some fine runs on the wing, and it was only good tackling which kept him on on several occasions. For Sydenham, tries were scored by R. Thistoll and M. Burtt. G. Williams converted one try and kicked a penalty goal. K. Harding scored Papanui's try which was converted by G. Bond. The referee was Mr D. Wilson. HORNBY V. LINWOOD

Hornby’s fine cover defence was the deciding factor in a very close and open game won by Linwood by 12 points to 7. The two teams were very evenly matched and on the run of the play the result could quite easily have been the other way.

Linwood with most of the ball from the scrums often went into attack but a lack of speed in the inside backs gave Hornby the chance to cover well. Time and again Linwood appeared certain to score but Hornby defenders arrived to stop the movement almost on the line. If there had been more speed in the inside backs Linwood would have scored more often.

B. Maloney and B. Tewnion, the five-eighths, ran a little too far with the ball and when the ball reached the fast centre, P. White, he found the defence on top of him. White tried hard to get his wings In position, but when he did the defence was equal to the task. A feature of the game was the duel between the wings, A. Woodham and D. Donaldson. Each made some fine breaks but found the tackling too strong. The hard, bumping runs of R. Journee, on the other Linwood wing, were hard to stop, and he was always a danger. D. Robinson, E. McNichol, and A. Woodham were the best of a Hornby backline which, although it lacked true combination on attack, excelled on defence.

The forwards were very evenly matched, with T. Crowley, T. Journee, and L. Blanchard, for Linwood, and M. Cooke, R. Woodgate, F.. Tinning, and J. Withers, for Hornby, the most prominent. For Hornby tries were scored by A. Woodham and T. Houston. E. McNichol converted one try and kicked two- penalty goals. K. Journee scored a try for Lin wood and A. Smith kicked two penalty goals. The referee was Mr P. Yaxley.