LEAGUE Linwood Has Good Win Over Hornby

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29193, 2 May 1960, Page 9

LEAGUE Linwood Has Good Win Over Hornby

After two rounds in the Canterbury Rugby League’s championship, Papanui, Marist and Linwood are the only unbeaten teams. The two games on the Show Grounds oval on Saturday provided some excellent football with the play at all -times fast and open. Results were:— Linwood 20, Hornby 5. Marist 27, Addington 13. Papanui 61, Christchurch 5. Sydenham 72, Dallington 2. Championship points: Linwood 4, Papanui 4, Marist 4, Sydenham 2, Hornby 2, Addington 0, Christchurch 0, Dallington 0. UNWOOD v. HOKNBY More speed and cohesion in backs and forwards gave Linwood a clear win over Hornby in the main game at the Show Grounds. The Unwood side gave further proof that it wiU be one of the hardest sides to beat in the championship. The handling and fine backing up was too good for Hornby’s defence, which was not up to its usual standards. Well served with the ball by their forwards, the Linwood backs played attractive football with players on the move when the ball reached them. R. Pounsford sent the line away without any waste of time and his play in the open was first-class. P. Manderson, at first five-eighths, did not attempt too much solo play and sent the ball on smartly with expusses. G. Maloney,* at second five-eighth, moved fast and made some good breaks. Each time P. White handled he put thrust into the attack and at all times proved a handful for the defence. Most of the play went out to R. Harris’s wing and he made the most of his opportunities with some fine side-line runs A. Smith was sound at full-back.

The Hornby backs did not impress as a unit. In sharp contrast to Linwood’s efforts, the players appeared to be flat-footed in their movements and their passing and handling showed many blemishes The best of the backs was G. Neiman, at second five-eighth, who was always attempting to get his line moving. His fine tackling did much to keep Linwood’s score down. After the fine performance of the previous Saturday the rest of the line was disappointing. Under the leadership of L. Blanchard, the Linwood forwards were generally on top. They all showed plenty of speed and handled very clesnly. The fine backing up of John Flanagan, R. McLean, M. Carlyle and J. Fisher was a feature of the game. Hornby’s pack tolled hard but lacked the speed of Linwood in the open. P Neiman, F. Finning and R. Woodgate did not relax in their efforts but it was M, Cooke who played best. Cooke’s hard running was notable and his cover defence was good. For Linwood, tries were scored by P. White (2), John Flanagan and R. McLean A. Smith converted one try and kicked three penalty goals. M. Cooke scored a try and P. Tongue kicked a penalty goal for Hornby. The referee was Mr D. Wilson. MARIST V. ADDINGTON Marist had the better of a fast open game and beat Addington by 27 points to 13. The Marist forwards played well and paved the

side’s way to the win. Marist started off in fine style. Half-way through the first spell Addington improved and at one stage had every chance of leading. Marist came again and its better combination proved too much for the Addington defence. The Marist forwards won plenty of ball and gave the backs every opportunity. A poor service from half-back Donaldson, gave the first five-eighth, P. Smith, a harder task. However, Smith rose to the occasion and his handling of many poor passes was excellent. His speedy acceleration gave the rest of the line a good start. T. Barnett, at centre, and C. Worters and R. Darragushi, the wings, ran with determination and the latter two were rewarded with two good tries each. At full-back J. Thoms was always safe with clean handling and solid tackling. The Addington backline relied too much on individual efforts and a lot of opportunities were lost through players going too far on their own. H. Swan was a solid half-back but generally ran too far from the base of the scrum before passing to his five-eighths, S. Miller and G. Nepia. On the wing, G. Blackler was Addington’s most impressive back and proved hard to stop. The Marist forwards played solidly and showed pace in the open. M. Mahi again Impressed with his hard running and clever handling and received fine support from J. Kelly, B. Curtain, L. Lome and J. Jones. In the Addington pack W. Flavell showed a big Improvement and was prominent with good backing up. P. Miller, D. Unwin, T. Smith and J. Williams were always up with the Play. For Marist, C. Worters (2), R. Darragushi (2), and B. Curtain scored tries. J. Thoms kicked two conversions and four penalty goals. G. Blackler, H. McClure and D. Miller scored tries for Addington and Miller converted one try and kicked a penalty goal. The referee was Mr W. Gray. CHRISTCHURCH V. PAPANUI The match between Papanui and Christchurch became the second scoring spree on the No. 2 ground, with Papanui winning by 61 points to 5. Christchurch was no match for a much faster and fitter Papanui side, and spent most of the game chasing the winning players, who had a large share of the ball to work with. Even though Papanui was far from full strength the extra weight among the young forward pack and speed in the back line was far too much for Christchurch. Any dropped passes by Christchurch were quickly swooped upon by the alert Papanui backs, who, combining well with the forwards, swept through for easy tries. Papanui, which failed to score a try in its winning match against Sydenham the week before, is in the process of building up its team. It has suffered a large number of retirements since winning the championship last season.

Allowing for the weak opposition provided by Christchurch, the display by Papanui must have been of some consolation to its supporters hoping for a repeat of last season’s championship success. Much of Papanui's attacking came from the speed and anticipation shown by its five-eighths, J. Bond and W. Jones. Bond has plenty of pace off the mark and Jones has more speed over a longer distance. These allied, started off many of Papanui’s trygetting moves. In the forwards, Papanui had snch able players as K. Pearce, who improved on his previous week's goal

kicking performance • with four conversions and three penalties. G. Turner’s weight and great strength in pushing his way past players was a major problem for the Christchurch defence and one which was not overcome in the course of the match. For Papanui, tries were scored by A. Amor (3). W. Jones (3), J. Bond (2), R. Feutz (2), E. Tavendale (2). and R. Carey. Conversions were made by K. Pearce (4). W. Jones, E. Tavendale, G. Turner and K. Peters. Pearce also kicked three penalties. Christchurch’s points came from a try by B. Austin, which was converted by R. Walklin. The referee was Mr P. Yaxley. SYDENHAM V. DALLINGTON In a match that was farcical before it started, Sydenham beat Dallington by 72 points; to 2 on Show Grounds No. 2. When the teams took the field. Dallington was short of five players, only eight being available for the early start. Sydenham had scored 20 points in about 10 minutes as odd Dallington players straggled onto the field. Before half-time the team complement of 13 was complete, but the form of the side was little better with the additional players. At half-time Sydenham's margin was 44 points. For Sydenham it was a case of receiving the ball and running. with a fend or side-step proving most effective. For D. Stephens, who was having his first game of the season for Sydenham, it was a field day. He scored six tries in a fashion that suggested that he was faster than last season when he played a number of games on the wing for Canterbury. In one incident Sydenham was pressed on its own line and the ball was carried back under the goal post. From there it was carried to the side's twenty-five before Stephens gained possession. He ran hard for Dallington’s line with a Dallington player in hot pursuit. In forcing the ball for a try Stephens lost possession and the ball trickled over the dead ball line. For Sydenham tries were scored by D. Stephens (6). B. Butts (3), R. Ralstrick (2), C. Priest (2), K. Harding (2). R. Lewis, D. Kerr and H. Turton. M. Burtt converted eight and K. Harding one. For Dallington, D. Castro kicked a penalty. The referee was Mr A. Low.

Results In Other Centres Auckland.—Eastern 27, Glenora 11; Northern Districts 18. PonsonbyRlchmond 7; Western 33, ManlaneRoskill 9; Southern 23, Marist 21. Wellington.—Marist 12. Petone 3; Korodale 16, St. George 5; Miramar 17, Waterside 0; Randwick 9, Taita 8. Dunedin.—'Varsity A 29, Kai Toa 12; Celtic 22. City 18. West Coast.—Marist 19, Ngahere 3; Blackball 27, Brunner 9. Palmerston North.—Takaro 27, Kia Ora B 14; Kia Ora A 63. Kiwi 0.

TRAINING SQUAD The Canterbury selectors (Messrs L. Huston, A. Atkinson, and E. Butts) have chosen the following players to train for the season’s first representative game against the West Coast at Christchurch on Saturday, May 14:— A. Smith (Linwood), P. White (Linwood), R. Turton (Sydenham), D. Stephens (Sydenham), J. Bond (Papanui), W. Jones (Papanui), P. Smith (Marist), K. Roberts (Papanui), M. Cooke (Hornby), K. Pearce (Papanui), John Flanagan (Linwood), M. Mohi (Marist), G. Turner (Papanui), R. Lewis (Sydenham), R. Woodgate (Hornby).

LOWER GRADE RESULTS Results of lower grade Rugby League games played on Saturday were:— Junior.—Sydenham 11, Riccarton 7; Papanui 29, Christchurch 14. Third Grade.—Sydenham 19, Linwood 14; Papanui beat Halswell by default; Hornby 47, Dallington 2. Under 17.—Addington 33, Hornby 3; Kaiapoi 48. Linwood 7; Riccarton 24, Christchurch 7; Papanui 30. Shirley 8. Under 15.—Papanui 51. Marist 0; Addington 35, Kaiapoi 0; Linwood 15. Christchurch 13; Shirley 9, Riccarton 8. Under 14—Sydenham 27, Addington 6; Hornby 23, Papanui 5; Dallington 32, Shirley 5. Under 13.—Halswell 8, Linwood 8; Papanui 14. Dallington 0; Shirley A 33, Papanui 0; Sydenham 20, Shirley B 0; Christchurch 13, Marist 3. Under 11.—Hornby 12, Sydenham B 3; Papanui B 15, Linwood 0; Halswell 18, Marist 0; Sydenham A 12. Kaiapoi 3; Shirley 6, Addington 6; Papanui A 12. Riccarton 3. Under 10.—Papanui B 9, Marist B; Papanui A 15. Addington 0; Linwood D 12, Kaiapoi 6; Shirley A 21. Christchurch 0; Riccarton 9, Shirley 80.

Local Government Inquiry Adjourned (New Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, April 30. The Parliamentary Local Bills Committee investigating the structure of local government in New Zealand adjourned yesterday and will re-convene the first week in June. The committee started its hearing on March 23 and has received submissions from 63 or-