RUGBY LEAGUE Hornby Wins Semi-Final Of National Tourney

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29911, 27 August 1962, Page 12

RUGBY LEAGUE Hornby Wins Semi-Final Of National Tourney

Hornby has reached the final of the Rothman's t'looo Rugby League tournament, but it gave an unconvincing display when it beat Te Mahoe (Ray of Plenty) in the semifinal at the Show Grounds on Saturday. Hornby won by 23 points (a goal and six tries) to 10 ( a goal, a try and a penalty goal) after leading 14-2 at half-time. Hornhv will meet the champion Auckland club in the national final at Carlaw Park, Auckland, on September 8.

It was expected that Hornby would win by a substantial! ni3<rgin, and when it scored its first 11 points in only six minutes early in the game, it see-med that Te Mahoe would suffer a humiliating defeat. But. by the fifty-Übird minute. Te Mahoe had reduced its' margin to seven points, and Hornby needed its final two tries to ensure success.

Seldom this season has Hornby played with less authority. An alarming number of chances was frittered away with bad handling a-t vital moments. Promising movements were regularly wasted because support was lacking. In the pivot positions behind the scrum. I. Robb and J. M. Bray were rarely certain. The inability

of P. Tongue a<nd I. Drayton to kick more goals was not encouraging.

Te Mahoe. the first team from Bay of Plenty to play in the South Island, lacked the finesse of the Hornby players, but ccmipensated for this with enthusiasm and boundless energy. Its six nuggety Maori forwards repeatedly bustled and chased the Hornby pack into making mistakes, and the moment the ball came loose they pounced on it swiftly. The backs, enjoying a fair amount of possession, were adventurous, with their reverse and overhead passes Te Maihoe’s most glaring fault was weak tackling, which was especially bad when Hornby had its early scoring spree. Later the defence improved markedly, but often a Homby player was able to beat several would-be tacklers before the cover defence scurried across to save. The teams were:—

Hornby.—l. Drayton: P. Tongue, A. Williams, T. Wasney. P. Skerton; J. Bray; I. Robb; M. Cooke. D. Condick.

F Tinning, D. Mcore. R. Woodgate. P. Rutherford Te Mahoe.— T. Kopa; L. Tancpo M. Stone. G O'Brien: A. Walker, D. Gibbon*; R. Harrison: B Pratt, B Rang), H Hohi. L. Taylor. T. Tama: i, W. Wilson.

The ground was in excellent order, save for a few sticky patches near one end. There was only a moderate crowd. T. P. Katece. the former AU Black wing, was a late withdrawal from the Te Mahoe team. Katene was suffering from a knee injury from Bay of Plenty's game against Britain earlier in the month. Williams, who scored four of his side's tries, ws« the best of the Hornby backs. He ran very strongly on attack. Bray dropped several passes from the scrums, an extraordinary lapse for him, but he played a prominent part in most of Hornby* thrusts.

The centre three-quarters. Stone, was clearly the most accomplished of the Te Mahoe backs. He seldom seemed to be playing at centre, for he covered astonishingly large stretches of ground in cover defence, and when given the opportunity he proved to be a most forceful runner. On the right wing, Tancpo was full of dash and enterprise Cooke. Moore, and Condick were fleeter runners than any in the Te Mahoe pack, and Cooke did some sterling work in defence

For Hornby. Williams <4>, Condick. Skerton. and Moore scared tries. Drayton converted one. For Te Mahoe, Gibbons and Harrison scared trues. Stone converted a try and Gibbons kicked a penalty goal. Mr W. Mouotford (West Coa<st) was the referee.