FROM THE SIDE-LINES

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30143, 29 May 1963, Page 13

FROM THE SIDE-LINES

The first senior Rugby player to score 50 points this season is the New Brighton half-back. G Stanley, who reached the mark with a try in the first half against Old Boys

on Saturday. Later in the afternoon G. J. Watterrens (Christchurch) also achieved the distinction. Stanley now has 58 points, made up of 7 tries. 8 conversio - and 7 penalty goaas His tally of tries is second only to that of W F. Birtwistle i Christchurch), who has eight * * * p Skerton, the senior Hornby Rugby League wing. scored three good tries last Saturday. This brought his tally of tries for the season to six; the most by any senior player. Skerton has a good burst of speed but his tries last Saturday were the result of his being in the correct position to take the final passes after breaks had been made by his inside backs

The New Brignton senior Rugby team is given an appropriate seaside character by the presence of four leading surfers among its number: R. Claxton. E. Leask and the Dalton brothers. Among their opponents in the main game at Lancaster Park oval on Saturday was B. J. C. Turpin, a prominent member of the Tavlor’s Mistake Surf Club. * ¥ * Canterbury’s two triaJists for the New Zealand women’s hockey team to tour the United States, J. Murray < Hare wood) and A. Ruston (Aranui) will know this week-end

whether they are tn the team. On Saturday and Monday of Queen’s Birthday week-end. the trials will be held in Wellington’s Karori Park.

Unable to find an affective ' forward line, the Christchurch City premier soccer side now finds itself at the bottom of the points table and seems doomed to

relegation. Notwithstanding the failure of his teammates. however, the inside (or sometimes outside), right. R. Bruce, has always played positive attacking football and. given better support, would undoubtedly have earned his team a higher position. His place in ‘he Canterbury team has been well earned and his play in better company will be watched with interest .¥ ¥ ♦ Another soocer club has found a family threesome to match the Chee brothers of Technical Old Boys. Nomad? have a brotherly inside trio in their ninth grade team— Gary, Tony, and Kevin Shaw.

Constant changing of a team and its members does little to breed combination or understanding among the players and results have borne this out in the senior women’s hockey competition. Hinemoa, one of the two bottom teams in the competition, showed six changes in position or players from the first round to the second and the other lowly-placed team. West Old Girls, had four changes. By contrast, the present leader of the competition, Rawhiti, has used the same 11 players for the five rounds with only a positional change between two of them. The runnerup, University, contains eight who played all five games ana another two who have missed only one each. ¥ ¥ ¥

The former New Zealand hockey captain and veteran of two Olympic Games, N. H. Hobson, showed his best form of the season in a key match for Woolston against High School Old Boys on Saturday. Hobson, who was not available for the Canterbury team last year, combined well with his right-wing. B. Judge, whom he got away repeatly. Hobson backtackled determinedly and persistently, and his dribbling was skilful and well controlled.

A leading Canterbury tennis player, W. Thom, had played some A grade squash rackets for the Christchurch club in recent seasons and earlier showed considerable promise at the game. He has not found a place in the club’s top teams this season, but was in very good form at the one-day tournament on Sunday, winning the C grade championship without difficulty. ¥ ¥ ¥

L. O’Reilly, the University flanker, gave notice against Suburbs on Saturday that he will be a player to wa*ch He played like a terrier at times in a pack which was strangely lethargic and there is no doubt that if his fellow packmen had only tried to keep with O’Reilly the result might well have been ” different.

The Merivale hooker. D. S. Plrie, confirmed recent reports of his ability when he had the better of his meeting with the seasoned A. M. Holland (Linwood) at Lancaster Park oval on Saturday At one stage, with Merivale attacking inside the Linwood 25, Pirie gained three tight heads in as many minutes. Last season he was a member of the successful Canterbury Colts’ team. * * ■*. The former Auckland soccer player, D. Salisbury, has proved a match-winner for Shamrock, although he has scored only one of his side’s 17 goals this season. With Salisbury’s fine ball control and accurate passing allied to Shamrock's naturally aggressive style of play these ingredients have produced s very useful side. Technical Old Boys felt its full power last Saturday when it was heavily beaten. 5-1. Technical had conceded only six goals in its previous six games.