RUGBY LEAGUE Hornby Beat Sydenham In Scrappy Match

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30153, 10 June 1963, Page 14

RUGBY LEAGUE Hornby Beat Sydenham In Scrappy Match

In a scrappy, uninteresting match, Hornby beat Sydenham in the main senior Rugby League game at the Show Grounds on Saturday. The first games of the second round of the championship series were played on Saturday and the main game proved very disappointing after the excellent games in the concluding matches of the first round.

Conditions at the Show Grounds on Saturday invited good football, but. many spectators showed more interest in the game between Linwood and Papanui on the number two ground than they did in the main fixture.

In the other senior games, Linwood had a very convincing win over Papanui. These two sides drew in the first round. The other game resulted in a comfortable win to Marist at the expense of Christchurch.

Results were: Hornby 23. Sydenham 10. Marist 28, Christchurch 4. Linwood 43. Papanui 4. Championship points are as follows. Tavendale Cup points are in parenthesis:— -

HORNBY v. SYDENHAM Although this was a relatively high scoring game at no time did it arouse much enthusiasm among the spectators. There were long periods of dull, un- . interesting play with the ball being handled by only a couple of players from the play-the-ball.

Considering' the amount of possession the side enjoyed, Sydenham should have been able to control the game much better than it did. The side continually won the scrums but inexplicably threw away possession in broken play. Although the side won, Hornby could hardly be pleased with its form. It would not get away with the mistakes it made on Saturday against a stronger side.

Even the renowned Hornby defence had serious gaps in its armour while the attacking play left much to be desired. None of Hornby’s five tries were particularly brilliant efforts. In most cases it was just a matter of the over-lap being there. Sydenham was without a number of its usual players and. taking this Into account, the team deserves some credit for the way it held Hornby. The side’s spoiling type of play did much to upset the Hornby backline.

Sydenham never attempted to make extensive use of its backs but was content to make breaks close to the forwards. The policy adopted by Hornby was the exact opposite and the ball was frequently passed along the backline.

Both packs of forwards toiled honestly but there was never any doubt that Hornby held superiority in this department. D. Nieman played a very intelligent game for the winning side, and I. Drayton and D Moore were as vigorous as ever in the forwards. The former made a couple of strong runs when he joined the backline. A. Swan was the most consistant of the Sydenham forwards. He gained some assistance from E. Butterfield. If a game were played for 40 minutes instead of 80, Butterfield would be an extremely good forward. B. T. Barron proved that Canterbury should not be short of ball from the scrums this season. Although they tried hard, the Hornbv backs did not function well. A. Williams was probably the best and his two tries were well deserved. . W. Karina and R. Rastnck were the pick of the Sydenham backline. The former lacked nothing in the way of courage when running into the Hornby forwards. For Hornby, tries were scored bv Williams (2). Skerten (2). and Moore. Drayton was in outstanding form with his goalkicking. He converted four of the five tries scored and three of th 4 kicks were from well out Karina and Barron scored for Sydenham. Butterfield converted both tries. The referee was Mr K. Henry LEAGUE

MARIST v. CHRISTCHURCH Making the most of any opportunities. Marist had a convincing victory over Christchurch. For short spells, Christchurch played very’ well, but bad handling and ineffective tackling were the Main reasons for the side’s defeat. Marist was never at full pace The side was content to coast along and score points from its opponents’ mistakes. However, the backs were provided with an ample supply of the

ball and they ran hard and straight. In the forwards. Marist was in control. It worked as a pack and produced some very vigorous play. The Christchurch forwards made a number of likely excursions into territory, but the side's backs were not able to continue the good work by breaking through the Marist defence. The match was not a particularly good ohe as individually the Marist players were more skilled in the fundamentals of the game than their opponents. Ml Mohi, playing in the unaccustomed position of loose forward, was the best of the Marist pack. He made numerous strong runs and proved a very hard man to tackle. G. Cooper had a good game as did N. Diggs. Diggs, however, did have considerable difficulty with his hooking. R. Turton and E. Bennett were both hard toilers in the Christchurch scrum. Bennett, especially, impressed as a strong-running forward.

The Marist backs functioned very well and credit for this can be attributed to the excellent service given by the half-back, R. Irvine. His general play was also of a high standard. J. Walshe and P. Smith, as a combination, had their best match of the season. Smith ran his three-quarters into position very well.

None of the Christchurch backs were particularly impressive. The best was probably the half-back, D. Robinson, while N. Hickey same through a hard game with credit. Tries for Marist were scored by B. Kennedy, Walshe (2), D. Preece, Cooper, and Diggs. Irvine kicked one penalty goal and three conversions. Mohi kicked one penalty goal. For Christchurch, Bennett kicked two penalty goals. The referee was Mr A. Lowe. LINWOOD V. PAPANUI The Linwood team gave a thrilling display of fast-moving Rugby League to overwhelm Papanui, by 43 points to 4. The handling, passing, delightful switches of play and swift, hard running of Linwood thrilled onlookers.

G. Wade, left wing for Linwood, was full of enterprise and scored four splendid tries, including one after a run from the Linwood goal-line. R Pounsford played possibly his best, game of the .season and scored two good tries, both in the opening minutes. P. White, at centre, also played extremely weU. He was particularly adept at dummying his way through the defence before passing to a team-mate. White’s kicking was outstanding. He converted eight tries, seven successively. out of nine attempts. M. Carlyle was easily the most aggressive Linwood forward His tackling and cover defence left little to be desired. J Jones revelled in the tight, while J. Flanagan was at his best when running with the backs.

The best Papanui forwards were the formidable K. Pearce and T. Bisman. J. Hogg made several useful forays into the Papanui back-line. R. Meachem was the only other back to impress.

For Linwood. R. Pounsford (2). N. Adkins, G. Wade (4i. J. Petheridge and J. Flanagan scored tries. P. White kicked eight conversions. K. Pearce kicked two penalty goals for Papanui. The referee was Mr P. Yaxley.

Lower Grades Senior Reserve.—Marist 21, Sydenham 14; Linwood 25. Woolston 2; Addington 14, Hornby 13; Papanui 25. Ricearton 0. Third Grade.—Hornby 25, Linwood 4; Papanui 25. Shirley B 10; Shirley A beat Addington by default. Under 18.—Shirley 13. Addington 5; Papanui 23, Sydenham 5; Linwood 22, Kaiapoi 2. Under 16.—Shirley 23. Hornby 16 Under 15.—Christchurch 8. Papanui 8; Shirley 11, Kaiapoi 5. Under 14.—Papanui B 32, Linwood 0; Papanui A 11, Shirley 0. Under 13.—Linwood A 25. Kaiapoi 0; Shirley 6, Addington 3; Christchurch 25. Sydenham 0; Papanui B 22, Papanui A 0. Under 12.—Linwood 3. Addington 0; Papanui B 22, Marist 6; Kaiapoi 8. Linwood B 3; Shirley A 8, Papanui A 0. Under 11.—Linwood 3. Shirley 3; Addington 15, Halswell 0. Under 10— Woolston 6, Linwood A 0; Papanui B 14. Papanui A 0; Linwood B 3, Hornby 3; Shirley 6. Marist 0. Under 9. —Linwood 3, Christchurch 0: Shirley A 6. Shirley B 0; Addington 0. Papanui A 0; Papanui B 12, Woolston 3. Under B—Papanui B 12. Marist 0; Shirley 9. Hornby 0; Linwood 9. Papanui A 0.

p. W. L. D. F. A. Pts. Horn. 6 5 1 0 146 30 10 (4) Lin. 6 4 0 2 179 53 10 (41 Mar. 6 4 1 1 136 91 9 (2) Syd. 6 2 4 0 75 130 4 (2 > Chch. 6 1 5 0 47 166 2 (0> Pap. 6 0 5 1 53 136 1 (01