RUGBY LEAGUE Linwood Has Two-point Lead In Senior Competition

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30171, 1 July 1963, Page 15

RUGBY LEAGUE Linwood Has Two-point Lead In Senior Competition

. Although, perhaps, not quite u exciting as the encounter between the two sides in the first round, the senior Rugby League match between Linwood and Marist played at the Show Grounds on Saturday was a very good match. Linwood won by six points. Each side scored only one try, accurate goal-kicking giving Linwood victory.

o ,n .?' <>od • a l moBt enures the side of representing Canterbury in the Rothman s £lOOO club tournament. With two games to be played to complete the second round of the competition, Linwood is the clear leader.

In the other senior matches on Saturday, Christchurch had a Papsmui^ 01017 °' er eydenham ’ wliile Hornby was not extended to beat

Raulta were;— Linwood 9, Mlriat J. Ch hatch arch a Bydeaham J. Hornby 31, Papanui 14. p oll ** Wlth Tavendale Cup pointe In paren-

LINWOOD V. MARIST After having a decided territorial advantage and almost a monopoly of possession during the first half Linwood was given some anxious moments in repelling Marist attacks during the second spell. At half-time it looked as though Linwood had gained the ascendency and even for a short period at the beginning of the second half Unwood was constantly on attack.

However, Marist suddenly came to life and nearly scored on several occasions. The match was very interesting, with the ball being thrown about at every opportunity. Linwood deserved to win, as it played well for the whole 80 minutes.

Marist s efforts were more spasmodic. However, the side deserves high praise for the manner in which it defended its line during periods of attack by Linwood.

The match was played at a good pace, although on many occasions play moved back and forward across the field with neither side making any headway. Surprisingly, the Linwood backs had an indifferent day with their handling. In the second half, when Marist was getting possession from the scrums, the side handled extremely well, with backs and forwards joining in. However, the Linwood defence was equal to the task and the movements never got very far There was very little between the two packs, but superior "tness probably gave Linwood the advantage. The score could *“ v * been quite different If Marist players had been on hand at critical times. One memorable incident occurred when the Marist becks made a break inside their own territory. The ball was passed to the, left wing, C. Preece, near the half-way line, and he had a ciear run. but the Linwood left wing. G. Wade, came from the opposite side of the field to tackle him a few yards short of the goal-line. Although the Linwood backline did not impress particularlv its member* Played quite weli individually. G. Clarke made two very tricky runs, and his passes from the base of the 5? ru 2L. w * re “ d accurate. - White did not have many opportunities, but his tackling was sound, even though a little high. W. Campbell had one of his best games of the season at full-back.

The Mansi backs looked very but perhaps lacked the brilliance that makes the difference between victory and. defeat. J. Walshe. P. Smith, and H Nepla each had good games, especially the Utter, who looked the one pUyer who could split the defence wide open Until he left the field injured, M Carlyle was the best Linwood forward. His play was vigorous and purposeful. J. Flanagan anad L. Blanchard were honest toilers, while K Batten covered a lot of ground from the loose forward position. M. Mohi made two crashing mid-field runs, but did not aalways have support. P. L. Dotg played quite well, but needs more fire. He tackled very well. Flanagan scored a try for Linwood, and White kicked one conversion and two penalty goals. Preece scored for Marlst. The referee was Mr P. Yaxley CHRISTCHURCH v. SYDENHAM In a match which at times produced some very good play Christchurch had a close victory over Sydenham. The result could have gone either way with both sides going close to •coring on a number of occasions.

The Christchurch forwards won the game. They were much more mobile than their opponents. and near the end of the game one or two of the Sydenham forwards were exhausted. The Sydenham backs were more enterprising than the Christchurch backs, but did not get very many opportunities from set play The tackling was a mixture of good and bad. Players in both sides would make good low tackles one minute, and a few minutes later make half-hearted attempu to grapple an opponent around his neck.

R. Turton was an able leader i the Christchurch pack He received good support from B. Phillipson and J. Grenet. Phillipson. especially made some strong runs from broken play. R Mcßeth and B T. Barron were the best of the Sydenham forwards Two runs by Barron

would almost surely have resulted in tries if he had had some support. A former Canterbury representative and the present coach of the Sydenham side, I. Pimley, was a surprise member of the Sydenham pack. He did some things well but the passage of thna does not make the burden of a middle-row forward any easier. K Harding was without doubt the best back on the ground. He cut the defence wide open a number of times. W. Karina, also, was in very good form. B. Everest was quite sound at fullback.

D. Robinson and M. Hickey were the met vigorous of the Christchurch backs but their efforts were not very successful.

Turton and T. McClintock scored tries for Christchurch and E. Bennett converted one try. A. Swan scored a try for Sydenham. The referee was Mr A. Lowe. HORNBY V. PAPANL'I In a fast and often exciting match, Hornby had too much polish for Papanui. The game was always interesting, with both teams attempting to throw the ball around. Hornby, however, dominated the forward play and had the faster backs. The big Hornby prop, L. Drayton, many times crashed through the Papanui defence to begin movements which resulted in tries. He scored 13 points. Of the other Hornby forwards, F. Tinning was the best. His good backing up gained him two good tries. J. Bray, at five-eighths for Hornby, was the best of the backs. He made several long runs, backed up well, and tackled impeccably. P Tongue, at full-back, was a safe tackler and a strong runner. I. Robb and P. Sklrton were also prominent.

For Papanui G. Turner played very well. He led the forwards well and received good support from E. Tavendale. T. Bisman played well until he was forced to retire with a leg injury, Tavendale's kicking was also of a high standard. The three goals he kicked were all long kicks, one of nearly 50 yards.

The Papanui backs, as a group, were disappointing apart from K. Harding. Harding, playing at centre, ran strongly and tackled very hard. The other backs did not combine as a unit and too often one player would find himaelf without support.

Besides Bisman, B. Langton, the Hornby centre, was also forced to retire with an injury. He was replaced by A. Williams.

For Hornby tries were scored by Tinning (2), R. Moore, T. Wastney, Skerton, Drayton and 11. Mullaly. Drayton kicked five conversions. Harding and T. Miller scored tries for Papanui. K. Pearce kicked a penalty goal and Tavendale two penalty goals and a conversion. The referee was Mr K Henry.

Lower Grades

Senior Reserve,—Halswell 4, Papanui 3; Kaiapoi 25. Sydenham 18; Hornby 25. Riccarton

Third Grade.—Shirley B 25., Linwood 3; Hornby 25, Addington 0: Shirley A 25. Papanui 8. Under 18.—Christchurch 25, Addington 5; Hornby 25. Linwood 8; Papanui 8, Shirley 3. Under 15.—Papanui 25, Sydenham 0; Shirely 25. Addington 0.

Under 13.—Linwood A 32. Papanui B 3: Linwood B 15, Sydenham 0; Addington 19, Shirley 6; Christchurch 25. Papanui A 2 Under 12.—Shirley 3. Papanui A 0; Papanui B 6. Linwood B 5; Linwood A 13. Hornby 0; Christchurch 8. Addington 3. Under 11.—Addington 19. Papanui A 0: Sydenham 0, Halswell 0; Papanui B 17. Linwood 0

Under 10.—Kaiapoi 0. Papanui 0; Linwood A 3. Halswell 2; Woolston 6. Linwood B 3; Christchurch 12, Shirley 0. Under Nine.—Papanui A 3. Shirley A 0; Linwood 15. Shirley B 0; Addington 3. Christchurch 3; Kaiapoi 9. Woolston 2. Under Eight.—Linwood 15. Marist 0; Addington 15. Hornby 0; Shirley 15, Papanui B 0.

P W L D F Pts. Lift. 8 6 0 2 2M 74 14 (6) Horn. 8 4 2 0 199 55 12 (6) Mar. 8 5 2 1 ITO 111 11 (4) Chcti. 8 3 5 0 74 194 6 (0) Syd. 8 2 6 0 83 188 4 (2) P*p 8 0 7 1 83 231 1 (0)