Sydenham Deserved Much Better

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30794, 5 July 1965, Page 16

Sydenham Deserved Much Better

LINWOOD 5: A try by B. Capstick and a conversion by P. Jellyman. SYDENHAM 3: A try by C. King Linwood gained Its first win tn three weeks, but it was against the run of play and could so easily have been its third defeat. Its only try came from an unlikekly-looking blind side move in which W. F. McCormick came in as the extra man and its success was due in no small part to an inexplicable misunderstanding amongst the Sydenham defenders. The Sydenham pack was in tremendous form on occasions arid although slightly inconsist-

ent drove very hard when It sensed the smell of possible victory. Their line-out play was also considerably superior to Linwood’s.

The performance of the big Sydenham lock, A. Jolley, .In this department would have done credit to any representative side. He made a real effort to get up in the air and was often head and shoulders above the tallest of the opposition. The service he gave from the lineouts was extremely valuable and constantly thwarted the efforts of Linwood to mount an attacking move. Unexpectedly, Sydenham also showed up better in the backs. They handled the slippery ball well, concentrating on running rather than kicking. Several times a man was in the clear with only McCormick to beat. That Sydenham failed to score more than once was a credit to the extremely safe defence of McCormick.

The Sydenham first fiveeighths, A. Howard, showed good football sense and was instrumental in his side’s only try. However, he could not detract from the effort of King, who charged headlong through a gaggle of green and black jerseys to touch down in spectacular fashion. The Linwood backs missed the services of their usual first fiveeighths, N. Stokes. His replacement, K. Armstrong, kicked far too much and it was not until well on in the game that the side realised it could make more progress by passing the ball. Outside him. Jellyman made several bright runs but showed an unfortunate tendency to run across field. On one occasion he collided with his centre when running almost parallel to the scoring line. To lose a game in which it had shown so much of the initiative must have been very disappointing for Sydenham. However, it had the consolation that it showed far greater potential than its more experienced opponents. Referee: Mr L. S. Kirk.