Addington Now Six Ahead In League

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31381, 29 May 1967, Page 15

Addington Now Six Ahead In League

Addington strengthened its position in the senior Rugby League championship with its win over Papanui on Saturday as the other side in second place, Hornby, was surprisingly beaten by Linwood in the early game at the Show Grounds.

This has given Addington a six-point lead with six matches to go.

However, the real upset of the day was Kaiapoi’s defeat of Marist, particularly after Kaiapoi had 52 points scored against it the week before. Linwood’s defeat of Hornby was a reverse of the result in the first round, and again the match was closely fought with the winner scoring one try to Hornby’s two. Goal-kicking won the day for Linwood. J. Rosanowski was successful with three shots but I. Drayton could only succeed with a field goal.

Christchurch moved to equal in second place after its win, 22-4, over Sydenham.

Matches played were:— Linwood 4, Hornby S.

Christchurch 22, Sydenham Addington I*, Papanui 5. Kalapol 21, Marist U. The following is the championship table, with Vivian Cup points, assessed for secondround play, in parenthesis:—

Early Lead LINWOOD 9: M. Morgan, a try; J. Rosanowski, three goals. HORNBY 8: B. Jager, two tries; I. Drayton, a goal. By scoring seven points in the early stages of the game, Linwood established a lead that Hornby found too much to overcome in spite of a spirited attack on the winner’s line in the last 15 minutes.

Hornby had a monopoly of the ball from the scrums with 33-7. Linwood sadly missed its representtaive hooker, W. Noonan. Linwood made the most of its opportunities, which were rare in contrast to Hornby’s. However, Hornby’s second try was delightful. The initial move was made up the right wing when R. Moffat raced 50 yards before his progress was stopped inside Linwood’s twenty-five. The ball was swept across the field with almost every player handling before B. Jager raced in for his second try of the game. Linwood’s try, by M. Morgan, came after E. Kereopa had created the break-through.

Jager, on the wing, was Hornby’s outstanding player and he looked a potential scorer each time he received the ball.

Hornby suffered through a number of injuries. H. Smith, who moved from loose forward to scrum half when B. Houston retired, played well in both positions. Linwood had good performers in J. Rosanowski, E. Kereopa, and J. Hales, who was the outstanding player on defence in the match. Referee: Mr K. Carter. Open Match

ADDINGTON 19: P. White (2) and J. Vivian, tries; White, five goals.

PAPANUI 5: M. Napier, try; P. Napier, a goal. In the Initial stages Papanui lost many opportunities because of elemeiitary mistakes. Twice the try line was wide

open, but players lost the ball at the last exchange.

For a while Papanui looked capable of holding the championship leader, but as the game wore on Addington took over the dominant role and, except for one short spell in the second half, never relinquished it. Both teams handled the slippery ball well considering this was the first time under the new rules that they had to cope with this disadvantage. The game was kept open as both teams tried to use their fast backs to advantage. Addington had more success in the backs mainly because it had the better pack of forwards to work with. It encountered possibly the hardest tackling of the season, but refused to allow this to deter its play. P. M. V. White had a field day, scoring two excellent tries and five goals. His first nine points came from every method possible to score points in Rugby League, a try. conversion, field goal and penalty. Playing in an unusual position at scrum-half, the captain, R. Cotter, performed well . and gave his backs a good start with an efficient service from the scrums.

For Papanui, J. E. Bond ran strongly and proved a menace for Addington whenever in possession. The centre, S. Dunn, ran and tackled hard. On the wing, Canterbury’s new representative, M. Napier, showed real drive in his try-scoring run down the line. Of the forwards, A. McNaughton and B. Gillman were outstanding for the winner, and C. Schwass and K. Blackler played well for Papanui. Referee: Mr P. Yaxley. Decisive Win

Christchurch 22: T. McLintock. D. Parker. G. Cooksley and L. Tepua tries: Tehuia three conversions and two penalty goals. Sydenham 4: A. Tuuta two penalty goals.

R. Turton, in the loose forward position, and the halfback, Cooksley, spearheaded the Christchurch attacking movements. Cooksley was especially gromlnent with his fast, tricky reaks from the base of the scrum. He handled with polish throughout. Christchurch scored 19 of its points after half-time to score a decisive win over an unimaginative Sydenham thirteen in a curtain-raiser at Bradford ParkThe muddy conditions did not deter Christchurch from opening up play at every opportunity. Indeed, the dexterity of the Christchurch handling had an obvious unsettling effect on Sydenham’s defence. In the Christchurch pack Tehuia excelled with swift ball distribution. T. Parker and E. Bennett played their usual strong games. McLintock, B. Tallott and D. Parker played with intelligence in the three-quar-ters, and D. Robinson was formidable at stand-off half. B. T. Barron, R. Mcßeath and Tuuta had useful forward games for Sydenham, while B. D. Barron, C. Preece and P. Terei made good runs In the threequarters. Referee: Mr P. Griffiths. Good Kicking

Kalapol 21: R. Lewis, J. Branch and B. McConnon tries; J. Bond three conversions, two penalty goals and a field goal.

Marist 11: C. Worters try; W. Berl three penalty goals and a conversion.

Kaiapoi scored three tries, but Marist crossed its opponent’s goal-line only once —and this was In the closing stages of the game when Kaiapoi’s win was hardly in doubt. Kaiapoi consistently thwarted the Marist attacking movements with bustling tactics. J. E. Bond, the Kalapol captain, revelled in the close exchanges. He scored 12 points with kicks. Including a neat field-goal kicked from amidst a group of Marist defenders. M. Pullin, Lewis and G. Topp were reliable in the rucks for Kaiapoi, and K. Pope and K. Sincock made useful runs in the open- . . B. McConnon and W. Berl had an intereeing duel In the stand-

off half position. Beri was more impressive with his elusive runs but McConnon scored his try after stepping inside Beri from orthodox play. Branch had the edge on R. Rochford (Marist) on the wing. B. Williams and T. Gage were deceptive three-quarters for Kaiapoi. M. Molloy played well at full-back for Marist, especially in his handling under pressure. Worters often failed quite inexplicably to pass the ball to the fast Marist wings, but nevertheless was a danger to Kaiapoi with his strong running. N. Diggs and W. Flavell were Marist’s best forwards. Referee: Mr T. Houston. Senior Draw The senior draw for next Saturday is:—Hornby v. Marist, Linwood v. Christchurch, Addington v. Sydenham, Kaiapoi v. Papanui.

W D L F A Points Add. 8 240 87 16 (2) Pap. 5 —— 3 156 98 10 (0) Horn. 5 3 107 89 10 (0) Chch. 5 3 124 122 10 (2) Mar. 4 —— 4 141 114 8 (0) Lin. 3 —— 5 155 138 6 (2) Kara.1 1 6 97 229 3 (2) Syd. — 1 7 58 159 1 (0)