Five Teams Show Out In Rugby League

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31399, 19 June 1967, Page 8

Five Teams Show Out In Rugby League

There were no surprises in the eleventh series of senior Rugby League matches played at the Show Grounds on Saturday. With only three more matches to be played, the four places for the series of finals at present is being contested by five teams, Addington, Hornby, Papanui, Christchurch, and Marist, with the other three sides out of the reciconing at this stage.

Addington waited until the final stages of its match against Linwood to show some of its best form for some weeks, and this it did in spite of playing a man short after the full-baek, G. Teaho, had to retire.

In this match, and also the early game on the No. 1 ground, the scores were level at half-time.

Linwood appeared for a short period as though it could wrest the initiative from the championship leaders, but then Addington assumed control and never relinquished it Papanui and Christchurch had a very even match and finished on even terms after 80 minutes’ play. Both sides scored a try in each half, with Papanui coming back after being five points behind early in the second half. Hornby showed further signs of returning to its best form with a convincing win over Kaiapoi on the No. 2 ground. Hornby had matters much its own way in winning by 28-7. in the second match on the same ground Sydenham left its run a trifle late in coming from 18-7 with about five minutes to go to score two tries and finish five points behind Marist At the end Sydenham was attacking the Marist line again. Conditions were good for play with the ground only a little slippery. Matches played were:— Papanui 10, Christchurch 10. Hornby 28, Kaiapoi 7. Marist 18, Sydenham IX Addington 20, Linwood 10.

Next Saturday’s senior draw is;—Addington v. Hornby, Papanui v. Sydenham, Christchurch v. Kaiapoi, Marist v. Linwood.

Addington Win ADDINGTON 20: J. White (2). R. Cotter and E. Brown tries. P. M. V. White four goals. LINWOOD 10: R. Auld and J. Seales tries, J. Rossnowski two goals.

The biggest problem for both sides in the early stages was the inability of their kickers to find the target with penalties. In the first half P. M. V. White and J. Rosanowski both missed with many attempts, some of them from comparatively easy positions. White was more successful in the second -half but Rosanowski was still unable to find his usual touch. The first half was as even as the score of 7-7 at half-time suggests. With the score in Addington’s favour 12-7 mid-way through the second spell, Linwood appeared as though it could force the leaders to a close result but then Addington was able to assume control and came home to a comfortable win.

Linwood moved up more on its opponent in this match and did not give the players as much room in which to work as in their first match.

As a result, there were not so many long runs in Addington’s play. Addington also employed the line kick when the fourth tackle was coming up and with few exceptions these tactics enabled the side to gain big stretches of territory. The winner also received a

large share of the ball from scrums and this gave the Linwood defence plenty of chances to show its prowess. Again the same error was made as in the first game of not holding the ball carrier sufficiently and allowing him to move off before his progress was properly stopped. Addington had to rearrange its backline after half-time when there were two changes in the side but this did not impede the team’s general play. In fact, R. Cotter, proved the more efficient scrum half when he came out of the pack, when D. Hooper did not return after the spell. Linwood made a number of very good breaks during the game but lacked the finish to bring them to successful conclusions.

Such efforts were marred frequently by trivial errors that have no place in senior football. ' Referee: Mr P. Yaxley. Drawn Game PAPANUI 10: J. A. Bond and J. Toki tries. C. Schwass and P. Napier goals. CHRISTCHURCH 10: J. Smith and P. Tainui tries. Smith and L. Tehuia goals. Both sides were level at halftime and scored the same number of points in each half in a very even match. Papanui did well to fight back after being down by five points at one stage in the second half. Both teams employed the kick frequently but they also used the running game to advantage and on each side the defence was fairly sound. The meeting of last year’s ex-Kiwl, G. Clarke, and the promising Christchurch scrumhalf, G. Cooksley. did not resolve anything as both had superiority in particular departments. Clarke was much quicker to the loose ball but Cooksley’s speed from the scrum was very much in evidence.

For Papanui, J. A. Bond played one of his best games this season and his try was a classic example of being able to outwit the defence by holding the pass and moving in another direction.

At centre, J. Toki was responsible for soma powerful runs and his move from wing was a good decision by Papanui. It certainly gave the backline much more penetration.

One run by Toki breached a hole in the Christchurch defence and the move only just missed a try to N. Geddes. In the forwards C. Schwass was again a good leader by example and S. Dunn, moved from the backs, still had trouble with his handling. For Christchurch the fullback, D. Carroll, gave an immaculate display of handling and his strong running usually allowed him to move the ball back into the back line.

The side also experimented in putting P. Tainui on the wing but this did not prove an outstanding success as he was far more effective when he went back into the pack. L. Te Huie has played good football since he moved from the backs into the forwards and Saturday’s match could be classed as one of his best games of the season. He ran with far more effect than many of the backs. Referee: Mr J. Hillsdon. Outclassed HORNBY 28: B. W. Langton (2), H. Smith, W. Woodgate, T. Williams and O. Baillie tries; J. T. Drayton 3 conversions and a penalty, Williams a conversion.

KAIAPOI T: G. Alehin try, J. E. Bond a conversion and B. McConnon a field goal.

Kaiapoi’s glaring uncertainty on defence, particularly in the opening minutes of the first half, allowed Hornby abundant opportunities to show its superior speed and combination in the three-quarters. Almost immediately after play had commenced Langton pierced the defence with a delightful burst of speed to score the first of his two tries. Shortly kfter this T. Williams, the Hornby full-back, fielded a misjudged Kaiapoi kick, punted upfield and after following up fast took advantage of dreadfully uncertain

Kaiapoi handling to force down. The loser never overcame these early set-backs, apart from a minimum of solo efforts, one of which culminated in the centre-threequarters Alehin racing past defenders for his splendid try. Kaiapoi’s players were also much too slow in moving forward when Hornby was in possession. Langton missed two or three tackles but was always a source of danger to Kaiapoi. W. Woodgate and K. Woodham also had commendable three - quarter games for the winner. R. Neiman was closely marked by Kaiapoi’s inside backs but managed to open up play with sound tactics. In the winning pack, Drayton, N. McLean and Baillie worked hard throughout the match. For Kaiapoi, Bond, M. Pullin and E. Sincock were valiant in the forwards. Alehin, J. Nelson, McConnon and J. Branch had satisfactory back games. Referee: Mr D. Smale. Missed Goals MARIST IS: P. V. Smith (2), B. F. Dobbs and R. Johnson tries; J. Hawthorne (3) goals. SYDENHAM 13: W. E. Butterfield, A. Tauta and A. F. Tauta tries; A. Tauta two goals. Marist was able to stave off a strong challenge from Sydenham in the final minutes to win. But had Sydenham kicked half of the attempted penalties it would have won clearly. Although Marlsts backs looked superior to Sydenham’s, they could rarely penetrate a defence that rallied quickly.

Marlst’s best play came from the inside back combination of W. Berl, P. Smith and J. Hawthorne. Smith was always a source of danger to Sydenham as he ran with more determination than any of the other backs. B. F. Dobbs, playing on the wing, showed a fine turn of speed when he dashed away on a 45-yard run to score in the corner. In the forwards, M. Mohi seems to be returning to form and gave the pack added drive. In the second spell he made ground with barging runs. R. Johnson and D. R. Barton tackled well and were always on hand in loose play. The Sydenham backs did not settle down as a unit and most of the efforts were Individual. The wing three-quarters, A. F. Tauta, a recent arrival from the Chatham Islands, and playing in his first Rugby League game, scored a grand try after making a scintillating 40-yard run. He will be an asset to the Sydenham team. In the Sydenham pack, E. Butterfield had his best game of the season, making many fine runs up the centre. B. Barron and N. Huata were frequently prominent. Referee: Mr R. Pont.

Points table:— W D L F A Pts. Add 10 1 0 295 127 21 (7) Horn 8 0 3 173 118 16 (6) Chch 6 1 4 164 166 13 (5) Pap 6 1 4 199 139 13 (3) Mar 6 0 5 180 173 12 (4) Lin 4 0 7 208 187 8 (4) Kai 1 1 9 135 297 3 (2) Syd 0 2 9 92 213 2 (1)