Dull Game At Kaiapoi

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31737, 22 July 1968, Page 14

Dull Game At Kaiapoi

SYDEHHAM 12: G. Hay, M. Pepper, W. Cuff tries; A. Dunlop, a penalty. MERIVALE-PAPANUI 6: P. Wallace a try; M. Culhane a penalty. On a dry ground at Kaiapoi, Sydenham defeated MerivalePapanui by 12 points to six in a match which rarely lifted itself above a mediocre standard. Sydenham made the most of its opportunities from broken play and scored two of their three tries from them. The Sydenham forwards were very fast to the loose ball and on numerous occasions drove the opposition back from attacking positons. R. Doell, D. McKenzie and S. Greenman proved to be a very fast trio, while R. Higgs and K. Tucker played very we>ll in the tight. The Sydenham back-line never really functioned as a unit because of the poor kicking of the five-eighths, A. Dunlop, and T. Bradbury. W. Cuff and G. Hay, two speedy three-quarters, made the most of their chances and were rewarded with a try each. D. Gallop was safe and sure at full-back. Merivale-Papanui squandered a lot of good ball from lineout play, won very cleanly by D. Wynne and R. Eddy, when the back-line failed to draw its opposition. This allowed the cover defence plenty of time to force the three-quarters over the side-line. R. Griffiths was the best of the Merivale-Papanui backs. Referee: Mr J. D. McKeown.