Country Lower Grades Give Orderly Display

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31762, 20 August 1968, Page 7

Country Lower Grades Give Orderly Display

Lower grade country football is on a sure footing if the performance of the North Canterbury and Ellesmere teams which played at the Rangiora showgrounds and the conduct of the spectators is an indication.

In four underweight games, players threw the ball around in a lively fashion and the spectators, held back from the sideline by fences, provided no more than healthy shouts of encouragement and generously applauded good play. The referees held a firm control of the games and anything that smacked of unfair tactics was penalised without hesitation.

There were plenty of spectators for each of the games, but there was no cheering that could compare with the ferocity of small groups in Hagley Park. Appreciation of points •cored was usually shown by the blast of car-horns parked around the grounds. Perhaps the partisan club cheering was missing because these were sub-union representative matches.

The players received their oranges at half-time but the approach was a little different from the mad scramble from the fields in Hagley Park. The managers of the teams walked on to the field with the oranges arranged neatly on a plate. The only questionable aspect of the games was the head-high tackling used by many players in the different teams. The player with the ball was grabbed around the neck or head and with a swift turn of the hip the tackler threw him three or four feet and the ball popped out No Penetration The Ellesmere under sst 101 b team held off a determin-

ed challenge by the lighter North Canterbury under sst 71b team and the match was drawn 0-0.

North Canterbury had a territorial advantage and William Dickson was always in the vanguard of concerted forward rushes. However the backs could not penetrate past the stoic defence of John Shaw and Hugh Waghorn, the five-eighths for Ellesmere, and it was left to lan Eder at halfback to try to direct the attack for North Canterbury. Michael Maw, the hooker for Ellesmere, raced from scrum to ruck determined never to be far from the ball. The Ellesmere under 6st 71b team appeared in danger of being swamped by North Canterbury in the second game. Denis and Neville Carter, brothers playing for Ellesmere in the backs, saved perilous moments for the side time and again and figured in the fine second-half recovery.

Mark Percasky, a calm, capable fullback in the North Canterbury team, was the best player on the field. Ji n and Robert McLean were a hardworking pair who led typical North Canterbury forward rushes which Ellesmere found hard to counter.

The North Canterbury Bst 71b team showed rema:rfcable passing ability. All the backs handled well in set play but each player backed up and passes thrown anywhere were plucked from difficult situations as North Canterbury tried scissors movements, one

hand passes, forward drives and swift chain passing. It was little wonder they won 17-6. The fullback, Michael Huria, who is usually a halfback, gave his team confidence with his steady defence and was partly responsible for the gay manner in which the team played. Brent Richards at first five-eighths scarcely dropped a pass and shot the ball on speedily. If it had not been for the defence and counter-attack by CoUn De Fillipi and Gordon Reardon, Ellesmere would lost by far more. The under-18 game was fast and exciting. Ellesmere spent most of the first half on attack and only splendid catching and positional play by the fullback, D. Sheehan, gave North Canterbury some relief. Ellesmere had a huge wing, Donald West who showed speed and swerve, but he received the ball near the sideline most times and was never given a free run. However, he was still able to burst through the defence. Michael De Fillipi at first five-eighths was the driving force of Ellesmere attacks but their points did not come from tries but from penalties kicked when North Canterbury forwards were offside round the side of a ruck. Town Games The club competition finished in the lower grades on Saturday and the referees association are now collating the points for the Jubilee Cup. The results for individual grades will be announced later this week. St Bede's College first fifteen has won the cup for the last two years. Cliff Leney, of the Linwood under 7st team, who had scored 180 points until last Saturday in 13 games, scored five tries, and kicked three conversions to bring his total to 201 points for the season. The team had 14 wins and no losses, scored 430 points and conceded 20. Cliff scored 53 tries during the season. A player in the Sydenham sst B team has just had 100 points in tries evade him this season. Andrew Coombs scored 29 tries during the season—a remarkable effort in that grade where the younger players spend most of their time learning to catch the ball. Disappointed The Lyttelton club are proud of their five members in the Canterbury underweight representative teams. But they are disappointed that they did not have more selected. But their disappointment must be shared by many other teams because there are just not enough representative teams to satisfy everyone. There are 169 teams in the underweight grades—ss in the under sst section and 45 teams in the under-age grades. Bumside C in the under sst D section have won every game this season and have achieved what must have been thought impossible in this grade earlier this season. They have scored 268 points and have conceded only 3. The half-back, lan McKerrow, has scored 107 points from 29 tries and 10 conversions. Many of the team had not played football before this season but they have learnt in one season how to throw the ball around, and one of the wings has scored nine tries. 'Hie most outstanding feature has been their success in scrums. They have lost only seven scrums during the season, which perhaps indicates that there have been few infringements or shows the ability of the hooker, Kevin Barry.