Game Ends In Brawl
(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND. A second grade Rugby match between Ponsonby and East Coast Bays was abandoned at Freyberg Park, Brown’s Bay, on Saturday after a free-for-all developed among players and spectators. Several of those involved had to receive first-aid treatment and three spectators required stitches for scalp wounds.
The fight developed after a second Ponsonby player had been ordered off by the referee. The referee immediately called the game off. The East Coast Bays players left the field, but about eight or nine Ponsonby
players and four or five spectators started fighting. The secretary of the East Coast Bays (Mr F. J. Prior) said today: “It was an ugly scene. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it had just been fist fighting, but unfortunately the boot was going in as well.
“You should see my ear. I was one on the receiving end.
“The whole thing was like a battlefield. Three of those involved were treated by a doctor. They required stitches in the head.”
The incident will be considered by the management committee of the Auckland Rugby Union tomorrow.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31986, 13 May 1969, Page 19
Word Count
186Game Ends In Brawl Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31986, 13 May 1969, Page 19
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