Kaiapoi Scores Its First League Win Over Papanui

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32323, 15 June 1970, Page 6

Kaiapoi Scores Its First League Win Over Papanui

Kaiapoi responded magnificently to the encouragement of its veteran captain* coach, R. H. Turton, and the almost unanimous support of an enthusiastic crowd at the Show Grounds on Saturday to become only the second team to beat the minor [Rugby league championship leader, Papanui, this season.

The final score was only 4-3 but the result gave tremendous satisfaction to the country players and their supporters. Papanui had included many large winning margins in its 16 successive wins over Kaiapoi since that club returned to senior football in 1964. Papanui’s triumphant passage towards the semi-finals was halted largely by the outstanding defence of its opponent. Only a very doubtful try by P. McCormick en-

abled Papanui to score, and it was the first time this season the team failed to reach double figures. There were two other reversals of first-round results on Saturday. Linwood moved, into second place behind Papanui with a 22-13 victory over Addington and Hornby gained revenge for its earner loss to Sydenham with a comfortable 31-16 result. In the other game Christ-church-Eastern Suburbs led Marist-Western Suburbs by three points at half-time but it failed to press home its advantage and quickly fell behind after the interval. Addington and MaristWestern Suburbs now share third position, two points ahead of Hornby, with Katapoi pressing for a place in the top four only another point in arrears. Christ-church-Eastern Suburbs and Sydenham have dropped away from'the rest of the field. The “player of the week” award, one of the most popular given, was won by Turton while G. J, Rosanowski (Linwood) was the recipient | of the “Corban’s Award” in the early fixture. Linwood leads the Vivian Cup competition by one point from Kaiapoi and Papanui and the holder, Marist-West-ern Suburbs, third equal. . Results.— Kaiapoi 4, Papanui 3. Linwood 22, Addington [ 13 - Marist - Western Suburbs : 34, Christchurch ■ Eastern Suburbs 19. Hornby 31, Sydenham 16. Championships points (with Vivian Cup points in

Cup Leader LINWOOD 22: M. E. Morgan, N. McGinty. W. H. Taylor. M Barker tries; G. J. Rosanowski three goals and two field goals. ADDINGTON 13: G Tunui. A. F McNaughtan, J. H.. Fisher i tries: G. H. Teaho two

goals. L Linwood took control of the match when N McGinty and W. !H. Taylor scored tries within seven minutes of the resumpition of play. It had held the upper hand for the first quarter , but Addington appeared to be regaining the combined team' play expected of it when it crept up to 5-7 at the interval. Throughout the season Linwood has proved a most difficult team to wrest the initiative from once it has obtained an early lead and Addington discovered this when its most promising attacking movements came to nothing as Linwood's fine covering took effect. ! There was a temporary [recovery by Addington mid-way Through the second half when iit eame within five points of wiping out Linwood’s lead but | a penalty and then a field goal by Rosanowski sealed the result, retained for Linwood the Desmond-Rogers Memorial Challenge Trophy and took it into second place in the minor championship. Rosanowski had a fine all'round game for the winner, on the wing in the first half and later at stahd-off half. the centres, McGinty and the promising M. Barker. proved elusive in possession and M. E. Morgan scored: a line try early in the game when he deceived the defence and crossed from a scrum close to Addington's line.

In the forwards the leadership of J. A. Flanagan was a fine example to his team-mates as he continually' moved up on defence to smother ’Addingtop's attacking flare B. V, Williams was another to chase posses-

sion and J. G. Greengrass strengthened Linwood’s responsibilities in the tight pluy when he again- came on as a half-time replacement. The Addington full-back, G. H. Teaho, confidently handled Linwood's line-kicks in the first half and J. A. Rothwell played well at times in the centres. The scrum-half, G. Tunui, ducked under a number of high tackles and forced the Linwood defence to keep concentrating on Its dutJes. A. Ratu Durst past a number of his rivals whenever he received possession and R. M. Cotter attempted . to infuse a pattern into the pack's play. But there was too much individualism and quite a lot of sluggish running evident. Referee: Mr T. C. Houston. Recovery HARIST-WESTERH SUBURBS ]4: P. R. Brown (two), B. F. Dobbs (two), M. M. Dyhrberg, G. M Teen, D. Mathews, M. O’Donnell tries; O'Donnell four goals; M. H. Mohi field goal. CHRISTCHURCH - EASTERN SUBURBS 19: R. Dudley. P. T. Tainui. A. C Rushton tries; J. C. Hawthorne five goals. For 20 minutes of the opening half Christchurch - Eastern Suburbs had almost complete command of the match. In that period it scored all of its 19 points as the Marist-Western Suburbs defence showed a marked reluctance to stop the Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs forwards from moving up the centre of the field. Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs gained a similar percentage of possession from set scrums after half-time and the MaristWestern Suburbs forwards and backs displayed a greater Understanding and ability to work together in attempting to breach their opponent’s line. Marist-Western Suburbs was at its best when it sought to out-flank Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs with qtiick passing and eager supporting play. In the earlier stages of the game its only means of eluding the defence was by means of individual breaks, particuarly by the stand off half, P. R H. Brown. The young Marist-Western Suburbs full-back, M. O'Donnell, had a most successful match. He handled very well when Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs kicked ahead, joined his three-

quarters at the right times and showed potential as a goalkicker. M. M. Dyhrberg had a satisfactory debut in the centres, B. F. Dobbs and D. Mathews handled an-d ran strongly on the wings and P. V. B. Smith kept his team defending stoutly whenever Christchurch-Eatitern Suburbs attempted to regain its free running of the first half. In the Marist-Western Suburbs pack M. H. Mohi generally drew two or three defenders to him before releasing the ball to his supports and held air advantage in the set scrums in his unaccustomed role as hooker. The other members of the pack responded to Mohi's forwardmoving example on attack in the second half after a most unimpressive first 40 minutes. The Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs forwards laid the foundation of their team’s excellent first half performance, with K. Winika. A. C. Rushton and P. T. TaJnui taking the ball on the move ttrid accelerating into, and through, a very tentative defonee. Only occasionally in the second half did they appear likely to revert to this style of play and there were a number of instances when- attacking moves were aborted because players elected to run alone. The backs had fewer chances because of Mohi’s scrum superiority. Referee: Mr N. E. Taylor. Exciting Game KAIAPOI 4: I. Reuben, field goal; I, Stark, penalty goal. PAPANUI 3: P. McCormick, try. Kaiapoi realised a cherished ambition when it highlighted its recent resurgence by winning its first feature match for a number of seasons. In doing so, it demonstrated that H is not always necessary to score tries to win. Throughout this season, Kaiapoi’s defence bean its great 'Cst strength and this was certainly the case when it confidently repulsed all the attacks that Papanui could muster Nevertheless, Papanui was awarded the only try—a very controversial one—of the match. After 37 minutes of the first half, P. McCormick, the Papa nui left-wing, was ruled to have grounded the ball as he was propelled over the corner flag by three enthusiastic Kaiapoi defenders. Thus, Papanui led by three points at the interval. However, only two minutes had elapsed in the second spell when 1. Reuben kicked an excellent field goal, and 12 minutes later, a 33-yard penalty goal by I. Stark completed the scoring. For the remainder of this •pen, plgy followed a similar gattern. to that of the first half, oth team® strove mightily to register more points, but close marking and excellent defence •prohibited further tries. R. H. Turton-, the Kaiapoi captain, had an outstanding game. His authoritative leadership, intelligent ball distribution- and sure tackling served as a fine example for a team which responded with vigour and resolution. M. Fuller exhibited powerful running and, together with I. Stark, W. Morrison, J. Pounsford, and J. Fonotea, defended with determination. W, Chaney an-d I. Reuben, the halves, combined , exteremely well but the Kaiapoi back-line generally lacked penetration and pace- L, Rolleslon, at Xentre, was most reliable, and effectively neutralised the potentially dangerous Papanui centres, N. Geddes and B. Bigwood, R- Howard, the wing, and W. McLean, at full-back, also made significant contributions.

Papanui was handicapped considerably by the absence of its five representative players and at no time functioned with its customary precision. K. R, Blackler again proved his value to the side with an enterprisin-g disptayZ but he, together with the watchful and consistent J. B. Craig, at stand-off half, sadly lacked consistent support.

P. Baillie, K. G. Walker and the promising M. Godinet ail gave effective support at various stages but the wellorganised Kaiapoi defence proved too difficult to overcome. Papanui, however, also defended with considerable resourcefulness but most would agree that it was Kaiapoi’s day. Few would begrudge it a victory that was earned by sheer application and courageous endeavour. Referee: Mr J. Hillsdon. Easy Win HORNBY 31: Tries by P. Caldwell (2), E. Lewis (2), R. E. Pomare, M. Vaughan, and G. Woodgate; T. Williams five goals. SYDBNHAM Ift: Tries by M. August, R. Auimatagi, R. E. Andrews, and ,1. Beryman; R. G. Scorihge one goal; T. O’Loughlin a field goal. Although neither team had players absent with the Canterbury team there were some gaps in the ranks of both sides and this was quite apparent at times from the lack of purpose in the play. Hornby's better appreciation of the principles of the game enabled it to establish a superiority early in the match and the side never looked in danger of defeat. At times Sydenham showed signs of being a dangerous cohesive unit but unfortunately

these efforts were never sustained and the players drifted back to making individual dashes. Hornby scored seven tries and all bdt one Were the efforts of the forwards, an indication of how much this section of the team dominated play. The second-row forward, R. Caldwell, and look, E. Lewis, had a most successful day in scoring two tries each. These were the result of excellent backing up, an asset which was lacking in the Sydenham combination. Once again the Hornby halves, R. A. Neiman and B. Houston, gave tneir outside men plenty of opportunities, but with a rearrangement of positions there was not the same pace on the wings to exploit these chances. G. Woodgate directed the pack with intelligence and he received plenty of support from K. M. Neiman. R. E. Pomare, Lewis, and Caldwell.

Several of the Sydenham backs produced individual efforts which taxed Hornby's defensive ability at times. On the wing, R. Auimatagi, as usual showed his elusiveness to advantage with several penetrating runs. The centres, R. E. Andrews and R. G. Scoringe, ran strongly, but Sydenham’s handling lapsed at critical moments and moves often tailed off because of dropped passes. The forwards tried hard without any player showing out as being superior. Referee: Mr M. Towart.

parenthesis) are:— A Pts W L D F Pap 8 2 0 248 112 16 <4) Lin 7 3 0 178 134 14 (6) Add 6 4 0 253 174 12 (2) Mar-W 6 4 0 158 192 12 <4) Horn 5 5 Q 193 142 10 Kaia 4 5 1 126 127 9 East 2 7 1 142 280 5 (1) Syd 1 9 0 U3 250 2 (Q)