Hornby Favoured For Semi-Final Place

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32335, 29 June 1970, Page 7

Hornby Favoured For Semi-Final Place

Although Hornby also lost on Saturday, it appears certain to establish a points advantage over Marist - Western Suburbs before the completion of the second round. Hornby will meet Linwood and Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs, two teams that it beat in the first round, while Marist-Western Suburbs faces the difficult task of reversing the results of its previous matches with Kaiapoi and Papanui. The positions of the three leading teams remained stable. Papanui retained its four-point advantage when it came from behind to beat Hornby, 13-9, at Denton Oval. Addington beat Kaiapoi fairly comfortably, 19-12, and Linwood overwhelmed Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs, 48-5.

Sydenham displayed a spirit that has been lacking in its play for much of the season. It capitalised on the many errors made by Marist-Western Suburbs to take a handy lead, before being overtaken during the second half and fighting back to score the winning try two minutes from full-time. Papanui and Linwood continue to share the lead in the Vivian Cup competition, Addington replacing Kaiapoi in third position. The Desmond-Rogers Memorial Challenge Trophy remains in Papanui’s possession. G. Tunui, the Addington scrum-half, won the McWilliams “Player of the Week’’ prize. The Corban’s Award was bestowed on R. J. Raistrick. the Sydenham centre. Results.— Papanui 13. Hornby 9. Sydenham 20, Marist West Sub. 17. Addington 19, Kaiapoi 12. Linwood 48, Christchurch-East Sub. 5. Championship Points Championship points (with Vivian Cup points in parenthesis) are.—

Mediocre Match PAPANUI 13: J. B. Craig, P. Blackler. J. G. Clarke, tries; H. K. Butler, two goals; HORNBY 9: I. J. Dalzell, try; T. Williams, three goals. At the interval, Hornby led 7-2, iand, although gaining a minority of possession from set play, • appeared the more constructive team. In addition, its fine defensive formation easily stifled the ; listless Papanui attacks. Hornby I scored the only try of this spell —a combination, of W. R. Robertson’s outstanding ball control, strong running by I. J. i Dalzell, and inept tackling by |H. K. Butler. ■ However, the second half brought an entirely different ’perspective to the match. The

Hornby gained the inside running for the vital fourth i position in the Canterbury Rugby League major club champion- . ship semi-finals when its rival, Marist-Western Suburbs, was : beaten by Sydenham, 20-17, during the twelth round of the minor premiership on Saturday.

Hornby defence, previously confldent and strong, became lethargic and ill-disciplined, thus permitting Papanui to add three tries.

Papanui adopted a more positive approach in this spell, exhibiting greater precision and consistency in its teamwork. J. G Clarke, playing in the unfamiliar position of loose forward, abandoned his tactic of attempting to perform the duties of scrum-half besides those of pack leader, thereby giving a competent P. Blackler greater opportunity to feed his outsides more effectively. Even though the Papanui backline rarely penetrated, constant switches of play eventually opened significant gaps in the Hornby forward division. P. Baillie, K. R. Blackler, and Clarke were not slow to turn these to advantage. Nevertheless, they were helped considerably by a Hornby pack which failed to tackle with its customary vigour and tenacity. The respective back-lines were evenly matched, but neither impressed as a potent force. T. Williams, the Hornby centre, completed a very sound game.

His defence was faultless and his 57-yard penalty was a highlight. P. Caldwell, on the right wing, also acquitted himself with distinction. Butler, the Papanui full-back, handled expertly and ran strongly, but his defence remains suspect. J. B. Craig, at stand-off half, proved very adequate. Baillie and K. G. Walker again played diligent games in the Papanui forwards, while Clarke improved as the game progressed. Referee: Mr D. Smale. Many Mistakes SYDENHAM 20: R. J. Raistrick , two, L. Giddens, M. August, tries; R. G. Scoringe, three, Raistrick, goals. MARIST-WESTERN SUBURBS 17: P. R. Brown, G. M. Teen, B. F. Dobbs, tries; M. O’Donnell four goals. Although this was the most interesting and open of the three matches. played at the Show Grounds, there were many errors—the result of misdirected passing and indecisive handling, particularly by Marist-Western Suburbs. These disappointing features, however, were countered by many long, sweeping movements and the regular changes of temporary supremacy. Marist-Western Suburbs neglected’ several scoring chances by turning the ball back infield and failing to complete promising movements. In contrast, Sydenham made the best of its chances, culminating with a spectacular dive by the wing, M. August, to score the vital try only two minutes before the finish. Sydenham gained confidence after Marist-Western Suburbs had come close to opening the scoring and as its percentage of possession increased so did the effectiveness of its attacking movements. The centres, R. J. Raistrick and R. G. Scoringe, consistently evaded their rivals to take play into MaristWestern Suburbs territory. Raistrick also placed Sydenham in favourable positions with accurate line kicks during the first half. The wings, August and R. Auimatagi, were deceptive runners. W. Karina handled safely at full-back. The most impressive of the Sydenham forwards were A. Tuuta and N. Radcliffe. The loss of the captain, P. W. B. Smith was sorely felt by Marist-Western Suburbs. Many times the team appeared to be leaderless, with contradic-

tory instructions coming from several sources. Certainly, there were no long periods of combined play.

Two of the Marist-Western Suburbs tries were the result of fine backing-up, quick and well-timed passing and a concentration on handling—matters which escaped the team for most of the 80 minutes. None of the players could be exonerated from the general neglect of fundamentals but the losing margin would have been wider had the full-back, M. O'Donnell, not stopped two Sydenham players who had broken clear of the first line of defence.

The forward exchanges were often untidy. On few occasions was the ball hooked cleanly from the scrums, the referee (Mr J. Hillsdon) appearing to adopt the British interpretation of allowing play to continue regardless of how the ball emerges from the two packs. The tackling was largely head high, tempers becoming frayed as the heads of the forwards became more painful.

Late Rally ADDINGTON 19: S. J. Wilks, A. F. McNaughtan, E. Brown, A. Ratu, G. Tunui tries; J. L. White two goals. KAIAPOI 12: R. H. Turton, M. Brain tries; L. Rolleston two goals; J. Reuben field goal. A little life was added to a rather uninteresting match when Kaiapoi scored seven points in the last 10 minutes —although Addington kept sufficient hold to ensure a win. Kaiapoi held the initiative in the early stages when its captain-coach, R. H. Turton, scored the first of the match’s seven tries. However, the Addington forwards quickly wrested control, and three tries in 15 minutes mid-way through the half gave a winning break. There were several thrustful movements mounted by the Addington back-line, but most returned no positive result because of a lack of understanding at vital moments, or the appearance of the flustered Kaiapoi cover-defence.

However, Addington’s 13-5 half-time lead was extended to 19-5 when G. Tunui dived across to score at the end of a passing movement; and E. Brown showed determination to push off attempted tackles and touch down on the other side of the field.

Tunui won the “Player of the Week” award as a result of his penetrative running, quick dis tribution of the ball from the scrum-base, and keenness to support his fellow players on attack or when smothering the moderate Kaiapoi attack. Apart from a tendency to slip when attempting to swerve, and one or two wild kicks at loose balls, J. A. Rothwell impressed as a centre of considerable promise; while closer in. Ad dington profited from the powerful running of G. A. Cowan and A. Ratu. I, Mcßeath played most consistently at stand-off half. The Kaiapoi backs received possession far more slowly than' their counterparts, two or three of the forwards preventing quick distribution by joining in at the play-the-balls. Referee: Mr T. C. Houston. All One Way LINWOOD 58: N. McGinty four, M. E. Morgan two, J. A. Flanagan, R. V. Flanagan. R. A. Ward, M. Barker, R. G. Thorpe, W. H. Taylor tries; G. J. Rosanowski five goals; Barker field goal. CHRISTCHURCH - EASTERN SUBURBS 5: T. Williams try; J. C. Hawthorne goal.. The No. 2 ground at the Show Grounds had a marked likeness to Barbados Street in the field half and was quite similar to Madras Street after the interval—as Linwood did little more than run from south to north for seven tries in the first 40 minutes, and added another five when the teams changed ends. T. Williams was the only player to ignore the one-way system when he gave Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs a brief moment of joy with a try soon After half-time. Then the Linwood traffic resumed as its centre, N. McGinty, scored four of the 12 tries, and seven other players shared the rest. Few low tackles were made, or even attempted, by Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs, the Linwood backs having only to deviate a little from their course to run round opposing players. Linwood played quite solidly but the quality of its attacks were exaggerated by the laziness of the opposing defence. Referee: Mr N. E. Taylor.

Pap W 10 L 2 D 0 For Agst Pts • 270 125 20 (8) Add. 8 4 0 287 199 16 («) Lin 8 4 0 230 148 16 (8) Horn 6 6 0 224 160 12 <4) Mar-WS 6 6 0 188 227 12 (4) Kaia 4 7 1 143 168 9 <5> Syd 3 9 0 148 279 6 (4) Easts 2 9 1 159 343 5 (»