Top Three League Sides Have Comfortable Wins

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32359, 27 July 1970, Page 17

Top Three League Sides Have Comfortable Wins

The positions of the leading teams in the Canterbury Rugby league minor premiership remained static during the sixteenth round on Saturday. Papariui, Linwood and Addington are certain of reaching the championship semi-finals with Hornby still a strong favourite to become the fourth qualifier.

The three games at I the Show Grounds produc e d disappointing football and it was unfortunate that the most attractive match, between Addington and Hornby, was banished to Leslie Park.

Addington resisted Hornby’s challenge to win by nine points, but Hornby remains two points clear of Marist-Western Suburbs, the only other club with serious semi-final aspirations. Papanui retained its fourpoint competition lead although it was guilty of many mistakes against a spirited Christchurch - Eastern Suburbs, errors that might have proved very costly against a more highly-rated opponent. Linwood held second place and continued to share the lead in the subsidiary Vivian Cup contest with Papanui, when it extended a 9-7 halftime lead to a 16-7 victory over Marist-Western Suburbs. After trailing twice in the game, Sydenham moved away from Kaiapoi to win 20-14.

Results:— Linwood 16, Marist-Western Suburbs 7. Addington 22, Hornby 13 Sydenham 20, Kaiapoi 14. Papanui 26, ChristchurchEastern Suburbs 14.

Scrappy

LINWOOD 16: E. Williams. J. K. Broughton tries; G. J. Rosanowski four goals, field goal. MARIST-WESTERN SUBURBS 7: P. V. Costigan try: M. W. J. O Donnell two goals.

Linwood displayed more initiative than Marist-Western Suburbs, its players having a better appreciation of the importance of gaining possession from loose play and observing the fundamentals of backing up. passing, handling, and tackling with reasonable consistency.

There were many interruptions in the game as attempts by Marist-Western Suburbs to, keep the ball moving were countered by Linwood’s spoil-' Ing type of football. This! tended to confine the game to within a relatively small radiusj of the rucks.

The referee (Mr T. C. W.j Houston) had a most active 80 minutes. He found fault with much of the scrummaging, cautioned the rival forwards, B. -V. Williams (Linwood) and R. J. A. MacKenzie, after a flare-up near the end and provided one of the few notable features of the game by awarding a “triple penalty’’ against Marist-Western Suburbs. Following the example! o fthe test referee, Mr J. Perci-1 val. of Auckland, Mr Houston! twice took Linwood 10 yards; further up-field when MaristWestern Suburbs players dis-( puted his decision with G. J. Rosanowski finally missing thei kick from 20 yards. Linwood’s first try, scored by E. Williams after only five! minutes, was a most unusual! one but a reward for quick! thiking. W. D. Beri, the Marist-j Western Suburbs stand-off half.: was caught behind his own try- 1 line and Williams placed hisl hand on the ball simultaneously to be awarded the touch-down.

P. V. Costigan scored the most spectacular try of the match for Marist-Western Suburbs three minutes later when he positioned himself well to take a pass from his fellow centre, M. W. J. O’Donnell.

However, this early flourish of action quickly subsided and it was not until mid-way through the second half that either defence was again completely breached, J. K. Broughton finishing off a combined move by Linwood that was allowed to develop because of weak tackling by Marist-Western Suburbs. The deceptive Linwood centre, M. E. Morgan, won the “player of the week” award. Although he never completely avoided his opponents, his evasive running often carried him

past defenders to place his team in favourable positions. J. A. Flanagan, R. G. Thorpe and B. V. Williams had successful games in the Linwood pack but it was the young MaristWestern Suburbs second-row forward, A. P. Coll, who made the biggest impression with several long runs from the tight play that had no positive return because of a lack of support. The Marist-Western Suburbs captain, P. V. B. Smith, successfully reverted to the fullback position, preventing Linwood from increasing its winning margin with some fine tackling and being very sound when taking high punts. Referee: Mr T. C. W. Houston.

Decisive Win ADDINGTON 22: A. F. McNaughl’l ton (two), I. Mcßeath, M. j. Stone, S. J. Wilks, B. F. .GillI man tries; J. L. White two n goals. 5 HORNBY IS: T. Williams, P. a i Caldwell, W. Woodgate tries; Williams two goals. -i A strong, mature performance B by the confident Addington for--1 wards paved the way for a convincing win over Hornby, which ;* rarely threatened to gain the - ascendancy. From the outset, f the Addington forwards combined effectively. Intelligent ball * distribution supplemented by - strong running and continual j support for the ball carrier gave Addington an advantage 'that it never relinquished. In contrast, Hornby rarely • functioned as a potent force. • Its most penetrative runners, the wing, B. Jager, and the centre, B. Houston, were handicapped by slow service from ,their halves and the conscientious defence of the solid but ‘unspectacular Addington backline. In addition. Hornby showed a strange reluctance to tackle at crucial times. Lethargic defence 5; contributed in no small way to 3 several of Addington s six tries. 1 A further factor that hind2 ered Hornby was its lack of 5 appreciation of Addington’s efi fective use of the blind side. ) Frequently, from rucks and 5 scrums, the Addington scrum 1 half, G. Tunul and forwards, R.

» M. Cotter, White and J. H. Fisher, initiated probing blind- : side movements which disorgan- • ised the Hornby defence and led : to several tries. The early dominance of the Addington forwards was emphaijsised by the outstanding contributions of McNaughton. His pe- ; netratiye running has rarely been displayed to better purpose. His second try, the culmination of a deceptive 45 yard ; solo burst, was a highlight of the game. ' The Addington backline was rarely required to attack. Rather it served as a means to stifle Hornby movements and this it did most competently. Mcßeath, at centre, was particularly diligent while R. Stirling and Stone defended vigorously. Hornby was very well served by G. Woodgate and P. Caldwell, but the confidence and cohesion of recent performances was lacking. Insufficient reliance was placed on retaining possession or varying tactics. It was rare indeed to witness a Hornby side relying on the line-kicking ability of Williams as its main means of gaining ground. Referee: Mr G. Gibson. Reversed SYDENHAM 20: J. Bergman. N. Radcliffe, R. Andrews, R. Auimatagi, tries; F. Day, three, A. Tuuta, goals.

KAIAPOI 14: W. Morrison, N. Smith, I. Reuben. M. Fuller, tries; I. Stark goal.

The win by Sydenham, achieved after Kaiapoi had twice held the lead, was the only reversed result from the first two corresponding rounds. Kaiapoi was the more thrustful team in the first quarter but Sydenham conceded it only one try during this period. Fortunes fluctuated until Sydenham took the initiative with some fine team-work in the second half and deserved its victory although both teanjs scored four tries.

Most of the play was indecisive, a lack of understanding between the players resulting in injudicious ball distribution that led to poor handling and players receiving possession when standing flat-footed.

An exception, however, was the Sydenham centre, R. And-

rews, whose strong running and vital try in the second half earned him the award as the “player of the match.” The stand-off half. J. Bergman, made the occasional conclusive break while R. Auimatagi and F. Day also played quite well in the Sydenham back-line.

The most effective Kaiapoi back was L. Rolleston, who used a change of pace to beat tackles and ran strongly when relatively free of opponents. N Radcliffe and T. Kotara I were effective Sydenham forwards while R. H. Turton covered particularly well from the back .of the Kaiapoi scrum. Referee: Mr P Yaxley: Revival PAPANUI 26: D. D. Martin two, K. Wakelin, P. Baillie, K. R. Blackler, R. F. Schwass; H. K. Butler four goals. CHRISTCHURCH-EASTERN SUBURBS 14: D. J. Carroll, P. T. Tainui, D. Parker. M. Kennedy, tries; J. C. Hawthorne goal. Papanui put the result beyond doubt when it scored five of its six tries in the first half but Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs showed considerable improvement in its all-round play after the interval. From 3-21 at the break, it pulled up to 14-26. On attack, Christchurch-East-ern Suburbs showed renewed life after the resumption of play and D. Parker began the teams revival with a run-away try. P. T. Tainui scored not long afterwards, before K. Wakelin’s try kept Papanui at a safe distance. Mishandling cost Papanui several chances to increase its lead in this half. On a number of occasions Papanui’s attempts to throw the ball around brought it to within a few yards of Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs’s try-line only for a mis-directed j pass, or lax handling to put an end to its momentum.

If Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs can maintain the progress it made in the last 40 minutes then it should soon move off the bottom of the competition table. In contrast. Papanui will have to tighten its play to retain its hold on the minor championship during the next five rounds.

Referee: Mr T. Drake.

Championship points are: — W L D For Agst Pts Pap. 14 2 0 341 164 28 12 4 0 330 171 24 Add. 11 5 0 371 232 22 Horn. . 8 8 0 297 225 16 Mar - WS 7 9 0 241 289 14 Kaia. .. 4 11 1 178 248 9 Syd. 4 12 0 177 376 8 Easts .. 3 12 1 208 438 7