Linwood beats Papanui

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32994, 14 August 1972, Page 19

Linwood beats Papanui

Marist-Western Suburbs assumed favouritism to win the Canterbury Rugby League minor championship yesterday— even though it was not required to take the field.

Marist had drawn the bye in the fifteenth round and, while it rested, Linwood beat the competition leader, Papanui, in a thrilling match at the Show Grounds.

Although Papanui still .remains one point ahead of Marist, it has yet to have its second bye. If Marist can overcome Addington, Kaiapoi, and Sydenham in the new few weeks, it will take the Massetti Cup for the first time since 1969.

The exceptional team-work that J. A. Flanagan’s coaching has instilled in. Linwood was mainly responsible for its 10-9 win over Papanui. in a match that had the atmosphere more readily associated with a grand final.

In shaking Papanui’s prospects of a second consecutive cleansweep of the premier trophies, Linwood refused to be perturbed by a 16-21 scrummaging deficit, ah injury to its test forward, J. Greengrass, and the recalling of three players by the referee (Mr T. C. Houston) when tries appeared likely. Meanwhile, on the subsidiary ground, University grasped some of the limelight when it recorded its first win of the season, 27-24, over Sydenham. University*s captain, G. M. Teen, scored

four tries, three within six minutes in the last quarter, to clinch the result.

Sydenham had been in front, 12-5, at the interval and quickly added another 10 points. But University, with Teen at the head, stormed back to 22-22 until a penalty by the Sydenham forward, F. Jackson, restored his side to the lead.

Undaunted, University surged to Sydenham’s territory and Teen found, and capitalised upon, an opening in the Sydenham line-up to complete his remarkable try-scoring achievement.

In the other fixtures, Hornby and Addington drew. 18-18 —as they had done in the Tavendale Cup series earlier Ulis season—

and Kaiapoi made sure of its semi-final place by disposing of Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs, 30-17. Results were: Linwood 10, Papanui 9.

University 27, Sydenham 24. Addington 18, Hornby 18. Kaiapoi 30, Christchurch. East Suburbs 17.

Marist-Western Suburbs, a bye.

THRILLING ENCOUNTER It would have bene a travesty had J. C. Hawthorne managed to convert Papanui’s lone try, or received another simple penalty attempt in the final 11 minutes of play, for the great spirit that was obvious in Linwood’s make-up demanded that victory be its just reward. Two excellent tries in the first quarter gave Linwood an eightpoint advantage, but Hawthorne reduced this margin to 8-6 before the interval with penalties from 20, 25, and 15 yards. A goal for Linwood by J. R. Watts was its only return from 20 minutes of sustained attack after the resumption, and it seemed that all this fine work would be wasted when P. R. Blackler dived across for Papanui’s try. Papanui played a little disappointingly and obviously missed the services of its four provincial 19-year representatives. The entry of R. S. Walker into the match as a half-time replacement served to lessen the frequency of Papanui’s errors, but the swiftness of A. F. Clarke’s hooking was still largely wasted. The Linwood players, particularly P. D. Jones and R. K. Haffenden, forced Papanui back into its own half with long kicks, and their team-mates followed

through at speed to bustle Papanui’s attempts to regain the lost ground. Whenever Papanui held possession, J. A. Flanagan was prominent in urging the Linwood forwards to tackle relentlessly, and they responded to Ms call. Jones was outstanding at scrum half, whether seeking to penetrate, line-kicking, or covering, and clearly deserved the McWilliams’ Wines “player of the week” award.

Jones’s natural talent provided Watts with Linwood’s second try. W. Wilson made the initial break from stand-off half and linked with Jones, who immediately “read” the situation and placed a perfect kick for Ms wing. Just before, Wilson had swooped on a loose ball, kicked ahead, and won the sprint for the line. Three other times Linwood completely breached Papanui’s defence, but each time the referee (Mr T. C. Houston) awarded a penalty kick to Papanui for alleged off-side infringements. Fortunately, these decisions were of no matter in the end. Jones, Wilson and G. Morrell, among the backs, and Flanagan, J. K. Broughton and P. D. Hall, in the pack, carried out a tremendous amount of work for Linwood. Haffenden coolly handled Papanui’s punts, and regularly moved up from fullback to assist his team’s efforts. The most prominent of the Papanui players were Blackler, Hawthorne, K. G. Wakelin, Walker, and M. H. F. Godinet but Godinet entered this category because his unnecessary vigour earned him two cautions from Mr Houston.

Championship points P W D L F A Pts Papanui 14 10 0 4 282 127 20 Marist 13 9 1 3 289 193 19 Kaiapoi 13 9 0 4 252 178 18 Linwood 13 9 0 4 167 178 18 Hornby 14 6 1 7 212 217 13 Eastern 13 6 0 7 238 223 12 Sydenham 13 5 0 8 180 224 10 Addington 13 3 2 8 191 239 8 University 14 1 0 13 160 392 2