Papanui has handy lead in league

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33580, 8 July 1974, Page 18

Papanui has handy lead in league

Hornby and University-United will be relegated to the first division, and Papanui has marched into a handy three-point lead in the premier Rugby league competition, after the first full round of matches concluded yesterday.

Papanui, always superior against its old and bitter • rival, Marist-Westem Suburbs, could manage only a 74 victory. The real surprise of the day was on the No. 2 field at the Show Grounds, where Linwood succumbed for the second successive week. A lively and entertaining Sydenham XIII was a comfortable winner, 17-5, and moved into third place in the competition.

Eastern Suburbs took over fourth place, but only became assured of victory against Woolston in the dying stages; Addingi ton had a hard battle to beat : Hornby; and Kaiapoi needed all I the kicking prowess of F. A. jLawrence to stave off Unij versity's challenge. i Hornby, although it has a i defensive record bettered by | only three teams, was last in I what amounted to a grading ! round for the lower-placed • teams Woolston and University i each bad three points, one more : than Hornby, but University’s inferior points average—.s36 to I the .598 of Woolston—will return to the first division. The Sydenham full-back, S. J. I Holden, maintained his position I as the leading points scorer. He now has 71, nine clear of M. W. JJ. O’Donnell (Marist-Westem),

but not much separates the rest: B. J. Turner (Woolston) 59, Lawrence 58, G. J. Rosanowski (University), 56, L. Hudson (Linwood) 55, and R. S. Waiker (Papanui) 50.

From the opening minutes, when the Papanui wing, L. D. Black, made a dynamic, surging run down the left, until E. S. Kerrigan finally scored the game’s only try, halfway through the ‘second half, Papanui looked certain to win. But it became a close match—oddly, because Papanui was so clearly the superior team—and it did seem in the final four minutes that Marist-Western was going to snatch the game away from the Tigers. From its shaky 5-4 grip of the game, Papanui moved into the doubtful security of 7-4 when its captain, Walker, kicked his second z gcal. But Marist-Western was not finished anri w-’-x-s attacks battered at the Papanui line in the riving > pass was spilled, however, and

, Papanui was back on attack at I the final whistle. ( Papanui had a major setback I in the first half, when its stand- : off half, D. D. Martin, was car- : ried off) with a broken leg. The ' baek-line did not flow with the same urgency that characterised the hectic opening minutes, although E. S. Kerrigan was always 4» powerful force at centre. His firm fend, strength on the run, and composure under pressure should have earned Kerrigan the McWilliams “player of the day” award: instead it went to the Marist-Western loose forward, S. N. Hatipov, whose typically whole-hearted approach which made him easily his team’s best player, was marred onlj- by some over-robust sideeffects from his tackling. The tacky surface detracted from the spectacle —: which attracted a crowd of only about 400—but a feature of the game was some often excellent handling of the muddy ball. However, too many of Papanui’s movements were spoiled by crowding the cutsides. SYDENHAM SUPERB Displaying much more purpose and penetration than it did when narrowly beating Kaiapoi last Sunday, Sydenham was a convincing force against Linwood. The accuracy of Holden's boot I enabled Sydenham to lead 6-2 at I half-time, and the team scored i three tries — all of them fine

efforts — in the second spell. R. Auimatagi, omitted from the Canterbury team for the West Coast match on Saturday, was at his ebullient best. His try came after a typically determined run and another" such burst gave R. E. Andrews his chance to score his fourth tryin two matches.

Linwood tackled tenaciously, but its movements lacked lie originality and initiative shown by the enterprising Sydenham backs. Until he retired injured in the second half, W. K. Wilson, the scrum-half, hid been a central figure in initiating Sydenham attacks. He formed an excellent liaison with his nuggety scrumhalf. R. .1. Raistrick. M. Biddle provided more than a handful for the Linwood defence with his vigorous charges — his try resulted from quick thinking after he had been tackled just short of Linwood’s line. S. J. Hogg seemed to have suffered no ill effects from his exertions for Canterbury on Saturday; ,he and D. N. Schultz tackled with fervour. Linwood was unlucky to be robbed of one try in the first half when its captain, P. D. Jones, slipped over after avoiding the last line of Sydenham’s defence. I. J. Dalzell made some probing runs, and C. R Leney had two explosive dabs, one of them bringing him a deserved trv. But generally Linwood found it difficult to make much impression against a well-knit and disciplined defence. NO KICKER The hunt must be on in the eastern suburbs for a goalkicker. Christchurch-Eastern scored six tries to one but the

various kickers could not convert any of them, and this failing almost cost the game. With 10 minutes to play, S. Faimalo scored Woolston’s try, and had that generally excellent kicker, B. J. Turner, been successful, Woolston would have trailed by only a point. But he missed, and Eastern hammered home its superiority with a further two tries. Although Turner, who also performed yeoman service ip the loose, kept Woolston In the hunt with his accurate boot. Eastern would not have deserved to lose. It hat) a more inventive backline, and its forwards shaded the Woolston pack. TENSE ENCOUNTER Before its home crowd at ; L Murphy’ Park — the match was transferred from the Show! Grounds — Kaiapoi met stub-J born resistance from University, which was desperate for a draw to avoid the danger of relegation. Kaiapoi was ahead by five points at half-time, and although the students tried hard to erase the deficit, the difference remained the same at the finish. P. Mairu injected enthusiasm into the Kaiapoi pack, and T. Aubrey and Lawrence, 1 apart from his successful goalkicking, had satisfying games among the backs. I. J. Doonan, a sharp, penetrative runner, and Rosanowski, the captain, emerged with honours from the praiseworthy performance byf University. HORNBY GALLANT The knowledge that a loss would mean relegation to the first division for the rest of the season seemed to Inspire ■ the Hornby players against Addington. But although Hornby tried valiantly it was unable to breach the tight Addington defensive cordon. Addington scored the only try of the match when the industrious prop, J. L. Forster, received an inward pass that caught the Hornby defence unawares.

Considering the churned state of the ground, and greasy ball, the handling and passing was surprisingly good, but hard tackling by both teams restricted most movements. G. J. McLeish, the Hornby fullback, made one great run of 70m, but w.as caught just short of the line. However, Addington did most of the pressing and the team deserved its win G. Te Aho and F. P. Williams did little wrong in the Addington backs, and Forster, assisted by R. M. Kirk, tackled effectively. McLeish and M. Manson, in the backs, and P. J. Caldwell acquitted themselves creditably for the losers.

The points W table’ is:— D L For Agst Pts Papanui 8 1 0 197 76 17 Linwood 7 0 2 173 H3 14 Sydenham 6 0 3 176 121 12 Eastern 5 1 3 137 109 11 Addington .5 0 4 116 126 10 Marist 5 0 4 147 155 10 Kaiapoi 4 0 5 126 124 8 Woolston 1 1 7 115 192 3 University 1 1 7 119 222 3 Hornby 0 2 7 56 119 2 FINISHING LACKING