Exciting final assured

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33775, 22 February 1975, Page 4

Exciting final assured

(By

R. M. CAIRNS)

The most sternly contested premier water polo competition in years will come to a conclusion at Queen Elizabeth II Park on Monday evening: Beckenham - Sockburn is aiming for its fifth successive title, Wharenui for its first victory over the combined club.

It will not be resolved uhtil today, at noon, which Wharenui team will be in the grand final: A plays B in the minor final after the B team’s upset victory against University. However. it is the A team which is expected to win, and to make its final effort for an elusive title. So far this season, Wharenui and Beckenham - Sockburn have met four times and the latter has won three times, with the first meeting a 4-all draw. But the subsequent results have indicated just how little there is between the two teams.

In the Trans Tours national club championship, the score was 11-10, a magnificent game; the second match in round-robin play was a 5-3 win to Beckenham - Sockburn; and last week it was 9-8. There is no indication that there will be any more than a goal in it again on Monday evening, and extra time must be a distinct possibility.

Another Wharenui team features in the evening’s other grand final, in the youth grade. Although only second in the minor championship, three points behind New Brighton, Wharenui's very accomplished young squad had a crushing, 10-2 win against that, team in the major semi-final.

In the first game of the finals evening, New Brighton will play North Beach, the only other team to beat it this season, to find the other finalist. There will also be a match involving members of the Canterbury secondary schoolboys’ squad — or at least those not involved with finals during the evening.