PAPANUI STILL AHEAD IN LEAGUE PREMIERSHIP

Press, Issue 33846, 19 May 1975, Page 20

PAPANUI STILL AHEAD IN LEAGUE PREMIERSHIP

Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs, Marist-Western Suburbs, and Sydenham continue to head the chase after the competition leader, Papanui, after winning their matches in the fourth round of the Canterbury Rugby League premiership at the Addington Show Grounds on Saturday.

They achieved their wins with varying degrees of difficulty. Eastern romped away from University-United, but Marist and Sydenham had far sterner tasks against Hornby and Kaiapoi, respectively.

After a. slow start to the season, Linwood also made progress when it dominated the first half of its match against Addington, and Papanui, as expected, had no trouble in keeping its unbeaten record at the expense of Woolston.

Bruce Dickison, the Eastern centre, gained his second treble of tries to take his premiership total to nine; but otherwise the mixed fortunes of the goal-kickers had the greatest influence on results at the Show Grounds.

The Sydenham full-back, Steve Holden, was on target six times from seven attempts in the main match, more than off-setting Kaiapoi’s 2-1 try-scoring advantage. Michael O’Donnell (Marist) and Trevor Williams (Hornby) also had some spectacular success, but Eastern’s array of kickers. could add the conversion points to only three of their team’s 12 touch-downs. . TEMPORARY SUSPENSIONS The “chilly-bin" was well stocked throughout the afternoon. Grant Woodgate (Hornby), Stefan Hatipov and Grant Findlay (both Marist) served temporary suspensions at the same time, and Robert Straight, Bob Aitken (both Addington), Paul Truscott (Linwood), and Tim Henry (Sydenham) also had terms behind their opponents’ dead-ball areas. This was Hatipov’s third such offence, and he will be required to attend a meeting of the Canterbury board of control next Monday evening.

Results were.—■ Sydenham 15, Kaiapoi 10. Marist-Western Suburbs 19, Hornby 12. Linwood 34, Addington 10. Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs 42, University-United 5. Papanui 32, Woolston 3. i

VITAL GOALS The powerful goal-kicking of Steve Holden kept Sydenham within range of Kaiapoi for the first half-hour, took it | ahead for a brief period before the break, and eventually carried his side clear when i neither team was able to score j by any other means after the J resumption.

There was the promise of an even encounter from the start. This was realised, for it was not until Holden put over his sixth goal as the full-time hooter sounded that the result became obvious.

Not surprisingly, Holden was the recipient of the McWilliam’s Wines “player of the week” award. His points contribution eventually decided the outcome of the match, and he was extremely sound in all other aspects of his play. Kaiapoi, with the wind at its back, could manage only a onepoint lead in the first 40 minutes, its two tries being the product of elusive running bv its centre, Francis Lawrence. The other inside backs. Charlie Paki. Jack Clarke, and Charlie Smith, also worried Sydenham on attack, hut the defence managed to scramble bark to smother their thrust.

Two penalties by Holden had restricted Kaianoi tn 7-4 before Svdenham gained its onlv fry. Tai Mene. blocked for running -oom. lofted a kick ahead, fielded Hm ball himself and found his three-nuarfprs. Robert Scaring? and Hete Mahara. position pd ndth an over-lap on the rfght flank. HnJden converted from near the sido-line but only seven m»nntes later Lawrence side-stepned past two opponents tn put Kaiapoi back in front, 10-9.

Attempts bv the two teams to movp possession about in the second half were stalemated by the consistency of the defence. Once, Lawrence was restrained onlv two or three metres short nf the Svdenham line «nth Svd<»nh3m onlv three points ahead. r rhi«;. however, was the clo 50 ? 5 * anvone came to th? trv that wmiid nrnhflhiv hav? secured two points, Barrv R 4 «*wnod ?*«»ve another nrso all-round tn th a z>c»nfrps Svdnnbnm. and Wsvno Wilson I»T«nP -' l Ehfv <*»- n’sfn”rqrdc IpdU Qx-rio-nTiarY’’* -"’’th hie ->i<r.Totr r»r s>n< 7 Hnffc’-’-rH’-pptod IHnlrc:- 5J4-r>-«-iv»rlncfrjen« ii ri ’ 1 retired 20 minutes from the end.

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Even though Hornby slipped from second-equal position, it proved against Marist-Western Suburbs that it is well worthy of its return to premier status and was within only a few' metres of causing an upset as an exciting match entered its final quarter. Marist had dominated the early proceedings, but the smart Hornby scrum-half, Murray Manson. set up a try for his wing. Steve Tliinn, and this, combined with the accuracy of Trevor Williams’s kicking, held Marist to a slim margin. In the last minute of the half, the other Hornby wing, Neil Lewis, completed a crisp passing movement, and when Williams converted from a wide angle Hornby was able to enjoy its oranges with the totals tied at 12-12.

However. Hornby had a forceful northerlv wind to face, and it seemed that Marist would comfortably carry the day. That it did not do so was as much a compliment to Hornby’s determined tackling as a result of Marist failing to use its natural advantage with any skill. Only two goals to Marist by Michael O’Donnell separated the sides when Hornbv moved deep into its rival’s territory with just under 20 minutes to go. It took Marist about half that time to clear its try-line, several wasteful penalties contributing to Marist’s problems. But Hornby was not able to make the vital break that would have given it the lead for the first time In the match. The Marist inside backs, Wayne O’Donnell. Kevin Carey, and

'Michael O’Donnell, began in fine style and might well have kept ito that standard bad the ball been released to them more frequently from set play. Manson, the winner of the Jim Beam i award, did not allow this with ; his bustling methods round the I serum-base, and he also looked I to be the most deceptive of the , Hornby backs. There was little between the . two packs. Hornby had some | difficulty in halting Neil Beri, i just as Marist was put on the back foot bv the vigour of Ces : Kells. ; Carey eventually had the final I say. The Marist wing. John Rothj well, had finally managed to put Hornby back into its own half of the field with some kicking and chasing, and when possession reverted to’ his team the ball was spun along the chain for Carey to score near the right : corner.

QUICK TRIES Cliff Leney, the young Linwood wing, needed only two minutes to add to his career aggregate on his return to premier football, and his try was the first of three gained by the Linwood three-quarters as Addington's cover-defence failed to function in the early stages of the late match on the No. 2 ground.

Most of Linwood’s points came from quite basic football, the wing, Paul McCone, later increasing the lead simply by being allowed an over-lap after the ball had been passed along the line in completely orthodox fashion from a scrum. If anything, Addington was fortunate not to be further back than 24-2 at the interval.

There was improvement in the second spell, as there had to be —even without taking Addington’s back wind into consideration. Linwood’s only positive return were two tries by its strong second-row forward, Rex Dalzell, and two goals bv Leney.

The usual reliability of Addington’s three-quarters was missing while Linwood gathered its decisive lead. The defence was frequently split by Wally Wilson, Doug Wells, and Lou Hudson, and Murray Barker also moved precisely at times. Dalzell was the best forward, but the example of the Addington captain-coach. Frank Ednacott, in backing up and constantly being on the move went unheeded by his team-mates for much of the match. TWELVE TRIES Unlvenlfy-Unlted suffered ' Its second big defeat in as many appearances, the failure of its tackling once again underscoring the argument that a ih-team premiership has yet to be proved a success in Canterbury. University has already beaten Woolston by more than a half-century of points, but It must new itself improve to prevent suffering a similar fate from more accomplished rivals.

Only the lack of a goal-kicker prevented Eastern from returning an even more telling winning margin. The Eastern backs, with Graeme Cooksley making a return to scrum-half, and Bruce Dickison wending his way through the three-quarters, met token resistance and only Leon Paskell did not feature on the score-line.

Similarly, Terry Gillman, Alan Rushton, and Stewart McLachlan assured Eastern of supremacy around the play-the-balls. Only the individual efforts of Peter Hawker and Peter Brown gave University’s supporters much cause for enthusiasm. These moments were too brief, though, as Eastern stamped its superiority from the start.

SOME IMPROVEMENT Papanui eventually enjoyed a comfortable win over Woolston, but there was distinct improvement noticeable in the display of the bottom-placed side, it even held a territorial advantage in the opening half, gaining one try on the left wing and falling behind at 12-3 only because it could not cover an occasional over-lap on its defensive flanks.

The Papanui Scrum-half, Ken Tait, gained a second consecutive treble of tries, and Russell Seaward provided two further touch-downs when he replaced Bruce Gardiner on the wing for the second half. Papanui was without its captain-coach. Rod Walker, but could well have expected a more authoritative performance with its greater experience, fitness, and team-work. Obviously, Woolston has been stung into action after its default of the previous week. It has almost as daunting a task next Saturday, when it will be pitted against the high-scoring: Eastern team.

PREMIERSHIP POINTS W L F Pts Papanui 4 0 145 31 8 | Eastern 3 1 111 53 6 | Sydenham 3 1 71 63 6 ; Marist 3 1 60 59 6 ' Hornby 2 2 89 75 4 ; Linwood 2 9 79 80 4 1 Kaiapoi 1 3 63 73 i t Addington 1 3 69 96 2 University 1 3 74 116 2 ; Wools ton 0 4 11 126 0