Kaiapoi beats Papanui in Rugby league surprise

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33858, 2 June 1975, Page 7

Kaiapoi beats Papanui in Rugby league surprise

Magnificent tackling carried Kaiapoi to one of its finest hours in premier Rugby eague when it brought an end to Papanui’s unbeaten run with a thrilling B*s victory at the Show Cirounds on Saturday.

Kaiapoi was back to the form which won it the preliminary competition earlier in the season. Such was the defensive dedication shown by all of its players that it was a wonder they were able to raise their arms in jubilation when the final whistle was blown.

The result will not only be of benefit to Kaiapoi’s chances of quail tying for the top five to contest the championship. It is at present in; fifth equal position, with the: unusual record of having upset the highly-ranked Linwood, Marist-Western Suburbs and Papanui as against' losses to Hornby, Sydenham, and Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs. Eastern’s supporters were 1 no doubt also quite delighted) with Papanui’s loss. Bv scor-j ing more than .. half-century i of points against Hornby,! Eastern drew level with Pa-' panui at the top of the pre-f miership table and the scene | is set for an exciting tussle: when the two leading sides clash on June 14. The Canterbury Rugbv! League should also offer ‘a! vote of thanks to Kaiapoi, for the club series has taken' on a different complexion! just when it seemed that al distinct gap might be opened 1 between the top and bottom! fives. Linwood and Syden-j ham are only two points behind the front-runners,! with Kaiapoi, Addington,! and Marist another two! points back. Addington came back into contention with a high scoring success over ilarist, its second row forward. Rod Kirk, contributing three tries and taking the Jim Beam Award. The McWilliams Wines “player of the week” prize went to the rugged Kaiapoi forward. Danny Millward, who. Ironically. was previousiv with Papanui. In the other fixtures Sydenham comfortably beat Woolston in a game that produced 60 points, while Linwood had the better of University-United at Ram. Two varying individual cen-l turies were raised at the Show! Grounds. Bruce Dlckison (East-j erni took bis' premiership total to 102 points—in just six games —when he kicked 10 goals, and) the two tries gained by Pliii 1 Brown (Marist' extended his I career tally to 100 since 1968. I Results:— Kaiapoi 4, Papanui 5 Addington 31, Marist-Western Suburbs 22 Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs 53,: Homby 6 Sydenham 47, Woolston 23 Linwood It, University-United 7 Premiership points

MEMORABLE VICTORY Although the ban statistics testify that <our goals by Francis Lawrence placed Kaiapoi three points ahead of Papanui It was the tenacious tackling of the 13 Kaiapoi players and two substitutes which will best be rem emt-red by thesupporters of the country club.

This was only Kaiapoi’s third v victory over Papanui since Kaia- p poi returned to the top grade 1 in 1964—the debit side of theio ledger shows 26 defeats in that s time—hut there could hardly) have been a more thoroughly ; r earned success. Papanui turned all of its at-4 tacking resources against Kaia-L poi with Rod Walker running his 4 forwards up the centre of the , field as a variation to the long ; passes that have enabled the), Papanui back-line to prosper on ’ numerous occasions in the past.)! Kaiapoi. however, was having'; none of it. arid any breaks that)’ were made were almost as ) 1 ; quickly covered. The only try of the match 1 1 came after 23 minutes, from a i 1 tactical kick that led to al scramble over the Kaiapoi goal-I 1 line and was capped by the Papa-1: nui centre Derek Martin, when I he managed to get his hand to \ 1 1 the ball a moment before any of j ; his opponents. Papanui deserved its early! lead. The Tigers had wrested a , clear territorial advantage over •. the opening quarter, before Kaia-j; ;poi responded strongly to fail ! by only a metre or two to score ’ on the call of half-time. As it , was. Papanui was ahead by 5-4 iat the interval. The close marking of both teams highlighted the final 40 i minutes. Lawrence put Kaiapoi 1 ahead early in the spell and then 1 I added his fourth goal with only ■ 60 seconds remaining. Even then j the drama was not over, for I Kaiapoi was required to tackle yet again as Papanui took a tap 1 penalty 20 metres from its objective. a try that would have extended its unbeaten sequence. In spite of the low scoring, 1 this was a game that never became bogged down. The deceptive Kaiapoi stand-off half, : Charlie Paki and the power-fully-built trio outside him—Jack : Clarke. Charlie Smith, and Brian | I Ileemi —all displayed their thrust, I and it required a courageous - tackle by the Papanui full-back, Kevin Williams, to stop one of jHeemi’s bursts. Unfortunately. Williams was injured in the collision and was taken to hospital 1 for treatment. I The strong men of the Kaiapoi pack were Danny Millward, Dick (Ngataki. Dale Brown and Paul I Maim, and thev never lost their hold on proceedings around the ! play-the-balls. . ■ ■ Papanui should have been further ahead in the first spell, but Rod Walker was not able , to control the ball as he dived for the try-line. He was still the pivot of Papanui’s man- • oevres, though, with his brother, ; Kevin, giving a fine all round displav in the second row. Of the backs, Ken Tait probed , efficiently without ever quite getting away, Gary Taie could have 1 done with more possession from ■ set plav, and Williams performed well until he had to retire midwav through the second half. Williams had been astray with ; 'three kicks that were within ills , range and Rod Walker was I later off target with two atI tempts from near the half ; way ! {line when Papanui was trailing I by one point. CONTRASTING HALVES Addington and Marist- . Suburbs had a tense struggle for supremacy before half-time in the curtain-raiser, with AddI ington being unfortunate not to have a more decisive mar- ; gin than 7-5 when the teams | left the field But there was I a looseness evident in both defences after the resumption, and once more the Magpies I did best by adding 24 of the 41 points scored in this period. Ibe Marist tackling was put to the test for long periods in the early stages—even though the baiuts gained the first five points from a goal by Michael O’Donnell and a try by bis brother Wayne—and it stood its ground admirably. The only breach occurred when Rod Kirk took an inside pass and stepped around an opponent to touch do.vn beneath the posts. There was no such need to launch constructive build-ups to must of tile tries which flowed frequently throughout the second halt. The covering from Adding.on and Marist tell away virtually in unison, and Marists got progressively worse from the time that Kirk regained the lead for the third time with his third

Far more was seen oi the Addington three-quarters, Eric Wil'uams and lan Meßeatb moving I the ball quickly from the halves. The centres, Charlie Black and Alan Mather, spoiled some of their attacks by mishandling, but 1 they and the left "ing, Andrew j Baiiey, became an increasing problem for Marist as the game I advanced. Marist relied on individual coni tributions, maiuly from Neil Beri land Grant Findlay in the forI wards and the inside backs, Phil Brown and Waylie O’Donjnell. Some of their efforts sues ; needed, others came to nothing I because the defence soon outnumbered the support. i Tony Ratu and Kirk were the ' best of the Addington forwards, I Ratu in setting up opportunities ! tor his team-mates, and Kirk in I racing through to finish off {chances that were offering. They were backed by the steadiness oi Mutu Stone. Frank Endacott, and Robert Straight. CAME FROM BEHIND Linwood was behind Univer-sity-United for the first half hour of the match at Ham, and it required some intelligent ball work by the experienced John Greengrass and Wally Wilson to place the Keas in front at 11-5 by the interi val. I The comparatively slim marigin held by Linwood at the eud was a tribute to the close marking oi the University players,

with Hugh McManus especially prominent in refusing to allow Linwood to make positive use, of its marked supremacy in the! scrums. Greengrass was in a rampantl mood, proving that he is fully recovered from his injury prob-' iems and he was given good I support is the Linwood pack by I Paul Truscott. The elusive Wil-1 son was sharp around the base! Of the scrum and effective in I moving off passes from his forwards, while hay Haffenden and Cliff Leney also played with distinction in the Linwood backline. University introduced an interesting newcomer, Peter Russo, from its lower grade ranks. He placed his side into an early lead with a try and almost had another after an exhilerating run. Peter Brown had a lively game in the University pack, and j Perry Henry caused the capable , Linwood defence some worry. | This was a very promising dis-i Play by University, which now! , faces hard assignments against Kaiapoi and Marist before it meets Hornby in a match that offers the students a chance to Improve their position on the premiership ladder. For its part, Linw’ood’s workmanlike effort was further evidence that it will again be a formidable title contender. FOUR TRIES TO MENE The Sydenham second-row forward, Tai Mene, was the dominant performer in the opening Stages of each half of his team's match against Woolston on the subsidiary field. He crossed for two tries In the first eight minutes, and added another two in the early part of the second spell. Sydenham was never faced i with the threat of defeat, although Woolston displayed a

spirit that has been missing from its make-up this year to score 18 of the 37 points registered after the break. Its five, tries were shared by the long-serving forwards. Brian Williams and i Law rence Pomare, and there was a distinct improvement in WoolI ston’s attacking play. The superior pace of the Sydenham outside backs, Robert | Auimatagi, Barry Bigwood, and ; Reynold Andrew’s, was too much for Woolston as Svdenham drew away to a 26-5 lead. Their chances were fewer from that point, and it was left to Mere and the other Svdenham and Woolston forwards to keep the scoreboard attendants active. HAPLESS HORNBY From the moment that Dean Harris went over for a try five minutes from the first whistle, the aggressive Christ-church-Eastern Suburbs team i made good use of its advantage in speed to compile 11 tries at Hornby's expense. It was surprising that Bruce Dickison, for the first time in the premiership, should be missing from the list of try-scorers, but he did more than his share of keeping the total moving with several goals from wide angles among his 10 successes. His centre partner, Leon Paskell, is obviously returning to his best after a delayed start to the season, and Noel Turner and Bruce Murphy moved well on the wings. Eastern also held sway up front, through the efforts of Alan Rushton, Stewart McLaughlin. Gary Wilton, and Barry Edkins. This match was the only one in which the “chilly-bin” penalty’ was used, with Edkins and Brian Smith i.Horaby) incurring temporary suspensions from Mr T. Drake.

W L F A Vtsi Eastern 5 I 243 59 10 Papanm 5 1 195 46 10 ; Linwood 4 2 128 100 8 Sydenham 4 2 125 131 8 Addington 3 3 143 128 6 Kaiapoi 3 98 99 6 Marist 3 3 103 117 6 Hornby 2 4 108 159 4 University 1 5 91 177 2 Woolston 0 fi 34 252 0