Eastern just scrapes win over Papanui XIII

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34126, 12 April 1976, Page 24

Eastern just scrapes win over Papanui XIII

Any opinions that Christchurch - Eastern i Suburbs would not be fully extended to retain its Canterbury Rugby League championship later this season were dispelled when the Sea Eagles only just managed to keep ahead of the Papanui Tigers at the Show Grounds on ■Saturday.

Eastern eventually won by 21-17, and shares with Linwood the top of the Tavendale Cup table, but Papanui provided five of the eight tries in the match and was in no way inferior to the title-holder. Both teams were depleted because of injuries, but this did not detract from the tempo of the game, which was a far more competitive contest than that in which Eastern easily disposed of Pananui in the 1975 grand final.

it Eastern had many anxious moments before keeping its unbeaten record, then Linwood’s supporters had cause to be even more worried. It was not until the last minute of the curtainraiser that Lewis Hudson claimed the converted try which restored the Keas to a 15-12 lead against a vastly improved Sydenham side.

In the other Tavendale Cup fixture, Kaiapoi took control just before half-time against Addington, and dominated the second spell to such an extent that it scored 24 of the 27 points that were added. The Kaiapoi wing, Francis Lawrence, had a personal tally of 20 points from two tries and seven goals. Lawrence’s figures were bettered by two players in the qualifying round, Trevor Williams (Hornby) and Mike O’Donnell (Marist-Western Suburbs). Williams contributed 14 goals and a try in assisting Hornby to thrash Halswell, 76-2, and O’Donnell added seven goals to his three tries in Marist’s 44-23 defeat of UniversityUnited.

Ironically, it was Williams’s try, rather than a goal, which made him the first senior rugby league player to exceed 1000 points in his career, and earlier in the match he had left behind Jim Hawthorne’s previous best of 990. Williams now has kicked 467 goals, one field goal and scored 24 tries (1007 points) for the club that he has served with such distinction. Results.— TAVENDALE CUP Eastern 21, Papanui 17. Linwood 15, Sydenham 12. Kaiapoi 41, Addington 12. QUALIFYING ROUND Marist 44, University 23. Hornby 76, Halswell 2. COMPETITION POINTS Tavendale Cup W L F A Pts

REGAINED CONFIDENCE There might have been some soul-searching in the Eastern camp had it lost to Papanui. Eastern leading by 11-S early in the second half, it was awarded a simple penalty iust out from the Papanui posts, but a tap kick was taken and the tide of the match almost turned completely. Instead of relying on the reliable Barry Edkins ta add another two points, Leon Paskell, the Eastern centre, began a passing move that ended when Rob Griffin was pushed over the touch line near the corner flag. Papanui accepted its reprieve gratefully. and launched two flowing attacking movements which resulted In tries to Russell Seaward and Kelvin Kelly, pushing Papanui to a 14-11 advantage. . Fortunately for Eastern, it quickly regained both its com. posure and the lead. Peter Cook, a fine second-row forward who subsequently won the McWilliams Wines "player of the week” award, made a characteristic burst from a play-the-ball and the Papanui defence could not restrain him. Neither team was able to wrest any noticeable superiority over t the next 20 minutes, and the

situation remained unchanged when Paskell, for Eastern, and Michael Kelly, of Papanui, touched-down for late tries.

The major difference between these very fine opponents, and it was a most vital one, was in the goal-kicking. Edkins was accurate six times with his round-the-corner style, and Rod Walker’s sole success for Papanui could largely be attributed for the habit of his team-mates in scoring within a mette or two of the corner flags. Alan Rushton also helped Eastern with a generous supply of possession from the scrums, and he joined with Jim Churcher, Stewart McLauchlan and Cook In keeping Papanui’s pack busy in centre-field. Paskell was Eastern’s outstanding back, his probing runs compensating for the loss of Bruce Dickison, while Graeme Cooksley directed the thrusts astutely w’ith quick distribution and reverse passing. The sudden acceleration of Ken Tait from scrum-half was one of Papanui’s most obvious assets, and the Kelly brothers, Michael and Kelvin, were awake to any opportunities to carry play upfield. Graeme Waite had a useful introduction to the Papanui forwards.

JUST IN TIME Any port In a storm, any try

in an emergency. This might well have been Linwood's feelings when Lewis Hudson, thrown a poorly-directed pass by a team-mate, kicked the ball ahead and grasped the winning try at Sydenham's expense in the curtain-raiser. Even though it was without its captain-coach. Stewart Hogg, Sydenham wiped away the memories of the bumbling, non-tack-ling side that had been routed by Papanui seven days earlier. It eagerly accepted every opportunity it was given and at least deserved a share of the competion points for its valiant effort. When Hudson opened the scoring with a penalty after four minutes and Chris Millbank dived across for a try not long afterwards, most observers probably settled back to ponder on the main match which was to follow. , They wer® roused out of their day dreaming when Les Schultz tied the totals, 7-7, just before the interval. i Once again, Linwood slipped to the front, thanks to a loose ball and the *speed of Ray McCone over a distance of 50 metres. But the experienced Sydenham centre, Barry Bigwood, • was to have none of that, his try with a quarter of the game remaining being converted by Chris Astle and suddenly Sydenham could take pride in a 12-10 scoreline.

Linwood’s potentially powerful pack was blunted by the energy with which its opposing forwards went about their tackling assignments. Rex Dalzell and Paul

Truscott were not permitted to run freely, and only Hudson, with liis forceful fend and long strides on the left wing, was able to enjoy any measure of relaxation from the cover defence. The Sydenham prop, Schultz, won the Jim Beam award for his perseverance and all-round contribution to Sydenham’s cause, while Bigwood — at centre and then scrum-half when Noel Bowden was injured — was equally outstanding. GREENGRASS DOMINANT A dominating John Greengrass took the initiative away from Addington in the last 45 minutes of the late game on the No. 2 ground and eased Kaiapoi towards a 29-point victory,

Addington made a great start with some sound defence and effective attacking, but its nice little 9-7 lead with five minutes in the first spell remaining suddenly became a 9-17 deficit at half-time. Greengrass stormed through for his first try for Kaiapoi and minutes later set up the fullback (later a fill-in at scrumhalf), Jack Clarke, for the easiest of tries. Francis Lawrence converted both. From then on it was aU Kaiapoi and it added another six tries in the second half with a well- executed move by Eric Williams, Addington’s only success. Greengrass’s imposing figure was the one which most caught the eye of the spectators as he set up attack after attack and even attempted one or two tac-

tical kicks. Clarke might not have had a number on his jersey but he certainly did his best to leave his mark on the game and his solo try in the second spell was a real gem. Kaiapoi generally' showed more variety in its attacking ploys — there was one very nice scissors movement by Daie Brown and Clarke -— but the prop, Paul Atkinson, made some fine breaks for Addingtun. Generally though, in the later stages Addington was on the back foot, and when it did have the ball 100 often spoiled chances with some Laboured passing. QUALIFYING MATCHES The referees officiating In the two qualifying matches should have been issued with calculating machines before they took the field. Hornby had 21 points up against Halswell in just 11 minutes, and finished with 14 tries.

There will be considerable interest when Hornby is given its first game at the Show Grounds. The manner in which its players moved possession between themselves suggests that some of the top-ranked clubs cannot afford to look oily among themselves for likely challengers, the quality of the opposition alone giving reservations about Hornby’s worth. Marist took an important step towards avoiding relegation, but still showed too manv weaknesses in forward defence. However, University’s tackle count was even more modest in a fixture that was well below premier standard.

Linwood 2 0 53 29 4 Eastern . 2 0 44 35 4 Papanui . 1 1 78 37 2 Kaiapoi 1 1 59 35 2 Sydenham . . 0 2 28 76 0 Addington . 0 2 29 79 0 Qualifying round Pts w F Hornby . . *> 0 118 7 4 WooUton 7. X 1 47 30 2 Marist .. 1 1 58 57 2 University .. 1 42 62 2 Riccarton 1 1 21 55 2 Halswell ’ . 0 2 20 95 0