No surprise results in rugby league

Press, 23 August 1976, Page 19

No surprise results in rugby league

There were no changes in the Canterbury rugby league club order on Saturday. The four teams in the upper half of the premiership table, Papanui, ChristchurchEastern Suburbs, Hornby, and Kaiapoi, were successful against their more modestly placed rivals.

Only Kaiapoi was more than moderately troubled. It trailed Marist-Westem Suburbs for a short period of the third quarter, and the scores were tied 15 minutes from the finish before Kaiapoi moved away to a 28-21 win.

The result kept Kaiapoi In contention lor tlie championship semi-finals. To reach the top four of the grand final series it has to beat Hornby in the last round next Saturday and rely on Eeastern to deprive Linwood of any more competition points.

However. It is likely I hat Kaiapoi will heed to lift its level oi performance. The forwards, in particular, never dominated the Marist pack in the manner expected, and cannot be confident of containing the stronger Hornby unit.

Pre-match predictions that Linwood’s improved showings in recent weeks would prove a threat to Papanui’s perfect record were quickly dashed in a disappointing main fixture. At one stage Papanui claimed three tries in as many minutes against weak Linwood tackling and it was inevitable that the winning margin would be large.

Eastern had an even easier passage against Sydenham, with Noel Turner being on hand to score five tries. Hornby comfortably accounted for Addington at Denton Oval.

Goal-kicking accuracy returned with the firm playing fields, and Kevin Williams (Papanui) and Francis Lawrence (Kaiapoi) both took their personal totals for the season past 200 points. Michael O’Donnell (Marist) reached 150. and Steve Holden (Sydenham) reached his century before retiring injured.

It was also a fine afternoon for scrum-halves. Charlie Pakl (Kaianoi) won the Jim Beam award as “nlayer-of-the-match” in the curtain-raiser, and Ken Tait (Papanui) earned the McWilliam’s Wines "player-of-the-weet” prize in the second match on the oval. Results:— Papanui 41, Linwood 13. Kaiapoi 28, Marist-Westem Suburbs 21.

Hornby 23. Addington 11. Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs 55, Sydenham 7. PREMIERSHIP POINTS

Grand final series points: Papanui 12. Eastern 10, Linwood 8. Hornbv 8, Kaiapoi 6, Addington 2 Sydenham 2, Marist 0. ONE HURDLE LEFT

Only Marist, next Saturday, now stands between Papanui and the distinction of being the first club to achieve an unbeaten record throughout a premiership. The continued outstanding style of football which Papanui produced against Linwood ensures It of entering the championship semi-finals with the knowledge that It has beaten all of Its opponents twice.

As usual. It did not take Papanui long to stamp its superiority on the match, tn a spell of 20 minutes during the opening halt, Papanui accumulated 26 points to leave Linwood Uounderiug in its wake. There was a tapering off of Papanui’s momentum as the interval neared, and Oscar Mooseman, the Linwood prop, capitalised on the only serious error made by Papanui on defence. Lewis Hudson's accurate kicking from the many penalties conceded bv Papanui provided Linwood with further points, but there were few hints of a complete revival. A notable cause of Linwood s slipping out of contention at such an early stage was its own shakiness when required to tackle. Far too many gaps were left around the play-the-balls, and Mark Broadhurst appeared able to break clear almost at will as he consistently ran the ball near or to, the Linwood try-line. ... , . Broadhurst had able assistants in Rod Walker, Mike Godinet, Kevin Walker and Grant Fmdlav. The other forward, Angus McGregor, ranged wider from the rucks with equal success, and the elusive scrum-half, Ken Tait prospered by supporting his much bigger team-mates once the initial break had been Papanui held sway in centre-field through the excellent work of David Field, Ed de Kerrigan — who extended his try tally for the season to 30 — arid Gariy Taie. ‘ . After Godinet had put Rod Walker across for a try. in a deft reversal of the usual roles filled by these players as distributor and ball-carrier Linwood managed to clamp a halt on Papanui’s scoring for most of the second half. , . But the Papanui pack gradually wore down the resistance and Godinet and McGregor were in position to add further tries close to full-time. Linwood s cause was not helped by injuries which caused back line reshuffles. PLENTY OF ACTION A confident start by Kaiapoi, which carried it to leads of 13-2 and then 16-7, suggested an only moderately-interesting curtain-raiser. But Marist once again proved that it is capable of troubling sides well above it on the table, and this was the most attractive premier game of the day. The backs, Graham Church and Michael O'Donnell — who gained all of their team’s points between them — led a Marist recovery that had narrowed the gap to 14-16 by the break. Church’s second trv, soon after the restart, gave Marist the advantage, one that was to be short-lived as Jack Clark replied in kind moments later. Don Barton, the seasoned Marist forward, had surprising success in the scrums against Dale Brown, and the Marist backs were able to launch more thrusts than for some considerable time. Kaiapoi. too, had a positive attitude, with Charlie Paki, Clarke and Charlie Smith always prominent.

Although Dick Ngataki and Brown gave convincing displays, the Kaiapoi forwards nevei achieved the control of which they are capable. Brign Wiki and Tony Smith, in the opposing pack, deserve much of the credit for Marist, almost sharing the honours around the play-the-balls Kelvin Kennett, the Kaiapo centre, was also sound, if almost upstaged by happenings on the adjoining ground. His try in th< tenth minute was a fine effort if not quite having the eventua value of that scored by his sot to enable Canterbury schools t< draw with North Canterbury schools in the annual eight-year: representative match. ONE-SIDED GAME For the first 15min, Syden-

ham appeared to be a fair match for Eastern Suburbs. It went, briefly, into a 4-2 lead, was winning the majority of the scrums, and Eastern Suburbs looked as though it might have to struggle as much as the previous week.

But when Eastern started scoring, it scored heavily and Sydenham lost all sense of involvement in the match. There was a grave absence of tackling, and Sydenham could not even keep itself anywhere near contention with its lack of ideas on attack. It was, after that uncertain start, a complete performance from Eastern. The big men, Terry Gillinan and Peter Cook, sorely tested Sydenham’s moderate defence with their storming runs, and the backs were given all the encouragement they needed to keep the bail moving. Easily outstanding, and depsite the five tries by Noel Turner, was Leon Paskell. His corkscrewing runs, sometimes in the centres, sometimes on the wing, were the basis for most of Eastern’s tries, and though he invariably gave the ball to a man well placed — and tiiat was usually Turner — Paskell still managed to score two tries himself. Bruce Dickison was quieter than usual but a splendid foil still to the excellent Paskell and this confidence and combination spread through the line. SCRAPPY MATCH The match between Hornbv and Addington was a rather scrappy affair, and unnecessary head-high tackles punctuated play for most of the game. Lex Clarke, the Hornby standoff half, retired with concussion and he was followed later by the prop. Richard Popata. For Hornby, both Wayne Bunn and Popata were particularly effective in breaking through tbe inadequate tackles of the Addington defence, and they both gained much valuable ground. However, Popata had to leave the field, and Bunn seemed to fade late in the game. Among the backs, Merv Manson was nippy around the scrums and Bob Jarvis was sound at fullback.

Addington seemed to rely on opportunist movements for much of the game, as was typified by the fine intercept by the stand-off half, Wayne Green, which resulted in the centre, Cliff Waaka, posting the side’s first points. However, later in the second-half, the team tried more constructive play, but sound Hornby defence kept it out.

W L F A Pts Papanui 15 0 641 186 30 Eastern 12 3 490 182 24 Hornby 10 5 374 236 20 Kaiapoi 9 6 282 204 18 Linwood 7 8 286 311 14 Adding. 5 10 242 423 10 Marist 4 11 230 387 8 Syden. 4 11 192 425 8