Papanui wins league round

Press, 23 May 1977, Page 20

Papanui wins league round

Papanui mad« certain of gaining possession of the Tavendale Cup, the first Canterbury Rugby League premier grade trophy to be contested this season, when it again survived many anxious moments to beat Ad-

dington, 22-16, at the Show Grounds yesterday. Two outstanding tries by the Addington full-back, Grant Stocker, sent Papanui reeling to an 11-7 half-time deficit and it was not until; the match was in its last quarter that the defending! title-holder wrested a points margin which afforded it some comfort. ■ But it was the game on the adjoining oval, between Hornby and Sydenham, which claimed the attention of most of the large crowd. Sydenham all but joined Hornby in equal-second posi- ! tion, but the ordering off of : its loose forward, Paul At- ! kinson, for an illegal tackle j mid-way through the second - spell probably cost Syden- j ham victory. t As it was, Hornby de- i served to share the com- , petition points. It was not , as convincing as it had been ; in its previous appearances, ’ although Hornby contributed j five of the eight tries in the i match. The accuracy of the ] Sydenham goal-kicker, Steve * Holden, offset that ratio. i Linwood had to fend off a < determined come-back by ‘ Kaiapoi in the curtain-raiser, ; and Eastern Suburbs trailed i in the early stages before!? racing away from Marist- i f Western Suburbs in the! I most one-sided fixture of the! I round. Terry Gillman (five tries)ls ! and Kevin Murphy (four) i 1 j regularly brushed aside the [, | ragged Marist defence and! i ' Barry Edkins added a try to ■ ® ■his six goals. For Linwood, * •Lewis Hudson claimed two j tries and seven goals for a r personal total of 20 points. The individual awards went to Peter Sturgeon (Sydenham, McWilliam’s Wines “player of the week”), Kevin Steele (Kaiapoi, Jim Beam “player of the match”) and Gillman (Mennen prize). Results:—

Hornby 19, Sydenham 19. Papanui 22, Addington 16. Linwood 26, Kaiapoi 18. Eastern 48, Marist 7.

f Kaiapoi 2 0 5 119 152. 4 , Addington 1 0 6 90 163 2 ' Marist 1 0 6 105 197 2 FEROCIOUS TACKLING Hornby started with such a : flourish, as Wayne Robertson i broke three tackles and fed on to Warren Wright for the ' Initial try, after only 3mln., it • seemed Hornby would cruise

r away to an easy enough victory. But such was the ferocity and ’ dedication of Sydenham’s tack- , ling, and so hestitantly did Robi ertson run — he would probably have been better resting his bad hip — that Sydenham halted ;that early momentum. Then the individual brilliance | of Francis Lawrence swung the game Sydenham’s way. Receiving the ball from Dick Ngataki 60m from the goal-line, Lawrence threaded his way through the first attempted tackle, broke two more, side-stepped, past Robin Alfeld, and scampered the remaining 35m for as fine a try as there has been this season. That heralded a long period of Sydenham ascendancy 40min.

all told as Kerry Corkran dominated the scrum possession, thus getting back on even terms with Murray Wright. Most of the thrust was provided by the forwards, as Peter Sturgeon — claying his best game of the season — Paul Atkinson and Ben Puili charged and battered away at the Hornby defences, Puili placing his team in a handsome half-time position with two fine tries. Then, the final 20min. w’as all Hornby again, Murry Wright started hogging the scrums again. Bob Jarvis put spark into the attack and Brian Langton and Warren Wright presented problems to the Sydenham defenders. They scored a try apiece within the space of 3min.; 7min. later Neil Lewis followed them across the line; and with 2min. left. Merv Manson capped the constant pressure with the equalising try. So it finished a fitting draw, and few could quibble at the result. Hornby, with a 16-12 scrum advantage and ahead. 11-6. in the penalties, had the possession to win and win handsomely. But too many passes went astray, not least from the internationals Jarvis and Robertson; and the

severity and sureness of the Sydenham tackling deserved the rewards it brought. One feature was the sprightly return to the premier grade of Tony Bergman, who looked such a promising prospect with Kaiapoi before being injured last season He lost nothing by comparison with his aggressive opposite, Manson. FAMILIAR PATTERN Papanui enters the second round of the premiership next Saturday with a comfortable lead of three points over Hornby and Sydenham, but Its displays have not been sufficiently convincing to suggest that it will remain unbeaten for a second consecutive Massett! Cup campaign. The ability of the Papanui

players, and particularly their captain-coach. Rod Walker, to retain a high level of control when under pressure carried them through at Addington’s expense. Addington deserved to be in front at the interval on the basis of its territorial advantage and its keeness to grasp any scoring opportunities. It has become a familiar sight to see Papanui respond to the challenge in the third quarter, and when it added 10 points in 15min. following the resumption a decisive win was likely. But

Addington was not prepared to waste Its earlier efforts and when Grant Stocker converted Brent Weir’s try Papanui was only one point in front with 17min. left. The reply, though, was swift. Walker sent Eddie Kerrigan away on a long run and Russell Seaward, something of a master at finishing, touched-down for his second try. There was still more than a spark of defiance in Addington, but Papanui solidified its defence and eventually cruised through to its twenty-seventh successive victory.

Stocker again injected considerable thrust into the Addington back-line, and the W'ilks brothers were also prominent. In the pack. Mutu Stone used up his usual remarkable amount of energy and Tony Ratu moved purposefully on to the ball. Papanui’s major assets were the pace and power of Kevin Williams and Seaward!, of the backs, the guidance of Walker from stand-off half, and the consistency of Mike Godinet and Grant Findlay in the forwards. HUDSON DOMINANT The influence that Lewis Hudson exerted over the curtain-raiser was emphasised by the fact that at no stage of the match had the whole Kaiapoi side accumulated more points than the Linwood centre.

Linwood’s back-line operated extremely smoothly on occasions, particularly in the first half, and the four tries which resulted from the open style of football served to carry the team through when Kaiapoi more than shared the honours in the last 40min.

The full-back, Kevin Steele, was most responsible lor Kalapoi’s resurgence, and he fully deserved his two - tries. Kaiapoi spent quite some time deep on attack and it needed a grand break by Wally Wilson, who sent Hudson in for his second try. to restore order for Linwood.

Steele's intelligent entrances from full-back were among Kalapoi’s most potent back-line manoeuvres. So, too, were the forceful runs of Brian Heemi and the evasive breaks of the scrumhalf, Ray Howard. Dale Brown and Bill Morrison, as always, were effective in the pack. The experience of Gary Morell Hudson and Wilson assisted the younger members of the Linwood back division to produce their flair, and the Linwood forwards resisted the attempts of their opponents to take charge around the play-the-balls. MARIST MASSACRED The memories of MarlstWestern Suburbs's improved form in recent weeks were forgotten as the Eastern Suburbs scoreline increased at a rate that must have been nightmarish to its rival. After conceding an early try, Marist moved ahead, 7-3, when its young wing, Jeff Atkinson, scored in his premier debut and Michael O’Donnell continued his notable kicking record for the week-end. But once the Eastern forwards, and especially Terry Gillman, Alan Rushton. Paul Radonovich and Barry Edkins, slipped into their groove. Marist collapsed. Its attempted tackles Were weak, and there was little or no cover. Gillman romped through for five tries, and the centre, Kevin Murphy, capitalised on four other breaks. It was a fine workout for Eastern a week before its meeting with Papanui and should have restored confidence in its supporters that the club again has championship claims.

PREMIERSHIP POINTS Papanui 7 0 0 135 93 14 Hornby 5 1 1 162 76 11 Sydenham 4 1 2 140 131 9 Eastern 4 0 3 147 110 8 Linwood 3 0 4 167 143 6