Papanui unbeaten in rugby league

Press, 18 July 1977, Page 18

Papanui unbeaten in rugby league

Papanui’s prospects of re-;, turning an unbeaten pre-.; miership rugby-league record; for the second consecutive season brightened consid-i erably when it gained a 14-5 victory over one of its clos-l est pursuers. Eastern Sub-' urbs, at the Show Grounds on Saturday.

Although Papanui held the upper hand for much of the opening spell, it was sorelyl pressed by Eastern after the resumption. It was not until' the prop, Angus McGregor, was awarded a disputed try five minutes from full-time that the result was safe. Only Papanui and Sydenham, of the favoured sides, took full competition points from their fifteenth-round fixtures. Sydenham had its lead cut to 18-15 by MaristWestern Suburbs in the sec-; nnd quarter, but regained the initiative to add another 18 points in the final 40 minutes.

Hornby slipped another, point ahead of Eastern in! the quest for the other! major semi-final position — | Papanui has only to win | three of its six remaining games to remain on top —I when it drew with Linwood. I Even if Linwood slipped] behind Sydenham, the draw, which was achieved when! Lewis Hudson got a field! goal near the end, might] well be enough to keep it!

[among the first four at the start of the championship. ; The surprise result of the i afternoon was Addington’s (decisive win over Kaiapoi. Addington has now moved I in front of Marist on scoring' 'differentials at the bottom of, the premiership table. Steve Holden, the Sydenham full-back, was the most prolific individual scorer. ■ with 15 points, extending his (premiership total to 113., I Bruce Cardwell claimed 'three tries on the Addington right wing. The various “man of the 'match” award winners were Rod Walker (Papanui. .McWilliam’s Wines), Wayne Bunn (Hornby, Jim Beam), Grant Stocker (Addington, Mennen), and Charlie Smith (Sydenham, Man Tuam). Results: Paoanui 14, Eastern Suburbs Hornby 14, Linwood 14. . Svdenham 36, Marist- ! Western Suburbs 15. ' Addington 21, Kaiapoi 10.

TALE OF TWO TRIES There w«s no doubt that Papanui's better observance of the basic fundamentals entitled It to victory over Eastern Sub-

urb* but the latter 1 * support- I er* can hardly be blamed for i pondering over the possible i outcome had different decisions been given in two try scoring situations. Terry Gillman, the Eastern 1 front row forward, played the : ball forward and appeared to i touch down correctly after 32 minutes, with his team only three points behind, but the referee (Mr Trevor Houston) recalled the players for asm scrum. Sev-

eral members of the Eastern side obviously felt that Angus McGregor was not able to force the ball after running from a pass bv Mark Broadhurst to sea! the result shortly before the finish. _. _ . These incidents apart. Eastern had itself to blame for failing to attain the standard shown in previous weeks. Its passing was often loose and the handling frequently worse, therefore negating tlie 19-16 scrummaging advantages Alan Rushton had over (Mike Godinet. More points were squandered

by Eastern when Bam-’ Edklns missed three simple penalty at* tempts in the opening half. Papanui's first two kickers. Kevin Williams and Bruce Gardiner, had no more success and it was I left to Rod Walker to get a goal from 40m and later to add three other goals from close range. The first Papanui try was a fine effort. The scrum half. Donald Ambrose, found a gap on the right flank and Russell Seaward completed the movement in

I characteristic style. Eastern also > scored on the right wing, John i McGuiness benefiting from quick i distribution after Papanui had I been under pressure for some • time It 'was to the credit of the i Papanui pack, which was without ’ Kevin Walker and lost Grant i Findlay in the second minute, > that Gillman, Alan Rushton. and • EdJkins were not able to make • their customary amount of - ground. Edkins made a few clean . breaks and Gillman and Rushton pounded into their opponents, only for the cover defence to I counter the threats. |

John Wesley slipped past the Papanui centres ill one notable run and Murray French and Graeme Cooksley were efficient in the halves. Seaward was the most incisive of all the backs and Williams. Ambrose, and Eddie Kerrigan were others to stand out.

VITAL PREMIERSHIP POINT Linwood, before the match, would probably have been well satisfied to have gained one point from its encounter with Hornby but it could later mourn the fact that it did not achieve victory and further enhance its chances of reaching the semi-finals. Lewis Hudson wa s both the villain and the hero of the piece. He was astray with an easy penalty attempt when Linwood was behind. 14-13. and subsequently saved face with a snappy field goal as the Hornby defence held fast until the sixth tackle. Tile match had hardly begun before both teams had their first tries. The Linwood wing, Steve Rouse, was first to touch down and Wayne Bunn, moving forcefully around the play-the-balls, replied in kind. Two goals by Brian Langton had Hornby well placed. However, in just nine minutes Linwood reversed the order. Hudson goals from a penalty and then Trevor Wong used Ills initiative to kick ahead and regain the ball, after Gary Smith had failed to smother it, and score; Tommy Lightfoot was the next to reach The Hornbv try-line, backing up from stand-off half when Wally Wilson darted away from a scrum and linked up with Eric Williams. Bunn, capitalising on a well timed pass from Dean Taylor, also claimed Hornby’s other try and, with Wayne Robertson, was the best of the Hornby forwards. Paul Truscott. Wong, and Williams were effective in the Linwood pack, while the respective | full-backs—Robin Alfield and

Gary Morrell—and centres—Warren Wright and Hudson—were prominent in the backs. LITTLE CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY What started as a promising free-flowing match between Sydenham and Marlst-Western Suburbs in the main Match on the Ng. 2 ground soon returned to mediocrity and eventually slumped to a drab and uninspiring affair. Sydenham always appeared the slightly more disciplined and imaginative team and seemed to have a firm grip on the game when it raced to an 18-7 lead after only 25 minutes. But Marist, to its credit, came back strongly before the interval and' trailed by only three points at the change-over. However, Marist failed to add to its tally in the second spell and Sydenham doubled its firsthalf points to win, 36-15. The first half featured good handling and co-ordinated running by both teams, especially Sydenham, but both sides were guilty of frequent errors in the second spell. Strong running on to the pass gave the powerful Sydenham forward, Ben Puili, the first two tries but he faded in the second half and the "man of the match” award was won by the industrious loose forward, Charlie Smith. Paul Atkinson and Peter Sturgeon, a secondhalf replacement, added thrust when moving ahead. Rex Rai. stride served his backs competently and Andrew Bailey and Barry Bigwood both scored fine solo tries. Unfortunately for Sydenham, their chances were limited.

Sydenham kept close tabs on Marist’s key backs, Mocky Brereton and Wayne O’Donnell, and consequently Marist’s best source of attack was provided bv Chris Charlton and Trevor Simpson. Wallv Gidwell was the best of a pack which failed to distinguish Itself.

WELL TIMED ATTACKS The alertness ef the Addington full-back. Grant Stocker, to spot Kaiapol's defensive deficiencies on the right flank helped his side to an unexpected win. Stocker timed his entries into the line astutely and created the overlaps from which Bruce Cardwell scored his three tries. The elusive Stocker complemented his supporting role by pushing off a tackle to claim his own try—giving Addington a 10-5 half-time lead—and he was unflustered in other aspects of his performance. When Graham Eaton crossed for a second time for Kaiapoi, the country XHI was behind by only 12-10 with all of the final quarter remaining. Surprisingly, Kalapoi’s efforts sagged from that point and Addington opened up a respectable margin with three more tries. Inevitably, the Addlngtqn loose forward. Mutu Stone, again was of much value with his energetic tackling and running. He had help In the pack from Wayne Clemence, Rod Kirk, and Tony Ratu. Dave Wilks had his backs moving smoothly. particularly Pat Lagrosse, Cardwell and Stocker. The Kaiapoi captain. John Greengrass, tried vainly to spark some enterprise from his teammates but there w r as little response Eaton positioned himself well for his tries and Brian Heemi was robust on the left wing but most of Kaiapoi’s better manoeuvres were spoiled by mishandling.

PREMIERSHIP POINTS W D L F A pts Papanul 14 1 0 258 152 39 Hornby 10 3 315 192 22 Eastern 10 0 S 313 176 20 Sydenham 8 1 6 298 278 17 Linwood 7 •» 6 303 *264 16 Kai apo i 4 0 11 215 283 8 Addincton 2 0 13 180 326 4 Marist 2 0 13 201 416 4