Late try gives Papanui rugby league victory

Press, 28 August 1978, Page 19

Late try gives Papanui rugby league victory

League

Papanui played just about every card in its rugby league pack before the welldrilled combination at Rod Walker and Kevin Williams conspired to euchre MaristWestern Suburbs, 11-10, at the Show Grounds yesterday.

Walker had led numerous second-half assaults on the Marist line, only for his team-mates to be repelled by stoic defence, until — just smin remaining — he slipped the vital pass to Williams, who had sufficient momentum to crash over the try-line.

During the long period that Papanui trailed, 6-10, it ■was not only imperative to the premiership winner that it score, but that any touchdown be made close to the uprights. Walker and Williams missed six kicks at goal between them and, even though Williams had left himself a simple conversion, the ball grazed the right post before deflecting through to put Papanui in front.

The loss put paid to Marist’s chances of reaching second placing in the premiership and meeting Papanui again in the major championship semi-final on September 10. Sydenham’s decisive defeat of Kaiapoi yesterday has assured it of being Papanui’s opponent on that afternoon.

If Marist’s supporters were disappointed that their side should lose after having led from the opening minute, the;. could find consolation from the certainty that the club will again feature in the top four play-offs after some seasons of relegation worries.

Hornby dropped out of title contention when it faded noticeably against the rejuvinated Linwood XIII. It could still conceivably tie

(with Marist for fourth posi» ition, but has a far less imi pressive points differential than its rival. Eastern Sub-jurbs-Hertz made sure of (joining Papanui, Sydenham and Marist as a championship qualifier by comfortably accounting for a tenacious Addington. Paul McCone (Linwood) and Bruce Dickison (Sydenham) touched down on three and two occasions, respectively, to become the equal leading try-scorers — with 17 each — in the premiership. However, Eddie Kerrigan, of Papanui, is only one behind them and his club has a match in hand.

Apart from McCone’s strong effort on Linwood’s left wing, there was little individual scoring of note. Francis Lawrence kicked five goals for Sydenham, but few of the goal-kickers maintained consistent records. While Walker and Williams had their problems for Papanui, their Marist c o u n t e r-part. Michael O’Donnell, missed three attempts from various angles, the last at a reasonable range which could have sealed the result Umin before full-time. The "‘men of the match” prizes were won by Doug Thompson (Papanui, McWiiliam’s Wines award), McCone (Jim Beam), Tony Bergman (Sydenham, Man Tuam), and Dean Harris (Eastern, Mennen).

Results.— Papanui 11, MaristWestern Suburbs 10. Linwood 25, Hornby 16. 4O, Kaiapoi Eastern Suburbs-Hertz 2z, Addington 7. CONSTANT PRESSURE Papanui regained possession of the Desmond-Rogers Memorial Trophy with its eleventh-hour victory over Marist-Westem Suburbs, but the manner in which Papanui had to struggle for its win must have given heart to the three clubs which will be seeking to relieve it of the championship title. Territorially, Papanui held sway more than its onepoint margin would suggest, and the fluctuations were a reflection of the marked division in scrummaging possession. John McCue hooked the ball from each of the first seven scrums for Marist to put Papanui on the defensive, and the physical strength of the Marist prop, Terry Gillman, resulted in two tries and a .10-3 advantage.

But the Papanui hooker, Danny Millward, gradually wrested the upper hand in set play — assisted no doubt by the solid punch that he delivered to McCue’s jaw, which eventually caused McCue to leave the field. The referee (Mr P. G. Skerten) penalised Millward rather than send him to the “sin-bin,” but fortunately there were no retributions and the match remained hard and otherwise clean.

The game must be counted as one of the many that Walker has conspired to win for Papanui. It was his leadership as Ppanui constantly thrust at the Marist line that finally made the difference. Marist’s tackling was exceptional and was even firm enough to pin the big Papanui forward, Alan Sparks, on his back when it seemed that he would score.

Williams, though, is more effective than any single member of the Papanui pack in piercing defences from such positions, and he moved up from full-back frequently to run off Walker’s ball distribution. He was kept at bay several times before achieving the all-important break. The experience of Walker, Williams and Eddie Kerrigan was one of Papanui’s greatest assets, and it was Kerrigan’s incisiveness which set up Michael Kelly for the try which reduced the deficit to 10-6 on the call of half-time. Doug Thompson and Millward were of exceptional value in the tough exchanges among the forwards. Marist also had a number of outstanding individuals — the scrum-half, Graham Frew, whose work-rate on

attack and defence was remarkable for one of his slight stature; Michael O’Donnell and Kevin Franklin, who moved purposefully when possession was relayed to the outside backs; and Gillman, the most effective forward on the field. The curtain-raiser on the oval also provided many memorable moments as Hornby began with all of the verve expected of a team on the borderline for inclusion in the championship semi-finals, only to falter and concede control to the spirited Linwood XIII. The finishing ability of the Linwood wing, Paul McCone, left the Hornby cover in tatters, the best of his three tries being the product of a perfectly-placed tactical kick by his full-back, Gary Morrell, who was another to find gaps in Hornby’s defence. Hornby, once again, frittered away scoring chances v.ith slipshod handling and thoughtless changes of direction when try-scoring opportunities had been created. In Stewart Wells and Dean Taylor, Hornby had two of the most prominent forwards, but its backs never functioned with the smoothness expected of them. The deeds of McCone and Morrell were complemented by Lewis Hudson’s long kicking to drive Hornby b-.ck, and Wally Wilson’s alertness in backing up. Kelvin Kelly had been responsible for injecting some early life into the Hornby three-quarters as the Linwood formation found its feet.

It appeared that Sydenham would reach a mammoth total when it had accumulated 18 points within 15min of the start of its match with Kaiapoi on the subsidiary playing field. However, Kaiapoi then took its turn at keeping the scoreboard attendant occupied, and by the interval it had drawn up to 18-10. Sydenham was quick to re-establish its ascendancy after the resumption, and added another six tries. To compound Kaiapoi’s difficulties, it lost its hooker, Dale Brown, who had his head cut in a collision with his team-mate, John Greengrass, who returned to the field with his own head heavily bandaged. In contrast to Sydenham’s prolific opening, Eastern Suburbs was forced to struggle for quite some time before mastering Addington. It was not until the twentyfourth minute that Bruce Turner provided Eastern with its first points and Addington kept in contention i u il the game was into its third quarter.

PREMIERSHIP POINTS p W D L F A Pts Pap. 17 16 0 1 430 152 32 Syd. 18 11 3 4 366 214 25 E.S. 18 11 1 6 341 260 23 M.W.S. 17 10 1 6 347 237 21 Horn. 17 8 1 6 284 247 17 Lin. 18 6 2 10 278 349 14 Kai. 18 2 0 16 174 463 4 Add. 17 2 0 15 163 451 4