Near upsets in water polo

Press, 30 December 1978, Page 32

Near upsets in water polo

By

RAY CAIRNS

A gallant Newmarket almost caused two major upsets and disturbed the established order of things on the third day of the Trans Tours national water polo tournament at Queen Elizabeth II Park yesterday. But for poor Newmarket it was not to be. Wharenui, as it almost traditionally does against the Auckland team, scored in the dying seconds — a mere 12s remained when Russell McConnochie finally scored after repeated failures — then Newmarket let Maranui slip out of its clutches in the afternoon game. A lack of experience was certainly a major factor in Newmarket’s stumbling at the final fences, and with that went an inability to , convert man-up opportunities into goals. Against Maranui, there were only two successes at eight attempts; it was two out of five against Wharenui —

which, incidentally, was marginally better than Wharenui, so sure on the man-up earlier in the tournament. On its opportunities, Wharenui should have beaten Newmarket by rather more than its one goal, but its finishing was very poor when all the time it looked . likely to break loose. Maranui, by contrast, performed only fitfully. Con- ! certed pressure had Newmarket in a deserved 2-1 ■ lead at quarter-time, but Maranui looked more itself, scoring four goals to two, in ■ the second quarter. Then Newmarket came back to . 6-all, but Maranui’s deep well of experience brought it ; its rewards in the final quarter and it eased clear to an 8-6 victory. Those games involving Newmarket certainly provided the day’s highlight, though there was a sterling battle between BeckenhamSockburn and Manly in the morning, the latter showing it will be a hard team to

beat today. As with Maranui against Newmarket, Beckenh a m-S o c k b u r n enjoyed periods of superiority in the second and fourth quarters, when it scored seven of its eight goals, and recovered well from losing John Davie with his third foul early in the final quarter. For the rest, the lowly positioned Pegasus team kept its Christchurch rivals, Wharenui and University, down to modest scores, strongly extending the latter: and the Hutt-Kaikorai game was noteworthy for Jeff Conroy (Kaikorai) being dismissed for brutality for the second time in the tournament. But the real boilover came at the very end of the day, when Hutt, improving with every game, shared a more-than-deserved draw with Manly. Again, Grahame Duffy was outstanding for Hutt. Detailed results: Maranui 12 (W. E. Mills 3, P. W. Dyson 2, G. McCardle 2, R.

M. Paterson 2, A. J. Fogel, K. A. Mark, C. J. Jarvis), University 3 (G. Beaumont, B. D. Honeybone, C. L. Beeby). Whaienui 3 (G. W. Campbell 2, R. E. McConnochle), Newmarket 2 (J. M. Bannar-Martin, P. Montgomery). Beckenham-Sockburn 8 (M. A. Harding 3, G. J. Harding 2, D. J. W. Reid. J. A. Symon, J. R. Davie), Manly 5 (P. Chapman 2, J. Stapleton, B. Andrew, W. Phillips). Hutt 14 (G. F. Duffy 7, G. Barrett 2, L. Bergman 2, K. G. McLaughlin, R. Henning, S. R. Williams), Kaikoral 5 (J. A. Conroy 2, J. Loutit, A. Conroy, G. Wyllie). Wharenui » (McConnochie 2, R. A. Clark 2, D. H Ferigo 2, S. J. Wakefield, T. M'. McGlr, S. A. Ward), Pegasus 0. Beckenham-Sockburn 10 (Davie 3, B. J. Wilson 2, Reid, M. Harding, Symon, L. J. Marshall, J. F. Laugesen), Kaikorai 4 (Loutit, A. Graham, Wyllie, B. Lichter). Maranui S (Fogel 2, Mills 2, Paterson 2, Mark, Jarvis). Newmarket 6 (J. Bannar-Martin 4, T. Sandoy, B. P. J. Horan).

Hutt 6 (Bergman 3, Duffy 2, W. E. Martlew), Manly 6 (P. Chapman 3, Stapleton, P. McNee, D. Webb).

University 7 (P. G. C. Hay 3 Beaumont, P. R. Tweedie, Beeby S. Bucner), Pegasus 5 (B. M Mustchin 4, D. R. Clarke).