Brighton wins trophy in thrilling finish

Press, 14 July 1980, Page 17

Brighton wins trophy in thrilling finish

Jubilant New Brighton rugby supporters hoisted their team’s captain, John Te Amo, shoulder high and bore him in triumph off the pitch after the seasiders won the Canterbury Savings Bank Cup at Lancaster Park Oval on Saturday. New Brighton, which won the inaugural contest for the cup in 1977, clinched victory in the round-robin competition by drawing, 15-all, with University A to finish a point ahead of its closest rival, Linwood. But for seven heart-stoo-tffng minutes at the end of the match it seemed certain that New Brighton would have to share the award with Linwood, as University A gained a 15-12 lead. One minute before the final whistle blast, however, University conceded a penalty for off-side play in a ruck, ind Dave Bowick kicked the saving gial for New Brighton. It was an easy kick for the prolific full-back, but the tension of the moment converted the attempt into a difficult assignment. However, the reliable Bowick was not found wanting, and yellowcapped team supporters in the No. 3 stand. exploded with ecstasy. Linwood secured second place in the competition by beating Marist, also at Lancaster Park, in an excellent game. In spite of its mediocre record in play-offs, Linwood emerged as a strong challenger for the senior championship, to be decided aver the next month. Linwood’s rivals in one section of the championship will be University A, Old Boys, and Belfast. In the other section New Brighton 'will face Marist, Christchurch and Shirley.

The winners of the Fletcher Humphries ‘‘Player of the Day” awards on Saturday were Randal Scott (University A) at Lancaster Park and Terry. Bastion (Sydenham) at Rugby Park. Results Were.— New Brighton 15, University A 15; Linwood 22, Marist 18; Christchurch 21, University B 6; Old Boys 13, Bumside 3; Shirley 29, Sydenham 19; MerivalePapanui 14, Suburbs 6; Belfast 13, Lincoln College 10; Albion 15, Hornby 7. Final points in the C.S.B.

BOWICK SAVES New Brighton was fortunate that it had Dave Bowiek's reliable goal-kicking to bolster its limited attacking resources against University A. The yellow-jerseyed seasiders won three times as much •econd-pliase possession as their

rivals, yet In spite of this precious advantage they scored only one try to three. This was a costly failure by Brighton, for it bad little joy in set play — in fact, it gained more ball from rucks than scrums and line-outs c abined; If there were any planned moves they were not in evidence, for Graeme. Ellis often received bad ball at half-back. Randal Scott showed what a force he is in rugby this season by scoring all- three of University’s ' tries. . but much of the credit must go to Kevin Jennings,- ' whose tactical kicking

and intution for making the burst could not be faulted. New Brighton played with : considerable zest in the for- , wards, and Peter McLaren was unrelenting in his bids to drive 1 a wedge deep into University’s ! defences. Garth Samuels and Devon Power, were the most : attentive of the tight forwards, 1 but there were too many untidy feeds for the pack to gain full marks. 1 Because of these problems. : the New Brighton backs did not , make as much impact as usual. Wayne Burleigh was given little ' latitude by Jennings, and the

sharp attacker in midfield, Stephen Blackler, was largely unused. University fielded a patchwork team because of injuries and unavoidable absences. However, Gary Barkle and Jennings produced sound tactics, and Scott demonstrated his class by seizing his limited opportunities avidly. Up front University had difficulty at times coping with New Brighton's drive, but Ross Paniora, playing out of position, and David Blue, scorning an injury to play as a replacement, epitomised the team’s spirit. In addition to his solid goalkicking. Bowick fielded surely for New Brighton. University, on the other hand, was desperate for a kicker, and at one stage in the second half Barkle appeared to be offering the ball at auction. PACK POWER

Linwood's forward power has been a feature of senior competitions for the last two decades, and Marist found, to its cost, fhat there is life in ths old dog yet. Although the Marist forwards applied, themselves with infinite vigour .to the close quarter battle, they discovered, it? the long run. that trying to steamroll the Linwood pack is akin to hutting heads against a brick wall. Linwood's cohesiveness in the tight and the discipline it brought to most of its forward manoeuvres eventually exhausted a willing Marist effort. No-one did better in establishing priorities than John Phillips, especially in the first half. Scarcely a ruck developed without his being at the base, having been first to the loose ball, and the try he scored from a fleeting chance could have been gained only by a loose forward possessing initiative and determination.

Presiding over the whole Linwood operation was lan Mallard, who was on the ball in more wavs than one. With he and Phillips snaring the ball and the other Linwood forwards driving over the top. Marist could onlysit back and admire the technioue. To be sure, Marist gained its share of possession. Tony Katting hooked swiftly. Kevin Milne jumped high in the lineouts. but the anticipated thrust from the Marist backs did not eventuate, even though Paul Molloy cut a dangerous figure now and then. The pity was that Marist could not give him the ball ahead of his hands, rather than on his hip, and one horrific pass over his head was worth six points to Linwood. Rod Latham had Linwood six points up in as many minutes from the start through two assured dropped goals, and Marist chased willingly but unavailingly from then on. Bernie Stewart goals from Linwood infringements kept Marist in the picture in the second half, hut he could not get his back-line ignited. Linwood’s less spectacular back-line played soundly, with Murray Le Compte providing plenty of thrust from fullback. But Terry’ Mitchell had an off-day, and Linwood was fortunate that Marist did not play tc his wing more often. LONG HAUL

Shirley was down 0-16 In the first half of the main game at Rugby Park, but came home in a canter against Sydenham. Shirley began impressively, the forwards winning good possession. and the backs running sharplv. but two tactical kicks bv the Svdenham first fiveeighths, Terry Bastion, rocketed the cardinal-and-blues to an early lead. The first was a wide, raking kick which allowed Brett Oetgen to score unopposed, and the second an up-and-under which bounced among the Shirley defenders and hit the cross-bar. Peter O’Halloran followed up fast to score between the posts.

Helped by the wind. Brent Nicoll kicked two long range penalties and converted O’Halloran’s try to leave the Shirley players shaking their heads, bewildered. But Stuart Mitchell stirred up a sense of urgency in his men and Frank Jack crossed for an inevitable try in the thirty-ninth minute. Shirley faced a long haul in the second half to make up the deficit but, although shaken by a Nicoll dropped goal, it ground inexorably towards its target, drawing level after 70 minutes with the first of Stuart Michell’s

tries and a conversion by Peter Osborne.

There was no doubt that Shirley deserved to win. Its powerful forwards won the line-outs, 22-9, the scrums. 17-11, and the rucks, 20-7, and the backs looked classy if a little inclined to come infield when there was space waiting to be exploited on the flanks.

Sydenham lost Lyn Chandler through injury after 20 minutes, and this left Stuart Mitchell reigning supreme at the back of the line-out. Gordon Burrow fed off his controlled taps to mount assaults on the Sydenham midfield. well suported by the harddriving loose forwards, Stuart Lockie and Robert Hammersley. Anton Wils was a smart mover at first five-eighths. Frank Jack powerful and aggressive in midfield. and Brad Stringer full of running at centre. Malcolm Melhopt was a fiery prop forward for Sydenham and Roger Higgs made Kerry Mitchell’s task in the line-outs more difficult, ALBION ON TOP A steady Albion side came home comfortably against a frenetic Hornby in a game marred by infringements and errors.

There were few bright spots, precious little to excite the crowd in a match which was dominated by’ the whistle. A single brilliant movement by Hornby was all that lingered in the memory. , Forwards and backs combined to sweep the ball towards the right flank where Bill Anderson was set up for a rare sortie. He beat tackle after tackle in a powerful, surging run. and when the movement looked likely to founder. Allan Laugesen, a lockforward. popped up to take the final pass and score in the corner. Laugesen. in fact played a fine, all-round game for Hornby. He shirked nothing in the tight exchanges but still found the pace and energy to be a dominant figure in the loose. Murray Kennard, a vigorous prop, was also prominent in the loose and Gerry Tairoa was a useful flanker. The Hale brothers and Willie Pirini were willing counter, attackers for Homby but there was plenty of lateral movement and little headway made. Neither back-line had much chance to settle into a rhythm because many of the scrums ended in disarray with the half - backs caught in possession. The Albion forwards played much more tightly than their opponents, and their solid efforts gained a slight territorial advantage throughout the match, enabling Murray Straight to get points on the board through some fine goal - kicking. Murray’ Davie, at the front, and Straight, at the back, won good ball for Albion in the line-outs Hornby countered by shorten-

ing the line and throwing deep to the half-back, Neville Wilson, who played a lively, running game. Davie Straight, and Gary Sellars were willing workers in the Albion pack with Straight also featuring on cover-defence. The Albion backs were a pretty anonymous lot but they suffered from a lack of useful possession. Ricky Heatherington was an ebullient half-back, but he had great difficulty finding his first five-eighths, Nicky Dierck. Dierck remairied cool, however, and his dropped goal — the only score

of the second half — put the result beyond doubt. SUBURBS DOWNED

Suburbs arranged for a videotape to be recorded of its game against Merivale-Papanui at Nunweek Park, and although the match was an even struggle, the programme will show a team in defeat- __ . . . The game was 30 minutes old before points were put on the board by Merivale-Papanui, much against the run of play. Suburbs was camped on its oppnent’s 22-metre line, but in trying to break the Merivale-Papa-nui defence, a pass went astray. Merivale-Papanui’s second fiveeighths. Paul Karena. snapped up the ball and passed it on to the left wing. Lisiate Tatola, who ran 50 metres to score in the corner, taking two Suburbs tacklers with him. . .. Stung, Suburbs came back when Merivale-Papanui’s first five-eighths, Geoff Griffiths, dropped the ball, and the centre, John Halligan, crashed over Ihe try was converted by Neil McKav. However, Merivale-Papanui came right back into the game in the second - half, and spent most of the time in the Suburbs territory. At one stage, MerivalePapanui forced no less than three five-metre scrums, but failed to make the needed break. In fact, the next try came from a fine run bv the Merivale-Papanui No 8. Steve Barnden, at the halfway -mark, when he broke through several would-be tacklers and passed on to the flanker, lan Culpan. who raced away to touch down. Suburbs was again stung into action, but Merivale-Papanui held on in what proved to be a clean even, forward struggle, with both teams attempting to move the ball along the back-line from set play in conditions that were not ideal for running rugby. HARD PRESSED

Christchurch took command of its match against University B only in the last 10 minutes, and for the rest of the game just kept the students at

bay with some robust, driving forward play.

Although clearly superior in the tight-forward struggle, Christchurch could not match the University side for flair and inventive back play. Christchurch had most of the possession — mainly from lineouts — and generally its forwards were the superior unit. However the possession was often wasted by the back-line, which for most of the game worked sideways across the field, hassled and harried by the light, fast University forwards. Chris Bunyon. who has been the mainstay of the University back-line this season, pegged back' the Christchurch team with a series of accurate probing kicks. These kicks were followed up bv an enthusiastic University pack. John Wood led most of these, and he was a problem for Christchurch throughout the match.

Throughout the second half the tight Christchurch forwards set the pattern of play. Peter Fry dominated most of the line-outs and Mike Cron was the power behind his side’s success in rucks and mauls. It was only a matter of time before the abundance of ball put Christchurch in scoring positions. Steven Griffiths, the University half-back. showed the ability to motivate his forwards and proved a sound link with Bunyon. Given better protection from set play. Griffiths would be able to make a more positive contribution to his side's scoring chances. The University pack was outplayed in the scrums, rucks, and line-outs, but was a much faster unit and was able to provide good cover for the backs. The best of the University outside backs was Ata Herman, at centre. He added thrust and flair to the back play and tackled vigorously. The match was hard, clean, and fast. Excellent interpretation of the advantage rule by referee. Mr H. R- Catherwood, enhanced the entertainment of the game. EVEN GAME

Old Boys were rather fortunate to beat a spirited Burnside team by 10 points in a clean and evenly fought match. Old Boys, although deserving to win, did not have the supenoritv over their determined opponents that the score would suggest. In the first half Burnside enjoved a slight territorial advanage but could not turn this into points, mainly through a lack of finishing from the backs. In the second half Old Boys improved their play and managed to .run in two tries. Their forwards got a greater share of the possession and the backs, although making several mistakes, were prepared to throw the ball around. Gary Fuller and Donald Symon (Old Bovs) won good line-out

ball, while Mark Harding grafted away in the tight. And Geofl Machirus at full-back managed to make a lot of ground with a number of long, raking punts. •For Burnside, Graham Church and Graeme Thomas were the pick of the forwards, always figuring, prominently in the play. David Farrant at first five eighths, played a good game, making one spectacular run which almost brought a try ,

LATE WIN In spite of holding a territorial advantage for most of the game, Belfast only just got home against a plucky and determined Lincoln College side at Sheldon Park. The Belfast forwards won plenty of possession, but the passing in the backs was too slow and laboured and much ball was frittered away by mistakes or fine defensive work bv the students. 'Belfast suffered an early setback when Paul Cunneen, backing up a fine blind-side move started by the lull-back, John Holmes, crossed the line after only two minutes. Cunneen, a flanker, got through a great amount of work in the tight and loose, always worrying tne Belfast inside backs. As the first half wore on. Belfast, through the tight five, asserted its dominance, but Lincoln held off with determined tackling and the relative slowness of the Belfast backs. The Lincoln backs, on the other hand. functioned smoothly, Lance Rickard at first fiveeighths, moving the ball quickly and sweetly to his outsides and kicking intelligently to keep Belfast in check. But Lincoln's forwards came under more pressure as the game progressed, the front row often being buckled in the scrums, and with Belfast dominating the line-outs mainly through Tim Ashworth at No. 3. it seemed only a matter of time before Lincoln would capitulate. , , It was. however, a last-minute effort, ironically bv the Belfast backs, that secured the winning points with Kevin ' Hickman pouncing on a loose ball ana racing 50m before handing on to Muri Lloyd to score. In a rather lack-lustre Belfast backline John Freeman ran strongly from full-back. . while Mardy Vincent on the wing — only 16 years old — looked a good prospect. He played for New Zealand under 17 in May. Ashworth and Denis Karatau, until he retired hurt, were the pick of the Belfast nack toiling earnestly and hard. For Lincoln. Mark Mclntosh on the wing was a dangerous runner while Cunneen and the captain, Daye White, stood out in the forwards.

Lower grade rugby result, page 18

Cup contest were.— A Pts W D L F New Brl. 13 1 1 291 134 27 Linw. 13 0 2 331 144 26 Marist 11 2 410 139 24 Univ. A 11 1 3 379 189 23 Chch 11 1 3 225 123 23 H.S.O.B, 10 1 4 255 158 21 Shir. 10 0 5 228 157 20 Belf. 8 1 6 241 226 17 Albion 5 1 9 138 257 11 Hornby 4 1 10 117 267 9 Subs 4 0 11 151 227 8 Mer-Pap. 4 0 11 149 255 8 Lino. Coll. 3 1 11 155 209 7 Burn. o 3 10 134 336 7 Univ. B 3 0 12 117 352 6 Syd. 1 1 13 151 298 3