Rugby wins to Shirley, Chch

Press, 7 May 1981, Page 4

Rugby wins to Shirley, Chch

Both the fancied teams, Shirley and Christchurch, won their night rugby matches at Denton Oval last evening, but neither found the victory path easy. Shirley did not take the lead until the final quarter against Burnside and its winning margin, 13-4, flattered Shirley. In the second garni, Christchurch was under heavy, pressure against a tenacious Albion team and scraped home, 1645. . • : ■ ' Burnside, which often plays in fits and starts, gave a concerted team effort against Shirlev. Bumside had the use,of a strong wind and its half-time lead of 4-0 did not look sufficient, v However, it held Shirley at bay until the twentieth minute of the second spell before Alan Lindsay, the half-back, sneaked across from a scrum to give his team the lead for the first time. ' Roger Smith and . Stu Lochie did sterling work in the Shirley pack, but the forwards did not always click aS a unit. Frank Jack was the stabilising force in the Shirley back-line and Peter Kidd had a useful match at first five-eighths. Burnside gave one of its best displays this -season with Ray Genet dictating play astutely at half-back.' The , big . lock,. Kevin Johnston, Kevin Gibbpns and Colin Stokes hoed in vigorously 'in the tight-Christchurch scored a fine try after three minutes and seemed wt -to -take -command against Alblfo, Ho*ever, .there sras not too

much more for Christchurch to enthuse about as Albion fOugbt back with spirit and enterprise. Jock Hobbs was magnifieMt for Christchurch; his surging runs gained valuable ground and his cover defence was imneceabie. Gordon Smith and Peter Fry supported him in , the forwards and Paul Shannon impressed among the backs with hie strong running and ability, to finish off back-line moves. Albion's strong resistance stemmed from a superlative game by its half-back, Ralph Robertson, who made life a misery for his Christchurch .opposite. The forwards, although well beaten m the line-outs, conceded nothing in other phases of the game. ■ The' tireless Murray Straight capped off a fine game with a powerful charge over 15m in the final minutes which brought him a deserved try. . Points in “Th® Press” competition were; Burnside 15, Shirley 16, Albion 16, Christchurch 14.

Scores:- Y SHIRLEY 13 (A. Lindsay a trv, P. Kidd a dropped goal; P. Geberhe two penalty goals) beat BURNSIDE 4 (B. Brown a try). Referee: Mr R. B. Rudkin. CHRISTCHURCH 16 (P. Shannon two tries; R. M. Deans a conversion and two penalty goals) beat ALBION 15 (R. Robertson, M. T. Straight tries; A. Quested two conversions and a penalty goal). Referee; Mr M. L. Fitzgibbon.