Barkle prominent

Press, 3 May 1984, Page 38

Barkle prominent

The sparkle provided by its half-back Gary Barkle greatly assisted University to beat Shirley, 26-9, in a senior rugby match at Denton Oval last evening. Barkle showed that his two-year sojourn in Italy had done his game no harm. His pass was as long and as swift as ever, and the sharpness of his whole game gave University a thrust which Shirley could not contain. The University forwards made things easier for Barkle with' a very solid display, with Dale Atkins, Colin Currie and Tim Lam-

bert prominent. They won a lot of good possession and all Shirley had to fall back on was solid tackling and the good, covering of its loose forwards, Mark Young and Waka Ama. At half-time, University led 16-9 and, although it added only two further tries in the second spell, its grip on the game remained firm. In the curtain-raiser, Sydenham beat Hornby, 1810. This was a fairly untidy game with both sides having problems with handling. Sydenham led 15-3 at half-time and was never in danger of being caught al-

though it was the Hornby No. 8, Phil Cross, who scored the try of the match in the last few minutes. Scorers:— University 26 (S. Tobias, S. Karpik, R. Gibson, C. Currie, C. McDowell tries; Karpik three conversions) beat Shirley 9 (C. Williamson three penalty goals. Referee: Mr R. B. Pidgeon. Sydenham 18 (A. Gray, R. Ball tries; A. Edge two conversions, two penalty goals) beat Hornby 10 (P. Cross try; K. Linton two penalty goals). Referee: Mr A. R. Bateman.