Shirley surprise senior rugby finalist against veteran Marist

Press, 5 August 1985, Page 23

Shirley surprise senior rugby finalist against veteran Marist

Marist, which has lost three Christchurch senior rugby grand finals in the last four years, will have another chance on Sunday to change its luck.

It qualified for this year’s final by beating High School Old Boys, 10-9, at Lancaster Park south on Saturday, while at Rugby Park Shirley surprised most people by easily beating University to become the other finalist. This will be the first time that Shirley has played in an important final, and its dramatic improvement this season is shown by the fact that last winter it was an also ran in the bottom eight D.C.L. Shield series. Shirley was formerly known as Technical Old Boys (the name change was made in 1962) and it was as Technical that the club last won the senior championship, almost 40 years ago in 1946. To replace Shirley as the top team of its section, University had to beat Shirley by seven points on Saturday. By half-time, however, Shirley was ahead, 12-3, and even then the chances were faint of University recovering to win by the required points. It was a fine team performance by Shirley, with the side’s brightest star being the first five-eighths, Colin Williamson. He scored all the team’s 18 points with three converted tries. All three were fine tries. One of the conversions was from out towards the sideline.

He was also pushed out in the corner when seeming set for a fourth try. Williamson, naturally enough, took the Quills “player of the day" award.

There was a lot of surface water on Rugby Park and it was not long before there were large patches of mud, especially on the stand side. While University never seemed comfortable in the conditions, it was on a heavy Lancaster Park, and only three weeks ago, that it humbled Shirley, 28-3, in the last round of the Cup series. But with something to play for this time, a place in the trophy final, Shirley was clearly in a very different frame of mind. Every move it made smacked of total determination to be on Lancaster Park on Sunday. Although winning by only one point, Marist generally had the better of Old Boys. It scored the only try of the match and did most of the attacking in the second spell. Old Boys produced a strong finish, but a penalty goal was all it could manage.

In other championship trophy games on Saturday Belfast returned to its best form to beat Christchurch easily and New Brighton edged out Linwood. In the Christchurch-Bel-fast match a lock from each side, John Currie (Christchurch) and Andrew Mills, was sent to the sin bin.

Shirley 18, University 3 Shirley: C. Williamson three tries, three conversions. University: D. Cotterell penalty goal. Referee: Mr M. L. Fitzgibbon.

With plenty of support from the crowd, Shirley produced a fine display of heavy-ground rugby to beat University at Rugby Park. Right from the start Shirley looked the more committed side. It absorbed some early pressure, but won the race for the vital early points when, after 10 minutes, Colin Williamson carved a gap on the short side of a ruck all the way to the line. From then on Shirley was firmly in control. Its forwards drove with ruthless efficiency and the ball they won was brilliantly controlled by the inside backs, Allan Lindsay and Williamson.

Daryl Cotterell gave University some hope when he kicked an excellent penalty goal in the thirty-first minute, but Shirley was quick to reply. Williamson scored his second try, running nearly 40m after working a clever double round with Brett Dixon.

Shirley had few worries in the second spell. It wisely adopted a no-risks approach. The ground by then was too muddy for University to expect any late rush of points. The only points of the second spell came in the last minute and once again the scorer was Williamson. He again broke away from a ruck and this time had a clear run of 20m to the posts; as with his earlier tries he added the conversion. Whether it was because of the conditions or the determination of the opposition is I A

hard to say, but University showed nothing like its best form.

The forwards seldom made much headway and their lack of protection contributed to the below-par performance of the half-back, Garry Barkle. The side was not helped by losing Warwick Taylor after seventeen minutes with a rib injury which he received while playing for Canterbury last week. Easily the best of the backs, was the full-back, Cotterell. He was magnificent under the high ball, foiled many of Shirley’s attacking sorties With his sound positional play and was the best mover over the muddy surface. Simon Tobias, who came on in the second half, had a couple of good runs, and Kieran Jones made his mark with one superb, try-saving tackle.

In the forwards, Dale Atkins bore the most mud at the finish, testimony to the work he was given, and Merv Aoake shirked nothing. But as a team University hardly fired a shot. Shirley, on the other hand, looked to have a far greater “hunger” for victory. The forwards, with Kerry Mitchell, Mike Burn and Mike Young always prominent, outpointed their rivals in just about every endeavour and it was their collective mobility which kept University on the back foot. Lindsay had far less difficulty than Barkle with his clearances and it is doubtful if Williamson has ever played a better game of senior rugby. His three tries tell their own story, but whether handling, kicking, or running he barely made a mistake.

Craig Green provided solidarity further out, and there was some very forceful running from the full-back, Brad Stringer.

There were no excuses from the University camp. “The better side won,” was the comment from both coaches, Mark Romans and Brian Hays. The Shirley players plodded from the field to heroes’ welcomes. No doubt, they were wearing big smiles beneath their mud-caked faces. Marist 10 Old Boys 9 Marist: W. Anderson try; G. Coffey two penalty goals. Old Boys: M. Reeves three penalty goals. Referee: Mr K. Scannell. In bog-like, almost impossible conditions, there was not much between the teams in the main Lancaster Park south match. Marist achieved a slightly more concerted effort up front and did its cause considerable good by keeping Old Boys pinned deep in their own territory for a long period in the second half. If there had to be a winner, it was fitting that it be Marist, if for no other reason than it scored the only try of the match. It was a beauty, too, coming in the first half before the ball was completely saturated. Greg Coffey ran on the short side from a ruck, and when the way was blocked, put in a neat little chip for Bill Anderson to follow. With nobody within several metres of him, all Anderson had to do was fall on the ball. If Marist had the better of much of the second half, there had to be admiration for the way the Old Boys backs staged a last-ditch assault for victory towards the end. James Leggat and Shane Menehira were highly prominent as Old Boys swept downfield in a series of thrilling bursts. The culmination of these efforts, however, was a penalty goal to Michael Reeves which brought the score to 10-9. There was a long deliberation about whether to attempt the goal after a penalty was given just out from the Marist line.

Old Boys obviously fancied their chances of coming back again, but they were denied any real chance of scoring further points. The two full-backs, Michael Reeves (Old Boys) and Richard Connell, came through testing assignments very well indeed. Both excelled many times in general play. Another outstanding figure was the Old Boys half-back, Richard Leggat. On a nightmarish day for half-backs, Leggat did exceptionally well to clear the ball as often and as proficiently as he did. In the Old Boys pack, Nigel Ward had his moments and there were whole-hearted efforts from Mike Cunningham and Barry Newfield, among others. Geoff Hooker was prominent until the conditions rendered most of the forwards unrecognisable. For Marist, Pat O’Gorman covered a lot of ground and got through an amazing amount of work both on the drive and in defence. Mike Taylor, with bright blood frothing at his lips in the middle of a mask of mud, was another to turn in a sterling performance. Bernie Ryan was also of considerable value. Belfast 30, Christchurch 7 Belfast: A. Boyd 2, B. Hutchinson 2, M. Haase, J. Taylor tries; Hutchinson three conversions. Christchurch: P. Shennan try; G. Barclay dropped goal. Referee: Mr T. F. Doocey. When Belfast strikes its combinations it is a particularly impressive side and it did click against Christchurch at Jellicoe Domain. Belfast scored six tries, and some of them were excellent efforts, in downing Christchurch, 30-7, and it had the match well in control at halftime, when it led, 20-7. Both teams contributed to a fast-moving game, but Belfast was much the better at finishing off its attacking moves. The Belfast three-quarters, Mardy Vincent and Adrian Boyd, on the wings, and Brent Hutchinson were in scintillating form, running determinedly, chasing hard, and exposing deficiencies in the rearguard of the Christchurch defence. Christchurch showed enterprise at times, and opened the scoring after a good backline move which put Paul Shennan in at the corner. But Belfast gained enough ball from the forward exchanges to allow its talented backline full rein. Rod Goodman had a dynamic game on the side of the Belfast scrum and Theo Gomans found his niche at No.

8. Mark Haase, at half-back, gave superb service to his backs, who were eager to attack and handled the greasy ball remarkably well. Christchurch was not let down by its forwards, and the props, Gordon Smith and Bruce Amai, excelled in driving from the mauls. Andy Thomas had a robust game at the front of the line-outs, while Viv de Beus made several strong charges from the back of the scrum. But the Christchurch backs never teamed as well as their opposites and it was usually left to individual efforts by Wayne Tinker, Grant James, or Joe Leota to put pressure on Belfast’s defence.

New Brighton 21, Linwood 19 New Brighton: W. Burleigh, M. Powell tries; R. Adler two conversions, two penalty goals; P. Holstein dropped goal. Linwood: G. Jones, S. Bachop, P. Cropper tries; A. McCormick two conversions, penalty goal. Referee: Mr K. N. McCrea.

With nothing at stake on the game except prestige, both New Brighton and Linwood played open rugby at Rawhiti Domain, the result being an evenly contested match with the lead being swapped numerous times and New Brighton finally winning in the dying moments with a dropped goal. New Brighton attacked strongly towards the end and Holstein, the first five-eighths, missed an earlier attempt minutes before being on target with his 30m kick. Both sides used their forwards and backs in a number of sweeping moves, but mistakes spoilt many attacking sorties just as they looked likely to produce points. Linwood, which led 13-9 at halftime, seemed set to repeat its win in the Championship Cup competition over the seasiders, but it succumbed in a tense finish.

The forceful running of Norm Phillips at centre proved a grand asset to New Brighton and both five-eighths, Holstein and Wayne Burleigh, played sensibly. The forwards were spurred on by the vigorous performances of the rugged props, Paul Bell and Tony Williamson. The highly promising first five-eighths, Steve Bachop, ran the Linwood backline and did so astutely, while Kose Seinafo made several delightful midfield breaks. In the forwards, Phil Cropper, the hooker, was very active in loose play and his alertness went rewarded with a fine try just before halftime.

Final placing®:— A Pts Section one W L F Shirley 3 0 57 16 12 Univ. 1 2 25 29 5 Belfast 1 2 38 41 4 Chch 1 2 23 57 4 Section twi 9 Marist 3 0 73 15 12 H.S.O.B. 2 1 25 48 9 N. Brighton 1 2 24 78 4 Linwood 0 3 38 63 2