D.C.L. Shield places decided

Press, 5 August 1985, Page 23

D.C.L. Shield places decided

Burnside and Suburbs will contest the final on Sunday of the D.C.L. Shield series.

They emerged as the clear section winners with victories over their closest rivals on Saturday. Burnside took control in the second half of its game against

Albion, while Suburbs staged an amazing recovery to overhaul Lincoln College in the final two minutes.

Burnside’s Deane McKinnel, who had set a new senior points-scoring record the previous week, scored 10 points to take his total for the season to 204.

With all 18 points for Shirley, Colin Williamson also moved past the old record of 178. His total is now 195 and he has one more game to join McKinnel as the second double centurion.

On Saturday three new names were added to the list of players to score a century of points this season. They were Andrew McCormick- (Linwood), whose final total was 106, Brent Hutchinson (Belfast), 108, and Hamish McGregor (Lincoln College), 100.

Others, besides McKinnel and Williamson, already on the list were Michael Reeves (High School Old Boys), 156, Rod Latham (Christchurch), 150, Daryl Cotterell (University), 133 and Greg Coffey (Marist) 123. Final points: Section one: Burnside 12, Albion 8, Sydenham 4, Meri-vale-Papanui 0. Section two: Suburbs 12, Lincoln College 6, Lyttelton 5, Hornby 4. Suburbs 19, Lincoln College 16 Suburbs: G. Creed, P. Walkinshaw, J. Bennie tries; N. McKay two conversions, penalty goal. Lincoln College: M. Auld try; H. McGregor four penalty goals. Referee: Mr T. M. Hannan. Suburbs staged an incredible come-back to snatch victory

from Lincoln College at Jellicoe Domain. With 27 minutes remaining, Suburbs was down 13 points, but it rallied magnificently to gain the winning try only two minutes from the finish.

Suburbs had only itself to blame for falling behind early. College bustled Suburbs into mistakes and Hamish McGregor turned penalties into points. Suburbs also fell foul of the refeeree in the first spell and, at one point, had two players, (Ross Dore and Paul Walkinshaw) in the sin bin at the same time.

But as the second spell progressed, Suburbs took control of the tight play and College could not respond to the persistent pressure. Sensing a weakening of College’s resolve, Suburbs lifted itself in the last 15 minutes and added two converted tries. Graham Creed, Jim Bennie and Barry White led the revitalised Suburbs pack, while Dave Baxter was the most incisive back. The big locks, Tom Coughlan and Mark Gascoigne, toiled diligently for College, while Craig Williamson was swift and sure at halfback and Brent Nahkies ran purposefully at second fiveeighths. Burnside 18, Albion 11

Burnside: S. Foley, G. Woolman tries; D. McKinnel two conversions, two penalty goals. Albion: B. Winks, M. Davie tries; K. Pearce penalty goal. Referee: Mr A. R. Bateman.

Playing with considerable authority, Albion took command of the first quarter of the early game at Lancaster Park South and it had further periods hotly on attack. Burnside, however, had enough of

the remaining play to forge a reasonably comfortable victory. Albion led, 7-0, after 10 minutes, but Burnside had recovered to 12-7 by half-time. Although Murray Davie finished a good movement in the corner to narrow the deficit to a single point, Burnside surged away again to clinch the match. Davie and Peter Palmer had strong games in the Albion pack and Shane Adair was prominent in the line-outs. Nicky Dierck’s kicking from first five-eighths was usually an asset to the side.

The level-headed approach of Rob Penney did much for the Bumside cause and there was some good, controlled driving play in difficult conditions from the entire pack, most notably when Simon Foley scored his try.

Tim Sprott had a tidy game behind the pack and Deane McKinnel was usually cool and proficient enough to relieve Burnside from a lot of the pressure which the Albion forwards were able to apply. Sydenham 7, Merivale - Papanui 0 Sydenham: A. Gray try; M. Timms penalty goal. Referee Mr T. R. Marshall. Adapting better to the heavy conditions of Sydenham Park, the home team was a convincing winner over MerivalePapanui. The lighter Sydenham pack had the measure of its opponents and the play in the loose was particularly good. Andrew Gray had a consistently good game and sound support came from Ben Tipene and Grant Bull. Behind the forwards Stewart Gourdie played his usual capable game. His kicking, both in

the air and along the ground was astute, as was his passing. Mark Timms also kicked well to keep the ball ahead of his forwards. Merivale-Papanui also made a contribution to a game which, considering the conditions, was interesting and had plenty of movement. In the tight Steve Barnden was a force, while Bub Hepi played well in the loose. Paul Dunn, the half-back, was the best of the backs. Hornby 9, Lyttelton 3 Hornby: C. Bloomfield try; P. Treves conversion, penalty goal. Lyttelton: D. Couch penalty goal. Referee: Mr R. J. Grant.

After an early try by its half-back, Clayton Bloomfield,

Hornby was able to hold and beat Lyttelton at the latter’s home ground. The game was played mostly in the forwards and both packs went about their work with a will. The Hornby pack had a particularly good first half, with Phil Cross and Lamen Hohaia standing out.

Lyttelton spent more time on attack in the second spell, but was unable to finish off its moves. The side lost Victor Simpson early in the second spell with a thigh injury. Neither backline functioned with much efficiency, although there were sound games from the two first five-eighths, Paul Treves (Hornby) and Dean Couch.

The win gave Hornby its third win for the season, which is three more than it had last season. There was also one drawn game this year.