University ends long winning run by Marist in seniors

Press, 9 June 1986, Page 22

University ends long winning run by Marist in seniors

Fears that one team, namely Marist, would clear out from the field in the Trusteebank Trophy senior rugby competition were dispelled in the gloom at Lancaster Park on Saturday. After 16 straight wins, Marist was beaten, 10-6, by a University side, which was transformed remarkably from the team which was humbled on the same ground a week earlier.

Marist appeared to have salvaged a draw when it scored a converted try with the game into injury time, but University came back and snatched a deserved victor/ with a try to flanker John McCaw. A few minutes earlier, McCaw had been named as the Quills “player of the day.” At Rugby Park, the award went to the Shirley No. 8, Paul Rushton. Marist’s loss means that the Trusteebank pennant has a first change of hands, but, perhaps, of more moment to the University team and its supporters is that a win on Saturday was vital to University’s chances of a respectable placing in the Trophy round.

The lead is now shared by Shirley and High School Old Boys. Shirley had too much forward power for Linwood on Saturday, and Old Boys had a surprisingly big win over Burnside. One of Old. Boys’ two tries were scored by Nigel Ward, who a few weeks ago was wearing Burnside colours.

However, the biggest surprise of the day, apart from Marist’s loss, was Sydenham's drawn game with New Brighton. Sydenham’s vast improvement in recent weeks is shown by the fact that in the Cup round New Brighton won 33-3.

Hornby, too, showed it is capable of giving a lot more cheek than it used to by drawing with Belfast, a side amost schizophrenic in its moods.

Merivale-Papanui was another side at the bottom of the table that gave notice of improvement with a bold second-half display against Lincoln College, while Suburbs gained a rare win, at the expense of Lyttelton. Christchurch stayed handy to the pace with a comfortable win over Albion.

Neil McKay (Suburbs) was the day’s top scorer with 19 points, including eight goals from nine attempts. Colin Williamson scored 15 to pass Greg Coffey (Marist) as the grade’s top scorer. Williamson has 144, Coffey 143 and Mike Reeves (Old Boys) is close on their heels with 140.

University 10 Marist 6 University: J. McCaw try; M. Liddicoat penalty goal, dropped goal. Marist: W. Anderson try; G. Coffey conversion. Referee: Mr D. J. Winton. Regulars at Lancaster Park must have wondered if they were watching the same University team which the previous week had bumbled its way to an inglorious defeat at the hands of Burnside. There were trappings of glory this time, as University put a sizeable spanner in the hitherto smooth workings of "the green machine.” Not even the loss of three players through injuries, and the de-

parture of another (Ekeroma Luaiufi) to the sin bin for 10 minutes, could rattle University’s resolve. A powerful forward display enabled it to match Marist in this area, and if the backs were limited in their attacking ploys their tackling was such that the Marist line was just about shut out of the game.

Given this strong forward platform, University was able to play the sort of game it wanted. The first five-eighths, Mark Liddicoat, placed the high kick expertly behind the Marist defence, and his forwards wasted no time in getting to the breakdowns. However, it was goal-kick-ing that cost Marist the game. The usually reliable Greg Coffey missed four penalty attempts before he was replaced by Richard Connell, and Connell was even more astray with his three attempts. Each side was unlucky not to get a try before the exciting final two minutes. The University half-back, Kevin Brown, appeared to get the ball down midway through the second half and soon after Coffey probably scored, but unfortunately for him the referee was unsighted.

The match ended in sensational fashion. With less than two minutes to go, University was up 6-0 and on attack, but Coffey ran the ball from his own goal-line and the movement swept the length of the field before Bill Anderson dived over under the posts. Coffey added the conversion, but the joy in the Marist camp was short-lived. University got back on attack from the kick-off and a drive for the line by the forwards ended with John McCaw scoring beneath a blanket of green jerseys. It was fitting that McCaw should get the winning try, as he had been the game’s outstanding forward. Andrew Macky and Pat Benson were others who contributed mightily to the cause, while there were two vital tightheads in the four that John Buchan won. Shirley 27, Linwood 10 Shirley: B. Stringer, R. Mclntosh, P. Rushton tries; C. Williamson three conversions, penalty goal, two dropped goals. Linwood: G. Jones two tries; A. McCormick conversion. Referee: Mr T. R. Marshall. A performance of quality enabled Shirley to keep its unbeaten record intact in the main match at Rugby Park. The youthful Linwood team had no answer to the power and commitment of the Shirley forwards, and two of Shirley’s first-half tries resulted from steam-rolling drives with the ball carrier being supported over the line. Shirley, with three converted tries, led 18-6 at halftime, and its lead was never threatened in the second spell, although Linwood was always prepared to keep moving the ball. Considering its lack of height in the forwards, Linwood, not helped by the absence of Mike Fransen, competed surprisingly well in the line-outs, but it had no answer to Shirley in the scrums and mauls.

Brett Dixon helped himself to four tight-heads in the first half as Linwood’s scrum resembled a half-set jelly, and the close-quarter driving by the Shirley forwards had Linwood sounding the alarm bells.

A competent display by the Shirley half-back, Allan Lindsay, and a heady game by Colin Williamson outside him ensured that Shirley’s good possession was not wasted. Linwood gamely tried to outrun and outmanoeuvre Shirley, but the gaps closed almost as quickly as they opened, and it needed Greg

Jones’s speed on to kicks ahead to provide Linwood with its two tries.

Rob Mclntosh, Mark Young and Paul Rushton all featured in Shirley’s powerful forward showing, while the backs played their part by tackling firmly and getting up quickly to pressurise the Linwood backline attacks.

Julian Pike and Robbie Potts were not short on application in the Linwood engine room, and the backs ran strongly and attractively as usual. However, in Shirley, Linwood had met its match. High School Old Boys 20

Burnside 7 High School Old Boys: S. Brown, N. Ward, tries; M. Reeves, four penalty goals. Burnside: D. Walker, try: S. Philpott, penalty goal. Referee: Mr S. P. Garland. With both sides showing a willingness to play attacking rugby, the match at Burnside Park was entertaining. The result of the match hinged on the tighter discipline of Old Boys and the goal-kicking of the full-back, Michael Reeves. The first half was even, with the Burnside forwards having the upper hand, bursting through the line-out and harrying the opposition in the loose.

Their support play was excellent, and it was unusual to see the adventurous running of the backs come to naught through lack of support. Old Boys, in turn, were not afraid to run the ball although the backs were more circumspect and lacked the flair of Burnside.

In the second spell, the Old Boys forwards tightened their game, and Burnside fell apart somewhat under the continual pressure. Over-en-thusiam cost the team points, too.

In the Old Boys pack, Nigel Ward had an outstanding game, being prominent in the line-outs and showing up both in attack and defence in the open play. Sound support came from Denis Trembath and Steve Dravitski.

The half-back, Richard Leggat, came through a difficult game with credit. Simon Brown was an aggressive centre and Reeves an able full-back whose place-kicking was accurate. The Burnside backs were always looking for attacking opportunities. Dean Walker ran hard on the wing, Shayne Philpott was an able second five-eighths and Tim Spratt an elusive half-back.

Robin Penney matched Ward at the back of the scrum, both in attack and defence, and Danny Maguire also worked well.

Sydenham 18 New Brighton 18 Sydenham: G. Bull, P. Faletanoai tries; M. Small two conversions, two penalty goals. New Brighton: T. Case try; R. Adler conversion, four penalty goals. Referee, Mr A. R. Taylor.

A marvellous transformation has come over Sydenham in the last two weeks. Hot on the heels of a win against Albion, the side gained a moral victory in this drawn match in the hazy atmosphere of Denton oval. New Brighton does not seem to play well against low-ranked teams, and had it not been for the astuteness of Wayne Burleigh at first fiveeighths, the seasiders might have experienced a shock loss. They deserved it, for the forwards played in fits and starts, and the backs often cut infield, where the defence was thickest.

Sydenham was not perfect. It kicked far too much to Phil Holstein, whose catching and clearing never faltered, and

it often infringed close to its own goal-posts, giving Ross Adler four of the easiest penalty kicks he will get all season.

But in all other respects, Sydenham was superb. The forwards excelled at securing the loose ball and feeding it swiftly, and the backs moved the ball around energetically. Malcolm Aldridge was worth 10 marks out of 10 for his industry and effectiveness at half-back, and Grant Bull capped a noteworthy allround performance by filching four tight-heads in the scrums.

Andrew Gray, a flanker, and Ned Tamatea, left wing, were other strong contributers to Sydenham’s progress, and Andrew Herd played with a full head of steam in Brighton’s pack. But Na Katae was sin-binned for a crude head-high tackle, and Tony Case’s try could not have been more fortuitous. From a big punt by Burleigh, the ball bounced and burbled along the cross-bar before dropping into the Brighton back’s hands. The seasiders’ other thrusts for the line were met, and stifled, by hard, low tackles. Belfast 6 Hornby 6 Belfast: D. McKinnel penalty goal, dropped goal. Hornby: P. Treaves two penalty goals. Referee: Mr K. McCrea. Belfast might well be swabbed after yet another erratic performance in the early match at Rugby Park. The previous week Belfast was somewhere near its best when it scored a half-century of points; on Saturday it was extremely fortunate to escape with a draw.

After kicking two good penalty goals early in the match, the Hornby first five-eighths, Paul Treaves, failed with five further attempts.

Neither team could break the six-all deadlock in the second spell, although Hornby was more dangerous and forced three successive 5m scrums in one concentrated period qn attack in the final quarter. Both sides created chances, but the finishing touches were missing. Hornby might well have prospered with a faster service to its threequarter line, for Belfast’s midfield tackling was suspect and the Hornby wings, Gordon Ngatai and Ernie Goodhue, were among the sharpest and fastest movers.

Belfast claimed enough ball from the forward struggle to give itself opportunities, but none of a variety of moves brought reward. Andrew Mills and David Reid were good grafters in the Belfast

pack, but the backs lacked fluency.

Lamen Hohaia and Ces Patrick achieved a heavy workload for Hornby and the backline impressed with its thrust especially wide out. Christchurch 25 Albion 13 Christchurch: L. losefa, G. Barclay, S. Barclay tries; G. Kench two conversions, three penalty goals. Albion: C. Ball, M. Davie tries; G. James conversion, penalty goal. Referee, Mr R. Grant. Christchurch always had the winning of this Lancaster Park South match by virtue of a more organised effort up front, and greater penetration in the backs than Albion could achieve. The main strengths for Christchurch were in the lineout and in the controlled play of the pack on the drive. By playing Viv de Beus as a flanker, Christchurch achieved maximum strength in the line-outs, which they won by a convincing margin. There were many skilful, controlled touches by John Currie, with excellent tidyingup work by the supporting players. Bruce Amai was full of fire while retaining good control on the drive, and the perky half-back, Max Bremner, kept the pack on the boil by kicking into the “box” or linking with the bruising Mark Treweek.

The backs three times opened up the Albion defence, with Scott Barclay proving a dangerous attacker from the rear and Geoff Barclay and Lou Vieceli working well together in midfield.

Albion’s finest moment came in a long run by Murray Davie, who handled twice in the movement he had sparked to put Craig Ball in for a rousing try in the last quarter. Davie scored himself in this period.

Phil Riordan, the open-side flanker, had a very good first half, but faded a little after the break while Bevan Mitchell had the satisfaction of taking a tight-head from the former Canterbury hooker, Andrew McKellar. The Albion backline struggled to find any sort of rhythm; the playing of Grant James at first five-eighths and Trevor Baldwin at fullback was not a conspicuous success, but James ran hard from broken play.

Lincoln College 29 Merivale-Pap. 13 Lincoln College: H. Murchison (3), A. Owens tries; R. Pound two

conversions, three penalty goals. MerivalePapanui: S. Williams, P. Dunn tries; K. Thomas conversion, penalty goal. Referee, Mr B. Gardiner. Merivale-Papanui should have gained much satisfaction from its "second-half win” over Lincoln College in the early game at Lancaster Park.

In the first spell, MerivalePapanui paid for its defensive errors, and with a 22-3 lead at the interval Lincoln College looked set for a runaway victory. However, things turned out rather differently; with far more possession than it had earlier, Merivale-Papanui made most of the play and the backs, in particular, made a strong impression as they probed the open spaces. Merivale-Papanui scored two good tries in this period, and there should have been a third — the final pass being put down after a clean break by the full-back, Kevin Thomas. Lincoln College’s only try in the second spell came in the final minutes when the right wing, Hugh Murchison, crossed for the third time. Murchison ran with a lot of purpose and he employed a lovely outside swerve for his second try. Whereas the MerivalePapanui tackling was uneven, Lincoln College was always strong in this area. The second five-eighths, Mark McHardy, made some crunching tackles and, outside him, Kelvin Deaker was just as solid. Andrew Maze led a Meri-vale-Papanui pack which showed plenty of application in getting its hands on the ball. There was also a good game from the flanker, Stu Barnes. Suburbs 39 Lyttelton 13 Suburbs: P. Moore, J. Bennie, P. Tait, M. Mcßoberts, S. Richards tries; N. McKay five conversions, three penalty goals. Lyttelton: A. Williamson, J. Kottier tries, W. Porteous penalty goal, conversion. Referee, Mr H. R. Catherwood.

Suburbs recorded their second win of the year, and their second win against Lyttelton, when they thrashed the portsiders at Hoon Hay Park. The Suburbs forwards were in control for the whole game and their platform of possession allowed their backs to gain in confidence as the game progressed.

The accurate boot of Neil McKay led Suburbs to a halftime lead of 15-6. The only reply in a poor effort by Lyttelton was a length-of-the-field try scored by Andy Williamson and created by the incisive John Kottier. This was a piece of rugby that revealed Lyttelton as a side capable of more than it produces. Suburbs ran in four tries in the last 20 min, proof of their willingness to move the ball around and a pointer to the lack of match fitness in Lyttelton.

Outstanding in the Suburbs effort was Tahu Williams. He was used most effectively running at, and committing, the lighter Lyttelton forwards and he performed well as the sweeper in the line-outs. Good support was received from Phil Moore, Ross Doree, and a constructive No. 8, Jim Bennie.

Paul Tait, at half-back, directed play well and there was much ambition in the efforts from midfield. At fullback, McKay drove the Lyttelton side back with his touch kicking. Lyttelton was beaten up front and this lack of good bail limited its chances. Craig Pryor was full of endeavour, but the forward effort was loose and sporadic.

W L D F A Pt Shirley 4 0 0 104 52 16 HSOB 4 0 0 82 34 16 Marist 3 1 0 94 23 13 Chch 3 1 0 75 43 13 Belfast 2 1 1 86 38 10 Syd. 2 1 1 60 48 10 New Bri. 2 1 1 57 65 10 Linwood 2 2 0 88 56 9 Univ. 2 2 0 78 54 9 Linc.Coll. 2 2 0 71 48 9 Burn. 2 2 0 77 59 8 Hornby I 2 i 47 58 6 Subs. 1 3 0 48 134 4 Albion 0 4 0 36 106 0 Mer-Pap. 0 4 0 20 93 0 Lytt. 0 4 0 29 135 0