Premiership lead will be at stake on Wednesday

Press, 27 April 1987, Page 25

Premiership lead will be at stake on Wednesday

Outright leadership in the Canterbury rugby league premiership will be decided when the unbeaten Hornby and Papanui sides meet at the Addington Show Grounds on Wednesday evening. Kaiapoi drew level with them in terms of competition points when it beat Eastern Suburbs, 18-14, in a third-round fixture on Saturday. Kaiapoi, however, dropped a decision in one of its previous appearances.

The other game on Saturday resulted in a decisive first win to MaristWestern Suburbs at the expense of Linwood. The final scoreline of 40-10 was hardly expected when Marist-Western led by only six points at the interval after having the benefit of a strong wind. Addington, which began its programme with a win and a bye, has a chance to improve its position in Wednesday’s curtainraiser against Sydenham. Tony Wildermoth, with a try and six goals for Marist-Western, was easily the leading individual scorer on Saturday. A forceful Eastern forward, Tim Coster, won the “Man of the Match” award in the main game.

Linwood 3 0 3 46134: 0 Kaiapoi 18, Eastern 14 Kaiapoi: K. H. Turton, R. Mann, M. Stopforth tries;: S. R. Dixon three goals. Eastern: W. Naoupu, T. Rickard tries; B. R. Corkran three goals. Half-time, 14-12. Referee, Mr G. A. Baxter. A purple patch midway through the first half produced enough points for Kaiapoi to survive a strong challenge from Eastern Suburbs. Trailing by six, Kaiapoi spurted into the lead wheh, within four, minutes, its outside backs, Raven Mann and Mike Stopforth, contributed tries. ; Both were spectacular efforts. Mann, from the left wing, moved infield to cleanly catch an up-and-under above the Eastern tryline, and Stopforth expertly stepped through a gap and skipped away to touch down: But Kaiapoi had to conie from behind on a second occasion — thanks to a try 'by Kim Turton just before halftime — and vigorously defend its narrow advantage throughout a tryless second spell before claiming the premiership points. It had been a most promising start for Eastern. A strapping centre, Willie Naoupu, opened the scoring when he out-paced the Kaiapoi cover over 40 metres. Tainui Rickard capitalised on a favourable bounce for Eastern’s other try.

The attackers had to bow to the tacklers over the last 40 minutes. There was plenty of movement, interest was maintained by the closeness of the scores, and even after the final hooter had sounded

Eastern made a desperate bid for victory with an up-and-under kick from a tap penalty. Kaiapoi’s return to its winning ways coincided with Grant Findlay’s return to the field after three seasons on the sidelines. Now coaching Kaiapoi, Findlay has worn the colours of five clubs at premier, level in a career which began 16 years ago but proved on Saturday that he still has a considerable spring in his step and an astute organising ability. The Kaiapoi cause was best served when Tony Stanley, Glen Turton or Willie Young were running freely on to Findlay’s passes. It was to Eastern’s credit that Kaiapoi was not permitted to achieve any permanent ascendancy, with Tim Coster particularly impressive in the Eastern pack. Tight controls were imposed bn the rival back-lines, the tries to Naoupu and Stopforth resulting from rare breaks. Billy Parker and Kim Turton worked earnestly in the Kaiapoi halves. Marist-Western 40, Linwood 10 Marist-Western: A. J. Wildermoth, C. J. Kennedy, C. P. Wild, L. A. Nelson, G. A.

Leek, T. J. Burnett, D. Grant tries; Wildermoth six goals. Linwood: N. Tull, T. Keepa tries; A. Fonotia goal. Halftime, 12-6. Referee, Mr B. Dacre.

The prospects of MaristWestern Suburbs staying ahead of Linwood were not all that bright at half-time in the curtain-raiser. A decisive territorial advantage had been translated by Marist into only a six-point lead, and its error-rate was alarming. During that period Marist has been given possession from six of the seven scrums by its hooker, Jeff Bates, who was to eventually finish ahead, 14-4. But it took his team-mates a long time to make good use of their regular supply of ball. David Grant, on the , left wing, and Tony Wildermoth, who exceeded 700 career points with his fifth goal, had tries in the opening quarter. Linwood rectified most of its defensive problems leading up to the interval and halved its deficit when Neil Tuli touched down for the dummy-half position. The match was very much in the balance until Chris Kennedy stretched out to score in the fifty-first minute. That was to prove a double setback for Linwood, which

lost Tuli, its best forward, to the sinbin for disputing the referee’s decision.

While Tuli was suspended Marist surged out of range. Carl Wild played the ball forward, over Linwood’s tryline, and darted through to touch down, and Lee Nelson was quick to back up a clean break by his captain, Gary Leek. Wildermoth converted all three, as Marist’s total increased by 18 points in a mere seven minutes.

Leek and the right wing, Terry Burnett, were also to add tries before Linwood was given a late consolation. Tere Keepa, a replacement, deftly chipped a kick over the heads of his opponents, retrieved and had sufficient momentum to score.

In three appearances this season Linwood has conceded between 38 to 56 points. Its embarrassment on Saturday would have been more acute had Marist not frittered away so many opportunities in the first half.

Apart from Tuli, Marist has most of the prominent individuals; Chris Charlton for his incisive running, Wildermoth for his tactical kicking, John MacGougan and Nelson as alert supports, and Bates, Leek and Wild as industrious all-round forwards.

P W L F A Pt Papanui 2 2 0 98 26 4 Hornby 2 2 0 82 46 4 Kaiapoi 3 2 1 49 66 4 Addington 1 1 0 32 10 2 Sydenham 2 1 1 54 58 2 Halswell 2 1 1 66 33 2 Marist 3 1 2 82100 2 Eastern 2 0 2 24 60 0