Halswell easily retains shield

Press, 12 September 1988, Page 32

Halswell easily retains shield

By

JOHN COFFEY

Halswell’s 42-6 defeat of Greymouth Marist in yesterday’s Thacker Shield rugby league match at the Addington Show Grounds should set the alarm bells ringing on the West Coast. It was not simply Halswell’s winning margin that would cause concern in the west, but the fact that the Canterbury champion retained the South Island title in a canter.

Compared with its best efforts in domestic football, Halswell did not get out of second gear until the last 10 minutes when Gary Pluck, Walter Wilson and Pluck, again, moved into overdrive to score the tries which humbled the shield challenger. It was the third biggest winning margin since the shield was presented in 1913. The now defunct

Blackball (West Coast) club retains the record from its 53-13 beating of Sydenham in 1950, while Hornby’s 50-12 defeat of Runanga in 1984 is still Canterbury’s most decisive win.

The pattern of yesterday’s encounter was similar to many trans-Alps tussles of recent seasons.

The Coasters, bursting with enthusiasm, buoyed by tales of former glories and enjoying plenty of sideline support, opened with a flourish.

But, unaccustomed to a hard surface which allowed a faster playing pace, Greymouth Marist could not maintain any pressure, discovered even minor mistakes were terribly expensive, and was eventually reduced to a walk.

Wayne Dwyer, the Greymouth Marist loose forward who had a con-

siderable influence on first-half proceedings, put his side ahead with a try, converted by Peter Jones, in the twelfth minute.

It was not long before Halswell equalised, and the totals stayed tied at 66 until just before halftime. But it was Halswell’s unusually high error-rate as much as its rival’s defence which prevented the home team from assuming control.

A knock-on from a scrum win near its own goal-line was to put Greymouth Marist six points behind at the break. From the second scrum Halswell made an overlap for its right wing, John Miller, and Paul Dunn continued a sequence which gave him seven consecutive goals.

The force had been drained from the Greymouth Marist tackles, and Halswell was able to keep

the ball in motion with comparative freedom. Five tries were added after the resumption, a highlight being Russell Tuuta’s deft delivery from a two-man tackle 4o an unmarked Neil Sinclair. Tuuta had another strong game, receiving the “man of the match” award.

Gradually, almost all resistance was broken down. Pluck’s first try resulted from a break by the replacement prop, Paul Crichton, near his own 22m line, and Wilson twice deceived the cover with convincing dummypasses in running 75m to touch down.

The handsome victory, achieved when performing below its potential, should boost Halswell’s confidence for the national Lion Red League Cup tournament. It begins its campaign against the

Manawatu entrant at Palmerston North on Sunday. Canterbury’s other representative, MaristWestern Suburbs, has a home match with Upper Hutt, of Wellington. Scorers:—

Halswell 42 (Gary Pluck two, Glen Grut, John Miller, Colin Tennant, Neil Sinclair, Walter Wilson tries; Paul Dunn seven goals) beat Greymouth Marist 6 (Wayne Dwyer try; Peter Jones goal). Halftime, 12-6. Referee, Mr Roger Brott.

• Te Atatu (Auckland) and Petone (Wellington) won their respective provincial championships yesterday. At Carlaw Park, Te Atatu led 16-2 at half-time before holding ,on to beat Glenora, 22-16. Two tries by James Leuluai assisted Petone to a 26-16 success at the expense of Upper Hutt at the Basin Reserve.