Chch beats Albion to hold lead

Press, 12 June 1989, Page 22

Chch beats Albion to hold lead

The second division of the senior rugby competition followed a predictable course on Saturday, with Christchurch holding the lead from Sydenham and Lincoln College. But Christchurch did not win many plaudits, for it laboured to beat Suburbs after a scoreless first half. Lincoln College beat its nearest rival, Albion, and Sydenham ran in 11 tries against a game Otautahi. Merivale, too, had a day to remember — 16 tries and 72 points against the luckless. Hornby team. In its 20 games last season Merivale scored only 10 tries. Points are:

Vintage rugby was in short supply at Hoon Hay Park,

where the visiting side, Christchurch, took until late in the match to show its true colours against Suburbs. By half-time, spectators could have been forgiven for wondering whether they had been watching a lower grade match. However, Christchurch showed some urgency after the break, winning the first maul and for the first time showing real cohesion among its pack as Suburbs was shunted backwards.

Even more impressive was the centre, Roger Kilpatrick, who scored his team’s second try after figuring twice in the movement.

Katsua Matsuo, at second five-eighths, turned in a handy second half performance, scoring a try and converting all three. Suburbs introduced a number of shortened line-outs, but the move was not always successful. Its most enterprising player was Paul Tait, and the left wing, Vaughan Hampton, made a number of telling tackles, particularly in the first half.

SYDENHAM SUPERIOR At Sydenham Park the home team ran away in the second spell to score 34 points and convincingly beat a courageous Otautahi side which played better than the score-line suggested.

With Ted Forrester, Lyn Chandler and Mark Flynn having good games, the Sydenham forwards were superior both in speed and skill and consistently denied Otautahi possession. Aaron Flynn was a sprightly halfback and Kieran Flynn an incisive centre, while Edward Sparrow showed speed and determination on the wing. The Otautahi forwards lacked size and strength, but Toi Merito and Norm Brown worked hard. The backs must be admired for their desire to run the ball, but could not match the pace of Sydenham.

Mike Parsons was again a solid five-eighths and Aaron Hawkins ran strongly at centre.

GROUND SWITCH There was more drama

than action in Lincoln College’s 34-9 win over Albion at Middleton Park.

The respective forward packs engaged in some torrid duelling in which Albion, hampered by injury problems, conceded pace in the loose. The students emerged with a lot of second phase ball and when it ran the ball wide Albion struggled. Lincoln College ran in four tries and went to a 22-0 halftime lead.

But the drama came early in the second half when Lincoln’s hooker, John Norton, suffered a deep cut to the head. A stretcher was called for, but it was decided Norton should not be moved. So the match was shifted to Middleton Park’s No. 3 ground while an ambulance was summoned.

The rough ground and poor line marking caused problems for both teams. And Lincoln lost a toss which meant it had to play into the wind for a second 40min. Under those conditions the

try scoring was restricted to one a piece in the second half. But Lincoln, through the boot of Dave Lochore, extended its lead with two penalty goals and a conversion. ANOTHER THUMPING A massive scoreline seemed on the cards at Denton Oval when Merivale scored six tries in the first quarter of its match against Hornby. However, Merivale, while continuing its dominance, could not keep this rapid tempo.

But it still reached 72 points, including 16 tries. Hornby, once again, failed to post a point. Certain phases of Hornby’s play could only be described as appalling. Some of the players did not seem to understand the rules of the game.

Merivale had problems with its goal kicking. Three different kickers were used and even though a number of their attempts were in handy positions, only four successes

were achieved. Scoring detaiIs:CHRISTCHURCH 18 (J. Sherratt. R. Kilpatrck, K. Matsuo tries; Matsuo three conversions) beat Suburbs 3 (P. Tait penalty goal). Half-time: 0-0. Referee: Mr S. P. Garland. SYDENHAM 54 <E. Sparrow 3, T. Ahern 2, J. Cook, T. Forrester, R. Taetu, K. Flynn, L. Chandler, tries; K. Flynn 4, D. Kerr conversions) beat OTAUTAHI 0. Half-time: 20-0. Referee: Mr D. J. Winton. LINCOLN COLLEGE 34 (M. Hanning 2, M. Neale, R. Harris, L. Smith tries; D. Lochore four conversions, two penalty goals) beat ALBION 9 (J. Gee try; D. Kett conversion, penalty goal). Half-time: 22-0. Referee: Mr G. J. Anderson. MERIVALE 72: (F. Crawley 4, C. Stewart 4, R. Smith 3, J. O’Neill, D. Bailey, N. Jewell, K. Horsepool, L. Ferguson tries; N. Jewell, 3 and M. Ashby (conversions) beat Hornby 0. Half-time: 38-0. Referee: Mr D. Chave.

W L F A Pt Chch 5 0 129 34 20 Syd. 4 1 218 33 17 Line. Coll. 4 1 176 62 16 Albion 3 2 132 75 12 Merivale 3 2 119 77 12 Subs 1 4 103 92 4 Otautahi 0 5 42 170 0 Hornby 0 5 3 379 LATE SURGE 0