Reputations on line

Press, 29 July 1989, Page 15

Reputations on line

By

Bob SCHUMACHER

Can Shirley arrest the New Brighton roll? Can Marist bounce back from its first loss last Saturday to beat Linwood and keep alive its hopes of retaining the Trust Bank trophy? These rugby questions will be answered about 2 p.m. today and the two victors will qualify for the senior club championship final on August 6. The popular choice may be for a Marist v. Shirley final and that would be no unusual occurence as the two powerful teams have met in three of the last four finals, Marist having prevailed in 1985 and last year, Shirley succeeding in 1986. But New Brighton, especially, and Linwood have shown no respect for reputations in the play-offs and both teams are assured of vocal backing from loyal supporters this afternoon.

New Brighton, which really came of age in the premier division when it lowered Shirley by a point in the cup round, will meet its eastern suburbs neighbour at Lancaster Park, while the Linwood green-and-blacks oppose the Marist green-and-whites at Rugby Park. Shirley’s 44-8 loss to Linwood last Sunday had hardened fans leaving the ground early, shaking their heads in disbelief at the lack of commitment by their shop-win-dow side. The coach, Graeme Pulley, would have delivered some choice words at training this week and Shirley will almost certainly be a different proposition 'today. However, the hustle-bustle tactics of an eager, if lightweight, New Brighton team could prove troublesome if Shirley relaxes its guard at any point. Both New Brighton and Shirley are well-equipped

with highly competent goalkickers. The New Brighton half-back, Ross Adler, is the competition’s leading scorer with 256 points, while Williamson has tallied 125 from nine appearances. Marist is also well off for a goal-kicker in its skilful first five-eighths, Greg Coffey, who is just two points short of 250, comfortably the second best in the senior grade. In contrast, Richard MacDonald has had some dreadful times with the goal kicks for Linwood and the .team cannot turn to Graeme Bachop, who will be with the All Blacks in Wellington. The enterprising Linwood team will match Marist for an attacking game plan which will involve total application from all team members. Linwood was the first team to prove Marist was not invincible this season when it held it to a 31-31 draw in a thrilling cup competition match.