ATHLETIC v. SELWYN.

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 110, 12 May 1919, Page 10

ATHLETIC v. SELWYN.

'Play in the first half of the AthleticSelwyn match was open and interesting. At the outset, Athletic, with the wind in their favour, pressed 'hotly, and Selwyn were hard put to it to defend their line. Healy and Church . both made good attempts at goaling, one from a mark and the other from a penalty, failing by inches only. At this stage, too, Athletic forwards were hooking well, but the backs missed two or three good opportunities through fumbling. Ultimately Healy got over with a bunch of Selwyn backs hanging to him and a scrum was ordered. The pressure was maintained, and, from a loose scramble, Paton got over near the goal. W. Eyan's kick was successful. Athletic 5, Seiwyn 0. Selwyn attacked vigorously from the kick-out, but were stopped in the nick of time, and play once more went to the green line. From play on the twenty-five line, Hall picked up smart-ly,-and, with, a clever run through'six ■Selwyn men, scored between the goal. Church made no mistake with the kick. ; Athletic 10, Selwyn 0. There was no further score in the first half.

'..The second half saw . Selwyn come very near to equalising the. scores. JMackay opened up play frequently, but his other backs spoilt his work byfumbling. With Selwyn. pressing hard,' Church and Paton initiated a countermove that was : spoilt by kicking too hard. Paton came again, and this time was stopped by a .penalty. The greens then pressed, and from a, mark inside the Athletic twenty-five Tierney had an unsuccessful shot at goal. Mackay narrowly missed goaling from near halfway a few moments later. From, a scrum Earle secured and got over the Blue linei where he was unable to ground the ball, and a scrum followed. This time Desmond gathered in the ball and scored, Tiemey adding the goal. Athletic 10, Selwyn 5. With ten minutes to go Selwyn kept up a hot attack in which Mackay was frequently prominent, the ■ pressure being relieved only twice, when first Bowie and then M'Cabe made good runs. The latter made a particularly fine run, and was grassed only just on the line by Gaylor. The whistle went soon afterwards, with no further score. ■ Mr. Simpson controlled the game. ORIENTAL v. OLD BOYS. Played on. No. 1 Ground, Wakefieldl Park, this game,proved interesting, although Old Boys were perhaps a littletoo fight in the Backs. They are placed at a further disadvantage by having few old well-seasoned players among them. Oriental had a much more superior team in on Saturday than on the previous Saturday, and made good use of a really smart pack and several clever backs. From the kick off Oriental pushed . Old Boys into their own territory, and only some smart work by the "white"l full back, Brooker, saved the situation at times. The play was open;i and there were several good passing bouts on either side. Both teo,ms fought hard, and appeared to bo in good condition, but' Hingston, playing on tho left wing for Oriental, got the ball several times, showing good pace and judgment, andl managed to ground the ball over his opponents' line. Poulter and Watts hekl the Oriental forwards well' together, and put in some good work. Old Boys' forwards lacked the amount of push necessary, and when time was called the score stood 19—0 in favour of Oriental. Hingston scored three tries, and Poulter one. Irvine and Papps converted', one each, and the former kicked a penalty. Mr. King was referee. PETONE v. WELLINGTON. Played at No. 1 ground Athletic Park, this game was not productive of much' „iii the way of superior football, although Petone at times gave a glimpse of good form, and the promise- of better things to come. It was a hard, willing "go" from start to finish, but Petone were clearly the superior combination and deserved their win. Their backs combined nicely, but did not at all times make much ground .thereby, and their forwards, too, played very well together against a pack superior in weight. Neither team was at full strength. Fast forward,'.play, ■. characterised ._ the .commencement of the. game, and from a scramble outside the Wellington line Thomas scored, no goal.resulting. A little later Hamilton scored another try after- a' nice' run, and Thomas;. added the extra points. .Thus, at the interval, Petone led by 8 points to nil. - Despite several strenuous efforts of the Wellington forward and back-divisions in the second spell, Petone.. continued to hold the upper hand, and added 14 more points before the final whistle sounded. The first score cams a minute after the resumption, Corner scoring cleverly. Further tries were added by Albert Parker, Corner, and Wylie, Ambler-, con - 1 v-erting one of them. Captain Crawford (Otago) -controlled' th«:game. ■