WELLINGTON v. MARIST.

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 11, 13 July 1931, Page 15

WELLINGTON v. MARIST.

To prevent Marist from repeating their successful activities of the previous week, Wellington ■ mapped out a plan to meet the opposition as a -well-timed team, and this had the desired result at Athletic Park Some four thousand spectators were treated to a fine game in which the play was not greatly affected by the holding nature of the turf. There was any amount of bright movement in open formation, and the pace .worked up at times was exceedingly fast considering the conditions. The forwards had many a keen tussle and engaged in many a loose rush, but the Marist hookers were not permitted to have a monopoly of the ball as in the previous game. Wellington, on this occasion heid a liberal supply of ball, and made most of the play, although the, Marist defence :in parts was sound enough to check much of Wellington's strong rearguard action. On the other hand, Wellington quickly smothered the opposing backs when they presented danger, except on a couple of occasions, when Marist, as opportunists eager to profit from the other side's mistakes, caught their opponents Sut of position and rapidly changed defence into very profitable attack. Another direction in which Wellington reduced Marist's powers was in giving Maedonald no latitude, and on the day Page was a far greater danger in attack', than, his Vis-a-vis, Tho play of the Wellington backa was consistently good, and, with the work put in by the pack, it made the team performance considerably better than that of Marist. Kilby and Johnson •were always a source of danger, and then* activities helped Wellington in no sroal measure on the winning way. A special word of praise is a}so dud to Cressvvcll, a junior player, for the excellent manner in which he filled the full-back position. Some of Wellington's tries came just as unexpectedly as did those of Marist, but there was no question about Wellington s superiority. A good ,all-round display gave them victory by a margin of. seven points. .. ;

The teams were:— . IWellington.-Cresswell; Ball, Page; Browne; Hay, Johnson; Kilby; Smith; Nicol, Ferguson, Carlyon, Howatson, M'Lean, Burrell, Stanley. . Marist.—Cuming; Brodenck, Macdonald, JBville; Robins, Condon; Mills; Stiver; Ottaway, Gill, Butler, Frost, M'Hardy, Keary; Peters. ■'„",,. , , t Winning the toss, Wellington played With the sun behind them and faced a fight breeze. The preliminary skirmishing tiver, Marist found themselves in the role pf defenders, Wellington making every ruse of a good rearguard in the endeavour to effect a successful penetration. : A close watch was kept on Wellington s wings, but Page had the opposing .backs puzzled at times. The open order brought no result, and the blind side was tried, only to find Ball lose touch with the ball as he Xraa going over the Marist line. Johnson jmd others (Maiist players included) then endeavoured to make contact between hand, ball, and ground, and Johnson was given a try, Browne failing to convert ■with a good kick. 34. There had .been | some penalty kicks prior to this, and more: followed; in fact, there were fully thirty during the game. In give-and-take play Marist tried to gain the ascendancy, but Wellington were on their game and realised the value of possession. It was again a fault with Marist that opportunities of indulging in passing were lost through a desire to punt when service to Robins and Macdonald would have been of advantage For a long time the position was Marist holding their ground well until a fumble by Cuming paved tne Way for a try. Johnson sent a wide pass to Ball, who beat three men _in a good run and scored. Browne's kick missed. C-0. Wellington continued to make the play, but a sudden change was effected when the ball, from a cross-kick, was missed by Wellington's speedy wing. Macdonald was quick to seize the opening, and after a fine run he passed in to Brodenck, who, beating the full-back, scored ,a surpriße try, which Cuming converted with a splendid kick. 6-5. The spell ended without further score. " Wellington's superiority was, more jnarked in the second spelj, early in which Guming was too casual in trying to clear after fending off Ball and let Kilby over for a gift try. Browne did not convert. 9-5. A little later some solid rushes by Wellington were topped off by Stanley, ■who, when the ball was-kicked over the goal-line, was first to pounce upon it with a spectacular dive. An easy kick (no charge") was missed by Kilby. 12-5. Another surprising, turn of events , took place as Wellington were on attack. A missed pass let Eville away, and he sped towards the opposing line, finally passing to Macdonald, who had a clear run in. The try was converted by Robins. 12-10. This position gave rise to much excitement. Marist played with more dash, but Wellington responded and Johnson brought off one of his solo thrusts to score a splendid try in a good position. Browne converted. 17-10. The remainder of the game was keenly contested, each side making advances-only to meet stout resistance. Wellington were the better side, and held their lead of seven points. The game ended! Wellington, 17, Marist,

The Rev. Mr. Lenard, a visiting referee, controlled the game.

incidents. There was a big attendance —possibly the biggest at Newtown Park this season —with, a strong contingent of Eastbourne supporters. The teams were: — Eastbourne: Clark; Fuller, Armstrong, Dinuiss; Foley, Fleming; Coman; Price; Butterworth, Gibbons, Read, Corlett, J. Dellabarca, N. Dellabarca, Hargreaves. . Poneke: Barrett; Payne, Chesterman, Edgar; Griffiths, Feal; Martin; Gower; Jessup, Dickson, Shearer, M'Pherson, Organ, Quirk, Stone. In the first spell Poneke Splayed against the sun, but this and the heavy ground were ho great disadvantage to them. They had three points on in quick time. Edgar, after Neal had stab-kicked through and .Clark had failed to clear properly, going over for a try, which was not converted. Every opportunity was taken by the Poneke forwards to supply Martin with the ball, and he in turn played his part well, with the result that several times the backs were able to func-1 tion. These movements, however, met with some solid resistance, Clark, Coman, and Fuller in particular doing some fine work. When one of the Eastbourne forwards got off-side in his eagerness to stem a solid Poneke thrust, Neal was given a chance to add to the score, and he did so with a good goal. Poneke, 6; Eastbourne, 0 Eastbourne retaliated with a strong loose rush, and J. Dellabarca was heading for the line when the whistle went for a forward pass. Co'man's line-kicking was good, but in; the open field Eastbourne j were kicking too hard and playing right into the hands of Poneke. After two likely efforts by the Poneke'backs had j failed, Martin came round from a scrum and scored. Neal converted. Following this, Armstrong and Fuller took the ball well up-field, and from a line-out J. Dellabarca scored. Fuller goaled with ,a beautiful kick, making the half-time score: Poneke, 11; Eastbourne, 5. Brisk action marked the opening of the second spell-. Fuller and Dinniss each made a strong run, but neither was able to get through. Good play vby Neal and Chesterman tooic play into Eastbourne territory, and after a long period, during which-'Poneke kept Eastbourne "bottled up," Neal picked up the ball from a ruck and "potted" a goal. Poneke, 15; Eastbourne, 5. From the Eastbourne twenty-five, Foley came away well and transferred the ball to Dinniss. Sidestepping cleverly, Dinniss beat Barrett, but his progress was checked by Neal. Eastbourne kept up pressure, and Poneke,: through hanging on to the ball, were penalised. ..Fuller kicked a goal, and within a short time the game ended: Poneke, 15; Eastbourne, 8. "' ! The referee was Mr. J. A. Wilson.