MATCHES DESCRIBED

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 106, 8 May 1933, Page 12

MATCHES DESCRIBED

A TRIUMPH FOR DASH

After- battling gamely against a team inspired by tradition almost to the point of invincibility,. Eastbourne came away in a rare finishing'burst and snatched,,-vic-.... Tory from Poneke by 23 points to 20 in the dying stages of a fast and keeu-fpught; game. Thqugh the scoring was almost wholly "done by one man. Fuller,, who must be ■ given -the' credit fcr; au , outstanding performance; Eastbourne won their narrow but well merited success through their work as a team, and, when the 10-point. deficit' which faced them a quarter of an hour from the end had been more than .' wiped off with two minutes to spare,-they1 were accorded- one of the greatest ovations that a club team has earned at Athletic Park. Among the 4poo spectators the game was generally regarded as a fine display and, for go early in the season,' there certainly was much play of high standard; but there were too many, mistakes by both sides for it to be classed as brilliant Rugby. However,, to teams which make the contest fast and open, much is forgiven, particularly when the issue is kept in doubt. Probably:thevbjggcst surprise came from the- fact -that Eastbourne were playing a winning game at the finish. Facing the sun and wind in the first spell, they kept matters even until near the interval, when Poneke had a period of definite superiority. Poneke still looked the winners for two-thirds of the second spell, and increased their half-time lead of 15-10 by five points. Eastbourne's dash then triumphed, and, in a torrid finish, they scored at the^ rate of about a point a minute. '• '■•. - The teams weve:— ■ ■ - ■ Eastbourne: Dingle; Fuller, Foley, Hamilton; Plank, Fleming; Coman (captain); Best, Gibbons, N. and J. Dellabarca, Spence, Sleep, Butterworth, and Clayton. - ' Poneke: Crisp; Ball, Barrett, Caulton; E. Neal' (captain), Griffiths; Julian; O'Neill,' S. Neal, Ross, Howard, Stone,, Mclvor, Quaid, and Dixon. In the first spell Caulton and S. Neal | scored tries for Poneke, E. Neal converting one and kicking a fine penalty goal, and Griffiths kicking a field goal. Fuller' scored and converted two tries for Eastbourne; Soon after the second spell started Griffiths scored a try for Poneke which E. Neal converted and Eastbourne s winning points came from a try, a penalty goal, and two. conversions by Fuller and t try by Hamilton. Mr. J. Wilson was the referee.