PLAY AND PLAYEES

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 123, 27 May 1933, Page 20

PLAY AND PLAYEES

FIRST GRADE NOTES

Poneke invariably have been a hard • team to beat for the ball in set scrum- • mages. They were beateu by Old Boys ■on Saturday. Honours were even in the first spell, but Old Boys had slightly over a two-to-one advantage in the second . spell. The ball nowadays does not come , Out anything like as sharply or as cleanly as in the past. Of the many features of play m the Poneke-Old Boys match one of the most pleasing was the straight running by come of the inside backs. Griffiths (Poneke) and Atkins and Dustin (Old Boys) were particularly noticeable in this respect. Griffiths's value to Poneke is great. He is a real.match-winner1,-and not only because of his brilliancy in attack._ He is showing all-round ability, and his welljudged kicking is a big asset. All told there were twenty-three penalty, kicks in the Poneke-Old Boys match, and sixteen o£ them were awarded to Old Boys. ■> . . . ■ Tindill, the Athletic' half-back, covered himself with glory against Eastbourne. He. potted two goals, and kicked a penalty, the second potted goal being a particularly good'one. His display was very good,in.other respects, and, although he received, a knock in the second spell, he never let up.. Although two potted goals is a big number for one match, it is surprising. there were not more in this match. Fuller, - the' Eastbourne wing-three-quarter, was starved of the ball against Athletic, but what he did ■he did well. His try i was a meritorious effort. Molesworth, an ex-Wairarapa player; who was playing his. first game in the team, made several good runs, and should be 'an acquisition to the side. The Eastbourne backs, particularly Dingle, did a fair bit of "silly" kicking from their line into the middle of the field, where all the Athletic backs were waiting. .■■■■, J. and N. Dellabarca are two good forwards who are nearly always to the fore •in the Eastbourne pack, and both showed out against Athletic. Clayton was another good forward. AVatson led the Athletic forwards in loose rushes against Eastbourne. The Athletic pack went particularly well. Boyd played an improved game, and Mollier did some useful work in the tight. . Playing at centre-three-quarter for Hutt against Wellington, Stevenson showed brilliant form. He exploited the "dummy" pass successfully and with discretion, and generally he was alive to every opportunity offering. One of his most spectacular pieces; of work was brought off when racing for the line in a combined back movement he drew the defence, changed direction, short punted through a gap but unfortunately failed to gather the ball cleanly when, he ran through after it. ~ It was a brilliantly conceived move. Once he-settled down Lilburne played great football at first five-eighth for Hntt. In the second spell especially he showed up in great style, initiating attack after attack. • Exceptl for one error of judgment early in the game Cresswell, the Wellington full-back. - played a very sound game against Hutt. , He fielded the ball, well and kicked .strongly and accurately. . . Marist have a strapping.. pack of forwards this season, and it was their play which very largely earned the narrow win against Petone. Butler and George were particularly useful on the line-outs, and McHardy, Ottaway, and Clarke were a hard-working trio. . . There was a shuffling of places in both sets of backs in the course of the PetoneMarist match. Cuming, who commenced as Marist's first five-eighths,. received an injury in the second spell and finished on the wmg, whilst on the Petone side.Trapp, Pollock, and Huxtable had several changes of positions* _ . . Though the service they received from Frost at the base of the scrum was open to improvement, Cuming, Langdon, and Robins, Marist's inside backs, acquitted themselves well and allowed little past them. . Cuming's well-placed kicks were frequently of .value. Sundgren, A. Lambonrnc. and Selwood again toiled hard among the Petone forwards, while Whittington showed out as a valuable man in the loose. Iteid and Martin played their part 'well. ■N. • Ball's change-over from Hntt to Poneke lias not yet given the Xew Zealand wing-three-quarter much opportunity to show-up at his best.