PETONE V. DIAMOND

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 20, 24 July 1933, Page 13

PETONE V. DIAMOND

The Petone-Diamoncl match took place at the Basin Reserve under miserable weather conditions. Despite such' a handicap, play at times reached a high standard. The teams were:-/-

Petone: MeVean; Scott-Brown, Haines; i Ricldolls,. Campbell, Smith; Dunlop, Wat: son, Leslie, Woods, Craig. Diamond: Wyatt; O'Conncll, Hopper; Todd, Geddes, Mcol; McLeod,- Rabbitt, Baker, Cunningham,. Star. ' j Referee: Mr. J.. S. Sariderson. | Winning., the toss, Petoiio to.ok advantage of the' wind^.'and Drinlop flashed across a succession of tempting centres. tVyatt handled the greasy 'ball safely in picking; up fast' groundft'S^'from Riddollsand Craig. ■ For a long; time, : I'etono hemmed in Diamond in - their own halt\ where Gcddea was tackling strongly and' Todd placing well agaiiistthe wind. Leslie Ajqvo through the centre following a passi'from Campbell, but his nippy backheeler found Wyatt alert. Good work on Pctonc'H .right 'saw ,\Dunlop square to Campbell, who lashed the ball home from the eighteen-yard line. Petone, 1; Dia-mo-ad, 0. A great kick, by Hopper set Diamond on the1 attack, but Brown cleared surely.' Diamond left wing moved up sweetly on occasion, but Stark's likely cross came to nought. The spectators voiced their approval of a great duel between' the visiting left wing and Todd, which ended by Craig driving past the wrong sjde of the post. •At this stage Diamond pressed : consistently, but Haines and company gave nothing away. Returning to the attack, Petone were on the mark per medium of Dunlop and Leslie, Wyatt negotiating their fine drives expertly, but Craig almost did the trick wheu the custodian fumbled the slippery balL ■ In Hopper ahdO'Connell rose to the v occasion time and time again, McLeod was prominent with several fine runs and centres, from one of which Cunningham swung in a shade too high. Leslie had a couple of hard tries, and Wyatt brought off a spectacular save from Woods. O'Gon'ncll earned applause when he nipped in toprevent an almost certain score from Craig. At the other end, Stark and Cunningham were associated in promising movements, , well backed by Nicol. McVca'n, however, was in' tip-top form, enabling Petone to cross over with a onegoal lead. : .■'■■;'', ■In-'the'-'second spell■ a beautiful smash from' Todd sailed narrowly over. Leslie broke away -in determined' fashion, _ and O'Conncll seemed to have saved the situation, when Woods secured and scored from close Quarters. Petone, 2; Diamond, 0. Diamond right again kept up the pres-, sure, and after a lovely shot from Rabbit, Todd reduced the leeway with a powerful drive. McLeod essayed a couple o£ fine shots, which. ■Me Venn diverted stylishly, also tipping over one of Hopper's specials from the half-way lino. Woods put Petone further ahead with a shot which Wyatt made no attempt to save.- From a McLeod corner, Cunningham added a second for Diamond, who now. made strenuous efforts to draw level. : At the final whistle the scores-were: .Petone; .'3; Diamond, 2 %