MATCHES DESCRIBED

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 31, 6 August 1934, Page 4

MATCHES DESCRIBED

A" GRUELLING FINAL

When" Hiitt took the field against Wellington "College Old Boys on Saturday they had the initial advantage o£ being required only to secure a draw in order to clinch their claims to, the senior A, first division, championship, and, at the end of a gruelling contest; they still held their onepoint lead on the championship ladder. The match resulted in a-pointless draw, with the -conditions under which it was played constituting an important factor. A heavy ground, which quickly became churned into mud in tho vicinity of both tauchlines,. and :a. fresh northerly wind accompanied.'by. passing showers of ram, reduced teams and individuals to a common level and made the scoring of either tries or goals extremely difficult. Next Saturday there may be an opportunity to learn "what would be the result ot a meeting of these teams, as at present consti-, t'uted, in fine weather; but the championship: final, with Athletic Park experiencing one-of its bad days, showed that in wet conditions, there is very little between them. On tho run of -the play and the performance's-'of' the two sides a draw was almost certainly the most satisfactory re- =: Hutt took a somewhat bold course ,at tho outset when, having won tho toss, they decided to give their opponents the advantage of the" wind in the nrst spell, apparently relying upon their vigorous forwards to prove the deciding factor to-, wards the end of the game. Their faith in the wind continued unabated and: from tho sarao direction was not m^pjaced, but their expectations' of wearing ;Ola B«ys. down were not realised. Though at times hafti'pressed; Old Boys stuck--ta their task with courageous vigour, and only by being trained tp the minuto could the forwards have battled as they did in the last quarter of- att hour.- To both teamsmust be given credit for having mado the best of an unenviable-.task, and there ,was ■liardly. a player on tho field who did not display the determination demanded by the conditions, to replace tho speed and olevernoss usually so important. "To the public the rain came as a great disappointment,, and there was only a •moderate-attendance m-place- of what would normally have, been the largest MwWtfiVseißbn. TChe reserved seats in the grandstand were quickly booked on Saturday morning, and the doors were not long opened in the afternoon before the remainder of the sheltered accommodation had been taken; In addition many enthusiasts watched the scramble from the open. The principal alterations m the teams from those which met on June 4w*i that Hutt wero without Barry and i.iiburno (in Australia) and Old Boys missed Atkins, who has left Wellington. The same had been in progress only nve minutes when Bydder, Old Boys hardworking front-row forward, was carried oft the field with a leg injury, and Souness took his place.

The teams were:— v Hutt.—Jarman; Nees, Feeney, Phillips; TCilleen, E. Neal; Spencer; Coulston, Saulbrey, Q. Roberts, Wetherly, S. Neal, Lynch, Peck, and Stevenson. Wellington College Old Boys.-Masters; Hollis, Dustin, Hill; A. Wright, Baldwin; Sadler; Bydder, M. Wright, J. Reynolds, James, Grenfell, Lamaeon, Hewitt, and McNeile. . , Before the ball became properly wet both sides' attempted to get their rear divisions moving, Old Boys being the more eager to get the ball out into the open, but attempts by the insido backs to cut through' were effectively chocked. Hutt came near to opening their account when if. Neal took a snap shot at the goal from in front of the posts, a good attempt just missing. .Wit&.play back at, the other end the referee had a word with one of the Hutt forwards and gave Old Boys a penalty kick, but Lamason. missed a shot at goal. The Hutt forwards were making it'difficult for-Old Boys to open up the gameTbut once Dustin shot through a Swfth^at^M 6 S?S •S?Sii-way, looked promising, pai'ticu. lafly when Nees gave support, but the SlZev sliVed and Dustin sent the in* laSback? For much of the spell play fasten* out to the backs. The exchanges were too slow, however, and no one was Spared to risk an attempt to cut m, with the result that the defence wa9 ablo to s ring across the field and close up the X Old Boys attacked pevsirtently near the end of the spell but found the defence imS trg^ec3eded to a large extent in keeping•the game closed tip in too first spefl Hutt came out in the second, prepared to give the ball more of an ainnp. Thrir efforts were not very successful, Sverfand with the Tain cnt passing became too difficult to attempt with Sfety. The ball was consequently mostly kepy t on the ground. The backs were called upon to bring ofi some d^eult saves, but though there were gome close calls, particularly for Old Boys, the defence withstood all the calls made upon it. Tvvncb and E. Neal also made attempts to kick penalty goals without success, and when the final whistle blew the scoring board was still blank. Hutt were given a well-deserved ovation as.. they hied on the field, and there were also cheers for their opponents. Mr. B. J. Paton was the referee.