ATHLETICS CLOSE WIN

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 128, 1 June 1936, Page 16

ATHLETICS CLOSE WIN

Not until 12 minutes from the end of the gaime could Athletic succeed in piercing the Wellington defence for the winning try. hindered by driving rain that set in early in the first spell, the game was played as the curtainraiser at Athletic Park, and Particularly in the second speli it _ was brimful of good Rugby. Athletic s superiority iltoe tiglit offset Wellingtons cleaner back play. Both packs- revelled in making dribbling rushes with the greasy ball and Wellingtons defence, except for the last try, was extremely tenacious. The teams were:— „ , Athletic: Mclntyre; Thomson, Forbes Dickey; McCauley, Karsten; Mack, Wales; Bowling, Edwards, Guy, Wells, Baker. Mollier, Watson. , Wellington: Cresswell; Paterson, L. Edwardc, Ullrich; Trapp, Veitch; Richardson; Couplarid; McLean, Carlyon, Fraser-Smith, Neal; Stevens, Dimes, C The'briskness of the southerly gave Athletic, winners of the toss, a decided advantage for the first spell, and mainly because of good forward work, Weilington were penned to their own line. Then came a breakaway and on top of three or four really good runs by the Yellow backs Paterson scored in the corner. Trapp failed. The crowd was annoyed when the referee gave Athletic a penalty kick, but justified or not. Mclntyre crowned the opportunity. A little later Mclntyre flashed into the picture with an amazingly good field goal from well out, but Wellington held to the lead tenaciously, however, and in the ensuing play Paterson followed fast a long kick to the Athletic goal line. Karsten was caught in possession. and though Athletic almost j relieved. Veitch capped the effort and scored, converting the try. For long, periods in the second spell both teams held the advantage. Athletic's superiority was possibly a little more marked and the forwards did yeoman service. Wells,, playing brilliantly, capped a good performance by discreetly handing Bowling the ball from a scrum on Wellington's goal line. Bowling fended off a man and scored. Mclntyre failing. That ended the scoring, with Athletic winning by 10 points to 8. Mr. I. McArtney was referee.