MATCHES DESCRIBED

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 143, 20 June 1938, Page 17

MATCHES DESCRIBED

BRIGHT GAME AT PARK

ATHLETIC AND PETONE

The general feeling'was that the meeting of Athletic and Petone at Athletic Park would produce' Some bright football, and the 5000 spectators who assembled there Were not disappointed. Before" the match began the ground On the grandstand side was still showing signs of the wear and tear to which it was subjected in the wet weather on the occasion of the inter-island game the previous Saturday, and scarcely had play begun than a heavy, driving shower swept across the field. More : rain fell at half-time, and fur the second spell particularly the going was decidedly sticky and heavy. - But the play, no! It was never stodgy. Both teams "turned it on 1 ' to a remarkable degree, and with Petone Straining every muscle ahd every nerve to win, the game had a most exciting climax. Petone' just could not manage it after making a great effort and reducing Athletic's first-spell lead by six points, Athletic winning by 13 points to 10. it was blowing fairly strongly from the nofth'West, and it was a decided advant&ge to Athletic to begin with this at their backs and later also the rain. ;Athletlc set out brightly, They appeared well tuned up and the ball was tossed about freely among their backs and Athletic did not see much of it in the set scrums, Lambourn, the Petone and New Zealand hooker, having the edge on the Athletic rake, Moilier, but the sprightliness of the Athletic backs and the liveliness of the team generally greatly reduced Petone's scrum advantage. Petone were bustled into errors and difficulties in the first spell, in which the honours were decidedly with Athletic. A fine passing movement, which was started by Thomson on the left wing and finished oil on the right wing by Forbes sending the ball infield again to Jones, gave Athletic their 'first try. Tries by Thurston and Jones followed, and thert came a great field goal by Mclntyre at the end of the spell, making the Athletic total at the interval 13 points. Ihere was also a Jones on the Petone Side, and he "potted" a goal,

The heavier going seemed to Suit Petone better in the second spell, which they dominated. Their forwards played more strongly, keeping together well and giving Athletic a lot of brother with fast foot rushes. The backs, when "the time came, gave good support. Jones was the first to add 10 Petone's score with a try, and another by McGurk brought Petone's tally up to 10 points. Petone hoed into it ill the last fifteen minutes, and how Athletic escaped times was remarkable. When Petone were Uhable to find further holes in the Athletic defence, O'Halloran tried the "potted" goal, but by this time the ball"was as heavy as lead. Petone made a gallant fight of .t, but winning points just eluded them, athletic 13, Petone 10.

The referee was Mr. A. de Clifton.

BETTER FORM

OLD BOYS' GOOD WIN Heavy showers at the ; start of the match completely changed what had promised to be a fast antl interesting contest between the old rivals, Wellington College Old Boys and Wellington, at Anderson Park, Both sides were without the services Of good men. Bydder (Old Boys) did not play because of knee trouble and Cooper (Wellington) was out of town. J. Lamason again donned the jersey for his old club, and his influence was noticeable in Old Boys' pack throughout, in addition to which he turned on an able individual performance. After the first ten minutes the ball became heavy and greasy, and, being j difficult to handle, most of the play I thereafter developed among the forwards. There were, however, early in the game, efforts to open the play for the backs, and in this period Old Boys' rearguard handled the wet ball well. They were well served from the scrums and rucks, Worboys doing his task ably and Onglcy wasted no time in getting the ball to his outsides. There were several good handling rushes, but n mistake or good tackling effectively stifled this form of attack. After further showers, both sides settled down to the type of play called for in wet conditions, and x'oot rushes by both backs arid forwards were soon the order throughout. Irt these tactics Old Boys' pack showed to greater advantage than Wellington. They also controlled the scrums and rucks and called for scrums in lieu of line-outs.

In the first spell the Wellington backs endeavoured to handle the wet ball, but met with little success, the opposition backs playing right up and profiting by mistakes made by thenopponents and often sweeping through in dangerous foot rushes initiated from handling mistakes and dropped passes. In these rushes both forwards and backs joined forces, the wingers o;i occasions receiving opportunities to gather in the' ball for several bright dashes down the line, A. Wright being in the limelight several times.

Playing against the breeze in the first spall, Old.'Boys early adapleJ themselves better to the conditions, and

had quite as much of the game territorially as their opponents, who were trying to -open up in passing rushes. With the ball oh the ground, however, Old Boys' pack were faster and playing with more method and cohesion, and, well supported -by their backus, they often covered almost the length of the fle]d : in sweeping foot rushes. Lamason and Waller came through at the head of one • dribbling rush from midneld, and afterSEdWards had been beaten by the slippery ball, Burns picked up ahd forced himself over for a try near the Cornet with a couple of opponents hanging on to him. Just after this Old Boys added another try, when from loose foot play at half-way, A. Wright beat a couple of tacklers, and, veering in to the centre, drew PatersOn ahd then handed on to Worboys, who had raced up, for, the latter to go over under the posts. Baldwin converted this try, C,e half-time score being Old Boys 8, Wellington 0. The Wellington forwards showed a marked improvement after the Changeover, and lor the first fifteen minute« of the spell appeared to be capable Of holding the Opposition. They bunched and controlled the ball to a degree, keeping . the play _ mote down the ccntre. From one of these dribbling I efforts with Coupland, Stevens, and McLean prominent, the first-named gave Fulton possession neat the line, and the latter sgored midway from the corner, Trapp converting. Old Bovs were right on their game, however, j and for some time kept up.a sustained attack, A, Wright twite just missing the line in dashes to the comer. Baldwin kicked a neat penalty goal from well out, and Old Boys went further ahead, when Lamason scored a try after leading a fine ,f6rwatd foot rush from midfield. Baldwin kicked the goal. Before this Wellington had tried hard to make headway. Fulton was once just beaten for a try after follow* ing a kick over the line. Old Boys 16, Wellington 5. The referee was Mr. R. N. Bryden. The teams were:— Old Boys.—tl. Wright; A. Wright. Baldwin, Burns; Gray, 0. Reynolds; Ottgley; C, Gotlieb, Worboye* J. Rey* nolds, Lamason, Miller, Waller, N. Gotlieb, and Hardy. Wellington.—Paterson; Dixon, Fulton Edwards; Trapp, Veitch; Thompson; Climo, Ranford, Stevehs, Coupland, Praser-Smith, McDonald, Morrissey, I and McLean. \

POINT BETWEEN THEM

PONEKE AND MARIST OLD BOYS Swinging into action at every opportunity and showing marked ability ih handling a greasy ball, the Marist backs made some desperate bids to turn the tables on the championship leaders, Poneke, in an .exciting game on the Petone Oval. Although Poneke were able to hold the lead there was only a single point difference at the end of play. The result gave little indication of the run of play. Poneke'S victory was largely due to the brilliant goal-kicking by Crisp, who kicked two penalty goals and converted Poneke's only try. Marist, on the other hand, crossed the Poneke line j for three tries, all of which were the result of fast following up and excellent combined play. At the end of the first spell. Poneke had established a four-point lead and after the interval they made matters lively for some fifteen minutes. Barrett scored a fine try which Crispy converted. It was after this episode that Marist set out on their serious quest for points. Rucking solidly and showing a definite superiority in the loose the Marist forwards drove the attackers out and for the remainder of the spell play was confined mainly to the Poneke quarter. Well supplied with the ball, the Marist backs combined in many delightful movements and , close to scoring several times. O Flaherty was first to the ball after a scramble on the Poneke line ahd Robins, with a neat kick, reduced the Marist deficit .to four points. From a scrum the ball was sent right thf tiugh to Wareham, who scored a try which Robins was unable to convert. With excitement now at Its peak Marist tried hard to collect the winning points, but the Poneke defence with Griffiths and CriSp prominent was just equal to . the occasion, and the game, which was full' of incident ended in favour of Poneke by one point. In the first spell Ingpen scOred for Marist and Robins converted. For Poneke Crisp (2) and Griffiths (1) kicked penalty goals. The result was: Poneke 14, Manst Bros.' Old Boys 13. ; The referee was Mr. H. Simmons.