NELSON SHIELD CONTEST

Evening Star, Issue 19773, 25 January 1928, Page 5

NELSON SHIELD CONTEST

WON BY LYALL BAY Under conditions that provided an excellent test the Nelson Shield contest for the New Zealand surf championship was concluded at St. Clair Beach yesterday afternoon, victory eventually going to the _ Wellington cracks, Lyall Bay, with their old rivals, Maranui, in second place. A fairly heavy sea was running, and, taken all round, the standard of the competing teams was a high one, though Canterbury was not up to last year’s standard. It was most regrettable that the St. Clair Club was unable to find a team to represent Otago, especially as its members should be so well acquainted with the surf in which the competition was held. For the water work in tho afternoon the Esplanade was lined with hundreds of spectators, who were treated to splendid displays of life-saving. Lyall Bay owed its victory to an all* round superiority, giving a. most finished display in the land drill. This stood them in good stead in their water work, in which good combination and precision were shown by the respective members. While performing well in tho land drill, in which there was not a great deal between tho teams Canterbury let themselves down in the water work, though they were unfortunate in striking a rather heavy surf. Maranui, whose land drill was neat and finisj)ed, were fortunate in striking a good sea for the run out, but they struck a fairly heavy sea coming back though their display was not far behind that of Lyall Bay. Tho teams wore :

Lyall Bay.—S. Muller (captain), J. Hill, N. Dickson, J. Cameron, T. Ryan, B. MTvor, J. Mollior, and J. Blakeley. Canterbury.—'F. S. Taylor (captain), A. Dalton. C. R. Riordan, D. P. Lindsay, H. M. Eaglesome, A. T. Bolam, j/M. Enlos, and C. Atkinson. Maranui—E. Hughes (captain), D. J. Murrell, C.'C. Claridge, C. B. Eversleigh, J. F. Alexander, V. Fletcher, J. Whisker, and G. East. Tho results wero as follow Lyall Bay, 163 points 1 Maranui, 157 \ points 2 Canterbury, 144 points 3 TEAMS ENTERTAINED. Following the contest tho teams were entertained at tea at the Hydro Grand, and in announcing the result in favor of Lyall Bay the president of the Otago Head Centro (Air H. IT. Henderson) expressed the opinion that three excellent teams had been seen in action, and ho wished to congratulate Lyall Bay on its performance and excellent win. (Applause.) Lyall Bay had struck him as a team which had performed with military precision in tho land drill. Their water work, too, was excellent, and tho same applied to Maranui. Canterbury suffered a little nil round in comparison, but had also put up a good performance. Cheers wero given for the Lyall Bay team, after which Air D. Baiinatyne (secretary of the Otago Head Centre) thanked tho members of tho visiting teams for the assistance that had been given to him in the staging of the contest. Air C. Atkinson returned thanks on behalf of Canterbury for the hospitality that had been tendered to tho visitors during their stay in Dunedin. FOUR-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP. In the evening some three thousand people witnessed the four-man surf reel championship of New Zealand, for which each of tho following entered two teams:—Maranui, Lyall Bay, St. Clair, and Canterbury. The test consisted of a run-out along the beach with reel and line, followed by resuscitation, and a rescue of the patient with reel and line in the water. All the teams went through tho runout on laud before the first team took to the water.

There was a good sea running, and the heavy surf rendered the beltman’s task no easy one. In the case of Maranui, B. Olaridge’s belt camo undone, and he bad to come in before reaching the patient. Canterbury showed good combination, the beltman taking a good course to tho buoy, last year’s shield champions eventually winning the fourman championship, Maranui A being anners-up, and St. Clair B third. The fastest time to the buoy was returned by C. Atkinson, Canterbury’s beltman, who took the beltman’s championship, J. B. Simpson (St. Clair B) being runner-up.

The results were:— Canterbury A, 91 points 1 Maranui A, 90 1-3 points 2 St. Clair B, 84 2-3 points 3 Lyall Bay A.—J. Cameron, S. Muller, W. Griffon, B. M'lvor. Lyall Bay B.—Thomas, Blakeley, Mother, and Hill Maranui A.—Hughes, Murrell, Eversleigh, and Whisker. Maranui B.—Fletcher, Ciaridge, Alexander, and East. Canterbury ' A.—C. Atkinson, A. Dalton, Eaglesome, and C. Smith. St. Clair _A. —0. J. M‘Lean, J. Swan, B. Haig, J. Lewis. Canterbury B.—A. T. Bolnm, C. R. Riordan, F. S. Taylor, and H. G. Smith.

St. Clair B.—H. Devlin, A. Harrod, C. B. Lewis, and J. B. Simnson,