LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 July 1939, Page 11

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL. RUNANGA DEFEAT BLACKBALL. Rjiinanga yesterday won the-West Coast Rugby League’s 1939 senior championship competition, defeating Blackball in the final at Wingham Park, by 15 points to nil, under conditions that could hardly have been worse. Showers early in the day had given way to a steady downpour of rain by the time that the game was commenced and the ground was quickly churned into a sea of mud, making the handling of the ball an impossibility. A good crowd assembled for the game, but most of the spectators sought covei- before the final -whistle, and from all viewpoints the match was a poor finale to the best competition for years. The Bradshaw Cup competition was commenced at Ngahere, where, under similar appalling conditions, Ngahere seniors defeated Marist for the fourth consecutive time, by five points to three. RUNANGA 15—BLACKBALL 0. Considering that they were on the defensive for the greater part of thei first half and had a lead of only two points at the interval, Runiinga had a surprisingly easy victory in the match against Blackball at Wingham Park. The Blackball forwards played a vigorous game for the first half, but the fire of their loose rushes appeared to die out with the downpour of rain, and Runanga gradually forged ahead and dominated play in the second half, when Blackball never looked likely to pull the match, out of the fire. The forwards of both teams played good wet day football but in dribbling, which was the deciding factor, in view of the impossibility of handling the heavy, ball, the honours, -\yere definitely with Runanga, whose leaders in this department were J. Newton, AV. Glynn and M. O’Connell. In the.loose, Williams, the tall Runanga forward, v, r as excellent, and his quick seizing of . opportunities gave Runanga two of their tries; The leaders of the Blackball pack, which did not hunt as well together as Runanga were R. Clark, AVaters, Savage and Williams. With the ground churned into a quagmire and the ball as slippery as it is possible to visualise, the backs could function only as defenders, and in this regard W. Vincent, the Blackball player, excelled, his understanding with C. Mountford (full-back) being the downfall of many Runanga attacks. Mountford did not. handle as well as he usually does on a wet day, but his trickiness got him out of a lot of trouble. Kirk and O’Donnell also played well in the . Blackball backs. The Runanga five-eighths, Stewart and Pattison, were both sound, while Kiely made some good openings. Currie allowed himself to be bustled occasionally, but brought off some good saves as full-back. Play was confined almost entirely to forward rucks, with kick and follow-up tactics adopted, by both sides, and apart from loose forward rushes, there was little concerted work, The teams were as follow: —

’ Runanga: Currie, Clay, Kiely, C. Kennedy, Pattison, fcjtewart, L. Kennedy, Williams, R. ■ Glynn, Wright, Newton, O’Connell, W. Glynn. Blackball: .Mountford, Weir, Vincent, O’Donnell, Kirk, Hayes, Neilson, McKean, J. Clark, Williams, Waters, R. Clark, Savage. Blackball, who won the toss and played with the wind, were the early attackers, but a penalty sent them back. When W. Glynn kicked through, Stewart caught Mouritford in possession and Blackball were penalised for offside in a handy position. Stewart succeeded with the kick, to give Rubanga a two points lead. Blackball set up a prolonged attack, Kiely and W. Glynn being noticeable on deferice. When Runanga were penalised on their 25, Waters essayed a penalty goal, but failed to rarne the ball, and Vincent was also unsuccessful with a kick (from the other side. Blackball had a chance when . Williams kicked through, out to O’Donnell’s wing, but the ball went into the dead ball area, a brief Runanga attack was cleared by Mouritford and Vincent, and then O’Donnell broke away, and kicked through, Pattison covering up admirably. Blackball were doing all the attacking at this stage, but eventually Stewart sent them back, and when Runanga appeared to have a chance ot scoring, Mountford put in a 20 yard run. Half-time was called with the scores: Rdnanga 2 Blackball nil. Early in the second half, Stewart was unsuccessful in an attempt at a penalty goal. With Runanga doing the attacking, Newton and 0 Donnell dribbled through from the 25, and when the ball went loose on the Blackball line Williams dived on it for a try next to the posts. Stewart converted. Runanga 7 —Blackball nil. Attei a brief Blackball attack, Newton and C. Kennedy kicked through and Vincent was compelled to kick into touch rive yards from his own line. A loose ruck developed from the scrum, and .Williams secured to dive round the blind side, for a try in the corner. Newton failed to convert. Runanga 10 Blackball nil. Although handicapped by facing the driving ram, Blackball took a hand at this stage and threatened danger until sent hack by an infringement. Neilson actually over, but was held up and W. Glynn in-ought off a brilliant clearance. I Newton, O’Connell and Clay . took play to the other end and lollowine, a drop out and several five yard sciuins, L. Kennedy secured in a ruck and dived over against the posts. Stew a i J converted. Runanga 15—Blackball nil In the concluding stages, play was scrambling, and there was no further scoring. Mr. J. Mathews was referee. NGAHERE 5, MARIST 3. In a Bradshaw Cup game, played at N°ahere. Ngahere repeated their previous efforts against Marist and again defeated the town team. Rain fell throughout the match, and!, although the ground was in good condition the ball was greasy, with the result that handling was out of the iesU ° n - Ngahere forwards 1 dominated' play ana frustrated- any attemps by Marist backs to show to advantage. I'o Ngahere. L. Gillman. A. Cibson an I Pascoe, in the backs, and Kells and Bowes,’in the forwards, were conspicuous, while for'Marist, Grogan and Pope, in the forwards, and 1 Mann and Hopkins, in the backs, were most prominent.

The teams .were: — Marist: Antsy, Devomport, Roberts, Adams, Mann, Rochford, Hopkins, Affleck, Sequin, Pope, Grogan. Buchanan, Malone.

Ngahere: L. Gillman, Balderstone A. Gibson, Stone, Nolan, Pascoe, Ken

nedy, Mulcare, N. Gillmail, J. Gibson, Kells, McGuire, Bowes. Ngahere attacked strongly from the. kick-off, until Grogan took play back to midfield. Ngahere continued to hold Marist in their 25, but off-side lost the advantage. A penalty against Pope, in front of the posts, was taken by Pascoe, but he missed an easy kick. Anisy, who was playing fullback for Marist, started off a Marist back movement, which went to the Ngahere 25, where L. Gillman- relieved. Ngahere forward’s went through, and Rochford marked near his lino. Mulcare kicked through. Mann picked up behind his goal' line and beat several players to go on to half-’way, where his centre kick was- well taken by Malone, who passed back to Mann, from whom Devonport received to score to great try wide out. Roberts' missed the kick. Marist 3, Ngahere 0. Anisy saved twice from the feet of the Ngahere forwards. Ngahere were close to Marist line, when off-side enabled Marist to clear. Grogan and Buchanan were to the l fore in a Marist forward attack, and Denovport was nearly over. Pascoe relieved, and play went to the Marist line. Anisy retired with an injury, being replaced by Bullimore. Grogan set up-.a Marist attack to Ngahere 25, where Roberts knocked on and half-time sounded. On resumption Grogan was- prominent for Marist, but- Ngahere. forwards' were playing a great spoiling game, and Kennedy went through until Rochford brought him down. Roberts put in a good run, but was tackled, at halfway, and Gillman led the Ngahere forwards in forcing Marist back to their line. From a melee near the posts, Bald'erstone picked up and dived over. Mulcare converted. Ngahere 5, Marist 3. With this reverse, Marist) pressed hard, but faulty handling and Solid. tackling prevented them from gaining the advantage. A Gibson was defending well for Ngahere, his handling of the greasy ball being excellent. Ngahere forwards were asserting themeslves at this stage, and continued 'to ke'ep Marist on tlio defensive until the final whistle came with the scores unaltered. Mr. W. Allen was referee.

JUNIOR GRADE. ’

Iri their first Knock-out Cup match, at Wirigliam Park, Brunner juniors, the chanipionship Winners, defeated Marist by three points to nil. • Open play was iriipossible under the conditions, but it was. a keen game. J. Forster scored tile winning try for Brunner. Mr. A. Williams was referee.

At Nelson Creek, Blackball juniors were defeated by the home team, by 10 points to seven. Mr. M. O’Brien was referee. There was a close game at Kumara, where the home junior team defeated Runanga by six points to five. Mr. G. Hunt was referee. THIRD GRADE. In the third grade Knock-out competition, Runanga defeated Marist by nine points to nil, at Wingham Park. Unconverted tries were scored for the winners by Menzies, T. Anderson and J. Forrest. Mr.' H. Bassett was reforce. In the third grade' knock-out replay, at Blackball, Blackball and Ngahere, who had! played 1 a drawn game at Ngahere the previous l .'week, again proved evenly matched, the result being a draw, 5 all. For, Ngahere, Balderstone scored and Clark converted, while for Blackball Kerr scored a try which O’Donnell converted. Mr. L. Kinsella was referee. FOURTH GRADE. The final of the fourth grade Knockout competition was played at Wingham Park, Blackball defeating Marist by nine points to three. The match was completed before the heavy rain set in, and provided some good football. Phillips (2i) and McClure scored unconverted tries for Blackball, and N. Hopkins scored a try for Marist, Mr. J. Earl was referee. SIXTH GRADE. To assist the selectors in the choosing of the Possibles and Probables teams a series of sixth grade matches were played at Wingham Park on Saturday. Runanga A defeated Runanga B by 32 points to nil. Tries were scored by Shackley, Wright (2), N. Armstrong (2), L. Forrest (3), while Shackley (2), R. Armstrong and Wright made conversions. Mr. J. Medlin was referee.

Marist A defeated Marist B by 13 points to 3. Soster (2), and A. Knapp scored for the winners. Barlow and Soster converting one. J. Knapp scored an unconverted try for the B’s. Mr. G;. Hunt was referee. Blackball defeated Kumara by 14 points to eight. . Tries were scored for Blackball by Hartshore, Lee, Rae and Mountford, McDonald converting one. Liddle scored two tries for Kumara and Haines converted one. Mr. J. Griffen was referee.

The following teams were selected for the trial match to be played at Wingham Park on Saturday, preparatory to the selection of the team t.i defend the Norman Cox Cup against Canterbury next month: —• A. Team: —Fullback, I. Thompson (M). Three-quarters: L. Forrester, Soster (captain), (M.), R. Forrest (R.), five-eighths: Wright (R.), L. Silcock (M.), half: Hamilton (M.) Forwards: Barlow (M.), Shackley (R.), Stokes (M.), Mcßride (M.), Haines (M.), McDonald (B.) B. team: —Full-back, Stenhouse (B.), three-quarters: Liddle (K.), Gurnov; (M.), Keating (M.), five-eighths: McDonnell (M.), V. Meates (M.) (capt.l. half, Tomasi (K.)» forwards: Brady (M.), Armstrong (R.), Studholme (K.), Paul Costello (M.), Kelly (M.), Haines (K.). Emergencies: .Less and Mountford (B.)

OTHER CENTRES

CHRISTCHURCH, July 17. Saturday’s Rugby League results were: —

Addington 22, Linwood 8; Waimairi 21, Sydenham 3; Rakaia 27. Hornby 13.

AUCKLAND, July 16. Mount Albert 21, Manukau 19; Marist 18, North Shore 5; City 13, Ponsonby 8; Papakura 5, Newton 5 WELLINGTON, July 16.

Tn the final of the senior championship, Centre beat Petone by 18 points to 13. Other senior results in the second series of games in the special one-round competition for the Board of Control Cup were: St. George 22, Miramar 19; Randwick 16. Newtown 13.