RUGBY LEAGUE Blackball Again Wins Senior Championship

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 July 1947, Page 8

RUGBY LEAGUE Blackball Again Wins Senior Championship

For the seventh successive year, Blackball has won the Coast Rugby League’s senior championship, a record unexcelled in the history of the code in this province. The championship round ended yesterday, with Blackball three points ahead of Ngahere and Marist two points further back. With Blackball and Ngahere both in a position to win, their match at Ngahere Domain yesterday was generally regarded as the “final” and it attracted a record crowd for Ngahere, of about 2000. Only one try was scored in the game, but as the result of penalty goals, Blackball won by nine points to nil.

Ground and weather conditions were ideal for the match, but it was primarily a tense forward struggle. With the Ngahere backs failing to function and Blackball being content to rely mainly on its forwards, there was little spectacular football. Ngahere had the territorial advantage, but was unable to pierce the final defence.-

Marist took third place on the ladder by defeating Runanga in an exciting game at Wingham Park and at Hokitika, the Hokitika’team had an easy win over Brunner.

Results in all grades were as follows: —

Senior. —Blackball 9, Ngahere nil; Marist 8, Runanga 5; Hokitika 33, Brunner 8. Senior Reserve. —Lake Brunner 11, Blackbal 9; Runanga 23, Cobden nil; Rapahoe £7, Paparoa’ 7. Third Grade. —Marist 31, Runanga 15. Fourth Grade- —Blackball 13, Marist 11; Brunner 20, Hokitika 10. Fifth Grade. —Marist 16, Runanga nil. Midgets. —Cobden 9, Marist 6; Ngahere 15, Blackball nil. Schoolboys (Saturday).—Senior: Possibles 17, Probables 5. Junior: Runanga 40, Marist B 3; Blackball 26, Brunner 3; Marist A won by default from Kumara. Blackball Tactics Decided Result Of Hard-Fought Game

Superb generalship on the part of the Blackball .captain, K. Mountford, coupled with sound tackling and backing-up were the chief factors in Blackball’s success against Ngahere. In'the second half Ngahere absolutely dominated the game, territorially, but invariably it was sent back from the Blackball line just when things looked most dangerous for the leaders. Ngahere tried all the strategy it knew to break down the defence, but Blackball always had a counter move.

In contrast to past encounters between the teams, it was Ngahere which attempted to open up the game; Blackball was content to play -tight and, in effect, beat Ngahere at its own game. The Ngahere backs saw plenty of the ball and had many opportunities, but they failed to turn them to advantage. A slowness to get the ball away, coupled with handling mistakes, was fatal in the face of the Blackball cover defence, which was never really found wanting. The Blackball backline, as a whole was not impressive, and did not attempt a great deal on attack. McNaughton made great use of the stab kick to exploit faults in the Ngahere positional play and counter the deadly Ngahere tackling. The result was that, considering the conditions, the game was disappointing as an exhibition of fine-day Rugby League. Compensation came, however, in the rugged forward play and brilliant defence of both teams. It appeared also that over-eagerness had an effect on both teams. Players on both sides lost opportunities by attempting too much on their own and there were an unusual number of penalties. Opportunities Lost

In this regard Ngahere failed badly—a good goal-kicker in the second half may have even turned defeat into victory. Six of Blackball’s nine points came from penalty kicks, and Ngahere had chances to gain as many oi’ more when almost constantly on the attack in the second half but did not succeed in goaling once. Three of the four Blackball representatives in the New Zealand team,. K. Mountford, C. Mcßride and R. Nuttall, were included in the winning thirteen, and without detracting from the displays of their team mates it can be said that they were a decisive factor. Nuttall was a little shaky in his handling at times but his kicking was splendid, both for the line and the goal. Mountford and Mcßride were the leaders of the pack, with good support from A. Clark and R. O’Donnell. W. Mountford, J. McNaughton and J. Kirwan were perhaps the best of the backs, apart from Nuttall. The lighter Ngahere pack did great work in the tight, but missed Morgan in the loose. All did well, with Mel Ord, L. Tuck and D. McVicar perhaps the most prominent. Mick Ord (halfback) was given a torrid time by the Blackball forwards but came through well. J. Gibson, A. Gibson and J. Mulcare were probably, the best of the remainder of the Ngahere backs. Both teams finished with only 12 men on the field. Nuttall retired fairly early in the second half with a knee injury (not serious) and in the closing stages Mick Ord was also injured and had to leave the field. The teams were as follows: — Blackball. —R. Nuttall; A. O’Donnell, W. Mountford, J. Kirwan; L. Manson, J. McNaughton, J. Lee; R. O’Donnell, A. McLure, J. Williams, C. Mcßride, A. Clark, K. Mountford. Ngahere.—H. Reid; J. Mulcare, A. Gibson, J. McLaughlin; J. Gibson, A. Smith, Mick Ord; F. Gibson, Mel Ord, L. Tuck, D. McVicar, H. Tuck, T. Dudley.

The Scoring

The early exchanges were even, Dudley (one) and Nuttall (two) both being unsuccessful with penalty kicks. Just before the first quarter was up, however, Mcßride carried the ball through at his toe and Ngahere was penalised on its own 25, for McNaughton to open the scoring with a goal. Ten minutes later, Nuttall added another two points with a kick from wide out on the 25. Ngahere made great efforts to overtake the lead, but without success and when its forwards were penalised for a scrum infringement, Nuttall again succeeded with a fine kick. Just before half time, a well-placed kick by Lee put Blackball in an attacking position and Lee secured from a ruck to send out to McNaughton on ■ the blind side. Racing at top, Kirwan received from McNaughton to fling himself over in the corner. Nuttall .fail-

ed to convert, making the half-time score, Blackball 9, Ngahere nil. In the second half, three-fourths of the play took place in the Blackball half and on one occasion Blackball had three drop outs in the space of five minutes, but Ngahere could not finish off its movements with a try. Ord and Dudley both failed at attempts to kick goals and the game ended without any points being scored in the second half. Mr T. F. McKenzie was referee. •

EXCITING FINISH TO MARIST—RUNANGA MATCH

Good football was witnessed in the second half of the Marist-Runanga senior match at Wingham Park and this, coupled with an exciting finish, compensated for a rather drab first spell. The Runanga team was without the services of ,J. Newton and J. Forrest, but produced a new recruit in a former Rugby Union winger, N. Sweetman, who played well until he received a shoulder injury. Marist won by eight points to five. There were no tries scored in the first half, the only points being gained by Marist, as the result of a penalty kick by P. Coll. Early in the second half Watson increased Marist’s lead to five points, with a try which Coll failed to convert. Runanga equalised when T. Merriman scored near the posts and J. Curragh converted. The winning try was scored for Marist by J. Mundy, after a splendid run. The match was unusual, in that two referees were required. The original referee, Mr J. Mathews, injured his leg and was compelled to retire in the closing stages and Mr W. Hopkins was substituted. Easy Win For Improved Hokitika Team The Hokitika senior team proved conclusively yesterday that its surprise success over Runanga.the prewas not a fluke. Playing before a good crowd at Cass Square, Hokitika, it decisively defeated Brunner by 33 points to eight. It was Hokitika’s third success for* the season but it was the first time that it had had a runaway victory. Schoolboys’ Team for Dominion Tournament Following the trial game at Victoria Park on Saturday, the following schoolboys’ team (9st limit) .was announced to represent the West Coast at the annual Dominion tournament to be held in Christchurch, commencing on August 25: — Full-backs: L. Gray (Blackball), J. Hyndman (Hokitika). Three-quarters: N. Grindle (Bb.), J. Markland (H), W. Cairney (Kohinoor), B. O’Neill (Runanga). Five-eighths: J. McGrath (Marist), J. Broome (H), J. Meikle (Bb.). Half-back: T. Harris (K). Forwards: O. Duffy (M),- E. Rooney (H), K. Russell (R), L. Turner (R), R. Maskill (R), C. Curtis (M), R. Scott (Brunner), B. KeL ly (R), J. Griffin (M).