RUGBY FOOTBALL

Grey River Argus, 4 May 1931, Page 2

RUGBY FOOTBALL

Saturday’s Results SENIOR. Cobden 10, United 8. Blaketown 9, Stars nil. Excelsior 22, Rivals 6. JUNIOR Cobden A 17, Stars 6. Blaketown won by default from Brunner. Kumara 11, Cobden B 0

COBDEN 10, UNITED 8. At the Cobden Domain on Saturday, tlie young Cobden team gained a lastminutc victory river last year’s champions, United. The teams lined out as follows:— Cobden (red and black): A. Ki~ig; Glover, J. King, Pickering; N. Eggelton, Taaffe; Garing; Wilson, Bolitdo; Keith, Burgess, Birchfield; Gordon, F. Eggelton; Alex King. United (blue and white): Smith; A. Baldwin, Gilbert, Tobin; F. Baldwin, Samways; Walton; Bell, Summers; Ferguson, Burley, Bathbun; Jones, Grooby; Saunders. United won the toss and J. King kicked off for Cobden facing a strong sun. Five minutes after the commencement, play was held up momentarily while attention was given to one of A. King’s fingers. He played on for the remainder of the game, but a subsequent X-Ray examination revealed a fracture of the little finger of his left hand. For some time Cobden attacked strongly, but the United forwards carried play down to Cobden territory. From a line-out on Cob-

den’s 25, Baldwin secured, and making a good opening, transferred to* Samways, to Gilbert, who scored under the posts. Bell converted. United 5. Cobden 0. United immediately returned to the attack, and from one of a series of serums in the Cobden 25, Walton whipped the leather out to F. Baldwin, I who cut in nicely, leaving the Cobden inside backs standing, and side-step-ping the full-back, scored wide out. Gilbert failed to convert. United 8, Cobden 0. United came back again with a forward rush, but the ball went over the dead line. Half time soundi ed with the scores: United 8, Cobden 0. I Upon the resumption the Cobden | backs carried play down to the United i 25, and from a serum Garing secured i and beat a couple of men before transi ferring to Taaffe, who cut in under the I posts for A. King to* convert. United | 8; Cobden 5. United forwards launched a series of attacks on the Cobden ! line, but the defence held. Jones, who , had been very prominent up to this ' stage, left the field with an injured knee, Frew replacing him. From a free f kick to United Gilbert hit the upright with a good kick. Each side now attacked in turn. both sets of backs ■ handling in a number of good, though fruitless movements. During the last ten minutes, Cobden pressed hard and ' from a scrum in United territory, Garj ing secured and beat his man before sending on to Taaffe, wh j> cut in and passed to J. King, the latter attempting a pot, but it was a poor attempt. However, the ball went out to Pickering. the winger, who inpassed to Birchfield, who raced over near the posts. J. King converted, and the final whistle sounded immediately after with the scores: Cobden 10, United 8. The Cobden forwards all toiled hard throughout, with Birchfield, Gordon and Wilson always in the picture, while Taaffe and Garing shone out among the backs. A. King at fullback, J. King and N. Eggelton all played soundly without being in any< way brilliant. The wingers, Pickering and Glover, did not get many chances, but made the most of the few which came their way. Saunders and Jones were always leading the United pack, while Bell and Ferguson gave them good support. In the United rearguard, F. Baldwin was most prominent, his straight running being a feature of his play. The try he scored was a real gem. Walton played a heady game behind the scrum, while Samways and Gilbert combined fairly well in some good passing bouts. Smith was always safe as the last line ■ of defence, but the wingers did not get many opportunities to shine. Cobden lost many golden opportunities to increase their score through the poor attempts of their goal kickers. Mr T. Mclntosh had charge of the whistle. BLAKETOWN 9, STARS 0. * The Blaketown v. Stars match at Cobden Domain resulted, as was generally expected, in a win for the former team. Stars were handicapped by the absence of two prominent backs i n Johnston and Cushnie. Star forwards more than held their own with the Blaketown pack, especially in the second spell, but the Blaketown backs were far superior to their opponents’ rearguard. Pascoe played a good safe game at full-back for Blaketown, while Spiers, Bunt, Bouterey and Negri al! played good games and combined well. Lemin, though given numerous chances, missed almost every pass, but McEnaney made the most of the few chances he received. Among an even lot of forwards, Shannahan, Caulton and F. Bell were always in the thick of it. Furness, Fell, Petrie and Buchanan were most prominent of the Star forwards, while Beban and, Fong showed out best among the backs, though they did not receive any great support from the rest of their backs. W. Bell, Sta r full-back, was sound, but was inclined to wait for the bounce of the ball instead of attempting to take it on the full. Hughes with the few chances he received showed promising form, and with better combination among those inside him, he would have been distinctly “dangerous. The foams were as follows:— Blaketown (black): Pascoe; McEnaney, Negri, Lemin; Bunt, Spiers; Bou-. terey; Dimond, Olsen,] Neal, Caulton; Webster, Scott; F. Bell. Stars: (amber and black): — W. Bell, J. Earthome, Cooper, Hughes; Beban, Fong; Guy; Petrie,

Fell, Buchanan, Isbister, Dunn, CochMclntosh; Fui|ness. Stars won the toss and faced a ■ntrong sun, McEnaney picking off for Blaketown. Shortly after the start Pascoe narrowly missed with a pen- 1 alty. Blaketown attacked immediately, and from a serum all the Blake'own backs handled for McEnaney to cross at the corner. Pascoe missed with the kick. Blaketown 3; Stars 0. Blaketown again took up the offensive, but Star forwards battled their way back to midfield, where from a scrum Bouterey set his backs going, the ball going along the back line to Negri, whose pass went astray, when a try .eemed probable. Offside play enabled. Pascoe to land a nice penalty goal. Blaketown 6; Stars 0. Numerous passing bouts by the Blaketown backs looked dangerous, but dropped passes at critical moments always spoiled them. Half time sounded with play in Star 25. Score: Blaketown 6, Stars

After the resumption Blaketown set up a hot attack, but Star forwards drove them back. The Star defence held against several good movements among the Blaketown backs. Then from a line-out near Star 25, Caulton secured and evading would-be tacklers, scored about ten yards from the corner. Pascoe failed to convert. Blaketown 9, Stars 0. A good passing bout among the Star backs carried play to Blaketown 25, but from a scrum there Bouterey again set his backs moving, and Lemi n was pushed out on the Star side of half way. The Star pack was now r getting the upper hand, and forced their way to Blaketown territory, where from a scrum Guy sent out to Beban, to Fong, who cut in nicely, but Fell failed to accept his pass when within striking distance of the line. The Blaketown forwards, led by Shannahan and Bell, came back again, however. and from a line out Caulton secured and raced as far as the fullback, but hp was grassed in possession. From the ensuing serum a. free kick to Stars gave them a chance to clear. The Star rearguard all handled in a nice movement, which carried play into the Blaketown 25, where from a. scrum Guy transferred to Beban, who cut in. beating two men, but his pass went, astray. Blaketown backs cleared with a passing bout which carried play to midfield, where Star backs again got going, but Hughes was caught in possession after making a good run. At the final whistle play was in the Blaketown 25. Scores: Blaketown 9, Stars 0. Mr H. McLaughlin had charge of the game. EXCELSIORS (22) V. RIVALS (6). Ideal weather failed to attract a good attendance at Cass Square on Saturday for the first senior game, between Rivals and Excelsiors, which did not prove a very good exhibition, the disparity between the sides being marked. Both lacked several men who were prominent last season, Rivals especially having in a number of young and light players. Excelsiors had the superiority in weight and speed, while their opponents had to put their best hacks in the pack to make up weight. The halft’m escore was 14 to 3 in favour of the Excelsiors, who finally won by 22 to 6. The outstanding back on view was Martyn, who always was there when a score was in prospect, and his tally for day was 19 points out of 28 scored altogether by both sides. His kicking was characteristically good, and if he can only find a few good men to keep h«m company, he should enhance his reputation this season. On the Rivals’ side Houston stood out, doing a deal of work, but whilst playing wing forward the referee several times caught him in front of the half, and thus gave Martyn the opportunity to kick penalty goals. Hughes is a promising Excelsior back, and Schroder is another. The former’s brother, Len, with Kiely, Wright (a Rossite)' and Chalmers showed up in the pick, while R. King and Stevenson were reliable backs. Webster and Carter were Rivals’ best backs, while Pfahlert showed out when he dropped out fo the pack in the latter stages. The scrum is not his place at all. Pearson is an acquisition for Rivals, for though short, he is full of pep. Houston got a fine try when Webster broke away with the ball in the second spell, the pair boating all the opposition backs and some forwards between them. But apart from Rivals’ rally after the first Excelsior try, and their revival towards the end of the game, the Excelsiors were on ton, and though Martyn’s boot was responsible for 13 out of the 22 points scored. Rivals never looked like winning. They d ; d quite well for a. light team, and in the second half they suffered the loss of three men through injuries—Mclntosh. West and Carter.

Soon after the start Excelsior pack made an attack, and from a scramble Stevenson got over to score, Martyn converting. Rivals worked gradually to the other end, and penned the opposition for a long time in their 25. Finally they were rewarded when a penalty was kicked by Webster. Before long Houston got round the scrum too soon, and Martyn goaled from near the side line. Before half-time Shroder made a long diagonal run, passing to Hughes, five-eighth, who transferred to K : ng> and from him Martyn took a pass and sailed over failing to convert. Rivals were first to score on resuming, when Webster cut through, followed by Houston, who took a short pass and forced his way in. A free kick for tripping saw Martyn goal, making Excelsiors 17 to 6. A couple of good runs by Kelly reversed Rival attacks, and after the second one the ball went to Hughes and Martyn, who scored and converted. A visiting referee proved impartial and satisfactory.

For Cobden, Wilson (2), Gordon and i Minchin scored tries, Lindbom convert- [ ing one and also kicking a penalty j goal. Hibbs and Robinson, scored for, Stars, neither being converted. Mr A. Jamieson was referee. THIRD GRADE. TECHNICAL 45, BLAKETOWN 3. In the only third grade match played on Satutrday, Technical scored a runaway victory over Blaketown by 45 points to 3. For Technicol, Collett (3), Wylde (3), Teague (2), Smith (2), Kay (2), and Gilmore, scored tries, Collett converting two and Matheson one. Aiderton scored a try for Blaketown. Mr T. Reynolds was referee. CANTERBURY RESULTS. CHRISTCHURCH. May 2. In the Rugby football matches to-day Varsity 14 beat Old Boys 9, Christchurch 24 beat Athletic 3, Linwood 16 beat Merivale 1 14, Albion 5 beat Sydenham 3.