LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Grey River Argus, 15 May 1944, Page 6

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Ngahere Beat Marist ANOTHER EASY WIN FOR BLACKBALL. The West Coast Rugby League’s senior competition continued yesterday in overcast weather. The attendances were not large. The’ fields were muddy and the ball slippery. Nevertheless both games provided bright football. At Wingham Park, an even game resulted in a win for Ngahere over Marist, while Blackball had a further runaway win over Brunner. NGAHERE 10—MARIST 6.

A very even game resulted from the meeting of Marist and Ngahere. and with two tries each, victory went to Ngahere by virtue of A. Howden's kicking. The Marist forwards again gave an excellent display with D. Watson and P- Coll showing out, while P. Malone showed versatility when he saved three 'fries, tackling the Ngahere winger in the corner on each occasion. Ngahere’s superiority lay in the combination of their backs. Their unselfishness should be a lesson to Marist. They threw the ball about in good style. J. Dowell and PO’Brien showed plenty of speed in that department. A. Dunn and Clarke played well in the Ngahere forwards. Pooi’ handling and an inclination to do too much alone epitomised the play of the Marist backs, and though in the first half Marist hooked most consistently, the ball very rarely passed Rochford, the first five-eighth. The full-back. McKenzie tried to gain too much ground with his kicks and on too many occasions a scrum back was ordered. The two wingers, Scott and Malone, got through quite a, good deal of work creditably. The teams, were:— Marist: T. F. McKenzie, T. Scott, M. Teen, T. Malone, L. Dunn, B. Rochford, L. Tredennick, D. Watson, G. Martin, P. Coll, K. Coll, J. Hagan, and P. Malone.

Ngahere: K. Elmers, J. Mulcare, A. Gibson, J. Dowell, P. O’Brien, F. Pascoe, A. Smith, A. Dunn, J. Howden, W. Campbell, A. Clarke, H. Parker, A. ■McLure.

Ngahere, at the start exploited u snappv passing rush and were right up on Marist’s line, where tenacious play by the Marist forwards advanced 'play right into Ngahers’s. territory, where P. Coll narrowly missed Ep penalty goal. Marist were nearly over but a forward pass recalled them. Ngahere looked like scoring when J. Mulcare secured at the end of a passing movement and outpaced the several only to be forced out by P. Malone in the corner. From the scrum the ball traversed the back line but Gibson and Malone fumbled with a clear field ahead and Marist relieved. Maintaining the initiative, Marist continued to press and Ngahere were compelled to force. Mulcare looked like scoring again after another Ngahere back effort, but again P. Malone grounded him in the corner, just short of the line. A brilliant interchange of passing brought about Ngahere’s first points. J. Dowell going over in a ‘handy position. Howden converted. Ngahere 5; Marist nil.

Half-time came shortly after with Ngahere dominating play and being seldom out of Marist’s territory.

Marist were the aggressors on the resumption, but poor handling and lack of concerted movements kept them from gaining points, and Pascoe relieved. Finally, Marist forwards threw the ball about amongst themselves and Watson and P. Coll went over, the latter touching down. Coll failed to convert. Fast following up was the resison for Marist’s second try. Watson kicked through and favoured by the bounce of the ball, collected to beat two men and score near the posts." Coll missed the kick.--Marist 6; Ngahere 5. Scott was responsible for a couple of solo efforts at this stage. Ngahere then took a turn at attack, but offside play gave Marist a chance to relieve. ' However, Ngahere came again and Pascoe and Dowell put in good work. Smith neatly dummied his way over, but finally from a scrum, H. Parker dived over to score. Howden converted. —Ngahere 10; Marist 6. Marist were nearly over but a knock-on just short of the Ime brought them back. Ngahere then pressed and kept plav in Marist’s territory, where the game ended witn the score:—Ngahere 10; Marist o. Corporal J. P. Mathews refereed. BLACKBALL 34—BRUNNER 5. Again the combination of the Blackball tean?. proved too superior to ir s opponents, and Brunner, after holding them to a close score in the firsu half, had their colours lowered t 0 the tune of 34 points to 5. The game

proceeded at a fast pace and was interesting to watch. C. and W. Mountford were the pick of the Blackball backs and combined in some snappy movements. R. Clark and M. McBride played well in the pack. R. Hobbs and Chapman were the best .of the Brunner forwards, while A. Bernard and S. Williams were prominent in the rearguard. Brunner were first to attack and were unlucky not to score within the first few minutes of play, when Browning charged down a clearing kick and was brought down just as he was diving over. Brunner continued to look dangerous for a while, but Blackball eventually relieved without Brunner having scored. Then the Blackball back line handled for W. Mountford to score unopposed under the posts. Nuttall’s kick missed. Blackball forwards next attacked and C. Dando failed to hold a kick, Neilson collecting to score wide out. Nuttall failed to convert. A rapid change of direction brought about Blackballs next try. Plays was c , on " centrated on one side of the field when the ball travelled across field with the Blackball back line and the winger Jamieson scored unopposed in the corner. Nuttall goaled. Brunner then scored its only points, when from a melee near the line W. Dunn collected to dive over. Dando goaled. Half-time came with the"score: — Blackball 11; Brunner 5.. J. McNaughton did not return to play the second spell, suffering an eye injury, and subsequently Black- ’ ball played with only twelve men. Rapid interpassing resulted in C. Mountford scoring wide out, shortafter the resumption. Nuttall converting. Receiving the ball, following a movement in Blackball territory, W. Mountford weaved his way through the opposition to race sixty yards for a try under the 'posts, which Ord converted. The next try came when C. Mountford secured on Brunner’s twenty-five line and outpaced the opposition to touch down under the nosts. He also converted the try. Brunner was attacking when R. Clark broke clear from a scrum, passed to J. Clark, to C ; Mountford who again raced clear of his opponents, to score under the posts a try which he converted. Neilson made the opening: for the final try. when he nicked up at half-way and kicked over Dando’s head, for O’Donnell to race through and score under the posts. Nuttall’s kick missed The game then ended w<th the score:—Blackball 34; Brunner 5. Mr. A. Kennedy was the referee.

LOWER GRADES. Runanga juniors appearing in th* curtain-raiser at Wingham,Park, sustained their first defeat of the season, when Marist emerged victors by two points to nil. . Brunner juniors beat Blackball by nine noints to two, at Brunner. Runanga fourth. graders beat Brunner by 13 po'nts to 5.