LEAGUE FOOTBALL Runanga Beat Marist Before Record Crowd at Wingham Park

Grey River Argus, 19 April 1948, Page 6

LEAGUE FOOTBALL Runanga Beat Marist Before Record Crowd at Wingham Park

Outdoor conditions were ideal yesterday at the commencement of the League match between Runanga and Marist which attracted a record crowd of more than 2000 for a club game, to Wingham Park yesterday, but later in the afternoon, a series of showers made the ball difficult to handle, In a match which was marked by some brilliant play, and solid defence on both sides, Runanga merged the victors by 12 points to. 10. The great crowd followed the match with keen anticipation, as both teams had so far been undefeated this season. ■ Some fine movements, in which both backs and forwards took part, marked the game, which was played at a' terrific pace throughout, both teams standing up to a particularly fast game with credit to themselves. With a slight superiority in the forwards, ’Runanga were also more successful in the scrums, which, however, were the worst feature of the game. Runanga backs, with slightly more of the ball, played fine football, J. Soster at full-back giving an excellent exposition in that position. J. Curragh, J. Forrest, and G. Menzies also played fine football, but they would have been more dangerous had the halfback, L. Sweetman, given them more efficient service. In the forwards, J. Higson, F. Thompson and J. Newton played good football. Slightly heavier than the Marist pack, the Runanga forwards were in the thick of the fight the whole way, and it was due to their efforts that the team secured a win. J. Calder, the young Marist. forward, proved to be the best forward on the ground. He played exceptionally brilliantly, and was not even shaded by Newton.. J; Stokes was another forward who played well, and was seldom missing when there was hard work to be done. Of the Marist packs, L. Dargan, at full-back, played fairly sound football, although he was not in the same class as Soster. J. Mundy, who played at _ second fiveeighths demonstrated his versatility, but he might have been more at home in his usual place as breakaway. However, he was with his backs throughout the game, and made few mistakes. J. Pascoe was rather inclined to hold on to the ball, and this proved costly to his side on a number of occasions. The other backs, Teen particularly, played good defensive football, and it was this feature of the game which demonstrated the ability of many of the players on both sides. At times, promising passing movements were shattered by the hard tackling of both forwards and backs. Particularly well marked were R. and J. Forrest and Mundy.

THE PLAY The teams were:— Runanga: Soster; J. and R. Forrest, J. Curragh; Tho.\as, Menzies; Sweetman; Newton, L. Forrest, Baxendalc, Thompson, Higson and Braithwaite. Marist: Dargan; Teen, Meates, Dunn; Mundy, Pascoe; Curnow; Stokes, Calder, Costelloe, K. Coll, P. Coll. Molloy. Marist’s first points came ten minutes after the start, when Runanga were penalised in front of the post, P. Coll goaling. Two minutes later, Soster missed a kick at goal when Marist were penalised 40 yards out. A grand effort by Newton took play to Marist’s line, where Curragh dropped the ball, alter Newton had made a spectacular cross-field effort. Menzies took play to Marist territory from where Soster goaled well out from a penalty. Brilliant play, with bright, short-passing movements kept the crowd on its toes, but. Menzies pul Runanga in a good position, gaining many yards before sending to J. Forrest who beat Mundy in a race for the line, and scored well out. Soster’s kick missed. Curragh shone in a solo efjoit, but a knock on spoilt any chance of a score, and Stokes was making a good dash just as half-time sounded with the score; Runanga 5, Marist 2. Marist adopted offensive tactics from the commencement of the second spell, Meates breaking away on his own. Newton extricated his side from a dangerous position by securing the ball after Pascoe had kicked through and the Marist forwards appeared certain to score. Coll chose to kick high rather than attempt a goal kick when Sweetman was off side in a handy, position, but the effort did not succeed. and a series of scrums ended in Marist being penalised. Curnow, Meates, Mundy and Dunn figured in an opep movement which took play to the line. After playing the ball, Costelloe secured just in time to score in a handy position. P. Coll goaled. Now in the lead, Marist made every effort, and the backs participated in a thrilling rush which did not produce a try. When they were penalised 35 yards out, Soster brought the scores level with a good kick. Calder saved Marist when Runanga pressed down on their line, by collecting the ball from under the posts and fek-emg his way through to send Dunn away. J. Forrest, revealed his most brilliant form of the day in a fine run which took him across the field, to send Thompson and Newton towards the Marist line, but an infringement cost Runanga a certain try. Securing from the loose, Higson sent Forrest away in the best movement of the day. At the 25, Forrest raced through, beating several men to touch down well out, and Soster added the minor points with a fine kick. Then followed a period of intense tackling. Curnow failed in a good attempt from the blind, side of the scrum when his pass was not taken. Pascoe opened the final scoring movement of the day, sending to Mundy and Costelloe for Teen to score well out. Coll’s kick missed. In the last few minutes there was great excitement as each side made strenuous efforts to improve their position, but the game ended without further score, the finally tally being: Runanga 12 —Marist 10 Mr R. Baird was the referee Ngahere’s Narrow Win Over Hokitika At Ngahere yesterday, the Hokitika senior side put up a good performance to hold the local team to a draw until the last five minutes of the game, when Ngahere scored two tries' in quick succession. The game was of a high standard, with a number of good passing movements and much forward play. Scorers for Ngahere were Bernard. Williams and Thompson, while Neilson secured Hokitika’s try. Bernard and Manson were the outstanding backs of the winning side, and Thompson was the best forward on the ground, with McLennan also prominent. In the Hokitika team, the half-back,' M. Ord, played brilliantly, and H. Tainui was also on his game. Of the forwards, Neilson. Gillman and Mosley were the pick. The referee was Mr J. P. Mathews.

COUNTRY SCHOOLS’ FIELD DAY

More than 100 schoolboys' from Brunner. Blackball, Ngahere and Nelson Creek attended a most successful field day at Ngahere on Saturday, when the players were weighed and checked.