JUNIORS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 28 June 1926, Page 3

JUNIORS.

Southern Division junior teams nowstand as follow' in the competition:

WAIMATE (11) V. OKAIAWA (0)

Waimate and Okaiawa, juniors met on the latter’® ground, where a ragged game resulted, especially in the first spell, which produced no score. Ip the second’ half, Eilkingion. broke the ice for Waimiate by a. lucky try. following oh a forward rush-. . There' were three or four Okaiawa men who quid d and sliou 1 d have forced» hut the opponent beat them,. However, : the next try, which, also was Elkington’s was well deserved. It came of a. bright passing rush. A. further period 'of unscientific and uninteresting'play followed, until towards the close- the visiting backs got moving again and AY. Burke scored a try from which cMoki kicked the only goal of the game;

made a beter showing than the hades. The winners showed occasional flashes of bright play, in which, Elkington and Burke were usually concerned. Air. E .Hurley was referee, and the slightly hostile reception which, he received at the close of the game was not in keeping with Okaiawa’s traditions of sportsmanship. ~ . •

HAWERA (11) v( ATHLETIC (6)

The second junior meeting between the two Hawera, teams (Hawera and Athletic) resulted in a. win for the •former'by 11; points (three tries, one .converted) te six (one try and one penality goa'l). The game was fast and will img j; both teams possessing good strong packs, but--Athletic’s backs were weak.

With, the. wind in their favour, the Hawera teani. rattled up a good score in -the first spell, but was kept busy defending after the change over. The wind dropped in the second spell, leaving Athletic .at ; t. slight. disadvantage. From, the kick off by Hawera, which was mailed by Athletic, Hawera, showing good combination, brought play perilously near -the line, but the Athletic pack temporarily relieved. Hawera. again on the attack, when- Stone took a niark. \ His- kick at goal dropped just under the bar. A, bright Hawera, rush resulted in a serum, on the line, and; following the yellow backs passed along the line for Mundy to ■score between the posts. The wind caught.' the ball, on the rise and it struck . the potet. ,-Shortly afterwards .Busing had a shot at goal from a penalty, but failed. A nnulled pass: close on the line gave Crutch his chance, and he slipped over, doubling the Hawera score. Oipen play .followed, the ball eventually going out near half-way. From the throw-in the yellow pack advanced and a scrummage- close -to the line was only relieved Toy the prompt forcing on the part, of the .blue fullback. Murphy was almost across the ■Athletic lirie when he lost the ball, but Mundy, quickly securing, scored in dead centre. Busing converted. The spell ended shortly after with the score: Hawera 11, Althletic 0. On the opening of the> second spell the yellows again attacked, but a penalty kick relieved the situation and brought Athletic to the attack, play remaining near-the Hawera line for a period, during which Hawera were compelled to force twice. From a line out close to the line, _ Spragg slipped over in a good position and opened the score for Athletic. The kick failed. Play remained in Hawera territory. Milroy made a good run and was almost clear when stopped by 'Stone. In the scrummage which followed, Bide were awarded a penalty kick and Jones placed a neat goal. Hawera attacked, hut Jones relieved With a. long kick. Businsc took a. shot at- goal from- near t-lio li aJf-w ay. 'but the ball , under .the bar. '’Aithletfe'. "fofeedi•'tfrieej' relieving from Hawera rashes. No >. further scores were "added; and the game ended: Hawera 11. Athletic 6. Mr.- K. MoNlae was referee.

ALTON (8) v. WAVERLEY (6) .At (Alton, the home .juniors defeated ■^faverley,-by eight points (two tries, one'converted) to 6 (a try and a penalty goal). In the early stages Waverley, by a series of passing rushes, had the home side in difficulties, but the Alton forwards -were solid in defence and saved the position. From a scrum, Huston secured and put in a good run. He was downed when near the line, but had time to get his pass away to Sharpe, who drew'first blood for Alton. Wills added the extra points. A period of bright play ensued, the Waverley backs opening up good passing rushes, but on every occasion Alton managed to save within a few feet of the scoring line. Half-time found the score unaltered. ' ; -

In the second spell . Waverley were again aggressive and Alton were hard pressed, but their strong defensive tactics averted an immediate score. Eventually with a passing rush Waverley developed a successful assault, McGregor crossing to score. The kick failed afi'd only two points separated the scores) ‘ - After some fast exchanges the Alton forwards worked their way to a favourable position, and in an attempt to find the line a Waverley back made a punt which rebounded from Anderson’s face, and >' Proffitt gathered promptly to secure Alton’s second try. No goal' resulted. :> During the' final stages, Alton, were hard pressed, and with a penalty kick. Howe added three points for Waverley.- Further attacks bv the visitors tested the home defence, but no further results were achieved. Mr A. Murpliy was the referee.

OPUNAKE (16) v. KAPONGA (3). ' The Opunake team’s late arrival on the Kaponga Domain, necessitated shortening the game to two spells of 20 minutes e’acli, which proved quite long enough to inflict a, decided 1 defeat on the' home .team. The latter included only T 3 players, the prevailing frequence, of influenza taking toll of a number of the selected-15, whose places were partially filled by lower grade players. /- Winning th© toss, which gave them file advantage of a-strong wind, Kaponga. forced the visitors three times in quick succession, after which Opunake yoke up and kept the game in neutral territory for a term. A good dribbling rush by Ka-poriga ended in Mercer .securing and going over in' the corner. The kick failed.' This was the .only score registered in the first spell. . Opunake assumed the aggressive from the Icick-off in the second half, and 1 it ■was not long before MeOallum equalised .the score. . Before the decidedly poor exhibition ended; further tries'for pphnalfe were scored, by McOallran (2) and Cunningham. Adamson converting' Two." , . .. Mr Malcolm 4 of Opunake. was referee.

P. w. L. For Agst' Pts. Pts Pts Ch. Eltham 6 5 1 37 29 10 Okaiawa 7 5 2 53 37 . 10 W aim ate ... 8 5 3 58 32 10 Opunako ••• 6 1 5 35 50 2 Ivaponga ... 7 1 0 25 i GO 2 Pts Pts Ch. p. W. L. For Agst Pts. Pate a 7 7 — 86 12 11 Ha.wera ... 7 5 2 61 ,.44. 10 Alton 8 3 o - 31 85 6 Athletic ... 7 3 5 32 63 -1 Waverlev 7 1 6 52 58- u 2*