SOUTHERN DIVISION

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 30 July 1928, Page 9

SOUTHERN DIVISION

SENIORS. OPUNAKE v. KAPONGA. In a, spirited and interesting match Opunake, on their own ground, beat Kaponga by a margin of 14 points. The teams took the field as below : Opunake.—W. Holiaia, Sinclair, Sinclair, Rutherford, Smith, MoCalluni, O. Holiaia, Hi elver, Mourie, Conroy, Martin, Clark, Hunt, J. Jmsk, Riley, O’Brien.

Kaponga.—iMcwatt, McCarthy, Collins, Hliason, Mercer, A. Guy, I>. Hammersley, L. Wells, J. Hammersley, P. Hammersley, J. IT pin, 11. Kspin, Hickey, Free, Hodge. Kaponga kicked oil' with the wind and after a row vigorous exchanges a mull by a Kaponga back let Opunake through and from a rush the forwards went over, but A. Guy forced. Opunake continued to attack and front a pen alt \ Riley just failed to convert. Then Kaponga, kicking hard and following up well, went .right through to the opposing goal-, A. Guy snowing very clever dribbling and foot work. A rush saw the forwards go over anil Opunake forced. Again Kaponga, as the. .result of long-kicking. made Opunake. avoid trouble by forcing. They were having the best of the play lor some minute-, for they played the correct game in the circumstances, and Opunake. once more had to force. At length ilie local men men worked up to the. opposing 25, where for off-side play, 11 ilev had a shot, hut failed badly and Kaponga, taking well, went down-field in a fine rush, with Hspin in the lead, am! at the 25 they had a penalty. Guy's kick struck the post and fell over the bar. Kaponga ;i; Op image 0. Opunake then opened up play and a nice passing rush in winch \\\ Holiaia anil Rutherford took part, went to the wing, but Smith failed to take a pass and a certainty was lost. Opunake rushed up-field and ,). Luck, following up from the 25. secured and dived over the line, and scores were even. The kick failing. Kaponga U; Opunake 5. Play hovered near the centre for a time till Eliason, securing from, an interception, put in a brilliant trim and went close to scoring, but 'kicking too bard, lie lost the advantage and Opunake forced. Their plav was steadily improving and fflntberford and Sinclair made* several good openings, faulty handling giving away good chances. Then Kaponga forwards went down-field m a loose T-iixh and bad their opponents defending till W. Holiaia, with long kicks, put liis side in an attacking position. Mcivor carried, on and went to the 25, where McCarthy saved with a. good line-kick. Opunake* rushed up to Kaponga line and Collins, taking a mark, sent them hack to the centre. Th-e-v attacked again and a pretty concerted movement saw Rutherford put in a brilliant dash.

He beat two men and passed to M civ or mo, when blocked., sent it on to iionuia, and lie, taking the bail in iris St. ltte, finished a. fine .run by galloping round 'behind the posts. Rilev made no mistake. Opunake S; lvaponga 3. Immediately 'alterwards tlio rorwartis from Opunake put in a slashing rush and the bail went through the hands of no loss than five below coming out to Hourie, who scored. Tile kick failed. Upunake 11; Kaponga 3. . ue second speii. saw Opunake attack.tig with the wind behind, them. l.n a good position Riley liacl a shot at goal. ~s.a.puuga forwards rushed upheld, Knee, a spin and Miekuy in the lead, and Mercer essayed a pot at goal. Opunake .o.eecl. i'lom the kick out fvaiponga. attacked and Guy, with the ball at foot, went clean (through. .Just on the line riatumersley carried on, and only u penalty obviated a certain try. Opunaicr, following up the kick, went right to the line in a loose rush and Kaponga lorced. Just afterwards Opunake set up a stirring back passing rush., and MoJLvor. coining across’ like a Hash, dashed for the line, where McCarty effected a' brilliant tackle and the ball went out. Kaponga. ,relieved', and pluy went to centre, where McOulluim, taking iliee'v. put in a pretty dash, and, passing to C. Holiaia, the latter dashed through to score under the posts. R ley’s kick rebounded off the ba.r. Op make 14 Kaiponga 3. Fiomi. a. loos* rush Guv bioke away and put tin a pretty run. taking play to centre. Bac-k came Gjrunake and C. Holiaia sent, out a good pass' te. Rutherford, who sent it on" to :Mouric. who went- through, to score. The kick failed. Opunake 17.Fvapong.a. 3. Opunake continued to attack, Sinclair being collared on the line. Kriponga., putting more dash into their Tjiay. went through tJie opposing pack, and kept the backs defending. Tiros was the position when the match ended with the score? — Opunake 17 Kaponga 3 Mr H. Whittington wae referee.

JUNIOR.

TIAAVE'RA V. ALTON

Due mainly to a much superior back combination and with a slight advantage in the forwards, Hawera juniors defeated Alton juniors at '.the Main School grounds by 1!) to (5, after a fair exhibition of junior grade Rugby. Both packs did a great deal of work in' loose ruslies and tight scrummaging, and only occasional flashes of back play were displayed by the rear divisions. Prom the' kick-out Hawera went upTickl and kept 'the visitors on the defence for a period, until Alton found relief with a force. The Yellow forwards returned to the attack, but offside play spoilt a likely movement, and Alton found touch near halfway. From just outside the twenty-five S'tandi-sh made a good attempt at .goal from a penalty, tout the ball went wide. Hawera kept up the pressure and compelled Alton ‘to force twice in quick succession. With Clarke in the lead, Alton forwards broke away from a scrum near the Yellows ’ line, where Guv made a timely save with' a good kick outside the twenty-five. Offside play toy Alton gave (Ji. iStandish a chanlcc ' to open Hawera’s score, and with a o-ood kick he proved successful. Hawera 3, Alton 0. Attacking4from the kick-out Hawera forwards returned plav to Alton’s quarter and from a forward Scramble Androson gathered 'in the leather and dived across. .T. Sfcandisli converted. Hawera S, Alton 3. Alton were, now making strenuous bids to score, tout good defence toy the Yellow rear-division kept their line intact. From a five Yards’ scrum in the Yellows’ quarter Raweiiffe .sent Alton back with a fine kick to near halfway. Forward rushes toy each patch were now the order of play, with occasional passing rushes toy the home back's, which proved fruitless owing to toad passing among the three-quarters. Alloa forwards broke aWav again, tout hard kicking when near the line allowed Hawera to force. Hawera backs swung Into action from a line-out near halfway, the ball travelling to Guy on the wing. Who made a brilliant fun up the line, and when blocked passed to Jordan, who was well taken on the line bv J. Kettles. .From the ensuing scrum Alton forced. Hawera forwards again attacked strongly and a timely noti'k toy Richards saved 'the situation for Alton; half-time sounding soon after. Attacking from the kick-out, Hawera forwards and backs adopted the in-and-out passing rush method, which terminated in a good try by Mathcson after the ball had travelled .through no lessthan nine pairs of hands. .1. .Standish failed to convert. Hawera M, Alton 0. A'liother good rush liv the Yellow forwards resulted in G. 'Standish scoring near the corner, and J. Standish, with a fine kick, aildod the extra two points. Hawera 16, Alton 0. Hawera forwards were now running all over tlieir opponents and bad handling toy tlie visiting’backs allowed Hall to get possession 'and, with a good run from near the visitors’ twenty-five, he toea't three men to score wide out. 'Clements failed with the kick. Hawera 19, Alton 0. Play hung at midfield for a few minutes, until the Hawera forwards carried the ball to Alton’s line, tout offside play gave temporary relief to Alton. The visitors worked their way to the Yellows’ line, tout a force dawn gave relief. Back came Alton for-

wards in a .scorc-sceking lnovement, and tike Hawera ‘backs, failing to take the . ball, allowed Moreland to gain j)ossession and score. Richards .failed with the kiiek. Hawera 19, Alton 3. Hawera now took a hand at attack, and kept- the visitors on the defence, until offside play by Hawera gave Alton relief. Taking advantage of this‘the Alton pack carried play to the Yellows’ citadel, where Rawcliffe, in endeavouring to clear, hung on too long and wgs penalised, and Richards raised the umpires’ flags with a good kick, making the score: Hawera 19, ALon f>. From then on till full time, play remained mainly at half-way, with both packs of forwards striving hard to penetrate the defence. Mr M. .Jones was referee. W A LAI ATE v. OKAIAWA. A good game resulted .oe tween the IV ain late and Okaiawa juniors. liie forwards on both sides played with plenty of dash, ‘but- both sets ‘of backs spoilt many chances with faulty passing' and bad handling. The first spell was conspicuous for open play, which was up and down the field with a monotonous interchange of kicks. Okaiawa kicked off against, the wind, but the sun was behind them. The Blues co'uld not be blamed for missing several chances, the strong sun making fielding very difficult, With the game in front of Okaiawa’s posts, the Blues were given an easy kick. Half-time sounded with play on the Okaiawa line, no score being registered. With the sun behind 'them the Blues kept play in the opposing- half, and; fiom a loose rush At. Bourke secured and dived over near- the corner. Edwards failed with a difficult; kick. Waiinate 3, Okaiawa 0. The Red forwards put up a determined rush, taking the game to Waimatc’s line, and from a serum five yards out the ‘Blues relieved hv forcing.' The Blues 'forced the game to Okaiawa’s half, and from a scrum in the Reds’ twenty-five, Hcneri secured and dived over. The wind beat it old with the kick. Waimate G, Olcaia.wa 0. A scrum in midfield was all in' favour of t,he Blues, Hudson, who was plaving a splendid game, hooking the 'ball out. well and feeding his backs. The Red forwards were getting the best of the argument at this stage, 'but. the opposing backs outshone their opponents with several nice passing rushes, which kept. t!he game mostly in the Reds’ half.. The next score came to the Blues when J. Hansen got possession and shot over near the posts. Hudson missed an easy kick. Waimate f». Okaiawa 0. The ' Blues got away again from their own twenty-five and C? Bo'urke, following up fast, scored under the posts and taking the kick himself added the extra points. Waiinato 14. Okaiawa 0. Air W. Badlev refereed. KAPONiGA v. OPUIN'AdvE. Kaponga juniors defeated Opunake bv 19 points, to 3 after a god forward game. For the winners tries were scored by Li'tchwark (2). and Gardiner (]'),. Williams'converted two tries an,d kicked two penalties. Clague scored Opunake’s oiilv try. Afr C. Thurston refereed. ATHLETIC v. P ATE A. Athletic had a narrow win. over Patca by 17 points to 15. For the winners Greig scored three tries and .Greenhank's and Dymond one each, Dymond converting one. For the losers tries were notched by Ilodge, Cousins, Ivahu and A. Willis. Zimmerman kicked a penalty goal. Air 11. G. Whittington refereed. FOURTH GRADE. HIGH SCHOOL .13 v. ATHLETIC. At the showgrounds. High Scnool 13 defeated Athletic alter a good, open raine by 9 points to 3. For the winners Hurley* kicked two penalty goals and scored a. try. Arden scored a try for Athletic. Air A, Stevens refereed. WAIMATE v. KAPONGA. Waimate had a very easy victory over Kaponga. winning by 30 points to nil. Tries, were‘scored by Hill (2), Bop. Shaw, Toomer. Edwards, Bay, and Ivitt (one each). Toomer also- kicked two penalty goals. Mr Christie refereed. high; school a v. pate a. High School A were far too superior for -Patea, winning by a margin of 13 points, the game ending with the scores: School 46 \ Patea.^3. Air T. Sheahan was the. referee.