RUGBY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 198, 4 August 1928, Page 8

RUGBY

(By

Kick-Oil

CUP CONTEST CONCLUDED.

LIST OF SEASON’S SCORERS,

Oup fixtures came to an end last Saturday when Pirates clinched their hold on the 1928 title by defeating Celtic. It was a great ganu to watch. Celtic were all out to repeat their draw of the first round with Pirates. The blacks, however, did not consider another draw and made a victory of the contest. The fans were given the best Rugby seen in Hastings this season. Certainly the average game tris season has been poor, but Saturday’s flutter was a great deal better than the best of the other games of this season. The first spell was even, but good. Fast open play was the order on both sides and the fans got more than the usual share of thrills. The second half was a cracker. Pirates set about increasing the interval margin of a point. In quick time they piled on the points but in the latter stages the greens were making up leeway. The defence of the blacks was solid, too solid for Celtic, who had to rely mainly on Larkin’s boot. However. Celtic were enabled to indulge in good passing bouts but they lacked the finish and sting that Pirates possessed. Celtic went down 17—Il with colours flying high for they—and the same applies to Pirates—played their best game of the season Hastings were picked by the majority to down Old Collegians. This forecast was upset. It was Hastings that went down. The greys were in fine form. Sweeping loose rushes, wherein three or four men galloped down the field with the ball at their feet, then when near the line a lively set of backs took a hand, these were the factors that robbed the yellows of sharing the runner-up honours. On the day’s play Tech. Old Boys deserved their victory. They played a great game and made good use of the speed that the forwards possessed. It was pack-work against individual efforts. The Hastings forwards failed to keep together. Excellent breaks were made but there was no support, whereas the Greys were in numbers when on a crusade. Praise must go to Kelly. He was the star performer of the day. Evans, too, did a lot of good work, but it was the splendid openings made by Kelly that carried the day for Old Collegians. High School Old Boys had no difficulty m defeating Mansts. The game was a poor one. The whites did not come np to expectations. They made so many mistakes and allowed so many grand opportunities to slip by j a ‘ J? or ? tban one supporter groaned'. Mansts fought gamely but were never in the picture and were lucay to come out of the fray with tut 14 points against them.

Below is given a table showing the position of the senior teams in the contest for the championship. Following it are the scorers for the varito S date b —“ the tWelv6 Kaffles played

PIRATES. Pirates, winners of the competition, failed to obtain full marks by three Points. In the first round, Celtic played them to a three-point draw. However last week, the wearers of the skull and crossbone emblem smacked the Celts to leg. It was in the second round that Pirates sustained their first reverse. By defeating H. 5.0.8. 12—10 in the first meeting, they robbed the Whites of the leadership at the end of the initial round. The second clash saw Old Boys avenge the defeat to the tune of 10 points to 3. Pirates’ stoutest opponents were M.A.C. The Blacks won 12—11 and 14—9. Both victories were the narrowest that Pirates gained in their twelve games. Taken all through, Pirates were consistent. They routed Marists, Old Collegians and Hastings; found M.A.C. and Celtic touch nuts to crack; and shared the honours with H. 5.0.8.

In all, 207 points were scored for and 77 against, making an average of 17.25 and 6.42 respectively per game. Pirates were the only team to pass the double century and they possessed five players who scored more than twenty points. Altogether fourteen have taken a hand in the winning of games for Pirates, Huxtable heading the list with 15 tries and a conversion. This is the greatest number of tries scored by any individual this season. The scorers are as below:—

Reid —2 — — 6 Others are: Marshall. Batchelor, Single and Ellis (one try). HIGH SCHOOL 0.8. At the end of the first round, the prospects of the Whites appeared bright. Thev were but a single point behind. However, Old Collegians blasted their hopes by beating them 12—10—a surprising revenge in view of the fact that in the first clash School Old Boys had won by the tall margin of 27 points. M.A.C. very nearly eaught the W’hites napping, then Hastings upset their applecart by administering a 13—11 defeat. The next game saw them redeem themselves bv downing the champions, but Celtic caused a flop in the shares by knocking up 17 points to nil against them. Fifteen Ohl Boys took a hand in compiling the 155 points scored on the dub’s behalf. Johnson carried the laurels for the

greatest number. He also has the honour of heading the list for the competition. With the exception of three points (a try), his 60 was made up of goal-kicks. The Old Boy

Others are: Dyer, Heffernan, Hammond, Heslop, Strachan, Steer, Stewart and Thompson (try). OLD COLLEGIANS. Thanks to a victory over Hastings last Saturday Old Collegians shared third place honours with that team. The Greys showed a big improvement in the second round. Their attack, according to statistics, was nearly 200 per cent, better and their defence about 25 per cent, to the good. Celtic and Pirates beat them, the former turning the tables. Pirates, however, were consistent, for the margin in each game was 21 points. In all, 15 Old Collegians took part in the scoring of the 136 points, the third highest aggregate in the contest. Evans and Manning each contributed 26 points as the result of goals, but the former heads the list with two tries extra. The scorers are as follows:—

Davidson, Brodie, Spooner, Tait and Northe (try). • • •

HASTINGS. x Yellow and Black colours figured at the top of the masthead after four games in the second round. But for a surprise defeat in the final series, they were in the running to share second place honours with H. 5.0.8., whom they defeated by 13—11. Pirates again defeated them by a handsome margin, but they in turn had good wins over Marists and M.A.C. Nearly 50 per cent, of their points came from Fisher, who was in fine form with his kicking. Of . the other dozen scorers, not one attained double figures, as shown below :— T. P. C. TI.

Others are: Roach, Bothe'rway, Campbell, Whimp (try) and Wilson (mark). » » • CELTIC. Thanks to the goal-kicking of Larkin, the Celts were enabled to make amends for their poor showing of the earlier round. The Greens showed a reversal of form in the second meetings with other teams. Marists, Old Collegians and H. 5.0.8. were all defeated in the second match while M.A.C. played them to a draw. All four teams beat them in the earlier clashes. Hastings turned the tables on them, while Pirates beat them 17—11 after a three-point draw in the first round. Celtic scorers are here noted:— T. P. C. Tl. Larkin 1 6 6 33 Eddy 4 1 1 17 Tait 3 — — 9 Miller 1 1 1 8 White 2— — 6 Blake, J 2— — 6 Others are: Kaiti, Duisan. Hines and Hassett (try), Potaka (field goal).

M.A.C.

Though playing with little science, the Maoris were a popular team. They delighted the fans with their unexpected play. So far as match winning went, it was not very fruitful, but there were more thrills in M.A.C. games than in any other club matches. The only team which could not beat them was Celtic, a draw and a win for M.A.C. being the results. Marists upset them 12—6 in the first game but in the return match, the Collegians scored an 18point victory. The two games against Pirates were close ones, but H. 5.0.8. had a walk-over in the second meeting. M.A.C. had more points scored against them than any other team in the competitions. The scoring for the Maoris was done by thirteen, thus:—

Others are: Meafou, Oamaru, Williams, Leti, Mati and Wolfgramme (try). MARIST BROS. 0.8. * * • The wooden spoon goes to Marists. They had two victories, both in the first round. In the return games, the Greens had a disastrous time. They scored but nine points in the seven games. Celtic and M.A.C. were their victims in the-first meetings, but both clubs avenged the defeats in the round just completed. Seven players recorded 46 points, Dineen heading the list with his goalkicking. The total was made up as under;— T. P. C. Tl. Dineen ............. — 4 2 16 Durney 3 — — 9 Fox 3 — — 9 Others are: Seal, Wynn, MeIsaacs" (try, *indicates obstructional) and Geer (penalty goal).

‘Pirates . p. 12 W. ro L. F. A. 1 207 77 Ch. 21 h.s.o.b. Hastings 12 12 8 7 4 155 76 5 119 113 16 14 T.C.O.B. . **Oeltic ... 12 12 7 4 5 136 132 6 95 104 14 10 *M.A.O. .. 12 2 9 83 171 M.B.O.B, 12 2 10 46 168 4 *Denotes draw. • 4 •

F. T. P. 0. Tl. Huxtable w .,. F—■ 15 — 1 47 Yates 1 4 4 3 30 Russell, S. 8 — 24 McLea — 3 7 23 Macdonald .... 7 — 21 Farquhar ...... »■ ,, — 6 12 Russell, L. —. 4 - _ - 12 Tankard — - 3 — 9 Anstis -.. 1 1 — — 7

scorers are;— F. T. p M. 0. Tl. Johnson 1 1 7 —— 16 60 Chetwin .. —— 10 — — — 30 Neale 1 2 —. — — 13 South ..... — 2 — 1 — 9 McNeil .... — 3 —— —■ —— 9 Rolls — 2 — — 1 8 Cooke 1 1 — — — 7

F T. P. M. C. Tl. Evans — 2 4 — 7 32 Manning .. 1 — 4 — 5 26 Yarwood .. 1 3 — 1 — 16 Kelly .. 4 — — - —- 12 Hewson •— 3 — —— — 9 Elliott 2 — —- — 6 Heiford 2 — —. — 6 Wells . 2 — —— 0 Others ar©: McGregor, McKay,

Fisher ... .. 2 7 13 53 Kirton ... ... 3 — — Kingston .. 3 — —. Pearson .. .. 2 —— —— 6 Michael .. .. 2 — 6 Conper ... 2 — — ti Benth ,.. , 2 — — 6 Cairns .,. .. 2 r— -r6

F. T. P. 0. Tl. Purcell, M. .. — 6 — — 18 Watcno 1 2 1 11 Hapi .. 1 2 — — 10 Crawford .... 3 ■—- — y Matiera ..... . . — — 1 2 7 Shortland ... . . — 2 — — 6 Davis 2 — — 6