UNINTERESTING

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 152, 13 June 1932, Page 10

UNINTERESTING

HASTINGS v. TAMATEA A WIN FOR THE YELLOWS BY 12 POINTS TO 3. NONE OF THE TRIES CONVERTED. z Though they beat Tamatea by 12 points to 3, Hastings were decidedly below form, and their play was hardly superior to that of the losers. None of Hastings' four tries were converted.

The game was not Dy any means Interesting, and it might have been expected that Hastings, especially since Tamatea had a much weakened team, would have shown up to advantage. Their work was not at all sparkling, however, and their combination showed many weaknesses. Tamatea were deservedly beaten, but there was not by any means a <liffe:cnce of twelve points on the day’s play. The following were the teams— Tamatea — Boone, Wall, Harvey, Banks, Kuropo. Ormsby, Tau, Nesbitt. O’Keefe, Bayliss, Harrison. » ; ark, Cunningham, Marilla, Piper. Hastings—Le Quesne, Cooke, Calder, Joll Cameron, Hutchinson, R. Pearson, W. Pearson, Kelly. McKennie, C. Thompson, Wellwood, Campbell, H. Thompson.

Tamatea were the first to make themselves felt after the kick-off. and went straight into Hastings territory, where they stayed for a spell, but failed to bring off any impressive attack. Kelly and Cooke drove the Maoris out momentarily, but they came back, only to be penalised and sent down to their own twenty-five. Working well from the line-out, their forwards regained much of their lost ground, but the first scrum let the Hastings back clean away on an irresistible passing rush, which ended in Calder crossing. Cooke’s kick missed. Hastings 3 Tamatea 0 Hastings came again to the attack, but a slashing attack by the Maori forwards'caught Cameron in possession, and Nesbitt narrowly missed a try. It needed only seconds for Hastings to return in force into Maori territory, and a forward attack went straight from one end of the field to the other. Fifteen yards out, Calder gathered in the ball, and with a fine sprint got across again, Cooke failing to convert. Hastings 6 Tamatea 0

The Maoris found despite in a couple of penalties, but their breather did not last long. Hastings swarmed their goal dangerously, and some snappywork by the backs seemed to make another try a certainty. Ormsby and Nesbitt, with a pretty opening in the face of a Hastings attack, gained half the field for Tamatea, and an attempt by Harvey to pot a goal fell just inside. The Maoris now took a turn at attacking, and were more than holding their own. Yard by yard they worked towards Hastings’ goal, and again Harvey had ill-luck with a pot. As the ball fell, Cooke got it and kicked down-field. W. Pearson and Campbel] had an open goal before them, but Boone was enough for the two of them, and tipped Campbell out as Pearson passed to him.

ALL OVER HASTINGS. Fast following by Nesbitt caught Cooke in possession, and the Maoris were all over Hastings with only five yards to go. Several times they looked like getting across, Harvey doing especially fine work, and then failing with a penalty kick. From halfway Tamatea tried to break through again, but Hutchinson and Campbell opened up a nice movement for Cameron, and after several backs had handled Cooke ran over unopposed just before half-time. Calder failed to convert. Hastings 9 Tamatea 0 THE SECOND SPELL. Hastings opened the second spell with more dash than they had shown in the first half, and lost little time in getting within scoring distance. The handling of their backs was poor, however, and resulted in many good opportunities going west. A scrum at quarter-way gave Hutchinson a nice opening, and after he and Cameron had handled Joll put in a great run and went clean through the defence to score near the posts. Calder again failed with the kick. Hastings — 12 Tamatea 0

In the next minute Tamatea came through with a stinging forward rush, and from a subsequent scrum Harrison got possession and crossed after a tricky run, Harvey failing with the kick. Tamatea 3 Hastings 12 Bayliss and Cunningham, following upon a well exploited opening by Kuropo and Ormsby, brought Tamatea to the attack again, and both forwards