EIGHT-POINT MARGIN

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 211, 20 August 1934, Page 3

EIGHT-POINT MARGIN

HASTINGS 0.8. BEAT PIRATEB. Tho game which Hastings H. 5.0.8. won by 17 points to 9 from Pirates at McLean Park was comparatively uninteresting till midway in the second half. The first 15 minutes were filled with a string of set scrums and lineouts, and as usual when matches mean a lot of hard tussling for the forwards, the spectators had a fairly thin time of it. There was a welter of scrambling play till a few minutes before the halftime whistle, when Stewart McKenzie livened things by breaking through a ruck at mid-field and kicking the ball just past the full back, who failed to gather. McKenzie caught up with the ball, mis-kicked but managed in the ensuing scramble to get. the ball out to Thompson, who gained ground before be passed out to A. D. Smith, who scored a try. Immediately after the kick-off at the second spell, the Hastings forwards concentrated upon a series of shock charged which forced them right, through the Pirates’ defence and enabled McDuff to score less than a minute after the opening whistle. Tn this half the crowd enjoyed a number of brighter moments, in which both backs and forwards wore participating, but for the greater part, the match held very little interest for those on the stand. Tho Blues were obviously too much for Pirates. Scores for the winners were Lowe (trv), McDuff (two tries), Renouf (conversion), and Rainbow (t.wo tries), Pirates’ points came from a penalty kick by ft. Keeble and two tries by A. DD. Smith. Mr E. D. Berry was the referee.