RUGBY FOOTBALL

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 161, 24 June 1935, Page 3

RUGBY FOOTBALL

CLUB COMPETITIONS Second Round Commenced PIRATES UPSET M.A.C. The second round of the Hawke’s Bay Rugby Football Union’s senior club championship competition was commenced on Saturday when conditions for play wore ideal. For the most part there was tall scoring, the games being bright and interesting. There was only one real surprise, Pirates upsetting M.A.C. to enable Celtic to forge further ahead and now lead the competition by four points. Three games were played at Hastings. In the early match Celtic had no difficulty in defeating the “woodenspoonists,” Havelock North, by a tenpoint margin. In the main attraction Hastings inflicted a substantial defeat upon Napier H. 5.0.8., eventually finishing up with a clear margin of 20 points. In a close and keenly contested match, Pirates successfully overcame M.A.C. by two points. At Napier the main attraction was the meeting of Technical Old Boys and Hastings Old Boys, the ex-collegians winning by nine points in a tall scoring game over 40 points being recorded. On the adjoining area Marist easily defeated Eskview by 28 points to three. Junior and other grade games were also played in Hastings ami Napier, the standard of play generally being satisfactory. The positions of the senior teams are now as follow

PIRATES ON TOP M.A.C. Narrowly Defeated Though playing a weakened M.A.C. team, Pirates put up a good performance in defeating the Maoris by the narrow margin of two points. The game was a mixture of indifferent and sensational play, some of the scoring movements being really thrilling. The Maoris had an uphill fight all the second spell, but failed to make the grade, though in the late stages of the game they did everything but score. The teams took the field as follow: — Pirates: Fraser, Pattchett, Jones, B. Smith, Thomson, Russell, McKinnon, Marshall, B. Keeble, Franks, Gunn, McKenzie, Phillips, G. Keeble, Mclver. M.A.C.: Newton, Hawca, 'Thompson, Te Where, McKay, Smith, Kuru, Waretinl, Collier, Coffer, Symons, Kingi, Maaka, Barber, Crawford. It was shortly after the opening that M.A.C. drew first blood. The forwards bustled the visiting backs, and they infused plenty of dash into their play to take them almost on the line. Following a sharp struggle near the posts Waretini battled his way over for Julien Thompson to convert. s—o. Coming back promptly, Te Whcro missed a pass to spoil a fine movement. An infringement allowed Thompson to take a futile kick at goal. At this stage Mclver retired injured and was replaced by Cooke. The Maoris continued to hold a territorial advantage and gave Pirates plenty to do on defence. Gradually the visitors eased play to neutral territory, from where they launched a fine passing movement that terminated in Patchett scoring a splendid try near the corner. McKinnon failed to convert. 3—5. The Maoris made a determined bid but fell back and from well inside the half-way Thomson broke away, to draw the defence and sent Urab Smith racing for another good try. McKinnon converted easily. B—s. The Maoris sought hard to reduce the margin and opened up the game. A good break by Gunn almost resulted in Grace scoring a sensational try, he knocking over the corner flag. The Maoris came back but the interval found the score B—s in favour of Pirates.

Play in the early part of the second spell was very even, being confined almost entirely to the forward divisions. The Maori forwards were putting plenty of dash into their play, but Pirates tackled desperately. An infringement well outside the quarter-way saw Julien Thompson take a kick at goa], and with a splendid kick raise the flags. B—B Holding a slight territorial advantage the Maoris found progress difficult, but gradually the visitors fell back and Kuru just failed to score. Tho pressure eased when Kuru was penalised for taking the ball out of the scrum. Gaining possession near half-way Thomson broke away to pass to Keeble to Patchett, the winger running round for a great try in an easy place for McKinnon to convert. 13 —8. The Maoris made a last desperate effort to pull the game out of the fire. Taking a “spec” from a scrum on the quarterway, McKay put on a pretty run before passing to Thompson to Hawea, who scored a fine try. Thompson failed to convert. 11—13. The Maoris came back promptly and exciting play ensued, with M.A.C. going full out to snatch victory, but time found the score reading: Pirates .. .. .. .. 13 M.A.C 11 Mr A, Kirkpatrick refereed. DECISIVE VICTORY Hastings Down Napier H. 5.0.8. A full measure of vengeance was taken by Hastings in their second meeting with Napier H. 5.0.8., the exstudents being defeated by a margin of 20 points. The game was bright and interesting, there not being the supremacy indicated by tho scores. The versatility of the Hastings backs, coupled with the excellent goal-kicking of Nelson. gave Hastings an easy victory. The teams were as follow:— Hastings: 11. Wilson, McNab, Nelson, Horton, Gillies, Le Quesne, Dyer, Wright, Fredsberg, Kirschberg, Pearce, MeGlasban, Collett, L. Wilson. Muir. Napier H. 5.0.8.; Hawkins, Sheriffs, Austin, Grace, Palmer, Bradley,

Clothier, Crawford-Smith, Briscoe, Bartlett, E. Cox, Craig, Miller, Heffernan, Rolls.

The early stages found Old Boys holding a slight advantage, the play being bright aud fast, though tho visiting forwards were prominent. Several bright loose rushes by the Old Boy forwards had Hastings defending hard, and from a scrummage Clothier started a passing bout. A long pass by Bradley sent Grace away for a try in the corner. Sherriffs failed with the kick. 3—o. The home side took up the attack in earnest and pressed hard across the whole goalfront. An infringements gave Nelson a chance to equalise with a penalty goal and he took the opportunity. 3 —3. Hastings returned to the attack and for a time kept Old Boys on defence. Another infringement enabled Nelson to kick his second penalty goal to put Hastings ahead, 6—3. The home side continued to have the best of matters, maintaining a territorial advantage and giving Old Boys a busy time on defence, the interval being called with play just moving into neutral territory, with the score reading 6—3 in favour of Hastings. The first to attack after the interval were Hastings, and Nelson took his third free kick at goal, but failed this time. A break by Austin placed Old Boys on attack and the forwards compelled Hastings to force hastily. Following up the drop-kick, Fredsberg beat Hawkins for possession and passed out to Wright to score a good try. Nelson converted, 1.1—3. Within a few minutes Hastings were over again ag a result of Dyer opening up the play for Le Quesne, Wright and Collett to handle in turn, the last-named scoring a wellearned try. Nelson converted, 16 —3. Rallying well, Old Boys took up the attack, the forwards breaking away nicely with Grace handy to gather in the ball and pass to Rolls, who scored near the posts. Sherriffs converted, B—l 6. Bright, hard play, with each side taking turns in the attack preceded Nelson dropping a fine field goal. 20—8. Shortly afterwards Horton collected a dropped pass to sidestep Hawkins and score, Nelson converting. Again Hastings increased the score when Kirschberg battled his way over to make the final count: Hastings 28 Napier H. 5.0.8 8 Mr J. Scott refereed. TALL SCORING GAME Technical Down Hastings 0.8.

The match between Technical ami Hastings High School Old Boys at MrLean Park was one of the best club games Napier has seen for a long time. Hastings were defeated by 26 points to 17, but they made a hard fight of it, and between them the two teams gave the crowd something to get excited about. As the scores indicate, the going was fast and frequently furious, but there were no noticeable instances of unduly hard play.

The teams were as follow: Technical 0.8. —Brown, Venables, W. Johnson, Kauter, Wright. Peterson, Jane, R. Johnson, Harris, I’oynter, C. Campbell, VV. Campbell, Hutton, Dalton, Skittrup. Hastings 11.8. O.B.—Jonson, Lowe, Apsey, L. Johnston, McCarthy, Holt, Hardy, llenouf, Trumper, McDutf, Flowers, Irwin, Palmer, Colwill, Wardrop. Technical opened tho scores with a penalty goal kicked by Brown not long after tho game started. A passing rush by their forwards on the visitors’ twenty-live was stopped by an infringement that cost H. 5.0.8. three points. Within a short space from that the Technical backs got away from a good pass by Jane from the base of a sei urn on the visiting twenty-live, and after the ball had gone along the whole row of backs, Kauter out-stripped the defence and scored. Brown did not convert. Technical got busy as soon as the next whistle went. After Wright had covered about 15 yards he passed to IL Johnson, who left the opposition standing. Brown’s kick failed. They maintained the attack, and H. 5.0.8. had a busy time with stemming the succession of storming parties both back and forward. Out of the blue Wright accepted a pass and with a twisting run that bewildered the visiting backs he cut through to within five yards of tho posts and then passed to the fast following Peterson, who scored beneath the posts. Brown converted. Then the visitors broke the spell. Holt, one of their five-eighths intercepted a pass that was meant for Jane, caught Tech, on the wrong foot and ran rings around the oncoming backs. Brown essayed a flying tackle, but was too late, and Holt went over at the corner. McCarthy’s kick fell short. The first spell ended at 14—3 in favour of Technical, with the visitors pressing hard. The second spell opened brightly, both teams passing frequently and exchanging advantages. A scrum infringement on their own twenty-five cost Technical a penalty kick, of which McCarthy made good use of and added three points to H. 5.0.8. ’s score. Then Apsey gave the crowd a sample of the surprise moves for which his play is noteworthy. He tricked the opposition and was almost oer in the corner when Brown and W. Johnson pushed him out. From a forward scuffle five yards from the line. Lowe gathered in and scored. Then followed some minutes of excitement, in which the visitors tried to add to the score and Technical repeatedly stemmed attacks and turned the tide, of play, most of which was in the visitors’ territory. It was from one of these moves that H. 5.0.8. lost the ball right on their twenty-five, where it went out to Venables, who took it in full flight and scored a surprise try. Brown did not convert. McCarthy turned the tables after the play was taken deep info Technical territory, from the middle of a scramble he fell over the line with half the Tech, team in ton of him. He converted his own try. Tech, attacked with the kick-off. and excitement was at high pitch as Dalton thrust, his way over the line. W. Johnson failed with his kick, but a Jenaltv a few seconds after gave him the opportunity and he added the three points. The visitors attacked with great vim. and had it not. been for a series of knocks on and dropped passes thev should have scored further points. Tf was in one of these attacks that Holt went over and narrowed the gap in points. The last quarter of an knur was one. of the most exciting the nubile have experienced in club football this season with both teams plnving nt top spe r un and down the field. TV. Johnson kicked a nenaltv with a fine kick and the incident stung H. 5.0.8. into further notion. But no further score came and the whittle sounded

with Technical attacking hard and the score-board showing Technical 26 Hastings H. 5.0.8 17 Mr Hewitt refereed. CELTIC WIN AGAIN Villagers Go Down Fighting The competition leaders; Celtic, easily accounted for Havelock North in the early game at Nelson Park, Hastings, the final margin being 10 points. The play was interesting at times, the Celtic forwards going well in opposition to the village rearguard, who provided some bright, fast play. The teams filed out as under.—Celtic: Simon, Griffiths, Colebrook, McKenzie, Galgey, Pullen, Geddes, Hannigan, Kelly, Piper, Manaena, Cunningham, Bowers, Hardy, Townsend. Havelock North: Janies, Inglis, Eddie, It. Joll, Gloyn, C. Joll, Meads, Coghlan, O’Brien, Heffernan, Jago, Purcell, Fergusson, Small, Smith. The Villagers kicked off and for a time play remained in neutral territory. A good break by R. Joll placed Havelock North on the attack and from a line-out near the corner the same playei gained possession to battle his way over. Eddie failed to convert. 3—o. Almost immediately Celtic attacked, the forwards taking play to the line, where, following a hectic scrummage, Bowers scored. With a splendid kick Simon converted. 5—3.

Maintaining a territorial advantage, Celtic kept the Villagers on defence, though Celtic were seldom dangerous. The failure of the Village backs to handle cleanly let the opposition forwards attack strongly and Kelly put in a determined run to score a well-de-served try near the corner. Simon just failed to convert. B—3. Celtic continued to have the better of the game, their forwards finding the Village backs the stronger opposition. Offside play in front of the posts enabled Simon to kick an easy goal to make the score at half-time read: Celtic 11, Havelock North 3.

Bright up and down play marked the opening stages of the second spell. Eddie took a futile free kick at goal and shortly afterwards Celtic had a close call, when four Villagers overrun a bouncing ball. The Celtic forwards took matters in hand and twice came close to scoring, the Villagers foreiug hastily. Returning to the attack Eddie reduced the margin by kicking a penalty goal. 6—ll. Celtic promptly retaliated, the forwards pressing hard on the right wing. Giving chase to a kick through, Bowers beat James to score in a handy position for Simon to convert. Within a few minutes Celtic were pressing hard again and from a scrum on the line Geddes secured to send Griffiths over for an unconverted try.

19—6. Rallying well Havelock North attacked strongly, but failed to get over. Offside play gave Eddie another penalty goal, the ball striking an upright to rebound over the bar. The final score reading: Celtic 19 Havelock North 9 Mr W. Holder was referee. AN EASY VICTORY Eskview Defeated by Marists Marist made no mistake when they went on to No. 2 ground at McLean Park and galloped away from Eskview to the tune of 28—3. Combination and hard scrummaging won tho day, and the Green brigade gave their supporters some examples of bright football.

The teams were: M.B.O.B.—Brewer, Eulton, Heid. Jordan, Benson, Allen, Moss, J. O’Brien, M O.Brien, Dennett, Armstrong, Mason, Exeter, Ireland, Nelson. Eskview.—Weatherly, Williams, Le Bas, Kenworthy, Thompson, Kurupo, Stanford, Dennett, Bartholomew, Le Quesne, Kawiri, Brookes. Smith, McGlashan, Howell. For the most part the match was very one-sided, as the scores clearly show, and from the initial attack by Marist, till the final whistle, there was very little doubt as to the outcome. Occasionally, and towards the end of the first spell Eskview would work hard and get dangerously close to the Marist line and given them some anxious moments. At times a number of Marist men were guilty of very poor handling, which allowed their opponents several oportunities, but resolute defensive work staved off points-getting movements from Eskview. The scorers for Marist were: Dennett (two tries), Mat O’Brien (two penalties, a try, and three conversions), Ireland (try), and Benson (field goal) Jack Le Quesne, the Eskview skipper, scored their three points with a try which he secured from a forward scramble at the corner. Mr D. McGlashan refereed. JUNIOR GRADE Hastings Section Hastings H. 5.0.8. v. Pakipaki.—The Maori team played three men short in tho first spell and lor a part of the second. No difficulty was experienced by the ex-students in scoring, and they ran up the cricket tally of 57 to nil. The scorers were Craig (three tries, one conversion), Piatt (two tries, four conversions).' Redward (two tries, one conversion), Weymouth, Ashman (two tries each), Reed (two conversions), Butcher, McAleese (try each), Guthrie (conversion). —Mr H. G. Apperly refereed. Celtic won by default from Waimaratna. Hastings v. Haumoana.—On the schoolground, a keen, close struggle .usued, the seasiders holding Hastings

to a three-point victory, the only score of the game being a try scored by Aldridge in the first spell.—Mr J. Edwards refereed. Napier Section Technical juniors narrowly defeated H.S 0.8. juniors by 8 points to 6 at Nelson Park, Napier, in a game that was very interesting. The scores are a criterion of the very slight difference there was between the two teams. Scorers lor the winners were Jones (try) and Kauter (conversion and penalty). H.5.0.8.’s points were scored by Cornford, who kicked two penalties. Mr Marcroft refereed. Another close g’ame was the one in which Pirates just got home with a five —nil score against Eskview juniors. The game was played at Eskview anil was firmly contested all through. Mr Kidson refereed. THIRD GRADE Hastings Section High School 26 v. Havelock North 3. H. 5.0.8. 6 v. Hastings 0. Napier Section High School 22 v. Pirates 0. Technical Old Boys 16 v. H. 5.0.8. 5. FOURTH GRADE Hastings Section H. 5.0.8. 11 V. High School 8. Hastings 12 v. Bayites 5. Napier Section Technical Old Boys 9 v. M. 8.0.8. 0. School B 29 v. School A 0. FIRTH GRADE Hastings Section High School A 22 v. High School B 0. High School C 25 v. Convent 6. SOUTHERN H.B. WINS Manawatu Beaten 21 to 14 By Telegraph—Press Associativa. PALMERSTON NORTH, June 23. Southern Hawke’s Bay defeated Manawatu by 21 points to !4 in a Inst, open Rugby match plavel nt Palmerston North on SatuW: '

p. W. L. D Pts. Pts. Ch. For Ag. Pts. Celtic .... 10 8 1 1 126 53 17 IT. H.S.O.B. 10 n 3 1 113 80 13 M.A.U. ... 10 5 3 2 111 80 12 Tech. O.B. . 10 5 3 2 110 88 12 M.B.O.B. .. 10 6 4 — 98 56 12 Hastings .. 10 5 3 2 107 93 12 Pirates .. 10 5 5 — 96 112 10 N. H.S.O.B. 10 4 (» — JOO 1.16 8 Hskvicw .. 10 o 8 — J 58 4 Havelock N. 10 — 10 — 59 137 0