HAWERA I. o v. WAIMATE I. 0.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVIII, Issue LXXVIII, 16 June 1919, Page 5

HAWERA I. o v. WAIMATE I. 0.

A strenuous, hard-fought came between these' teams resulted in a draw neither-side being able to score a -point' Hawera, losing th e toss, kicked off against, a slight breeze, and at once invaded their opponents' territory Waimate relieved, but the Yellows kept on the pressure, both backs and forwards doing good work. The ball was thrown about well, and) several good passing rushes were the result. In one of these w?n i Ct me out from Thurston to Wills and he, after a good dash, transferred to Bailey, and the ball travelled out to Gibson and to Hunt on the wing, who sailed for' the line. He almost succeeded in getting over, being; collared and pushed into touch in goal tailing on the corner flag. Blues rail lied, and W ith a fine dash carried play down field, and Whittington misfieldmg the Hawera line was in danger, but Dailey kicked too hard and Hawera forced down. Waimate continued to press until Gibson, with a well-judged kick, relieved the position, and play centred Hawera attacked again and looked dangerous until Mickey, with a fine kxck transferred play to the centre,.while the Blue forwards, Pirn in the van, set up a strong attack and a ecore seemed likely. Hawera cleared fi J ne £ nd shortly after half-time was called. Contrary to expectations, Waiif'. S* the wind agai nst 'them pushed Hawera from the outset of the second spell and getting on a series of their loose forward rushes, kept Havvera a good portion of the time on the defensive. Their hookers were getting the.ball more often than Hawera. and the forwards kept the ball amongst them, and beating. their opponents in dash, prevented the Hawera backs from getting to work. Prom a loose rush by Hawera Hughes made a capital mark, and Ryan found the line well down, ?nd Waimate pressed Hawera hard A good run and kick by Meuli gave the yellows an anxious few minutes. Then fighting hard, they cleared their line' Spratt and Chadwick heading a fine rush, which McKay stopped in good style, and back went Waimate once more right on to Hawera line. Clearing their line the Yellows retaliated and dashmo; play took -them down to the Waimate line, where, unfortunately, Bailey kicked too hard and Waimate were able to force down. Hawera kept them in their own territory until with pother characteristic forward rush the Blues carried play right down to Ha£«?ra twenty-fives, where, after several nerce scrambles, D. Bourke and BirchMi, in company, dashed for the line. I.onrke almost got over, being collared °n ,he Jme att<l thrown into touch in goal. Shortly after, in a loose rush, bishop,, Perry and Spratt in the van iiawera cleared their line and dashed down field. Good defensive play on both sicfes prevented any open play and only rarely did the backs on either side get an opportunity for passing. A tew minutes only remained to go, and both sides made great efforts to score but m vain, and the match ended with play in neutral ground. Mr A. P. Nei'lson acted as referee. J<or Waimate the forwards played a great game, their play in the "loose being most effective and very hard to f\ T heir backs are g°°d on defence and tackled in great style. McKay and Atkins were the mainstay of the team Hawera pack was lighter than'Waimate, and put up a good fight. Spratt Bishop and Chadwick were most prominent The backs ate a fine "lot fast and sure. In the first spell they showed some great, passing rushes. Ihey all played) well