RUGBY FOOTBALL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLIV, Issue XLIV, 3 June 1924, Page 6

RUGBY FOOTBALL.

INGLEWOOD (3) v. CLIt'WN $). The Clifton liftmen k«unifv^{ to Inglewood on Saturday 10 j.i;,y the Inglewood team. Although \\-<\ iittie rain fell while the liidtch 'wa.- in progress, the heavy showers wLi.-.-h fell beforehand left the ground \\<:\\ saturated, and the ball was lian! u> handle, consequently very little uuu.<. <i back play was seen. The teau:s tkvicio-d to play 55 minute spells, r.uri ; >r. the end of tfce first spell neith r siiio had scored. The fonvards were- evvviling--Ily well matched, and both packs played *s they should on a wet day-- they kept the ball at their feet. 'Tjio Clifton backs were if anything sjiyhliy superior to the Inglewood men. ] -iuwever, Ross, the Inglewood tvmre. threequarter, gave the visitors ;i lot of trouble. Clifton kicked off, but wer«j- soon defending their line, as the rvd forwards got the ball at their feet and entered the visitors' twenty-five area,. When in fronf of the goal Li^k-wood were awarded, a penalty kick, Imt Gernhoefer failed. Inglewotxi continued to press Oifton hard, and it \v«is only by the sound defensive play <>i Young, Bruce and Matene that ilie rods we Ixs kept from scoring. The yoilow forwards eventually rallied around Telfar and Soffe, who were always on iha ball, and Inglewood found tJn'ni.-vKx^ defending their goal line. 1-iova-vi ;;, the balance of play did not ren:a;n long in this direction, for Ross caught the ball from a high kick, raced dov.nfiejd, and the scene of action returned u> Clifton's twenty-five. In this manner the game went from one visd oi the field to the other, always exciting am] with occasional flashes of clever pi»y. Bruce and Matene were within aw site of scoring time and again, but n.ujnrtune would persistently dog their alicmpts. The pools of water harassed the forwards a good deal, and it w<is quite a common sight to see groups oi players busily kicking 1 info the spray in search of the ball, which was geio-iiijlv in the hands of some back. The second half was almost, ;>. repetition of the first spell, both K-. of forwards participating in sonic .->>*■<■ I acular rushes, and a few unsu<oy>iu! movements by the hacks. Altos.t haif-way through the spell the t'iilion backs commenced to show sonn- t'or?;i, and eventually Bruce initiated :t movement which culminated in Mater.f scoring a pretty try near the corner. \). Teltar failed to convert. Olii.'on 3 Inglewood 0. From the kick off the Inglewood forwards went likj Trojans, and, despite many setback brought about by the fine defensive play of Bruce and Young, they at ien:;th sucoeeded in driving Clifton I tack into their last area of defence. I hue play remained for some time, both packs making superhuman efto:ts to gain ground. With barely two minutes to go, B. Lumsden saved lii^ckwood from defeat. The ball shot out m ].i s direction from the ruck, and ni-hiug forward, he scooped it up cleav.ly and dived over the line. L. R,.r. s ' Tailed to convert, and shortly after the whistle sounded, making it a drawn match Mr. B. Gilmour was the voiVree. TUKAPA v. OLD BUYS. Old Boys went down with colours flying before Tukapa at Pukokura rark. Tukapa's three t:-k\s. which were scored by Hooker, rt Milled from movements engineered by Jo'frkss, and tor -the first two he was directly responsible, lukapa backs Jm,i the field in a bright r assiu K rush, but Were W up by McClymont, Old Jloys1 tull-back, on the line. A .xr-riimmW took place on the left whig inside' C)7d Boys twenty-five. The bail was heeled out nicely to Jeffrie&. vlio, beating the scrummage, flashed it away to ■Jti.oo.cer on the wing, for him to dive across midway between the posts and the corner. Ennis failed 1., convert ■lukapa- 3, 0.8. 0. Ok! J] O ys forwards, playing solidly in iha. scrummages, did not let 'Aikapa have a <r re at - deal of the ball. \V. Sma.it and C bmart initiated a promiaitu- looking movement for Old Boys, which was only stopped by Ennis marking cleanly ott the toe of a forward. Old BoYs compelled Tukapa to force uurino- the wettest stage of the game, wlien a very heavy shower, fell, l n it Aikapa , backs replied with an excursion to Old Boys line. From a serumi■;,(.>€ in the corner, Jeffries whipped up "the ball and, cleverly drawing vie defence around the side of the scrum, made the . way clear for Hooker to divo over at ! S ei C°™T >¥ n," i>s co^ertc-d from a wide angle lukapa 8, 0.8. 0. Old Boys pbxyed more vigorously Uian over. W. Smart and Billiard bui^ through Son f nif °UJ le "ght Willff and ™* stopped by Priar, but one of the brightest movements of the R ame followed on the other wing, where Nasmith broke away, and when blocked passed on to W. Smart, who cleverly KSiw c detence and hiiM ™ to Si^^ire^^/TS *^&^%"^% and half-time sounded scon after with the scores: Tukapa 8, 0 B 3 During the second half oid Boys continued to, hold theupper hand S The scrummages, and played with oven more zest than beW . T {^ end, however, they began to tire am? were not so quickly U p , v itii th? b'lJ On the other side Jeffri,,. wa,s wrrk wg his backs in fine styi, and they were attacking when Old Boys lei penalised m their own qua-tei-s Enn-s goahng Tubapa 11, Vit :\' F o a long tune it was give and f-."ke nlav near midfield, the Wards o, both ides fighting desperately to,- %£™ «on Later, from a « erU m Ui.skle Old Boys' territory, Jeffries sent +h e bVI out. It flawed from Olifex to- Enm canny precision • vi & J"" Mr. F. Webb was referee.