RUGBY OPENS IN PAEROA

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 58, Issue 4127, 27 April 1949, Page 5

RUGBY OPENS IN PAEROA

START OF SEASON

MATCHES ON DOMAIN

COLD BLUSTERY WEATHER

PLAYERS NOT YET VERY FIT

The Rugby season opened in Paeroa on Saturday in cold blustery weather which made conditions unpleasant for spectators and difficult for the players, the strong wind affecting the ball time and again. The attendance of the public at the Paeroa domain was good, for the beginning of the season, and those who were present saw football which, while not of a high standard, was interesting and at times showed promise of better things which should appear as the season progresses and the players achieve more fitness. Players on Saturday could not be described as being in good condition, most of them showing signs of distress as the games drew to an end.

The high wind, which was blowing throughout the afternoon, was kind to the two senior teams who started the match with the wind at their back as the wind changed during the games, just after the half-time spell, to blow strongly in support of the teams which had benefited from it earlier in the day. Netherton and West were the teams to gain by this sudden change in the direction of the wind and in the case of Netherton, who were a very tired side in the second spell of their match with Hikutaia, it must have been a deciding factor in the victory which they secured. Although most interest seemed to centre cn the West-United match played on No. 2 ground, the match between Netherton and Hikutaia, on the main ground, was full of interest and was closely contested, in fact, for a time in the second spell it looked more than likely that Netherton would go under to the continued pressure of the lighter Hikutaia side, who

did not seem to tire as much as Netherton. Although it was too early for any of the players to show up much the best forwards on the field in this match were Lowry and W. Duncan for Hikutaia while K. Locke was always on the ball and was a tower of strength to the Netherton pack. Both sets of backs lacked combination but showed flashes of ability which no doubt will be developed into a better understanding as the season advances.

Scoring opened when Locke secured the ball from a scramble near the Hikutaia line to dive over near the corner. K. Handley attempted to convert from a difficult angle but was not successful. Gaining possession of the ball during loose play near the Hikutaia line W. McKain saw an opening and took full advantage of the opportunity to cross the line and score wide out. K. Handley was not able to add the major points.

During a Hikutaia attack Netherton failed to field a nicely placed kick and Gillespie was up in a flash, to take the ball in his stride, and dive over wide out. C. Bax made an excellent attempt to secure the major points but just failed. Half-time was called with the score six to three in favour of Netherton who had been mainly dominating play. In the second spell Netherton did not show the same dash as in the first half of the game, the forwards being slow to rally round or follow up. Keen following up by Lowry and faulty handling on the part of the Netherton back line resulted in Lowry snapping up the ball to dive over near the corner flag. Again Bax made an excellent attempt to convert the score but the strong wind spoilt the effort. Shortly after this Magner retired hurt and was replaced by N. Vinnicombe. From a penalty kick awarded to Netherton, wide out and outside the twenty-five, L. Scott with a good kick sent the ball nicely over the bar. A long kick by Scott saw the ball land over the Hikutaia line to bounce away from the defenders into the arms of

W. Gerrand who . %>0 . 1e4 n^ r the p ° stS ’ Scott missed with . • Hikutaia were the' gain points, A. Jamieson pu<. L e a over the bar from a penal/ v hick °V t_ side the twenty-five and agi?* n st e strong wind.

Time was called without further j

score, the match resulting in a win for Netherton, the final score being Netherton 12, Hikutaia 9.

The referee was Mr D. Payne

The teams were as follow:—

Netherton: F. Magner, W. Gerrand, A. Dickson, L. Scott, A. McMillan, H. Winter, D. Liddington, W. McKain, G. Oilington, H. Tukaki, K. Handley, K. Locke, E. Brown, G. Davis and M. Ollington. Hikutaia: A. Jamieson, D. Garlick, Bramble, C. Alley, P. Gillespie, Penticost, V. McCollum, Steele, Bennett, Lowry, S. McGregor, McMahon, C. Bax, W. Duncan and C. McGregor.

WEST WIN EASILY

MATCH WITH UNITED

The match between the West and United senior teams resulted in a runaway victory for West the final score being West 47, United six. The game wag played on No. 2 ground on the Paeroa domain and was watched by the biggest part of the crowd which was present. The points for West came from six tries by I. Kurtovich, tries by F. Martinovich, D. Martin, M. Waring, P. Fathers and F. Carmichael. Martinovich converted seven of the tries.

P. Gregson scored a try for United and N. Gooding kicked a penalty.

Mr H. Grant was the referee. The teams were as under:— West: M. Waring, F. Carmichael,

I. Kurtovich, D. Martin, N. McMillan, F. Martinovich, W. Harrison,. B. Massey, B. Masters, B. Sarsfield, W. Nicholls, P. Fathers, N. Herold, ’ T. Martinovich and W. Piahana.

United; R. Bilky, T. Nicholls, B. Crosbie, N. Gooding, J. Duncan, R. Nevin, D. Clemens, F. Coker, P. Gregson, P. Mann, C. James, R. Maloney, Leggan, B. Maunder and A. Fry. JUNIOR MATCH NETHERTON DEFEAT UNITED The junior game played on the Paeroa domain on Saturday resulted in a win for Netherton by nine points to nil. K. Handley, who later in the day also turned out for the Netherton senior team, and R. Gallagher both scored for Netherton while Handley also kicked a penalty. HIGH SCHOOL TOO GOOD THIRD GRADE MATCH The third grade match played on the Paeroa domain on Saturday proved to be an easy game for High School who ran right over Netherton to defeat them by 34 points to nil. Mr L. Vercoe was the referee. UNION MEETS GAMES ON SATURDAY

At a meeting of the Paeroa Rugby Union held on Monday night the secretary, Mr E. J. McKenzie, reported that the Lockyer Memorial Trophy, at present held by Te Aroha, would be played for at Paeroa on June 2.

Games arranged for next Saturday were as follows:—

Seniors: United v. Hikutaia, No. 1 ground; West v. Netherton, No. 2 ground. Juniors: West v. Netherton, No. 1 ground; United a bye. Third grade: West v. Netherton, No. 2 ground; High School a bye. A. J. Davison was re-graded to junior status.

Teams for Saturday will be as under:—

Netherton seniors to play West at Paeroa at 2.15 p.m.: R. C. Baker, W. Gerrand, H. Winter, A.. Dickson, A. McMillan, L. Scott, R. Liddington, N. Vinnicombe, W. McKain, M. Ollington, H. Tukaki, G. Davis, K. Locke, R. Finlay, F. Magner, C. Brown and G. Ollington. Netherton juniors to play West at 1 p.m. sharp: R. Beale, L. Richards, M. Millar, K. Handley, M. Gray, K. Millar, R. Kemp, E. Davison, M. Morrison, C. Fisher, K. Barrott, R. Gallagher, J. Manga, E. Kemp, N. Jurkovich, S. Locke, A. Stevenson, C. McKain and N. Collier.

Senior and junior Netherton players will attend a practice on the Paeroa domain at 7.30 p.m. tonight. Netherton thirds to play West at 1 p.m.: J. Hartley, L. Quayle, J.

Schuler, K. Chilcott, A. Carter, McCollum, C. Grylles, J. Doran, S. Manga, D. Hill, J. Quayle, A. Mold, K. Godwin, M. Godwin, G. Johnson, J. Sewell, D. Gordon and N. Avery. Practice as usual at Netherton at 7>30 p.m. tonight.