MATCH WITH THAMES VALLEY

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4805, 3 July 1939, Page 5

MATCH WITH THAMES VALLEY

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; ct when: to kick and when to run. made aE tire dufereuce to the Kfrrg Country. Early in tie game tfee worth of the llaniapoto player Richards was demonstrated, and Crossman and Richards were the ouLstanding auseking men in the King Country backs. Tfee latter more tfean fulfilled expectations, and win have to be watched in future games by the Xorth Island selector. Silcoek at halfback was another of the finds of the match, and it seems very likely that he will displace Robinson, who has previously held the position behind the King Country pack. Though at the very commencement of the match several of his passes were too low. he soon rectified this trouble, and sent the ball away cleanly and quickly. Where he shone was in the backing up. If the home team made a sudden thrust. or was in any danger. Silcoek was there to give a hand, and his tackling was solid. Of the other backs Simpson was very safe, and it was a pity that Hardy did not receive more chances. He showed an amazing turn of speed., but was only fed on a couple of occasions during the day. As perhaps as was to be expected on the first game of the season, something was wrong with the King Country combination. Cameron and Fi-ancis found the task of following Crossman too difficult; the change of bringing in the latter to first fiveeighth made the situation worse rather than better.

Trusttrum was pi-obably the pick of the forwards, especially when there was some bustling work to be done, but Hancock and Coffin followed him up closely, and fed their backs more from the loose play. The King Country pack were heavier than their opponents, had undisputed possession from the scrums, and aided by Silcock's quickness sent the ball away well from the lineouts. In the loose play, and particularly in dribbling and backing up, Thames Valley held the advantage. Of the Thames Valley side Clotworthy played a fine game, being always ready to seize on interceptions, and he was well supported by Woodlands and Hannan. The forwards, apart from their failure to get the ball from their heavier opponents, played a fine game, Kotara and Brankin performing good work, Thames Valley were very unlucky with their goal kicking, two sitting shots, a conversion kick and a penr alty, being missed. - The teams were:—

King Country: Simpson; Hardy, Francis, Richards; Crossman, Cameron; Silcock; Fleming, Davis, Coffin; Trusttrum, Anderson, Hancock, Woods; Waretini. Thames Valley: Rapana; Sheehan, Maloney, Hannan; Woodlands, Clotworthy; Clark; Heenan, Parker, Johnston, Kingsford, Dwight, Brankin, Kotara, Muirhead. Play started with Richards' crosskick gaining ground for King Country, but Crossman dropped a pass and Clothworthy seized an opportunity to dribble right through to the home team's 25, where Simpson forced. Slowly the King Country forwards fought their way downfield where Coffin was unsuccessful with a long shot at goal. A second shot, taken from near the posts by Fleming, resulted in King Country opening their account. 3—o.

The- inst real a£ themutch SrißiweaL. tsSes xrrrrar'fs reoejhsh; a eroisifEH: ttit sse Cinssiisn csasmrg 'iver. she egrmr lag:. Sj~ cemtmr. the 3aJ. amszk fhaaar Fleming: •xsy thmniafr x grss bec oa miss 2§e one—inly _,i he racaßst aw the The- xcrnnrs. SZiig: C-Tunrry -*»sr± hShmwhcr tie isZ lieur hx spjgnfflf scyii.. sot SShmmis ssax tsssmr The firmer ttss jufLsf DiTs-r xy rrrres- vaiiky -rhiysrs tsu jaeffis shirt if fie Tn.e_ imt tie inrtar 5r i fF-yxrx hr whftri is fisguEyst ~c'ee-i_ fuse i«einiii ase Sn* C-ttLy imf Zmri imf £ &H2Jes gPtwKHMgi Slxnr ■i2aims> lur tie eac «e theu?"~. the ¥sJey Sectbese hegsn ei gsc wxnmsf ghry tsxtasf tj- the S '""^T l1 * d?mxrr t:t-~— ' fiSiwed. WTi.'niKEiits sßßsa <nr am JassgngeasaiHE. a. nenaxy khik ire haT ix the xaatEXxrg; hard when the- lies: sy ac the rfh.y_ a ffit fnfhhEX^^--frsar the shie <if the seaman: and passed on ts Esntazds and these tw.:- w±h hxnerchanas-' cf passes taa hreak thru ugh the cepeshdon ami race sixty cenvert. Eahf-thne came a few minutes later with the score S—Q. After haif-thue the King Country

oacics went away on a coucle of croraising rushes, but in the mam rather desultory play foCowec. with the honours about even and penalty fcSeSs ahounding It seemed that Valley had a gift cf three pescnts when a King Country player was penalised right under the posts, but | the greasy bail slewed off Clot- : worthy's boot to Sy wide. Banner for Valley followed when Crossman followed up a kick to pass to Richardswho was lowered in the ruck just short of the line, and when Crossman only missed by a foot or two when he himself attempted to crash through. King Country were attacking, but it was the Valley who scored- The Valley five-eighths were handling in a desperate endeavour to kick clear of the 25. Silcoek tackled Woodlands beautifully, but Dwight was backing up. He seized the ball and was away clear of the ruck with Clotworthy and Sheehan in support. Clean passing saw them elude Cameron and Simpson, and Sheehan crossed for a deserved runaway try, resultant from splendid backing up. Clotworthy missed a sitting shot. 6—3.

Play swept from one end of the field to the other, but King Country, by virtue of the feeding of their backs, had the most opportunities. Hardy crossed for the second time only to be recalled, having put one foot out. Richards, working the blind from Silcock, nearly burst over, and Trusttum dived right through the ruck and over, only to have the ball stripped from him as he did so. A try was long overdue when, after good collaring and opportunist work by Hardy, Waretini dived over in the corner for a try. Coffin missed the hard kick, and the final whistle was blown a few minutes later with the score 9—3. Mr. J. Hebden was the referee.