SENIOR CUP.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 135, 10 June 1907, Page 7

SENIOR CUP.

CENTRAL V. MOUTERE

This match, played at the Domain, resulted in a runaway victory for the town team, who won by the substantial margin of 30 points to 3. Of the nine tries, Parker secured five, Manning three and Haines one, in addition to which Manning kicked a penalty goal. Moutere's only score was a try gained just on the call of time by Boyce. Moutere won the toss, and Central kicked off with the sun in their faces. Almost immediately after starting, a scrum was formed on the Moutere 25----line. Maddocks, the Central half, received the ball from the serum, and jsent it to Sowman. Thence it went to Manning, and from him to Parker, vwho drew first blood. E. T. Hegglun's Jack failed. Central 3, Moutere 0. Some give and fcake play followed, but .so&n a repetition ,of Centrals' successiul jtactics saw Parker cross the line .almost in the samejplace as on the first -occasion. E. Sowapan's kick was unsucqescful. - Keeping; up tlie pressure, Centra^ had their bjtponents hard at -work defending for" a while, till .Murphy kicked t-w ijaOl-way. Then .Nolan, at ■fche head of the Moutere vanguard, instituted an .attack, but llaines fou&d the line wifck an opportune kick. Three long kicks by Manning transformed defence into attack, till j. McDonald came through the .scrum with the ball at his tri?. and cleared the Mout&re line. The worked their way clown the field, irT.svs W. D'Dwyer intercepted a pas.:. ',;:-t was colared. The Centrals were awarded a free kick, which took the scene of play to the half-way flag. A determined rush by J. and W. O'Dwyer, J. McDonald and Nolan carried the ball down the field and over the Central line, but Parker succeeded in forcing. A collision occurred between the latter player and W. O'Dwyer, as a result of which the Moutere five-eighth had to retire. His brother, P. O'Dwyer, had come on the field shortly before this to fill a vacancy in the backs, andHhere was nobody to take the skipper's, place. Central's kick-out was stopped by O'Leary, and the whites continued to press. Nolan marked, and Gray had a fruitless shot at goal. Off-side play by Masters brought a welcome respite to Central, but the relief was not for long, as J. McDonald, securing the ball from the line, made a gallant attempt to get over, and almost immediately J. O'Dwyer marked in a good position, Gray, however, failing to convert. Manning kicked down the line, and a mark by Maddocks further assisted to put Moutere on the defensive. From a line-out Sowman got the ball and sent it on to Manning, • who gave a good pass to Haines, the last-named ending up a nice run by wriggling through P. McDonald's arms and scoring. Hegglun failed to improve the score. Central 9, Moutere 0. Some uninteresting forward play, relieved by alternate Moutere and Central rushes, brought the spell to a close. A short attack by Moutere, spoiled by a breach of the rules, and the Central forwards carried the ball over the enemy's line, the whites being forced. E. Hegglun kicked over, but the ball went behind the "dead" line. A good bit of play by Nolan and a free-kick relieved the Moutere team—for a moment. A scrum was formed; Maddocks passed the ball to Manning, who jinked through the opposing backs and scored. His kick was a failure. Central 12, Moutere 0. Moutere were struggling gamely, despite' the disorganisation of their backs, and for a time repulsed the onslaughts of the blues. Beaten forward, however, they had very little chance of attacking. Passing 'between Maddocks, E. Sowman, Manning and Parker saw the last-named add a third try to his credit, but he failed with the kick. Central 15, Moutere 0. Following the kick-out, J. McDonald, Sheridan and Nolan instituted an attack that had the effect of forcing the blues, whereafter Foster and O'Sullivan carried the ball to midfield. Then E. Sowman, getting possession, ran down the field and passed to Manning, who scored. No goal resulted. Central 18, Moutere 0. Almost immediately Moutere were penalised, and Manning piloted the ball between the posts. Central 21, Moutere 0. Manning's third try came soon after, as a result of passing between

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Maddocks, E. Sowman, Parker and himself. Central 24, Moutere 0. The blue backs continued to throw the ball about in fins style, and Parker's fourth and fifth tries were obtained by this means. Central 30, Moutere 0. Just before the call of time Moutere made an heroic endeavour to score, which was crowned with success, passing between J. O'Bwyer, P. McDonald and Boyce letting the last-named over. Gray's attempt failed, and "no-side" was sounded.

The Central team gave the best- exhibition of back play seen on the Domain this year. There seemed to bo an excellent understanding between the backs, the only fault being the tendency of almost all of them to pass too high. Waters, the full-back, had nothing to do, the ball seldom going behind Manning. The skipper fed his wings in* good style, besides running and kicking excellently himself. His game was the best exposition of football given by him this season. Parker, on the open side, had plenty of opportunities to show his pace, and took full advantage of them. Haines was not overburdened with work, but what camejiis way he did well, and his try wars the reward of a good run. E. Sowman, the five-eighth, and J. Maddocks, the half, were responsible to a great extent for the large score run up by their team, as practically every passing rush was started by one or the other. Of the forwards, the best of a very hardworking lot were jperhaps Foster, E. T. Hegglun, and O'Sullivan, while the wings, F. Sowman and H organ, put in some valuable work. McKinley- and C. Hegglun, the hookers, were the hinge on which swung the whole, or nearly all, of their team's success.

Considering the disorganisation that existed in the Moutere back division, the team put tip an excellent fight. Gray was safe at full-back, and P. O'Dwyer, P. McDonald and Boyce, the threequarters, defended well. After W. O'Dwyer's retirement there was no five-eighth, the work being divided between Murphy, the half, and P. McDonald. Murphy's chief work was stopping rushes, which he did in good style. In the forward division, J. McDonald was, as usual, to the fore, and was ably backed by Nolan and \ Sheridan. The display of J. O'Dwyer and Masters was spoilt to a great extent by their habit of getting off-side. Mr N. Neame refereed.. AWATERE V. OPAWA. { The general opinion of those who attended the above match at Seddon was "The better side won." In addition to \ the fact that the heavier Awatere forwards generally got the ball, the Opawa backs did not play up to their usual standard; and to these causes, principally, may be ascribed the "allblacks' " second reverse. Both sides made the ganie as-open as possible, which added considerably to its interest. Fairclough won the toss from Casey, and Awatere kicked off. Fairclough returned to touch. From a scrum the green forwards carried the leather to the Opawas' 25 j the black backs fumbled, and Morrison crossed the line. O'Brien added the major points. Awatere 5, Opawa 0. Immediately after the kick-out the blacks carried play into Awatere territory, but Morrison was instrumental in taking the ball back whence" it came, a free-kick adding to the greens' advantage. A period of give-and-take play now eventuated, O'Brien and Fairclough getting in some good kicks for their respective sides. Then the blacks suffered a force, after which the ball found its way to midfield. Back again came the greens, but a mark brought the Opawas temporary relief. Following up their advantage, the Opawas essayed a.passing-rush, wMch was stopped by J. Costellc*. Soon after, when the greens had recovered their' ground, P. Casey marked, but O'Brien's kick was not successful, and Opawa forced. Paul, Clouston and Galloway were instrumental in carrying the leather into Awatere quarters, but a cosple of good kicks by O'Brien took it back to the centre. Awatere next were compelled to force. After the kick-otfA J- Higgins headed an Awatere rush <Spwn the field, and M. Costello succeeded in getting across. O'Brien was equal to the occasion, and the.score stood : Aw#£ere 10, Opawa 0. The greens continued to attack, and from a scrum the b#ll .wtMit out to O'Brien, who smartly nipped ?«i and scored. Taking the kick himself, he made the score fifteen love in favour of thehome team. For the remainder of the spell the play was not of an interesting nature, and the whistle blew with the ball in the centre of the field. With a lead of fifteen points, Awatere began the second spell .in good heart, and for the first few minutes the scene of action was in Opawa territory, where the backs had a trying time. However, they repulsed the onslaught, and in their turn attacked, until J. Costello came to Awatere's rescue. Still Opawa hammered away, but could not score, the greens saving by a force. The staying-powers of the home team stood them in good stead, and they succeeded in keeping the Opawas out. Assisted by a free-kick, the blacks again attacked, but good play on the part of P. Casey, Whelan, J. Casey and J. Costello eased off tlie pressure, and the ball soon found its way across the Opawa line, a force resulting. J. Casey and Morrison assisted in keeping the blacks on the defence, until Priddle made an opening, i from which the Opawa backs, by pretty passing, carried the ball to the corner of the Awatere goal-line. The effort was too late, however, and the game ended with the Seddon defences anpierced. Two-thirds of Awatere's score lies to the credit of O'Brien, who kicked three goals and scored a try. Apart from this, he was of inestimable value to his side, as he fielded, kicked and collared with good judgment. The Costello brothers (C. and J.) who played fullback and wing-threequarter respectively, were also "star" performers throughout, and Whelan and P. Casey, each in his own department, were as reliable as ever. J. Casey and Higgins, the wing-forwards, followed up and dribbled well, and in the pack the most noticeable were Webster and Forbes. The Opawa backs, with the exception of Oben and at times Fairclough, were "off" their game, and were not in such good "trim" as their opponents. Fairclough's strong point was his linefinding, and Oben gave a good "allround display. Without hesitation it may be said that Paul played the finest forward game on the ground; Galloway and Clouston were not far behind. The Rugby Union were fortunate in securing the services as referee of Mr Geo. Bush, an old footballer and an erstwhile Canterbury senior referee. The players showed their confidence in him by conducting themselves in an exemplary manner, and the spectators gave practically' no trouble.