AWATERE v. OPAWA.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 118, 17 May 1909, Page 2

AWATERE v. OPAWA.

This ma^ch was played at Seddon in rather gloomy weather. There was only a limited attendance of the public, the cold wind blowing being, no doubt, in some measure responsible. The visitors' skipper, Terrill, won the toss, and the home team kicked off from the south end of the field, having the wind in its favour. Immediately after the ball was set in motion the wearers of the green and yel- . low jerseys set to work, and very soon had their opponents in difficulties, a try being registered within five minutes of the start of the game by J. Costello, through the instrumentality of O'Brien. The latter was en- ■ trusted with the kick at goal, but his effort was unsuccessful. A considerable amount of line play followed, ■with an occasional scrummage, and / play became monotonously dull. After about thirty minutes' play, the home team's vanguard broke away, taking the ball with them, and the visitors' territory was invaded. Bogle whipped tip the leather and transferred to J. Costello, who in turn passed it on to M. Costello, who crossed the Opawas' line and touched down. He essayed also to.add the major points, but the jball went wide. Play of a very in-

different character ensued until the whistle sounded half time, the spell ending Awatere 6, Opawa nil. The j spell had been most uninteresting, and in addition was in the main a fearful exposition of Rugby; in fact it could hardly have been worse. Notwithstanding that the players lacked condition there should have been at least some (glimpses of decent play, but that was at a premium, and at only one stage of the first part of the game wa's there anything that would give a casual observer an indication that two senior teams were trying conclusions. That occasion was halfway through the spell, when Oben secured the oval close to Awatere's 25 yard line, and passed to Terrill, and the. latter sent it on to Oostello, who in turn transferred, to Dunckley, who lost the leather through looking for someone to pass to on his right, m pjace of sending it back /to his associates and thus turning the rush to good account. There Avas a splendid opening tor a score,' but it was not taken advantage The second spell opened with a repetition of. the play that characterised the first half, excepting that it was worse, owing to the stalwart forwards of the home team having "done their dash," and, like the visiting vanguard, being palpably tired. There was very little' to choose between them, but if anything, the Opawas held a slight advantage in the loose, but were pushed all over the place in the scrums, and though the hookers got the ball frequently it rarely, if ever, went out to the backs. Lmeout after line-out took place, the line kicking of O'Brien for Awatere. being particularly effective • but despite that the blacks gradually got Within striking distance, and , Terrill narrowly missed placing a penalty goal from a difficult angle, the ball falling -just a few inches short of the cross-bar. A few minutes la^er .Terrill secured the ball in the Awatere 25, and made a run towards the line, but in place of going on and endeavouring to beat his man, he made a blind pass into space, and thus nullified what # appeared to be a good chance of scoring. A little later, however, O'Rourke whipped up the ball from a scramble, and,. putting .in a dodgy run,. registered Opawas only try.-: Terrill -failed to increase the score. As soon as the oval was again in motion the home team, with a spasmodic rush, carried hostilities to beyond the half-way line, only to be irepulsedj and once more play settled in their own territory. ' The visitors were having slightly the bet-, ter of the game then, and L. Clouston got away with the ball, and , outdistancing his opponents, touched _ down over a furrow in the ground which he mistook for the 'goal-line. The referee blew his whistled believing ,that a try had been scored; but upon, investigation found that the line over which the ball had been touched down was not within five yards of the real line, and-.ordered*a scrum on the 25 yard mark. The blacks were ajttaeking as vigorously as their thenfeeble condition would permit^ and once more got within an ace of the home team's line; the latter's halfback kicking out of touch at the corner flag to save the situation. Awatere gained an advantage from the throw-in, and-play>-. was removed to neutral ground, and from that, time to the finish of the spell neither side was very dangerous,- and the* game ended Awatere 6 points, Opawa 3. Mr W. D. Chisholm controlled the game.