A BRIGHT DISPLAY

Northern Advocate, 22 July 1935, Page 2

A BRIGHT DISPLAY

CITY TASTE TRUE FORM.

Afte-P so many disappointments, it was pleasing to seb City again at true ■ strength. They were up against a har'd nut in Hikurahgi United, who displayed very satisfactory form. The red and blacks saw more of the ball ' from the set scrums but faultless tackling, coupled with spasms of erratic, passing, were the predominating factors in their failure. , City packed more speed both fore and aft but did not transgress from safety tactics and when they assumed command twenty minutes before time their winning' chances generally appeared .rosy. • City were represented by:—Child, T. Jones, Dent, G. Baker, Cross, F. Hollows, Lenne, Crowley, Watts, Ferguson, Merrick, Bowyer and Payne. Hikurangi United. —Martin, B. McKirilay, Toki, C. JOnes, T. B'erghan, C. Meyer, B. Meyer, D. Codling, W. Buchanan, R. Jones, Aldred, J. Cor ling" and King. Crty started off in great style. After five minutes sparring, the blue and whites brushed into action. Payne burst through with the ball at toe and penetrated 30 yards and then Watts let ■ the ball Out to Hollows, to Cross who draw the defence and let G. Baker away. The winger did not look like being caught and scored easily. Bowyer failed to goal and it was 3 —nil. Lack of pace was all that ruined Hikurahgi’s equalising chance a little later. C. Meyer paved the way by creating the opening and he gave D. Codling a clear passage. The forward was heading iinewards when Child overhauled him and tackled feet out. The try was to come and from the play-the-ball, C. Meyer snapped up and hosed his way through to dive across. He could not augment and they were even, 3 —3. City looked like making amends when Dent raced through and fed Cross. The five-eighths added his quota but when his in-pass to Baker was accepted, the defence had the speed merchant well bottled. From a drop-out, Hollows, Cross, Dent and T. Jones handled neatly but the lastnamed was lowered at the corner. Hikurangi repelled the invasion and Crowley received a kick on the knee k to be replaced by Irving just as the interval arrived. The red and blacks were in full cry when they set to it again but bad passing nullified their exploits. The City forwards broke through following one wild transfer and Hikurangi were hard pressed to stave them off. Then J. Codling retaliated with a great dribbling rush and mowed Cross, who had dropped back to custodian, in possession. The Hikurangi rearguard , fanned out and were very dangerous when C. Meyer foolishly put his too to flic ball. The five-eighth repeatedly put a damper on his play by infringing in this respect. City were hemmed on defence but resolute tackling, with Lenne an inspiration. frustated all assaults. A beautiful liner by Cross eventually

switched hostilities into neutral territory. Bad luck robbed the visitors of a try when R. Jones dribbled through arid the ball slid past the lonely Cross but it just rolled into touch-in-goal. After C. Jonhs and Berghan had featured in desperate bids for the line, Watts piloted the City forwards in a determined retaliatory rush. Both C. Jones and Martin allowed the ball to Slide from their grasp and the speedy T. Jones kicked over the line to follow through for a good try. Bowyer' did not succeed with the shot at goal; It was fifty-ftfty till the end and City were victorious by two tries to one. City .6. Hikurangi 3 Mr F. Little handled the whistle. OLD HEADS PREVAIL. TOO GOOD FOR TAKAHIWAI. With many old hands in their ranks, Hikurangi Colts surprised Takahiwai, 1 who never looked like winning and went down, 10—5. It was a particularly hard-fought duel and bright football was the order. ; i’he feature of the game was the splendid hooking of Pompa Wells, who monopolised in this sphere. He was ably assisted by a hard-working pack. Hikurangi led 3—nil at the breather, and later assumed a 10-pbint command, but Takahiwai scored and goaled in the' last minute to close the game. 10—5. . The red and blacks’, points came by way of tries by Shelford and Wells and two penalty goals by Rod Hamilton. Kepa crossed for Takahiwai and Rata kicked a fine goal. Mr W. Hedley refereed. . During the game, b. Nathan, a Takahiwai player received a knock, but carried on. No St. John ambulance officer was present, and it was later discovered that Nathan had dislocated a shoulder.