MUDDIED OAFS AGAIN

Northern Advocate, 29 July 1935, Page 3

MUDDIED OAFS AGAIN

GOOD RUGBY NOTWITHSTANDING HIKURANGI STILL UNDEFEATED. REP. MATCHES THIS WEEK. To be a footballer's laundress has been no sinecure this season, and again it was a case of “muddied oafs” cn Saturday, when a further round in the Whangarei Rugby Unions’ competitions was played. At Kensington Park, Old Boys showed something of a return to form to finish within five points of City, while at Pakotai, Hikurangi disposed of the local side by 19 points to six. Even the Maungakaramea ground, one of the best in the North, is giving way under the strain, and on Saturday mud was showing through the green, a rare phenomenon indeed. However, the conditions were not enough to douse the spirit of the, players and did not prevent many attractive handling movements from taking place. The home side won by 11 points to nil. Hora Hora had the bye.

It is unlikely that, in view of the Harding Shield next Saturday, 'the long-awaited match between the championship leaders, Hikurangi and City, will be played. An invitation for that date has also been received from Otamatea, who ask for a Whangarei senior E side to play their representatives at Waipu. , ATTRACTIVE GAME MAUNGAKARAMEA WIN AGAIN. PIPIWAI’S PLEASING DASH. Pipiwai are earning the reputation for turning on the type of football the public like to see, and although they finished on the wrong'side of the ledger at Maungakaramea on Saturday, they were unlucky not to score on , several occasions. Even the Maungakaramea ground was greasy after the rains, and the way the slippery ball was handled by both teams was a revelation. The home side held the upper hand in the first half, but thenceforward the full brunt of the play fell upon their defence. The teams were:— Pipiwai.—W. Tapper, P. Herewini, G. Shortland, J. Herewini, J. Mansfield, W. Shortland, T, Davis, G. Niha, J. Niha, E. Witute, N. Waa, J. Davis, H. Shortland, C. Henry. Maungakaramea.— L. Child, T. O’Shea, J. Litt, Edge, E. Child, Weir, McDonald, D. O’Shea, S. Alison, Hudson, Thompson, Benfell, S. Walker, Sheen, Lane. Maungakaramea did the pressing from the start, and Edge assisted his hard-working forwards with a couple of well-placed kicks. Even packs divided possession of the ball from the scrums, and the backs attempted to open up play with the wet ball. Rustling play by Maungakaramea had Pipiwai defending grimly, and twice force-downs saved the situation. Fast following up and a spurt at the finish earned Sheen the first try, which J. Litt did not improve.— Maungakaramea 3, Pipiwai 0. When Edge cross-kicked shortly afterwards Sheen again led the hunt, and actually touched down, but the ball had just entered the dead area. There was a spectacular touch when T. O’Shea—something of a discovery as wing three-quarter—made a fierce dash down the line, to be stopped in a most effective manner by P.- Herewini. , For the first time the visitors were put in an attacking position when Tapper lined well upfield. However, J. Litt cut a couple of men cut, on to D. O’Shea, t(j T. O’Shea, who juggled the ball behind his back, retrieved* it, and scored a pretty try. From the sideline, E. Child’s kick went just outside. —Maungakaramea ] 6, Pipiwai 0. The Maungakaramea back machine was functioning well, when N. Waa came in to upset their plans, and for the next ten minutes, until half-time, Pipiwai were in foreign territory, with P. Herewini running and hurdling well. With the sun behind them the agile Pipiwai forwards carried all before them in a sweeping, loose rush. Somehow, McDonald succeeded in getting the ball away, but things were still dangerous for Maungakaramea. Once G. Child found the line beautifully with a screw kick. Then P. Herewini made one more bid and was well supported, but the ball was too slippery to handle and Maungakaramea were able to force.

The blues were sparing no effort to win a score and were turning on attractive football. W. Tapper, wit v his safe, long kicks, did not let Maungakaramea pass half-way and the Maoris concentrated on feeding their speedster, P. Herewini. The winger put in some dashing runs,* but was up against solid tackling, especially by Weir. .At length Maungakaramea won clear. Benfell, O’Shea and Alison breaking away in a loose rush which gained forty yards.

The counter attack soon faded out and, emerging from his own quarter, Mansfield exhibited some snappy in-and-out passing, which ended when the winger was tipped up as he had all sail set for a try. The game now swung up and down in a most exciting manner. Edge could not pass P. Herewini, who won many friends by his courageous play, and then the Pipiwai pack, led by Waa and J. Davis, went away in a dribbling rush. E. Child chimed in at a critical moment to stop them. Pipiwai were pressing hard when T. O’Shea started a counter move with a long pass to Weir, who dodged through half the team and sent on to the flying Walker, who scored an unexpected try. E. Child converted with a trimmer and the game ended: Maungakaramea 11 Pipiwai 0 Mr R, Morrison refereed. HEAVY GOING AT KENSINGTON PARK. CITY BEAT OLD BOYS. On a. ground the worse for the week’s 10-inch rainfall and the severe churning it received in the junior fixture, City and Old Boys staged a dour, solid struggle, which resulted in a 6point victory lor City. The heavy ground made back play almost out of the question, and Old Boys concentrated on keeping play tight. There was thus little of the spectacular, but the football was good for all that. Teams: — City: Neilson, Shepherd. Pickering, ! Harris, Robins, Roos, Thorpe, Morris, •; Clotworthy, Jones, Potter, McKenzie. , Dent, Tudehope, Thornley. Old Boys: C. Wilson, Symes, Blow, Collins, Stanaway, Wilson, Mullins, Easterbrook, Scarborough, Ferguson,

Bradley, Webber, Godfrey, Hart, Peat. When they got down to it, Old Boys made it clear tljat they intended to keep the ball forward, and tight, and for a time they had City bottled. The ball was too greasy for them to improve, and a couple of free kicks gave City relief. The blue and white back line, however, was unable to get going, and the white forwards held the upper hand. They were playing better than for some time past. It was not until C. Wilson, who, i otherwise, played a great full-back game, miskicked a clearing punt that City began to dominate. They battered the Old Boys defence seriously before the forwards surged round the goal line in a loose rush, out of which shot Potter to score near the posts. Pickering made no mistake. —City 5, Old .Boys 0. The whites rallied again and Hart, Peat and Godfrey led a loose rush which ended with Collins going over, but out of bounds. There was a lengthy period of solid scrum work on City’s side of the midway line. Then City broke through strongly and Pickering capped the movement. He failed to convert and the half-time score was. —City 8, Old Boys 0.

Within a minute of recommenpement Old Boys were over. There were a couple of jumbles on the line and Easterbrook got the verdict after the second one had been cleared away. Collins’ kick was a beauty.—City 8, Old Boys 5,

Scoring was now rapid, and immediately City increased their lead from a free kick, which was landed by Pickering—City 11, Old Boys 5. Again City took charge, and Old Boys had to force three times. City, led by Morris, came again, but Wilson was there to cover. He lost his feet, however, and McKenzie came up to go over. Pickering kicked one from the side-line. —City 16, Old Boys 5, At that stage Thorpe retired vice Williams. Old Boys began to press again and were awarded a penalty kick. Collins shot wide, but the forwards were up to catch Pickering. There was no one there to take his pass except Scarborough, who scored. Collins converted again.—City 16, Old Boys 10, The final stages provided some of brightest football. Old Boys, with renewed vigour, chased extra points. So did City, and as attack is the best method ’of defence, no more points were registered, the game ending.— City 16 Old Boys ' 10 Mr Richards was referee. HIKURANGI WINS AGAIN MANGAKAHIA’S STUBBORN FIGHT. In the match between Hikurangi and Mangakahia at Pakotai on Saturday the visitors outclassed the local team to the extent of 19 points to six. The curtain-raiser and some heavy showers of. rain made the ground heavy, and the finer points of tne game could not be displayed by the champions. It was a clean match ably controlled, and, although a little onesided, was a treat to the country spectators. Mangakahia kicked off, and following up smartly placed the visitors in a tight position. Play moved back and forth for some time until the ball coming, from, a scrum , .passed through the hands of all the Hikurangi backs to White, who made ? strong run and scored easily. . Hamilton failed to add.—Hikurangi 3, Mangakahia 0. Many strong rushing advances by Hikurangi with the ball at toe were frustrated by the opposition, who by adopting similar tactics gained much ground, but the visitors defended stoutly, and then away went Hamilton with the pack hard on his heels. He passed to Rarity, and the ball went on to Cooney and then to White who scored in a good position. Cooney made a splendid conversion.—Hikurangi 8, Maungakahia 0. Mangakahia now forced matters to their utmost, placing Hikurangi on the defensive. Simmonson picking up dived over the goal line with half a dozen reds on top. A 5 yards scrum followed. Simmonsen passed out to Skinner, who shot over. Dahl missed with a difficult kick.—Hikurangi 8, Mangakahia 3. Tight play continued to half-time with no further score. Several short rushes and line-outs placed Hikurangi in a good position and Cooney, picking up, passed to Hamilton, who, after a short run, scored. White’s kick was lucky, the ball striking the post and falling inside. —Hikurangi 13, Mangakahia .3. At this stage Hikurangi’s onslaught was terrific and, breaking through the front line of defence, Cooney got possession, passed to White who again scored easily. Cooney’s kick (ailed. — Hikurangi 16, 'Mangakahia 3. Mangakahia came with a rush and a line-out placed them in a handy position. While in this position some handling in the scrum by the visitors cost them a free kick, which Dahl piloted over the* bar.—Hikurangi 16, Mangakahia 6. The visitors again broke through with the ball at toe and Rarity picking up near the goal line dived over for a try. Cooney failed to convert and the game ended soon after with the score: Hikurangi 19 JVTangakahia 6 Mr Miller was referee. secondary school rugby GAME THIS WEEK. KING’S COLLEGE VISITORS. For the first time in history, representatives of Whangarei High School and King’s College, Auckland, will meet on the field of sport next Wednesday. Arrangements have now been finalised for a Rugby match between the schools to take place at Kensington Park, Whangarei, at 2 p.m. on Wednesday next. The college team will arrive by car at 6 p.m. tomorrow, and will be billeted out among the local boys. After the game on Wednesday the visitors will return home the same afternoon. No charge for admission to the match will be made.

“I am very pleased that we have succeeded in securing the visit,” said Mr A. R. Ryder, principal of the High School, today. “During my teaching experience at Auckland Grammar School, I was closely associated with the College footballers, and then, as now, they played good football, both sporting and open. They are a welltrained team, and, however the game is going can be relied upon to play their best, to the finish.

The calibre of the King’s team may be gauged by the fact that in the first round of the Auckland secondary school competition, Grammar, eventual champions, beat them by six points to five.

OLD BOYS VISIT AUCKLAND

AN 8-POINT DEFICIT,

One of the leading football teams in the junior competitioh of the Whangarei Rugby Union, Old Boys, went to Auckland on Friday to meet the Grammar School Old Boys intermediate reps. Private cars were requisitioned by the visitors and their match on Saturday was played at Walker Park, Point Chevalier. All matches, except those on the suburban grounds, were postponed because of the wet conditions, and a fair number of the public turned out to see the two sides in an evenly-matched struggle. It was not a day for back play, and the forwards maintained control of the ball throughout. Half-way during the second spell, Campbell received an injury to the nose and had to retire. He spent the night in the Auckland Hospital, but was discharged the next morning.

Two tries, one of which had- the extras added, were obtained by the home side, the final tally being:— Grammar 0.8. 8, Whangarei 0.8, 0. The visitors were represented by:— Full-back, Reed; three-quarters, Edwards, Brown, Campbell; five-eighths, Collins, Coote; half-back, G. Smith (capt.); forwards, Ray, Haigh, Knew, Munroe, Smith, Adams, McMaster, Boreham. Campbell was replaced by H. Wilson. In the evening members of the team attended a farewell tendered by the Grammar Old Boys’ Club to M. M. N. Corner, All Black of 1935, at the Hotel Auckland. Later on in the season it is expected that a return game will be arranged 'to take place in Whangarei. FIRST IN DOMINION NELSON RUGBY CLUB. JUBILEE CELEBRATION. APPROPRIATE PROGRAMME. [Per Press Association. — Covyright. J NELSON, This Day. The Nelson Rugby Union this year will celebrate its jubilee and next week will see the commencement of a programme befitting the occasion. Rugby football was first played in New Zealand at Victory Square, Nelson, in 1868, but it was not until 17, years later that the Rugby Union was formed to control the game. The first- inter-provincial matches played in the Dominion took place in 1870 between Wellington and Nelson. It is, therefore, appropriate that the celebration of the local union’s jubilee should be the occasion of a visit by the Wellington representatives, who will play Nelson at Trafalgar Park on the first Monday in August. Nelson is the only part of New Zealand keeping up the English bank holiday, although, curiously enough, the banks are practically the only local institution which do not observe this holiday. The Nelson club is the oldest football club in the Dominion, having its foundation on May 30, 1868, at a meeting called by Mr R. C. Tennent. At that time there was no winter sport in New Zealand and the youth of Nelson occupied itself mainly during these months with horse riding and hill climbing. Mr Tennent saw by the English papers that men’s clubs were being formed in the Old Country to play Association football. He suggested "to his friends that they should form a club in Nelson . and decide later what rules should be adopted. As a result, in the “Evening Mail” of May 30, 1868, an advertisement appeared j calling a meeting at the Nelson Hotel j of “gentlemen interested in the forI mation of a football club for the ensuing winter.” A club named the Nelson Football Club was duly formed, Mr j Tennent being elected secretaryI treasurer.

The first practice was held at Victoria Square, under Association rules. Then*Victorian rules were tried. It so happened that, after a few practices had been held, Mr Charles J. Monro, the son of Sir David Monro, returned from England, where he had been attending Sherborne School, Dorset, where Rugby was played. Mr Monro persuaded the Nelson players to try Rugby. They preferred the game out of the three tried. Shortly afterwards Nelson College adopted Rugby and soon had a strong team. Matches were then commenced between the college and Nelson clubs, and thus what is now a national winter sport was first established in New Zealand.