HARDING SHIELD

Northern Advocate, 29 July 1935, Page 2

HARDING SHIELD

FIRST FIXTURES | ?■■■ . I OTAMATEA BEAT RODNEY, NEW zoning system; A WET BALL GAME. The first Harding Shield 'game, un-der-the new zone system, was held; at. Port Albert . on Saturday, Otamatea ■ M m'e'etlhg Rodney, and winning by 19 points to 6. Otamatea now play Ihc <’ winner of the Northern Wairoa-Wha- ; ngafei game, to decide who shall play • the' finalists in. the Northern zone. The sun did not last long during the game and what might have been t brilliant .back play was spoilt by the heavy rain, which commenced, just ’ after the start. Within two minutes

Rodney opened their account and, immediately after, Otamatea scored. Otamatea had the-better of the game V ' throughout, but clever attacking by It: Birch and : Mullins-often had them in i? difficulties- . ||. . Teams.: —.'

K'- Otamatea.—Skelton, D: Wintle, HoP' mban, Sundberg, A. Fergus, Edwards, it Pohe, N. Fergus, D. Neil, L. Snelling, L. Cowan, Malloney, Dwyer, R. Bull, Herman., ' C ■ Rodney— Guy, Harper, Mullins, Beazley, Birch, Watkins, Neil, Beaver, £ Maher, Matheson, ;. P. Bell,. Sands, Pollard, Dunning, Pairama.

3 ’ EARLY scoring. . ; ; Otamatea commenced to attack, but Mullins -saved,-arid, with a long kick, reversed the positions. From a scrum, the ball came -put to Birch, who cut : in nicely to make a great run and I- serid: Harper over. The , kick _ failed. —Rodney 3, Otamatea 0. (p- On resuming, Wintle followed 1 1 through.: hard -and dribbled the ball • oyer to ; score. Homan converted. — I, Otamatea 5, Rodney 3. Play ‘ centred round midfield and 1 Snelling made a . determined run, making Rodney’s position dangerous. The Otamatea forwards kept up the attack, arid the backs again went into action, Edwards' making a deter- ( mined run. Wintle, however, dropped j the ball arid missed a sure try. ,The Rodney forwards then started to go through'the scrums and soon carried \ plSy' down field. Skelton fielded and after ,a good run kicked and caught the opposing full-back in possession. \ Shelling did great work on the line, but was held up just short. Birch lovely: .save by cutting out his - man and sending on to Mullins, who found the linn, . The backs gave up trying to handle s the ball and A._ Fergus went right through with the ball at his toe. Mul- / lins again cleared. Wintle made another determined run, but Birch and

Watkins . carried play.- right down field, Rodney ..had 'ah:; attempt to. increase their' score ■from a free kick, but it [*■ failed inches short, f' The Otamatea backs again attack-

, ed, the ball going right out to Wintle, > but he was downed just short. An inJ frihgement by Rodney gave Otamatea another chance. Homan raised

the flags.—Otamatea 8, Rodney 3. Otamatea kept up the pressure and Rodney .had to force. Play then swung down field, but Sundberg put Otamatea-on the attack again with a

/ , Manoney .failed to' gather in ' the ball. Mullins again cleared. - From a line-out in the, corner, N. Fer- ; gus dived over, but the score was noj; 1 allowed and from the scrum Neal forced. Half-time was called with , the score unchanged— , Otamatea • > , Rodney ................... 3

SECOND HALF.

The Rodney pack used their weight V to more - advantage in the second half, but Snelling was a tower of strength and kept his, pack together. At this ’ " stage, A, Fergus (after playing a sodnd game) .retired with injuries to ' - the,' head. C; Wintle took his place, and- with • Homan, took the play down field. Mullins again cleared. From ■ the. ruck, D. Wintle showed a great ; - burst of speed to score under the posits. Homan’s failed.—Otamatea 11, Rodney 3. \ I* Cowan and Fergus then took comma nd and carried the ball back to Rodney’s line, where, from a series ’’ of scrums, Pbhe dived over. The kick failed. —Otamatea 14, Rodney 3. Rodney then rallied and went to the attack, completely dominating the ; Otamatea • -forwards. Sundberg saved, but Rodney were not to be denied an d; from a dribbling rush, Hader dived over. Guy’s kick failed.—Ota- . matea 14, Rodney 6. . ’ Otamatea' were now held m their pwn twenty-five, and Rodney worked ' hard for • another try, but Skelton found the line well down. From the line-out the ball went to Homan, who dummied ■ his way right through to more; just on time. He also converted, and the game ended: „ , OTAMATEA 19 RODNEY 6 Mr | Bycroft refereed. MANGONUrS WIN ' bay- of ISLANDS BEATEN. I V DRAB DISPLAY AT KAIKOHE. j In a Harding Shield fixture Mangonui defeated Bay of Islands at Kaikohe on Saturday, the score being 14—0. j Iri : spite of the recent heavy rams, 1 t he field was remarkably dry, but in- . termittent showers tended to make the ■ ball-difficult to handle. To add further ‘ to tho difficulties the ball appeared to j be one of ancient vintage. | Mangonui (blacks) kicked off and j play went to Bay’s (red) 25. From aj scrum reds hooked and Perfect, with a well directed kick, lined at half-way. : Yourm Clark and Edmonds heading forward rush took play into black ' iorritory, but Urlich picked up the ball from their toes to line well inside his half-way. Wright broke away, and .. : : te f a spirited dash was held up on j : the fed line by Cherrington. From a * scrum Walker cut in before transfer-. ring’ to Repia, who sent to Perfect, to j Martini, who, after a piercing run, was j, fvheld up by R. Smith. This display was I P the best and only exhibition of hand- j |\ ]ing : witnessed throughout the entnei r a scrum ten yards out and in . front of reds’ goal, the ball was clean hooked by the reds. Walker failed to ! gather it in and Cherrington, instead of forcing, attempted to scoop it up. ' He was robbed of it by Max Berghan, who had broken through, to draw first blood for Mangonui. M., fates misse.. an easy kick;— Mangonui 3, Bay o.

I From then to the whistle for the spell j i the game resolved itself into a series j iof up and down field forward rushes, I At half-time the score still remained.— i Mangonui 1 Bay 1 ' •• 0 . The second half saw the reds in at- ! tack. H. Yates received from a scrum ; in his own quarter and when just getting well into his stride was held up by Hulme well inside the reds’ half. From a scramble following a fiveyards scrum, Rickett scooped in the leather to score Mangonuils second try. M. Yates added the points with a good kick. Mangonui 8, Bay 0. The next few minutes were occupied in a further series of up and down field forward rushes. H. Yates collected a speculator well inside the red half and stepping it out in great style went over wide out .for the day’s best try. M. Yates’ kick went wide.—Mangonui 11, Bay 0. P. Clarke, in a fine solo effort, covered fully half the field before he was overhauled by Berghan, well inside the blacks’ quarter.

Repia received and, after piercing the defense, set off with an unobstructed run for the goal line. He was overtaken by R. Smith, when but only a, yard short. This was the day’s most exciting'episode. The reds were penalised on their 25, and Yates, with a good kick, made the final score.— Mangonui ......... (. . ... 14 Bay of Islands 0 Mr R. Summerville was the referee.

BRAKE SHIELD GAME IN NORTHERN ZONE. , MANGONUI BEAT BAY OF ISLANDS. Played under appalling conditions, the Brake Shield and Penney Cup match between Bay of Islands and the Mangonui Juniors, took place on the Showgrounds, Kaitaia, on Saturday. Mangonui won by 9 points to nil. The game was_ by no means up to representative* standard,- although both teams made play willing, the forwards having the majority of the work, with brief interludes of classy back work. The home team was superior for practically the whole of the match. , Teams: 1 Bay of Islands—F. Mita, Pausma, Faithfull, Stancich, Bott, Reedy, Inwood, P. Brown, Green, Pera, Nicholas, D. Pou, Rowsell, ,E|. White, Sullivan. / . Mangonui.—P. < Harrispn, Williams, Flinn, James*, Jameson, Snowden, W. Silva, J. Murray, Busby, P. Waenga, C. Marino, Cowie, Johnson, Walker, White. Bay kicked off against the sun, and a series of scrambles in midfield took place, neither side gaining the advantage. The Mangonui backs then got into their stride, and commenced throwing the ball about, and breaking down the opposition. Mita, receiving the ball, cleared, only for Williams to gather in, and with a determined dash, score well out. Flinn’s kick failed. —Mangonui 3, Bay 0. This proved to be the only score until after half-time, although Mangonui, having the upper hand throughout, did their best to cross. Mita, at I full, was the thorn in the side of the i attackers, his coolness and decisive iline kicks winning the admiration of the onlookers.

Inwood, at half, gave of his best, saving his side time and again with game play and good judgment. Snowden and Jameson kept their opposing five-eighths, Reedy and Bott, in check, whenever they got the ball, and they were consequently unable to get their three-quarters going. Concerted rushes by the home team, led by Murray, who was outstanding, kept the Bay busy defending their line, Mita repeatedly being called upon to save his side.

On the resumption, it appeared that the Bay were . going. to equalise on several occasions," but good movements fell flat . before a magnificent defence. The ...Mangonui forwards were hot to be suppressed, and, led by Cowie and Busby, they went bach to their nrevious tactics of hammering on the Bay line. Back movements were now a thing of the past, except on rare occasions. The next score, for Mangonui came when Cowie, with a great solo effort, broke through and went over. Flinn’s kick fell short.I—Mangonui 1 —Mangonui 6, Bay 0. In spite of valiant efforts to turn the tables, the Bay were kept back by a superior team. Cowie again drew blood when he broke through a ruck on the visitors tine, to score. The angle was too much for. Flinn, MANGONUI 9 BAY OF ISLANDS ....... 0 The whistle for time went shortly after. Mr F. Job was referee.