Otamatea Beaten; Last Minute Score

Northern Advocate, 25 July 1938, Page 10

Otamatea Beaten; Last Minute Score

Rugby

A sodden field, with a few slushypatches, plus a greasy ball thickly coated with mud, turned what promised on Saturday to be a fast open game between Otamatea and Northern Wairoa into a hard rucking duel between two fine packs. The Northern Wairoa fifteen was weakened by the absence of several players, picked for North Auckland while Otamatea were without the services of several forwards through sickness. The Wintle brothers were also missing. Teams were:— Wairoa: Cossar, R. Bonner, / J. Nash, Bradley, C. Bonner, Webster, Hackett, Matthews, Nathan, Ewinson, Langton, Wilson, Lovell, Edwards, Gunn. Otamatea: B. Cullen, Burke, Hamlin, Homan, Rewa, Topia, K. Fergus, D. Neil, R. Wilson. Saunders, R. Cullen, Howard, Moses, David, P. Linnell. Wairoa’s Advantage, Although Otamatea were unlucky in that Wairoa scored the winning try right on the call of time, Wairoa would have been unlucky to lose for their pack, after the first twenty minutes, were on top of the opposition and in the second half, especially, dominated the set scrums besides having a slight advantage in the lineouts. The final score of 8 to 6 in favour of Wairoa rather flattered Otamatea, the visitors having a far bigger share of the play than the figures would indicate. Otamatea In Fast Opening. The opening stages saw Wairoa on the defensive with the light local pack carrying all before them in swift loose forward rushes. Only fine work by Cossar, who gave a wonderful exhibition of handling a greasy ball, saved Wairoa on several occasions. Once Wairoa settled down, however, their pack came into its own and held the advantage territorially until the final whistle. The Wairoa forwards were heavier than their opponents and showed to better advantage, in loose dribbling rushes that kept Otamatea busy tackling to keep their line intact. Considering the conditions the game was played at a rattling pace, while the small margin in the scores all the way through kept the crowd on its toes. Both teams endeavoured to play a close game, but now and again the backs swung into action only to have the greasy ball beat them. There was little between the backs on either side, every man marking his opponent and tackling solidly. Wairoa were repeatedly penalised in the second spell and lost a lot of ground as a result. Typical Neil Try. First blood came to Otamatea when veteran D. Neil burst through a • forward melee on the visitors’ line to dive over for a typical Neil try. The angle was too much for Homan. Wairoa went ahead when their paclc dribbled up field, and Ray Bonner kicked over the line for Lovell to come up fast and cap off the movement. C. Bonner added the trimmings and Wairoa led at half-time by 5—3. Early in the second spell Otamatea forged ahead when Hackett got offside in front of the posts and Homan could not miss making the score: Otamatea 6, Wairoa 5. The game now became hectic with Wairoa making desperate efforts to get over and they kept the home side penned in their own 25, except for a few brief sorties by the home pack. Just on the call of time Langton scored