SPORTS NEWS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 30 August 1945, Page 7

SPORTS NEWS

Nelson's Seddon Shield Challenge. The Seddon Shield will again be at stake on Saturday when the Nelson Rugby representatives will play Marlborough in the 108th Challenge match for the trophv. The Shield was subscribed for in 1906 by the Nelson. Marlborough. West Coast and Buller unions for inter-district competition, and in more recent years the Golden BayMotueka union was admitted to the competition. The shield had a brief stay in Nelson in 1940 when Nelson lifted it from Golden Bay to lose it to West Coast a fortnight later. Prior to that the trophy had not been held in Nelson since 1929. West Coast continued to hold the shield until the last challenge in 1941, when they were defeated by Buller. the trophy remaining in Westport until the beginning of this season when Marlborough’s -challenge was successful. The Nelson team this year contains a good mixture of young and experienced players and it must be given a good chance against Marlborough. The two provinces have met twice before this season in home-and home games, both of which were won by Marlborough. but on the second occasion the margin was only five points. In neither of these games did the Nelson team play with anything approaching the spirit which it showed in the earlier match against Buller and it is quite possible that, in the different atmosphere of a Seddon Shield game, they will again turn on a first class display. Fitting Climax. Last Saturday's match between Air Force and Rival, which decided the Nelson senior Rugby championship, was a fitting climax to a very successful club season. The standard of play in Nelson this year has received a substantial lift, partly because of the number of men who have returned from overseas and partly because of the presence of a very fine Air Force side. The formation of the new Celtic Club brought added interest to the competitions, but it is doubtful whether it contributed at all towards the improvement n the standard of play. Saturday’s game was a further indie ation of the evenness of the two leading teams in the competition. They had met twice before drawing on each occasion, and on Saturday Air Force won by only five points. As usual Jack Shannon played an outstanding game and it was appropriate that he should have scored the winning try from a opening made by Gumbley, who was the best back on the field. For Rival. Kotua. played an excellent game. Rival were without Christmas and this robbed the backline of some penetration. but Air Force had also lost some players and were probably equally handicapped. It was a grand game to mark the end of the championship and the final appearance of the Air Force side. Hole in One N. A. Andrews played the “perfect shot” on the Greenacres Golf Club’s links on Saturday, holing in one at the short fifth hole. Three Games in Three Days. The touring Canterbury hockey team which is to play in Nelson on Saturday week, will play three matches in three days. After meeting the Nelson representatives on Saturday the team will travel to Blenheim on Sunday for a match against an Air Force team at Woodbourne, and the following day Monday, it will play the Marlborough representatives at Horton Park. Blenheim. Middle East Combination M. McHugh (Auckland) and J. B. Coull (Taranaki), who were locking the North Island scrum in Saturday’s big Rugby match, were team-mates in the New Zealand Divisional side in the Middle East. Two other prbminent members of the same team, K. Welsh and T. Hegglun, will b playing for Marlborough against Nelson in Saturday’s Seddon Shield game. Welsh, who came into the limelight in the 1939 All Black trials, while playing for Wanganui, was regarded by some critics to be rather unlucky in not making the South Island fifteen. 14,000 Basketball Girls All provinces were represented in the Dominion basketball tournament at Christchurch last week. Basketball has become the most popular winter sport for girls in New Zealand. Since the formation of the New Zealand Association in 1924, the game has grown in popularity and numerical strength year by year. From a very small beginning of 118 teams, there are now 1381 teams affiliated with the New Zealand Association, representing approximately 14,000 players, exclusive of primary school children. Inter-IslanJ Services Rugby The North v. South Services Rugby match is to be played in Wellington on Saturda. week, Bth September, the date having been changed from the previous Saturday. Nelson will be represented in the southern team by Jack Shannon, of Air Force. Inter-Island Rugby. Only three inter-island Rugby matches have been played in Auckland and the South Island team has won them all. The first was played in 1903, South winning by 12 to 5, and the second was played in 1922, South winning by 9 to 8. On Saturday South made no race of it and won 31 to 19. R. Elvidge was the star of Saturday’s game. He has been described as a "typical university three-quarter—tall, fast, clear-cut. accurate in his handling and with a rare sense of timing.” Playing at five-eighth, his three tries were all the result of good anticipation. Haig, the young South Otago half-back, created a very favourable impression and Grace played soundly at first fiveeighth and King, at centre, also performed excellently. With the inside backs penetrating so successfully the wingers. Edwards and Sutherland, had limited opportunities. Callanan played a fine game at full back. His positional olay was excellent and his handling and kicking good. His goal-kicking was a feature of the game. All the South forwards played well with Mumm. Fitzgerald and Barnes the most prom inent in the loose and McKenzie excelling in the line outs. With an advantage of 9£ pounds weight per man. the North pack should have given a better display. The Auckland forwards. McHugh, Waldegrave anci Gunning, were the best of the North pack. Paewai’s work consisted largely of stopping loose forward rushes Some of his passes were indifferenf and his play suffered in comparison with the opposing half. Barchard was one of the soundest of the Northei n backs. Sorenson played poorly at second five-eighth, mis handling the ball and giving bad passes. It was not till he and Wisnowsky, full-back changed places, that the backs showed signs of being able to penetrate. Wisnowsky. who gave a good exhibition at fullback. proved that he was equally at home closer to the scrum. Pearson was disappointing at centre, but his poor showing could be attributed in part to the indifferent play of Sorenson inside him. The wings Dunn and Morrison, both made some strong runs, but were kept well in check by the men opposed to them. Dunn, twice broke through tackles and made a lot of ground down the centre of the field. A try would have resulted on one occasion if he had given an accurate and well-timed pass.

"PARS" FROM THE PLAYING FIELDS

I Plastic Golf Balls a Success j Plastic golf balls superior to those' produced in America will be in Bri- j I tish shops within a few weeks. ExI periments carried out secretly for 1 many months have proved so successful that professionals declare that the i “ersatz” ball is beautifully true. It i is only 25 yards “shorter” than a rub- ; ber cored ball with woods and shows ! no perceptible difference with irons. | The new ball’s great advantage is that the cover is white throughout and the cost is reasonable. The ball has metal, stone, or an encased neavy liquid for the core, which is bound round with nylon and is covered with plastics of varying elasticity. Represented N.Z. Universities B. M. Mackie contributed largely to the success of United when they defended the McCarthy Challenge Cup against Air Force Hornets in an Association football match at Victory Square on Saturday. He played a very sound game and scored twice with welltimed shots after manoeuvring into a scoring position with a turn of speed which his opponents could not match. Maekie is at present on holiday from Victoria University College, which he represented last week at the New Zealand Universities winter sports tournament at Dunedin. He played for North against South in the inter-island match and also for the New Zealand Universities team which met the Otago representatives. He was mentioned as one of the outstanding players of the tournament. Air Force Hockey Team Beaten. Th.e Nelson Air Force hockey team, winners of the senior championship, were soundly beaten by Federal on Saturday. The Air Force team is a strong side and includes several wellknown players. Bob Peacock, captain of the Wellington representative team last year, has been playing well this season. Colin Cornish. Canterbury representative and member of the Canterbury executive and Phil Deibert. Canterbury. Otago and New Zealand Services player, are two other wellknown players who played a big part in putting the team at the head of the championship competition. Laurie Dowall, ex-Wanganui representative, has also been playing good hockey for Air Force. Ron Swain of Christchurch has been largely responsible for organising the Air Force team. It is unfortunate for Nelson that none of the Air Force players selected will be available for the game against the Canterbury Colts on Saturday week. The Federal team which defeated Air Force had been completely re-organis-ed, only three players being in their usual positions. The change round proved a success for Federal. Match at Motueka. The Petone Rugby Team was to have visited Motueka at the but at the last minute was unable to make the trip. To help the Motueka union out the Nelson Rugby union arranged for an Air Force team to make the trip on Saturday. Rugby Championships Only a few games remain to be played in the Nelson Rugby Union’s championship competitions and in all but the junior grade the winner is obvious. In the junior championship competition Nelson-Old Boys lead Rival and Air Force by two points, the two former teams having played one more game than any of the others. However. Air Force are not likely to be able to field a team for any future matches and it appears unlikely that Nelson-OJd Boys will be displaced from their leading position. The tables are:

Golden Bay basketball players learned some of the finer points of the game when the association had as week-end visitors a Nelson L representative team. Both sides were somewhat weakened through absence of players on holiday. The two enjoyable games ended in wins for Nelson when they defeated the A team 12-7 and the B team 20-12. Miss B. White was the referee. The team was entertained at a dance and on Sunday were taken on a sightseeing tour of the district. Davis Cup Player Home Former New Zealand Davis Cup player and holder of three Dominion titles, Captain A. C. Stedman returned to Auckland recently with a repatriated prisoner of war draft. Gaining a commission in New Zealand. Captain Stedman proceeded overseas with an early reinforcement draft and served with an artillery unit in Greece, Crete and Libya. He was taken prisoner during fighting at Sidi Rezegh in 1941, and has been in camps in Germany until quite recently. Although his future movements are as yet undecided, it is unlikely that the former champion v/iil be seen in action again on AucxLnd courts. Stedman is a former Auckland and New Zealand singles, doubles and combined doubles champion. In 1937, he represented New Zealand in the Da vs Cup contest overseas, winn.ng two of his three singles matches. Later, he met and beat his only conqueror, K’,:o Sin Kie (China) in the final of a tournament at Bristol. During four years in England, Stedman enjoyed, such outstanding tennis success that the crimes ranked him second to H. W. Austin. | This was after Perry had turned proj lessional. In 1937, the Aucklander was making an impressive bid for singles j on °urs at Wimbledon when he met B. M. Grant, the diminutive American Davis Cup player. Stedman was one of the last 16 when he met America’s second string, and he went down with fly-’ ing colours. Winter Sports Tournament Over 3CO university Students took part in a winter sports tournament at Dunedin last week. Provision was made for participants in men’s and I wome ri’s hockey. Association football, men s indoor basketball, fencing, golf, cross-country running and table tennis to take part in organised interuniversity competition, opportunities tor which previously have been lacking in most cases. The tournament nas undoubtedly come to stay, and as a result the scope for sporting activities at the various colleges has been widened considerably. |

Rugby “Incident" Recalled The selection in the South Island team of M. P. Grace and A. G. Sutherland, two members of the 1939 Southland team which defeated Auckland by 16 to 14, has given northerners still another opportunity to tell the wrong story about the sensational incident which marked the closing stages of the game at Eden Park in 1939 (states the “Southland Times.”) It will be recalled that alter Grace scored the equalising try for Southland. Arthur Wesney was given two chances to kick a goal. He missed with the first, whereupon the attention of the referee (Mr Hayhow) was drawn to the presence of one of the Auckland players, sitting in the middle of the field, who had not retired behind the line. The referee then ruled that because the defending players had not retired behind the goal line. Southland was entitled to a nocharge kick. Wesney took the kick and scored the two points which gave Southland their winning margin. Recording the incident at the time and on several occasions since then, Auckland critics referred to the injured Auckland forward who was receiving attention from ambulance men, the forward who had not retired behind the goal-line and caused the controversy. Where the fantastic story about the injured player came from, it is hard to say. R. R. Hull (the Auckland forward) was not injured and he did not receive treatment from the ambulance men. . . It was a clear case of a fatigued player taking advantage of the break in the play to rest. Bowled Whole Team The Essex fast bowler H. D. Read hit the stumps every time in taking all ten wickets for 28 runs in a club cricket match early this month. The cable message from London giving this information quoted two other instances of this feat being accomplished in English cricket, but there is no need to go as far afield as that to find performances to equal Read’s. Playing for Waimea about six years ago Jack Hall took all ten wickets in an innings and Doug. Freeman, the New Zealand representative slow bowler, was also credited with a similar performance a few years earlier when playing for College against Athletic. In his case, however, this was not strictly correct, as Athletic had won the game before the last wicket fell. To find other examples in Nelson senior cricket of a bowler accounting for a whole team, it is necessary to go back to 1910, when E. R. Neale twice accomolished this feat.

Athletic Win Jubilee Cup Outplaying Army at Athletic Park on Saturday, 19-13, Athletic convincingly won senior Rugby honours in Wellington for the 1945 season, and took the Jubilee Cup by three points. Though without Wishnowsky, Roach, Jaeger and R. White (captain), Army made a brave bid to draw level, but found Athletic right on their game. The forwards were evenly matched, but the Athletic backs were superior, and pleased the large crowd with speed and sure handling. As a result of Saturday’s games, the Jubilee Cup competition finished as follows: Athletic 24, Poneke-Oriental 21, Army 20. Wellington College Old Boys 18. Petone 18, Hutt 10, Marist Brothers’ Old Boys 9, Wellington 6. Popularity of Bowls “The game has grown to such proportions that the New Zealand council may have to devise ways and means of find, ing a new way to decide the champions of New Zealand,” said Mr W. J. Truscott (Auckland) at a meeting of bowlers in Christchurch. He said the time had not long passed when the president of the council could personally interview every competitor; but this year, with 1750 bowlers competing in the championships in Auckland, and with 42 greens being played on, the task was impossible. In Auckland most clubs had a waiting list, and though preference in membership was being given returned servicemen, new members were compelled to join up with suburban clubs; such was the growth in the popularity of bowling. Table Ter. is Successes Otago players almost swept the pool in the South Island Table Tennis Championships at Invercargill. The only title which went outside Dunedin was the Girls’ Singles Championship, won by Miss Valerie Townsend, of Invercargill, who defeated her sis.’ ter, Ngaire, in a good, open game in the final. R. A. Algie, of the Aotea Club (Dunedin), who will defend his New Zealand titles at Wellington on September 10, gave a faultless display in winning his three titles. His backhand ‘flick” won him countless points and was a feature of his play. Algie did not Jose a game in the Singles competition, and, partnered with A. Scott (Aotea) the well-known lawn tennis player, also won all his games in the men’s Doubles.

SENIOR: G W D L P Air Force 14 11 1 24 Rival . 14 9 2 2 20 Waimea 14 8 0 6 16 Nelson-Old Boys 14 6 0 8 12 Celtic 14 3 0 11 6 College 14 3 0 11 6 JUNIOR : Nelson-Old Boys 11 7 2 2 16 Air Force . 10 6 2 2 14 Rival 11 6 2 3 14 Celtic 10 2 0 8 6 Rover 10 2 0 8 6 THIRD GRADE: Old Boys . . 14 13 0 1 26 Waimea 14 10 3 1 1 23 Air Force . 14 10 3 21 College A . 14 9 0 1 5 18 College B . 13 5 7 11 Nelson . 14 5 1 8 11 College C 13 4 1 8 9 Celtic 12 1 0 11 2 Rival . 14 0 0 14 0 FOURTH GRADE: Rover 13 10 2 1 22 College A 13 9 1 3 19 Waimea 12 6 2 4 14 Rival . 12 5 1 6 11 Nelson 13 3 2 8 8 College B 13 1 0 12 2 Golden Bay Basketball.