Football

Northland Age, Volume XII, Issue 44, 12 August 1943, Page 4

Football

Kaitaia Home Guard defeat Air Force

The second round of the Mangonui Rugby Union’s championship contest was continued on Saturday. The highlight of the day and the biggest surprise of this season’s Rugby came with the defeat for the first time of Air Force, leaders of the competition, by the bottom team on the ladder, Kaitaia Home Guard, who won by 9 points to 6. Until this game Home Guard had not won a match this season; in their first round encounter Air Force defeated them by 34 points to 0. The match played at Waipapakauri had all the elements of good luck for the invaders. Winning the toss Home Guard played with the advantage of a howling gale, and kept Air Force on the defensive throughout the first spell to lead by 9 points.to 0, composed of a try by P. Wilkinson and a penalty goal each by Bruce Morpeth and N. Wilkinson. Though there was still plenty of wind after the interval it was not nearly so strong, and with Home Guard’s modest total, it looked a difficult task to stave off Air Force’s winning way. However, though Air Force made strenuous efforts to gain the advantage it was not until halfway through the spell that they penetrated the defence with a try by Winger Welsh right on the corner. Home Guard made several excursions deep into Air Force’s territory. In one of these sorties the Air Force forwards retaliated to carry all before them for Welsh to flash into the picture to score again. Splendid tackling with all the players working overtime saw Home Guard run out winners. The personnel of the Home Guard team has usually been known as the veteran side of the competition, but this time it was the reverse, the team playing many youthful members, who in the ordinary course of events, would be

playing in the junior ranks for some time to come. On the showing of these boys on Saturday Mangonui, present holders of the Harding Shield, can look forward with confidence to its Rugby. Tempered with tht experience of Lysart, Stringer and Donaldson in the backs and the Wilkinson brothers in the forwards, the team will tackle the Kaitaia club, now leaders, on account of their victory over Awanui, with every confidence next Saturday. Kaitaia Defeat Awanui Home Guard The heavy ground and greasy ball suited the fast-moving Kaitaia pack in their match against the lighter Awanui Home Guard on the Showgrounds. Down 6 points to 3 at the interval, Awanui evened the score soon afterwards, but the home forwards finished too strongly, to add 3 more tries. The result—Kaitaia 15 points (tries by Gordon Wild 2, Max Werner, Ben Harrison and Brian Maughan); Awanui 6 tries by W. Johnson and Sharp. Mr. Moses Yates refereed. Next Saturday’s Match Next Saturday a military team from Whangarei will play a Kaitaia combined team at Kaitaia at 3 p.m. The proceeds are in aid of Patriotic Funds.

Recent discoveries have increased the magnification of microscopes from 3000 to more than 200,000 times. * Plastic-impregnated fabric bags are being used to bring gasoline to front lines in combat areas for tanks, trucks and aircraft. * We cannot fight partially, or tentatively, or dubiously, against men who are fighting body and soul under the frenzy of fanaticism exploited by dictatorship.—Joseph C. Grew.