ATHLETIC v. PETONE.

NZ Truth, Issue 477, 8 August 1914, Page 10

ATHLETIC v. PETONE.

'Whatever, chance Petone had. of haying a. say. m the -final argument as to who should hold the 1914 chatfrpiorishipwas practically settled on Saturday last -when they failed to check the gall6p of the Athletics. In ; view of the strong claims the suburbanites were potting m of late, many looked to them to.be the only combination left cap"able of administering the dope to the boys m blue. . That they tried hard enough must be admitted* but the.defence of -E^ensen, Wilson, Adams and Company,' comprising the rearguard, ably assisted 1 by Bob Paton and his ,pals, was impregnable and Petone had perfbrceUo rely r on their ability to notch points- per medium of goals from the field In, this connection their •usualiy> reliable goal-shooter, McFarlane, was not m the best of form, for In several shots his trusty -boot failed td repeat his initial attempt to send the> oval between the uprights. - The game does not call for much comment. It proved a hard gruelling go i between two fairly evenly matchedsets of forwards who dominated play throughout, although occasionally the backs managed to break the monotony by, bringing off a passing /bont or two.. Open play, however, on the wtooJe was a negligible quantity, and of the- hundreds who journeyed from town, together, with the large number of Petoneites who put m an appearance, m expectation of seeing a game that would prove one "out of the box," many were disappointed at the exhibition put* up. It i lacked the brilliancy tfiat was anticipated would be shown, when two such well equipped fore and aft teams dashed.. . , Solid and strenuous was the- keynote of fray. So strenuous, m fact, that one of the first contestants to take the count was the hard-headed hooker, Pacldy Murphy, who it was thought could not be laididut with an axe, but 'after a breather he went at it again amL was right in 1 the thick of things'to the finish.' Several . others were also temporarily- laid low, but, with the ex-? caption of W. Ryan, who had to leave the field owing to a severe injury to his head, were able to resume. It foil to the lot, of Sim Wilson to provide the brightest bit of play of. the. afternoon. Receivmg a neat pass he flashed through the opposition from tlje twenty-five and ended up a brilliant dash by transferring to Adams m the nick of time, enabling the latter tb dive oven Evensen put on. the final points for Athletic by kicking' a splendid goal from half-wa-y, ..On the day, the display of they backs, on the winning 1 Bide was superior to? that put up by Use- Petone> men. Latter did not show tbeir accoatooaed , combination. • I Nunn got through bis work well and sent out, a lot of passes which could have been made more of. . . * . . K. Ryan Was not so nippy as-usual. A change to five- eighth wouWbe benoficial. His , woclt m that position against Wellington showed he fills the. bill. ; Brother Joer desplte-a-, fumble -or -two m tho first spell, did what was asked of him. ' Hindmarsh and Mcßwan were, patchy. Among tho forwards, Dent, Heady, Ryan (Potone), and Paton, Cunnmgham, Ryan, and Bell (Athletic) were perhaps, the pick of. an untiring lot On tho day the Athletic backs. were seen to better advantage than those opposed to them. Adams, Wilson and Bvenson did good work.