Without Defeat

NZ Truth, Issue 1229, 20 June 1929, Page 17

Without Defeat

(From "N.Z. Truth's". Wellington Rep.) By defeating Wellington last Saturday by 4 goals to 1, Varsity A have 7rcome-- through - -the first round v/ithout defeat. The students certainly appear as though they will once again take senior honors. Their nearest rivals, . Karori, are three points behind. ... TAKING the game all through it was of only a fair order. Far too much hard and wild hitting was indulged m by : both sides. ; Consequently the for-, wards did not bring combination into their attacks.- 7 What little came the' way of. Davis, In goal for the students, was effectively dealt witnVv 7 .-■-..- 7 ■■'> As a last?lihe of defence, .Massey and "Vietmeyer were a solid, pair and sent, the Wellington van back time and again. ; . The greens* halMlne— Wilson, McLeod and Cummihg^are a tower of strength to the side and feed the vanguard JudiciousHowar.d Paul, on the right wing. was right on his game and most of Varsity's /goals came from . h(s fine centres. '• . • ,7 - The three inside men, Ferris, George Simpson and . Macl>uff,« were continually, crowding one another and -many opportunities were lost thereby. - ■ • - N. Lifiwls played well on the left wing, but has a bad habit of taking the ball too far down and -ending up m the far corne.r. . . '."..'". Of the Wellington side. Guv. m goal, was one of the hardest-worked meh on the day. He cleared his citadel cleverly on many occasions. . ■* „■'-, ' Gordon Lusty and Martis both played rattling good defensive, games at fullback. "" •''"": ■--.-'-.- -■■'- ,- At right half, Joblln gave a much Improved display, but Is still inclined to hang back when on attack. Mahoney, centre-half, has been seen to better advantage, and had .a bad habit of dallying with the ball instead of sending It away to his vanguard. Newport, left half, played a great game until he commenced careering down the. field past his forwards with the ball, leaving them standing still as mere spectators. A half must feed his forvyards! The red and white forward movements were very-poor. Individualism was the order of the day and they showed a complate'lack of any attempt at combination, Simpson: on the right,, was right off color and his centres were generally gifts to the ' Varsity backs. , Toms, Crawford and R. Lusty, Inside forwards, endeavored at times .. to get some short-passing going, but' If Saturday's display. is any criterion, they have a lot to. learn. . Out on the left wing,' IVf. Hood gave a very mediocre showing. Poor play was witnessed m the KaroriPetone match, won by the former,. .4-0. After watching ICarori's play, it is apparent that no serious practice is done by them during the week. If the team paid more attention to this it wouldv be to their advantage. 7 At Newtown Park, T.M.C.A.' had little difficulty iri disposing of Varsity B by five goals to two. Falconer and Munro were prominent throughout m defensive work for Tpung Men. .<■ , ,' In the half-line, Coombes and . Sweeney were a source of trouble to the greens and nipped many promising movements In the bud. Of a very even set' of forwards, Bennetts, on the right wing, was the pick, but was ably supported by Lightfoot and Meade. 7 For the students, Cover and Ham played well m the. backs, while Bollard and McDonald toiled hard throughout m the vanguard. On their, home ground, Hutt continued on their winning way m defeating Wesley by the odd goal m five. Upton and Gutry were shining lights for the riversiders and smashed^ up many promising movements by Wesley's van. Fos. Lusty, Gwillfam and Smith were ever on the attack and were a source of trouble to the light blues' defence.Tom O'Callaghan and Pyle bore the brunt of the defensive work and stood up to it m great style. •-...-' Of a hard-working set of forwards, Frethey, Rouse and Phillpotts were more conspicuous, but more finish is what is required to make.them a dangerous line. In view of the Shield matoh with Canterbury on June 29/ this Saturday will be devoted to-trial games to give the selector a chance to make his final choice. The standard of back play is, very high this year, but the same cannot be said of the',, forwards. Choosing a decent van capable of combined play must be giving Harry Hatch some cause to think very bard.