STOCKS ARE SLUMPING

NZ Truth, Issue 1285, 17 July 1930, Page 18

STOCKS ARE SLUMPING

Mastertori Boys Are G^nie, but f Very Unlucky HARVEY'S HERCULEAN mSK . , (Prom "N.Z. Truth's" Wairarapa Eepresentative.) Possessing no team with 1 any prospect of winning senior championship honors, the, Masterton end, of the Wairarapa dis- •, triet has been handed out an extremely poor brand of club football of late. :['■■} . ■ ,

Fonly needs a ieyr more games of the kind staged by Old Boys and Masterton last Saturday to cause the lean attendances of the public during the past few weeks to dwindle away to zero. Old Boys' win by 16 points to nil was due simply to the fact that they have two or three backs who know what to do with the ball when they get it, where-as-the opposing rearguard are still m the Kindergarten stage when it comes to applying the finishing touch. .•.-.'., ■ So far as forward

play was concerned, the blacks gave as good as they got m a hard, but ragged, display, and until their form -failed • half-way . through the second spell, : Old : Boys ; were far from easy as to the outcome. .Old Boys seem to have a difficulty iij -getting together a regular- pack; and' ~each Saturday finds a substantially different set of forwards trying to shake down to-

(ether !n positions to which some of them we evidently unaccustomed. jiviasterton have not won a match for two seasons, and have no immediate prospect of doing so, but they at least deserve credit 'for the way they have stuck to their guns, and played the game for the -game's .'sake. ■ .. ■ ■.-..■ ',- The lion-hearted lan Harvey has wrought manfully to lick the material at his disposal into shape, but the results have been far from encouraging so far as the backs are' concerned. Not once, but repeatedly, Harvey emerged from locking the scrum to find *n opposing back attack m full-swing, and shifting his huge bulk with astonishing

celerity, got across in ' time to stop the flying winger m full caree*. | In a district where good forwards have never been rare, Harvey Is m a class by himself, and until he is back < m the New Zealand team, Wairarapa fans refuse to believe that the full strength of the Dominion is opposed to the Britishers. ' Jack Le Quesne

has been Jiddling about m the backs again of late, and although doing good service as a five T eighths, would be of more use to his side m holding the scrum together. As a back, Jack has the right idea, but spoils a lot of his play by "telegraphing" his intentions m the plainest possible manner. His attempts ,at selling the dummy are

usually apparent to an opponent seconds before they eventuate. • . > -..■■■■ Although Clemett and Faulknor did a lot of running work, Roach was the mainstay of the Old Boys' backs, and without him there , would probably have been little difference m the scores. Clever anticipation and the speed to get there would single Roach out m any company. Ron Faulknor had an attempt at potting a goal, but failed to find the ban Since doing the "hat trick," his run of luck m -dropping goals has s deserted him. The ;. goal 'kicking m this match' was atrocious. With conditions all m their favor, the marksmen repeatedly failed to goal from* the easiest of chances. A Fred Fuller" among the blacks >' would have turned, the scale m their favor.