CLOSE FINISH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26198, 8 July 1946, Page 6

CLOSE FINISH

SOUTHERN BEATS ZINGARI With a field goal five minutes from time Southern managed to snatch victory from Zingari-Richmond by 4 points to 3 in the second match at Carisbrook, Zingari’s points coming from a penalty goal 14 minutes after the kick-off. The game produced a desultory exhibition of Rugby, far below the standard expected of leading teams, and play was largely confined to the forwards. What little passing was attempted was adversely affected by the fact that each set of backs stood close up to the opposition. N. Mitchell kicked a goal for Zingari from a penalty in front of the posts in the first half, but for more than 20 minutes of the spell Southern had its opponents hemmed inside the twentyfive, without, however, being able to press home its attacks. Numerous chances were lost through dropped passes and a general tendency by the backs to overdo the cut-in. Some improvement was observed after the re sumption, but the side still failed to turn to account the advantage of possession gained by the forwards from the set and loose scrums. The issue appeared likely to end in favour of Zingari, but in the closing stages the ball was hooked to L. Woodhouse from a scrum in front of the posts, and he sent it back to N. Chandler, who potted a goal. Woodhouse did a lot of good work at half-back, but ran too much from the scrum. At second five-eighths, T. Lynch, who was playing his first senior game, showed promise and did a considerable amount of saving work. J. Graham added edge to the attack when the ball came his way, which was not very often, and L. Strathlee, once he settled down, made several determined runs on the wing. In the Southern pack T. Wallace and L. Shepherd worked hard in the tight, and G. Little and R. Nieper were prominent in the loose. Nieper was injured in the second half, and had to leave the field, his place being taken by D. Hellyer. The Zingari forwards played their usual bustling game, and were vigorously led by B. Hellyer, who was prominent both in the tight and the loose. H. Williams, M. Blanchard and W. Brown were at the head of many of the loose rushes, which were a feature of Zingari’s forward play, but S. Dowiand was less prominent than usual, due to the fact that he addopted “ winging” tactics without great success. Although the backs did not have many opportunities, they suffered from the mishandling which was so common, but E. Watson and N. Mitchell combined well on several occasions from play in midfield. Watson, as usual, was the mainstay, but the defence generally was sound, and at full-back A. Mason played a reliable game. Mr G. Little was the referee.