FINE RECOVERY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27389, 15 May 1950, Page 6

FINE RECOVERY

Taieri’s Strong Finish After being six points down at half time, Taieri fought back splendidly in the second half of the match, against Pirates at Carisbrook to win an exciting game by 11 points to 6. The match was largely fought out by two well-matched packs, and. while the Pirates forwards were able to assure their backs of a preponderance of the ball from the set scrums, the Taieri pack offset this by the liveliness of its bustling loose rushes, Its vigorous rucking and the inspiring leadership of P. A. Johnstone. Johnstone shared the honours of the forward play with his fellow-All Black, K. L. Skinner, who was outstanding in the Pirates’ pack. The Taieri forwards finished more strongly after being well nursed by J. McLeod, the first five-eighth, whose linekicking was invaluable. McLeod played an intelligent game, and when he elected to go on his own, he showed facility in slipping through a? gap in the defence. McLeod had an excellent understanding with his half-back, T. Thomson. D. Murray handled uncertainly at second five-eighth, but he did not let the side down in defence—in fact, the tackling of the Taieri team as a whole was first class. In a three-quarter line that was always looking for work, K. Frew often showed up in the centre position, and J. Johnstone, the full-back, though more deft with his left foot than his right, played dependably. The feature of the fullback’s display was his sure taking of the ball, often in difficult positions. In the first half the Taieri forwards packed too high and did not move quickly enough to the ball, but it was a different story in the second half, and P. Johnstone was given excellent support by D. Young. L. Kovaleski and A. Price. .... ..„ Territorially, Pirates had the better of the play, but the advantage of possession was thrown away by the persistence with which the inside backs used the stab kick, often ineffectively, resulting in a neglect of the Wings. S. Sutherland at first five-eighth, broke through the Taieri defence in the first half when Murray dropped his pass, and from the resulting play A. L. Mclndoe whipped the ball back to Sutherland, who potted a goal in front of the posts. It was Sutherland, too, who paved the way for a try by kicking across to R. H. Bell on the wing, Bell flying across at the corher. It was surprising that Sutherland did not endeavour to make more play for his wings instead of kicking so persistently. When Bell was brought into second five-eighth in the second half some edge was given to the Pirates attack, and he was easily the most impressive of their backs. C. G. Graham was often under pressure at full-back, and though he made mistakes, he played with coolness and confidence. R. Dalton, H. King, and L. H. Dickson were a serviceable trio, Darracott’s spectacular jumping for the ball being a feature. Some of the Pirates forwards, however, were prone to come too quickly round the scrum. ... L. Couper succeeded for Taieri with a penalty kick for offside play when the second spell had not been long in Progres, and when W. H. Callon was tackled, Frew dribbled through, kicked past Graham, and won a race for the bail to score. Couper converted with 20 minutes to go, and in spite of desperate efforts by Pirates to regain the lead, Taieri retained the initiative. When • McLeod kicked across to D. McFarlane with barely three minutes to go, the wing swept past Callon and clapped on the pace to score the try which decided the issue. The referee was Mr R. Marshall.