A SINGLE POINT

Opunake Times, 20 June 1939, Page 2

A SINGLE POINT

MARGIN OF DEFEAT ATHLETICS BARE SUCCESS All but one point of ihe defjcit faced at the interval was made up by a weakened but revitalised home team in as exciting a second spell as has ever been seen on the Opunake Domain in ihe senior Rugby contest _ between Athletic, southern division lead-! ers, and Opunake. on Saturday. The hot pace seldom slackened, and, although, the game was marred by one unfortunate incident, a crowd approaching record proportions was well pleased with the display. Athletic just retained the lead to. win by eight points (two tries, one converted) to seven points (a field goal and a penalty goal). The incident referred to was the ordering off of D. Old, one of the Opunake forwards, who latetackled Murfitt when the latter fielded a kick under his own goal and returned it. Previously, play had inclined towards roughness, warnings being issued by the referee, who stated after the match that his decision was prompted by the need for firm action in dealing with such tactics. It is understood that he will report on the incident immediately to the Taranaki Rugby Union, which will thus be able to deal with Old's case at its meetina tonight.

This left Optmake with only | seven forwards to de.al with a formidable opposition and to attempt to overtake the lead of eight points. Like men inspired, the whole team applied itself vigorously to the task, and, while play generally was of the individualist variety, the very determination with which the players pursued their purpose had its effect. Long before the end of the second spell, Opunake was within one point of the visitors' total, and only narrowly failed to secure, the deciding- try when 11. Malcolm stumbled and fell inches short of the line. It was practically impossible to state definitely the point at which a given player would take his pqsjtion in the; back-line. Tamatea was. a "wandering Jew," appearing as half-back, five-eighth and centre threequarter, while King also was called upon to display his versatility, his promotion to the attack being at the expense of 8. Pepperell, who fell back to the fullback position. Such frequent changes were perplexing to the visitors, who found it difficult to deal successfully with such a variety qf styles, and this may also have accounted for the comparative lack of team play in Opunake's performance. Nevertheless it was football of the mos.t entertaining kind As was anticipated, Athletic depended largely on superior speed and combination in attack, and once the back-dine swung into action, all the defensive talent qf Opunake was barely equal to the task of stopping the advance. Smith was a constant source of danger, and, only when marked by Alf Pepperell, did lie lose prominence. The superb combination of Cropp, Loader and P. O'Dea was a vital factor in the visitors' attack, with accurate, lightning passes a feature, but individually, they were less brilliant than Tamatea, King and Mosley. Athletic had Whareaitu tq thank for the strength of the defence, his uncanny judgment of position and his powerful, accurate boot being saving factors.

L. Dobbin readied his height in hooking- by controlling the set scrums almost throughout the game, and his part in the loose play was, equally prominent. Holmes gave way to Waiwiri as the principal loose forward, but at various stages each forward displayed the characteristics of tho Opunake pack. Ro»«warne and Murfitt countered this advantage to a degree by successful work in the line-outs, while the Athletic pack's combination made marked comparison with Opunake's niQiv opportunist stvle.

The teams were: Athletic (red, white and blue): Whareaitu; Awakou, Smith, Rowlands; P. O'Dea, Loader; Cropp; Pitcairn; Rosewame, Smart, Scott, Muriitt; Bublita D. O'Dea, Fahy. Opunake (green): King ; Campbell, S. Pepperell, A. PeppereU; Mosley, R. MalcolmT'amatea; Waiwiri; C. Pepperell, Gardner, S. Dobbin, Holmes; Old, L. Dobin, Sid. Dobbin. Referee: Mr. L. A. Wells. Athletic faced the sun at the opening, but clouds obscured it before the interval, and light rain fell near the end. King- ran up to send his backs away, but A. Pepperell juggled and lost the ball which P. O'Dea picked up, racing with Smith for the line. Opunake was penalised for hold-

ing, and Rowlands took the kick at goal, which was flagged but disallowed. The defence was again bustled, this time by Awahou, and Mosley ran back to save.

Holmes led the pack through from a line-out and forced Athletic to retreat, but C. PepnerelJ kicked tqo hard ahead. Prom a scrum on the 25, Athletic: heeled, and Cropp sent n perfect pass to Loader on the move, the fivee.ijrhth cutting clean through the defence to run round for a try beneath the posts, allowing Rowlands, to convert. Athletic 5, Opunake 0. Running from the line-out, C. Pepperell sent the backs away,

but Mosley sent an impossible puns to _S. Pepperell. Opunake now definitely held the initiative, _ and only Tamatea's failure to rid himself of the ball when tackled on the line, resulting in a free kick, prevented a score. There was plenty of spirited pl& to keep the crowd, excited, an¥ the climax came when a desperate battle raged in the corner, where A. Pepperell and Tamatea each made two attempts to bullock their way over. Smith pierced the orjpositiqn to save, and had Opunake in trouble, King single-handed retrieving a seemingly impossible situation. Mosley had a temporary change with King when he suffered a minor injury. In midfield, Bublitz made a break, before sending to Smith who ran right up , to Mosley before transferring to Loader Avho had a clear run in to score. Rowlands failed to convert, ai»d the interval score, was Athletic 8, Opunake 0,

i A re-organisation of the hom« backs saw King at first, Mosley second, A. Pepperell centre, E. Malcolm wing arid S. Pepperell full-back, but throughout the swll other changes were made. Frayed tempers were apparent in th« forward exchanges, and, after warnings were issued, Old tackled Murfitt when he had rid himself of the ball and was ordered off, Mosley failed in a shot at goal from a difficult angle, but a further penalty from 40 yards out saw Holmes i>ut over a sreat kick.

' Athletic 8, Opunake 8. With the ball at toe, Mosley beat Smith icompletjely, but he knocked on in attempting to ; take an overhead ball. A fierce defence cracked the Athletic attack wide open, and the forwards streamed through the gaps only to encounter Whareaitu. Forward pressure kept the visitors on the defensive, and when Mosley received from a scrum on the 25, lie drop-kicked, the ball iust clearing the cross-bar. Athletic S, Opunake 7 Bublitz and O'Dea took the ball through at the toe wlwu A. Pepperell dropped a poor pass, but the attack was quickly repelled. A shrewd grubber-kick bv Mosley saw the forwards mill round, and wheu the ball came out it went along the back-line to R. Malcolm, who was close to., the line when he stumbled losing 1 possession. Athletic asserted itself for a time, and a hectic struggle on the line ended in a Force. With the forwards chasing long kicks at their last gasp, play continued to surge up and '* down field until time was called, with the scores Athletic 8, Ommake 7. '