SENIOR RUGBY

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11212, 7 August 1929, Page 2

SENIOR RUGBY

COWAN CUP GAME SOME ROUGH PLAY. (Express.) ! On the Alfrectton Rbad domain on Saturday afternoon the local : senior team faded away before the j Rahiatua combination to a final j score of 11 points to 3. It is x*e- I grettabie that such an exhibition i should have been given, for, leaving out the “rough stuff,” the , visitors on the day’s play were strong enough to take the game i without resorting to such de'spic- i able and illegal tactics as graced ; their play. As a result, two Eke- j tain ora players were carired off the | field —Fafeita, Eketalmna’s captain, j with a broken collarbone and Bil- j lington, senseless, later developed into concussion. Right from the start a black forward and back (both Bush reps.) started harrassing the yellow men when Referee Stone’s back was turned. Sensing the general feeling on several occasions the ; man in white stopped s play to warn j the field, but to little effect. Toward the end of the game, after ‘ eve;.v scrum or ruck dissolved there was a yellow man d.o,wn ; and with these casualty stoppages it was not j fur oft 5 p.m. when the game end- j ed. This being the first rough game j this season accentuated spectators’ indignation. j On the afternoon’s play undoubt- l edly the better team won. Fielding I a better set of backs and a forward pack equal to tlie local team’s the fistic display finally clinched things. Towards the end it became positively dangerous for a yellow player to go down on a forward rush, or get 1 mixed up with tlie black backs and : in such circumstances the winners’ j score could have been much higher. As a game of football the game j was devoid of any spectacular in- j cidents and proved a dreary proces- I sion of kick and run tactics. In the j first half Eketahuna were a shade : the better, but on the change-over j any doubts were immediately dis- ' pel led. Athletic (black) won the toss and, i playing uphill, had the strong sun behind them. From Eketahuna’s ! kick-off play remained among the j forwards in midfield for quite a . time. From a ruck an Athletic back ■ rush was started but Harris got off-side and gave Olivant a halfway shot at goal which failed, the blacks forcing. The visiting forwards broke away in a dribbling rush, reaching the yellow twentyfive, but good defensive work by the Oliver brothers drove them j back. From half-way A. Tait lined ■ the ball handy to the yellow line, ■ but Olivant returned the ball out. from Henderson’s short punt, well . past half-way. Later from a ru.ck ! Fafeita threw a long pass to C. j Oliver who, supported by Bryant, j had a good chance to get aerpss, but tbe yellow centre drop-kicked ] at goal, the ba'l failing to rise? .foib' the blacks to again force. Yellows • kept on tbe offence. From amongst | a bunch of players C. Oliver jump- j ed and marked 30 yards out from the black line, but his drop-kick at J goal again failed to rise. A yellow scrum on the blacks’ line saw Fa- f fcita, F. Oliver, C. Oliver and Edwards hand'e. but Henderson broke ; through to lead the forwards. Oli- j vant stopped, and with a clear lane to the uprights attempted a left- : foot drop-kick which went exceed- . ingly close. A few minutes later j from a favourable position 25 yards I out Olivant goaled : Eketahuna 3—O. i The yellows still attacked and af- ' ter a; good run Huffy was forced out ’ on the line. Edwards next broke ; away, but was downed in possession , with Duffv in support and a c'ear run in. Moynahan and Bryant, later joined by Henderson, broke away with ball on toe and went well npfield. A yellow infringe- i meiit in stopping them saw Lamont goal: Athletic 3, Eketahuna 3. There was no alteration in the scores at half-time. Shortly after the change-over Lamont attempted a half-way place , kick at goal, the ball sailing close for yellows to force. A yellow forward caught off-side soon after let Lamont add three more points with an effortless kick. For an appreciable period yellows kept play in mid-field, , till from an interchange of kicking on one side-line, three black forwards broke away with the hall for Henderson to cross unopposed. Lamont converting: Athletic 11, Eketahuna 3. With such a convincing majority Athletic might have eased up, but the rough work went, on and the remaining ten minutes’ play took nearly twenty minutes *to get over. The above report is taken from the Eketahuna Express. If the report is to be believed the Athletic players went on the field with the idea of disabling every man with a yellow jersey which, in the light of their mild play throughout the season, is ridiculous, to say the least. No mention is made of provocation or retaliation on the part of the Eketahuna men who, evidently, accept such alleged treatment meekly and go quietly away to hospital in a blissfully senseless condition. The report reads: ‘‘Right from the start a black forward and back (both Bush reps.) started harassing the yellow men, but only when Referee Stone’s back was turned.” Let us take tbe Rush backs in the Athletic team —they are A'ec Tait and Gordon Harris, with MeSherry as emergency. What a bloodthirsty trio to be sure! The imputation against any of these players, who were never guilty of questionable play in their lives. is, to say the least, quite ridiculous