Sport in the Province

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 88, 5 July 1927, Page 14

Sport in the Province

(From THE SUN S Correspondent)

HAMILTON RUGBY The Hamilton representatives who will go to Thames in quest of the Peace Cup next Saturday had their “pipe-opener” at Rugby Park on Saturday, when they came through with flying colours, and disposed of Artie Thompson and his men from the Waikato Central headquarters by 25 points to 3. Fitzgerald, the second five-eighth, was the star man of the Hamilton backs. If he had a fault more pronounced than any other it was an imperfect feed-out on occasions. He cut in in good style at times. Snodgrass, at half, played well, getting his backs away smartly. The Frankton representative is only a “pocket edition,” but he is nippy. There are times when he is tempted to hold on instead of getting the ball snappily away from the effective scrum heel. If the "first five-eighth is not observant, the half is not to blame. Tuck, who plays half for his club (Old Boys), made a good showing at first five-eighth, being very solid on defence. A sparkling up in getting into his stride would be more beneficial to those, outside him. Dick Henrys, the centre, played up to liis best standard, running his threequarters into favourable positions on several occasions. He knows when to fall back to a gap when defending. F. Buckingham and “Brickey” Clemett, the wing men, topped off movements with scores, as is required of them. Clemett was very dashing. When he winds up lie takes a lot of stopping. Badeley fullbacked in top-grade fashion during the half game he was on the field. He kicked goals, too, with the unerring effect the ex-Aucklander has been noted for in club games this season. His going off '/ * due to an injury sustained in the club competition the previous/week-end. In view of the Peace Cup game on Saturday the retirement was wise. Brown, the Old Boys’ centre, who came on vice Badeley, answered all demands. The forwards take some sifting out, as all played so well. Hooper and Scott improved in their hooking as the game progressed, but the ball was blocked several times through imperfect packing. Both hookers were good in other departments, but it is a pity they did not have more weight. Bill Christie used his reach to good effect in the line-outs. Charleston is a prominent forward in the loose, but he has a tendency to get offside, which is not pardonable in rep. Rugger. Wylie Bayly, of rowing famej outshone his rival as rover on the day. Bayly is very fit, and has pace and size to back up the other points in his equipment. In the team to meet Thames a place has to be found for Montgomery in the forwards. “Monty” was boliday-mak-ins at the week-end. HUNTLY SOCCER NOTES Bleak wintry weather set in last Saturday and frequent showers made good football out of the question. Chief local interest centred in the HuntlyPukemiro match, more particularly owing to the mix-up in their last match when four Huntly players were stood down. Pukemiro won by a solo goal in a melee round their opponents’ goal, Latimer taking smart advantage of the wrangle.

For the winners Latimer was here, there and everywhere. A great toiler, he bore the brunt of the work, and emerged with credit to himself. The brothers Black (Alf and A.lick, ye ken), Robertson (half) and Johnson (L. 8.) were reliable when tested. For the

“Ponies,” Hunter and Evan Davies were good, and were the former heavier could not be overlooked in any representative eleven. Crook, a new member, was good, also Hedley. Evans was a cripple for the best part of the game, having stopped a hard knock early, and Percy Davies had an easy day, while Arthur Deacon made his bow after an enforced spell, and showed his old steadiness in his play. Referee; Mr. J. Wallace.

Wanderers met Rotowaro to their disadvantage, the Waroites putting up seven goals. Hard to beat on their own ground. Dodds and his merry band are proverbially good mud-larkers, and the score indicates their superiority. The former put five goals into the net himself.

Thistle journeyed to Hamilton and was soundly beaten by Railways 4-1. On the day the better team won. A pleasing feature was that Whitelaw was well again and assisting the Thistle eleven.

In schools Soccer Huntly B and Rotowaro played to a drawn finish, and Glen Massey beat Pukemiro by 2-0. SCHOOLS SOCCER

The high schools district competition just ended for the first round, shows Pukemiro A team on top, with an unbeaten record. The closeness of this series may be guaged from the fact that of 30 matches played 14 were drawn. The order of the first four is as follows: Pukemiro A 8, Pukemiro B 6, Ohinewai 5, Huntly 4. The high school first eleven to represent Huntly against the Hamilton High School as a curtain-raiser to the big Canadian match on the 20th inst., is as follows: Goal, T. Shaw; full-backs, R. Troughear and T. McCallum. Halves. G. Wright, E. Wintle and T. Hadley: forwards, F. Ganderton, L. Rosser, N. Ward, G. Adams, R. Wood. Emergencies: Back, E. Housley; forward, L. Harris. LEAGUE Huntly seniors travelled to Hamilton and put up 30 points against Athletic’s 5. For the winners Stan Rayner- (-3), Timms (1), Farrell (1), Smith (1), Miki (1), Stevenson (1) were the scorers. George Rayner converted three. Taylor converted his own try for Athletic.>. The Huntly boys carried too many guns for their opponents and romped home; in fact, it was practically a raid on the enemy’s camp all the time, and playing two men short at that. For Huntly Rayner brothers, Stevenson, Smith and Timms were best, and Taylor, Shaw and Sutton for the vanquished. GOOD JUNIOR GAME

The juniors had a match well worth seeing, and in being beacon by 6 to 5, Huntly furnished the spectacular item with Frankton. It was anybody’s game, and the whistle was welcomed at the close, for both teams had had enough. Smith scored for Huntly, Raumati kicking a penalty, against Frankton’s two tries.

Connolly was an injured man practically, owing to violent leg cramp. Bravo, five-eighth, played a good game for Frankton, scoring a try, but Thrupp was outstanding for the winners. Knapper at half, and McNeil, forward, were the pick of the Huntly boys. In schools League Ngaruawahia beat Huntly South by 12-0 in a mud scramble, Harold Harrison and Bill Collins showing up prominently throughout. Taupiri had a great go with Huntly North, just squeezing home by 5-3. George Moore was the best of the Taupiri lads, and Mitchell, Reg Berry and George Miki for the losers. RUGBY

All fixtures were off for Saturday locally.

WHANGAREI RUGBY Several surprises came off on Saturday in Rugby circles, the chief of which perhaps was the downfall of Hikurangi, the hitherto unbeaten senior team, at the hands of Kamo, the lowest on the competition list. There is no doubt that the inclusion of ‘'Bunny” Finlayson, the All Black,-had a great deal to do with the sudden reversal of form.

It was not generally known whether “Bunny” would put in one of his three qualifying matches on Saturday or not, and Hikurangi was expected to put up a cricket score against their less successful opponents. After a hard game, however, in which Kamo was decidedly better than the miners’ representatives, the scores finished 9 —3 in favour of the former.

Another surprise was the holding up of Maungakaramea by Maungakahia. The former team is second in the competition list, and hitherto had proved decidedly superior to its country opponent. On Saturday, Maungakahia proved its advance in the football standard by making a draw against the heavy ’Karamea team, no points being scored by either side. At Kensington Park, the main ground in the union, Portland beat Railway by 20 to nil. High School beat Old Boys by 5 to nil, and Horahora beat Maungakaramea by 3 to nil. These three matches were all junior, but were played by leading teams in the junior competition, in which 14 teams are entered. ROTORUA MATCHES RUGBY Rotorua 13, Taupo o. —The senior representatives from these unions met at Rotorua on Saturday and resulted as above. Pini Haupapa captained Rotorua. The game was mainly confined to the forwards, Rotorua’s pack dominating the play. For the winners, Sheaf, Parakaka and Sergeant scored, Sergeant converting two tries. For Rotorua, all the forwards worked hard. Mason and Parakuka, hookers, secured the ball in most scrums. Sheaf was outstanding in tight and open. Sergeant and McDougall worked hard in the tight. Bradshaw at half got the ball away cleanly, but did not see where his five-eighths were placed before transferring. Pini Haupapa and Donnelly were good on the defence. Dawson and Hulton also played well, while Hinton again gave a good exhibition at fullback. For Taupo, Ngakau at fullback was safe, while Rawhiti and Cook played good games in the forwards. Rotorua B v. Mamaku. —This game was played as a curtain-raiser to the representative game. The B’s attacked strongly from the outset, but Mamaku’s defence was sound. The final score was Rotorua B 15, Mamaku 11. For the B’s, Royal showed traces of former brilliance, but condition was against him to sustain his efforts. Dicky is a player of promise. For Mamaku Stanaway was the best. Opotiki 3, Rotorua 6.—A junior representative game between the above teams for possession of the Shalfoon Shield, a challenge shield for the Bay of Plenty Unions, was played at Opotiki. The game was played on a ground inches deep in mud, which was against good football. Rotorua dominated the play, forcing Opotiki at least 20 times in the first half. For Rotorua Scott kicked a penalty goal in this half. Opotiki scored in the second half, but just on call of time Basham, Rotorua, scored, giving Rotorua possession of the shield. The Rotorua backs all played well. Mitchell, Nicholson and Simmonds were outstanding, while in the forwards, all good, Scott and Allen were the best. For Opotiki, Roe, half, and Parkinson and Waterson, in the forwards, played well to avert defeat. Challenges for the shield have been lodged with the Bay Union by Tauranga, Te Puke, Whakatane and Opotiki, so that some good football should be seen here before "the season closes. At the Bay meeting yesterday matches with the Bay were arranged as follows: —At Rotorua: v. Thames Valley, Waikato v. Auckland. At Tauranga: v. Auckland. At Whakatane: v. Maori team. At Opotiki: v. Auckland. It was decided to abandon the match v. Wairoa. The probable team to represent the Bay. v. Maori team at Whakatane on the 13th is as follows: —McKay (Opotiki). Kelly (Opotiki), Harawira (Whakatane), Turner (Tauranga), Davis (Opotiki), Howell (Rangitaiki), Williams (Te Puke), Black (Opotiki), Donovan (Te Puke), Parkinson (Opotiki), Peacock (Rangitaiki), Parkinson (Opotiki), Goldsmith (Whakatane), Mitai (Opotiki), Beyers (Tauranga). No Rotorua players were available. PEACE CUP THAMES V. HAMILTON The following team has been chosen to represent Thames in the match for the Peace Cup against Hamilton at Parawai on Saturday: Winder, Moran, Harrison, A. Winder, Dufty, Donnelly, Allel3 r , W. Pollock, Lomas, Kinlock, Ensor, Burkhardt, Hayward (captain), Benny, Strange. Emergencies: Morrissey, S. McMahon, Thomas, O’Hara. The following will represent Hamilton: Badeley, Buckingham, Kemp, Clemett, Fitzgerald, Tuck, Snodgrass, Hooper, Scott, J. Johnstone, Montgomery, W. Christie, Ardern, Charleston, Bayly. HUNTLY GAMES “OFF” All fixtures were off for Saturday day last owing to the country week tournament. Three of the selected Waikato representatives were from here, Misses Doris Watson, Alma Ward and Martha Waikato. Fortunately for the opposition the later is not making the trip, a fact to be regretted, as she has no equal, let alone a superior, as goalie. ANOTHER SELECTOR IN > AMATEUR ATHLETICS N.Z. COUNCIL’S DECISION Press Associatioyi. WELLINGTON, Monday. Criticism of the decision of the Amateur Athletic Council to appoint four selectors living in the North Island to choose the Dominion team for the New Zealand and Australian championships was made by the Otago, Wanganui and Canterbury Centres at a meeting of the council of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association to-night. It was decided to appoint a fifth selector, and all centres are to be requested to forward nominations to the council.