Sport in the Province

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 758, 3 September 1929, Page 14

Sport in the Province

(From THE BUN’S Corrm-ponde-n-

Union Rugby WHANGAREI A large :rowd of spectators collected at Kigoy Park to witness the Harding Shield match between Whangarei (holder) and Bay of Islands, on Saturday afternoon. Whangarei had all the luck in the world to retain the trophy by a draw, 11 points all. Never at any time did the home side look dangerous, while the visitors were attacking for easily two-thirds of th** game. Tries were scored by W. Rodgers, G. Graham and F. Raxneka 1 for the visitors and P. Matene converted one try, while for Whangarei Britland and G. Nicholls dropped a goal each and the latter goaled a penalty. The ground was holding, but rain early in the second quarter made the ball a trifle difficult to handle. At fullback Kerr was fairly safe but lacked his usual confidence. Waterman and Webster, wing-threequar-ters, both played far below their usual standard. In fact, they seemed to be of one mind, and that was to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible, while neither of them would run when given an open field. Nicholls, at centre, was the one bright spot in the backs. He was the brains of the team, and had he received a little support from the wingers, they must have scored. Britland would not tackle his man and gave the opposing backs far too many liberties. Ryan, first five-eighth, found he had a solid man opposing him in Davis, although he did some good work. Morrissey was miles too slow at half, and there is a junior half who would fill the position admirably. In the forward division, Dickson overshadowed the rest, who played very ordinary football. The Bay of Islands fielded a strong combination, its backs and forwards combining on attack and defence. Kaineka, who ran the length of the field to score, could give Waterman a big break and beat him. Davis, at first five-eighth, was the first man to keep Ryan in difficulties in any of the shield matches to date. Matene at centre gave a great exhibition. Prominent in a hard-work-ing pack of forwards were Cherrington, Edmonds, Cooke, Te Tai and Dargaville. Mr. R. Bowden was referee. BAY OF ISLANDS Two very sparkling games of football were played at Kaikohe on Saturday. The ball was thrown about in masterly style, to the delight of a large audience. The Rawene District High School team visited Kaikohe and met a third grade team., which it out-played in every phase of the game, winning by 29 points to eight. Tries were obtained by R. Chesterman (3) Allan Whitefleld and Arthur Cotterall (2 each). Major Fell and S. Whitefleld (1 each), one being goaled. For the losers, H. Matene and G. Roger® scored one try each, and March converted one. The Okalhau juniors visited Kaikohe for a second attempt to capture the Pearson Cup and failed, being defeated by 29 points to 3. The visitors were the masters in scrum work, getting the ball practically all the time, but could not profit by the advantage. The backs were weak, while those of the winners have never played better this season, the ball travelling from player to player with a certainty that was a pleasure to witness, particularly when the movements ended in a score. Tries were scored by Marsh, Goodhue, Snowden and Eisenhut, while K. Nisbet converted a try. Iladonovich kicked a penalty goal for the losers. WAIUKU Fully 500 spectators were at Massey Park, W&iuku, on Saturday, when Waiuku successfully withstood a challenge from Pukekohe for the Massey Cup. The home forwards were in great form, and completely outplayed the visitors in all departments of the game. Although the weather was ideal, there was very little back play. This, to a great extent, was attributable to the excellent tackling by both teams, but the spectators were certainly treated to the best exhibition of forward play seen in Waiuku for a long time. The first score was secured in the first quarter, when Ray McNaughton forced his way over the line for Bishop to raise the flags with a good kick. The only other score of the match came in the last quarter, when Pleydell, the tall Waiuku fprward, dived over the line. Bishop again converted with an excellent kick. Waiuku was unfortunate in not obtaining two other tries, one by Pleydell. and the other by B. James. The latter fully deserved a try, as after a race against a Pukekohe back for about 30yds, he dived on the ball, but the referee did not allow it, as he was of the opinion that the ball had not been touched down with the hands. MATAMATA The Tauranga representatlve team visited Matamata on Saturday and won an evenly-contested match by eight points to six. Farmer and Tassell scored tries for the visitors and the former converted his own try. Fausett and Story were the try-getters for Matamata. The game can be described as one of lost opportunities, both teams attempting to make it open, but poor transfers, weak handling and lack of back-ing-up lost score after score for both sides. Among the visitors. Farmer was outstanding. He was a continual source of annoyance to the local men. Ainslie at fullback also played a solid game for Tauranga. Cameron, rover, and Castaing were prominent forwards. Vo«per and Fausett were the best of the local rearguard, Stevenson and Svme showing up in the pack. PAPAKURA On Saturday the Technical Old Bus’s’ senior team journeyed to Papakura and completely cleaned up a weak Manukau senior reps, team by 32 to 6. Manukau was without the services of T. Wilson. M. Stephens and F. Duder, G. Hamilton, Stanford and A. Atcheson, all of whom were badly missed. The Technical team pleased the spectators with its smart in and out passing, swerving, and fast running Each time a visitor was caught with the ball and passed, one of his team-mate® was ready to accept. The play of the Manukau team was a decided contrast to that of the visitors. Each player seemed to be of the opinion that he was the whole team. Early in the second half of the game, T. Cosset injured hie shoulder and had to retire. The veteran, H. C. Thorbum. donned the jersey and played in his bare feet till a lull In the game gave him the opportunity to don boots and stockings. He certainly saved the score from mounting considerably higher. Clarry Thorburn is a trier and proved his worth on Saturday, after five years out of the game.

i The tackling of the Manukau inside j backs was very weak, the visitors breaking through time and again ! against feeble attempts to stop them. Kelsey, T. and R. Cossey and R. ! Richardson were the pick of the backs and W. Alexander and Z. Morrow and ( Scott were the best of the forwards. , TE AWAMUTU The Taupiri senior representatives visited Te Awamutu on Saturday and played a return match against the Waipa representatives. The latter . did not have their best side available, j but those who took part did all that ; was required, and defeated their opponents by 17 points to 11. Hamilton and Waipa junior representatives met at Te Awamutu in the semi-final for the Waikato junior championship. Hamilton won by 15 points to 3. NGARUAWAHIA Orini juniors defaulted to Ngaruawahia juniors, so there was no match here on Saturday, interest being centred in the senior representative fixture, Taupiri v. Waipa, played at Te AwaI mutu. HAMILTON ■ Hamilton had no difficulty in dis- ■ posing of Franklin in the Peace Cup ; match at Hamilton on Saturday, the j Anal score being 3S points to 3, The j home score consisted of 10 tries, four of which were converted. Franklin’s ■ °nly score was registered by Gummer, ! who notched an unconverted try. Hamilton was superior in almost ; every department, except kicking, which could have been improved. Franklin had the ball from the scrum ; more often in the second half. All the home backs were prominent in handling • bouts and it is difficult to differenj tiate. Mitchell, the half, was *a big factor in opening up the game. The i forwards were also a powerful combination. Hira, the visiting fullback, played a t rattling good game against overwhelming odds and saved his side frequently. D. Peters was handy on attack and defence, while Bush, Wray and Bindberg came into the limelight occasionally. Of the forwards, Eyre, Lawson and Melhuish were toilers. Bayly, Reynolds and Scott were prominent among the home forwards. CLARKE CUP GAMES In the Clarke Cup competition Frankton and Old Boys A maintained their respective positions at the head of the ladder. Old Boys A defeated Old Boys B by six points to three after a fairly close and hard tussle. Kemp, Hawke and Brough played well for the A team, while Mills, R. Johnstone and Bowling did their bit on the B side. Marist was disposed of decisively by Frankton, losing by a ten-point margin to the railwavmen. Priscott played a great game for the winners and touched down twice, and Welch dropped a goal from the field. The City-Technical Old Boys match was called off through lack of players. WAIHI A large crowd was treated to a firstclass exhibition of Rugby on Saturday, when the Waihi and Piako representatives met in a Poland Cup round on Waihi Recreation Ground. The result was a win for Waihi by 17 points to Piako started off like champions and soon had a lead of six points, thanks to Rackham’s penalty kicking. About this time Waihi got into its stride and for the rest of the game matters were fairly evenly contested, the game being anybody's until the final whistle. On the whole, Piako had slightly the better of the play, and had Rackham lived up to his reputation as a “dead shot” at goal, Piako would have won by a comfortable margin. The game was marred by a bad accident to Towers, the Piako back, who, in attempting to stop Mathers, wste knocked unconscious. He was conveyed to Waihi Hospital suffering from concussion. For Waihi, Mathers, Price and Robinson were the pick of the forwards, with Saunders, Snodgrass and Hume shining in the back division. Piako was well served by Nicholson and Goldsbury (backs), and Payne, Riddell and Dalton (forwards). Mathers scored two tries and Saunders and Price one each; a penalty by Snodgrass and a converted try by Henry completing Waihi’s score. For Piako Goldsbury scored two tries and Samson one, and Rackham kicked two penalty goals. OPOTIKI There were no Rugby matches at Opotiki on Saturday and the day was spent by both senior and junior representatives practising. By virtue of the fact that the junior representatives now hold the Shalfoon Shield, the chief trophy for competition in the Bay of Plenty, they will now be called upon to withstand several challenges from other parts of the Bay. The senior representatives will play Tauranga at Tauranga on Saturday in the final match for the Hurinui Apanui Memorial Shield. For two years Opotiki successfully held the shield against the rest of the Bay and it was undoubtedly only due to the fact that the team had become stale with playing so many games that Tauranga secured the coveted trophy. By virtue of the fact that it was the holder, the local team had the right to re-challenge. Never before have such efforts been made here to win an important match. Previously, the team had no coaching, but now the services of a coach have been secured and intense training is being undertaken daily. Several alterations have also taken place in the team. Profiting by severe lessons in other games, when many goals were missed, and by the fact that Auckland was defeated for possession of the Ranfurly Shield by good goal-kicking, a goal-kicker has been included in the team and has been training now for some time. It is reported that Tauranga is also taking the game very seriously and one of the best exhibitions of Bay Rugby ever seen in Tauranga should result. ROTORUA Listless football marked the first half of the shield game, Kahukura v City. The play lacked seriousness and bordered more on the burlesque till after half-time, when- the score was 3-all The game then brightened up considerably and better football was seen

At the call of time the score was 6-all. and according to the local rules an extra 10 minutes’ play was ordered The Kahukura combination then told, and thanks to the fine play of Scott. Simmons, Goodson and Steel. Kahukura won 17-6. Wallace, Dawson, Jackson and Basham worked hard for the losers. The next shield game, Kahukura v. Waikiti, on Saturday, should be a much better exhibition. TAUMARUNUI The big football,event of the season was consummated at Taumarunui on Saturday, when the Wellington and King Country representatives came to grips, and King Country went down to a. superior team by 15 to 6. It is estimated that well over 1,000 spectators witnessed the match, which disclosed good football. Superior tactics and solid combination won the day for the visitors, who opened their account as the result of a fine passing rush by Coman, Berry, Hinton. A few minutes la.ter King Country evened by Roddick shooting a penalty goal, and the scores stood thus till halftime. After the spell Wellington consistently had the better of the game, and with the score 13 to 6 gave the finest display of the day from their own twenty-five. The ball was soundly handled by all the backs ill turn, going finally to Petersen, who beat the local backs and scored between the posts. Neal did not fail with the kick. Mr. R. Hawke refereed the match. The junior game, Taumarunui v. United, resulted in a win for Taumarunui by 8 to nil after a mediocre display. In school football the “Mighty Atoms” beat the “Midgets” by 9 to nil. League Rugby HAMILTON i A scratch game between Huntly j and Frankton was the only League fixj ture at Hamilton on Saturday. Huntly i crossed the line twice, and Frankton I once, all the scoring taking place in the first session. The match was of a fairly even nature, strong and decisive tackling being a feature. Jackways and Carter were the star men for the home side, while all the Huntly backs were a fairly capable crowd. The play fluctuated from time to time. NGARUAWAHIA The first match of the competition for the Innes Memorial Shield was played here on Saturday, between Hamilton A and Ngaruawahia, and rej suited in a good win for the home j team. A most interesting game resulted. At half-time the score stood: Ngaruawahia 9, Hamilton 0. Ngaruawahia scored heavily in the second half, when Muir, A and G. Hall and Tittleton did their team great service. The game ended: Ngaruawahia 27, Hamilton A 5. HUNTLY Parnell paid a visit to Huntly on Saturday, and lost its game by 24 1 points to 16. Mr. R. T. Hill controlled, ! and interest was keener, for the ball j was thrown about and some pretty ■ passing runs were witnessed. Smith, j behind the pack for Huntly, used his j head (and his eloquence) to advantage, | but Knapper’s play was outstanding. I Ho was in everything, and his unseli fish play was commendable. Smith was off colour, and could do nothing j right. Kaweroa played a fine game for the | winners. He is a great worker and j a hard man to stop when under way. Though he played a sound game, Bayley, at fullback, should learn to take a ball on the full instead of waiting for the bounce. Hine and Anderson stood out in the loser’s team, and had plenty to do.

The League authorities cannot be complimented on Saturday’s arrangements. It iSP hard enough to have to pay to see a poor match, but the controlling authorities must remember that patrons are entitled to see that fixtures are carried out on time. The Auckland junior representatives arrived at 11.15 a.m., but the game was half an hour late in starting, with the result that the Parnell-Huntly contest started at 3.40 p.m., after Huntly had a try-out with its scrum formation on the ground. The public does not pay for this treatment, and the League officials would be well advised to put their house in order.

South Auckland junior representatives cannot be complimented on their showing on Saturday. As a League code match between the supposed pick of the two League’s juniors, it was a sorry exposition, no fewer than 67 breaches of play being recorded from the opening of the game to the close, and South Auckland was the chief offender. Mr. Arthur Harlock refereed, and missed nothing—in fact, his controlling was as strict as the match with the English team last year at Christchurch.

The match, from a spectacular point of view, was irksome, and any movement showing promise of sparkling play was nullified by breaches, and was irritating to lookers-on. Reverting to individual play, Arthur (Auckland) went off at half-time with a bad knee, and Clout, fullback for the locals, was nursing a bad shoulder. His play was poor in consequence.

For the winners, Dunn, second fiveeighth: Martin, half; T. Davis, fiveeighth, showed the home side in the second half (after Stehr was brought up to the forward line from fullback) what combination was. Farbes hooked the ball cleanly, and Hawkes was quick to break the pack to his team’s advantage. The half-time score was 6—3 in favour of the visitors, which was increased to 16—11 before the final whistle blew. South Auckland was lucky in not having a heavier tally recorded against it. The losers’ play was characterised by offside movements and hampering of the backs by the half, who ran across the paddock. Soccer HUNTLY The Waikato schoolboys returned home on Saturday morning after their unsuccessful trip to Wellington in quest of the Webster Shield. Berry, who captained the team, was the right boy in the right place. Poor shooting was the drawback to Waikato’s success, its shots lacking sting. They were easily taken by the opposing goalies. The backs, however, were good, Topliss being the best in the tournament, while of the rest Powell was the best all-rounder. Stevens was easily the pick of the front rankers, and Connew was a hard worker throughout. The next contest will probably be staged at Palmerston North. To be beaten by two penalty goals to a scored goal was the unfortunate position of the team, at Wellington. The team sent down represented five schools only in the Huntly district

area, and its performance under those conditions was excellent. The outstanding feature of the trip, however, was the Waikato boys’ record of not having their line crossed other than by the two penalty goals registered against them by Wellington. In the Webster Shield contests, the Huntly boys seem fated to meet with a “hoodoo” in the crucial test. Huntly won from Junction by three goals to two on Saturday, but no bouquets can be handed out to the win- ! ning team on its performance. It is now in the running with Rovers for j the championship, the latter losing on ; ! Saturday to Pukemiro by two goals, : under referee J. Wallace, i The contest at Pukemiro was im- ; ; portant, as. had Rovers won, the chami pionship was theirs; but if Huntly • i beat Rovers and Junction, the honours j i go to the latter. Hockey HAMILTON Conditions were ideal at Steele Park I for the first representative match of I the season in Hamilton, between Wai- | kato and Auckland, on Saturday. The match was fast and very even, ending in a draw of one goal each. While the Aucklanders’ attack was more vigorous than that of the home side, the Waikato defence was superior and generally stronger. Play was mostly staged in the visitors’ terri-

tory, but after Waikato had scored its goal within a few* minutes of the opening, it was unable again to find the net. For the home team, the Spiers brothers, Ewen and Fletcher, were very nippy, while Watts. Robertson and Gardner showed up well for the visitors. There were many exciting phases, which kept the fairly large gallery on the qui vive all the time. THAMES The silver trophy presented to the ■ Thames-Hauraki Hockey Association by Mr. W. P. Gage-Brown, of Mount i Eden, was played for the first time on Saturday afternoon at Thames. The : conditions attached to the trophj' j (which is the figure of a hockey player s mounted on an ebony pedestal stand - j ing ISin. high), are that it is for annual competition between juniors under 20 years of age of the ThamesHauraki Association, and the Mount Eden Club. The emblem is to be called the Gage-Brown Trophy. On Saturdav the Mount Eden juniors proved superior to the Thames boys and scored 6 goals to their opponThe senior hockey team from Mount Eden had a strenuous game with the Thames eleven. It was hotly contested from start to finish, and at the close of play the visitors were one goal to the good. The scores were: Thames 2, Mount Eden 3.