PRIMARY SCHOOLS RUGBY

Taranaki Daily News, 16 August 1933, Page 4

PRIMARY SCHOOLS RUGBY

B GRADE CHAMPIONSHIP. MATAPU AND N.P. CONVENT DRAW. After two 30-minute spells and an extra ten minutes neither Matapu nor New Plymouth Convent could gain any fruitful advantage in the final of the Taranaki Primary Schools’ B grade championship at Stratford yesterday, and with the score standing at a penalty goal each the game ended. The schools will hold the shield for six months each.

The teams were very evenly matched, each containing a mixture of boys large and boys small. The B grade competition is for schools with a roll of less than 200 and the teams contesting were winners of the competitions in their respective territories. Matapu won the Eltham division and then beat Turuturu in the South Taranaki final by eight points to six. Convent had no semi-final to play but had a game with Fitzroy, winners of the North Taranaki senior schools competition and was beaten by only 8 to 6. The match yesterday, as' was only natural with teams in which there were some large and some small boys, play was of a scrambly nature with the larger players occasionally breaking away. At the same time good football knowledge was shown and the match was never dull. Riley was a particularly outstanding boy and ran from the Convent fiveeighths position with speed, determination and a deceptive twist that often had Matapu troubled. Riley also made numerous tackles when they were badly needed. In the Convent forwards Payne was a tower of strength. Treweek, who captained Matapu, was his team's best player and led the forwards well. Briscoe and Luke in the backs were good and caused Riley’s downfall often. There was no score until well on in the first spell, when Convent was awarded a free kick in front of the goal for obstruction. Curd scored the first points. Luke equalised the score with a penalty goal in the second spell. The score was still equal when the final whistle sounded,' and although two extra spells of five minutes each were played neither side could reach the other’s fine. The teams were:— ;

Matapu: Luke; Swindleliurst, Prestidge, Whetton; Briscoe, Gould; V. Cleaver; Treweek, Simpson, Keighley, Rowlands, Robertson, Bosson, T. Prestidge, Cleaver. New Plymouth Convent: Novak; Doyle, Matheson, Burns; Curd, Riley; Hanhan; Rowsen, Miller, Keen, Payne, Riordan, Boyer, Walsh, Kurta. This year was the third year in succession inat Convent had taken part in the B grade final. The team won outright in 1931 and 1932 and this year it is joint holder.