JUNIOR RUGBY OPENS

Taranaki Daily News, 3 May 1935, Page 10

JUNIOR RUGBY OPENS

CENTRAL DIVISION PLAY LAST YEAR’S CHAMPION BEATEN. / TOKO GOES DOWN TO. CARDIFF. The first matches in the central division junior Rugby competitions were played yesterday on grounds sodden from previous days’ rain made worse in some cases by rain yesterday and during the games. The surprise feature was the defeat of Toko, first junior champions last year, by Cardiff. Owing to the withdrawal of Tariki from the first junior ■ section there were only three marches, in the grade instead or the four of last year, Midhirst, which was dfawn to play Tariki, having the bye. Results are:— , ’ , . s First Junior. Cardiff 6 v. Toko 3. Stratford 3 v. Inglewood 3. United Old Boys 14 v. Eltham. 0. Midhirst a bye. Third Grade. '. United Old Boys 6 v. Midhirst 3. Stratford 14 v. School 13. '■ Fourth Grade. 7 Stratford 12 v. Inglewood 0. . - Toko 28 v. School A 3. \ : >■•. •' ’ ■ --'.f ■ •' TOKO LOSES TO CARDIFF. iPENALTY GOAL GIVES VICTORY. Toko was beaten by Cardiff, at Cardiff by 6 points (a tiy and .goal from a pen--dlty) to 3 (a try).. It was a homeric battle, and some, idea of the vfm with which it. was'waged may be gained by the ; fact that 11 minutes were added to the total time on account of injuries. Toko made. frequent attempts to score through the iSacks,. but Cardiff elected to play mainly a-forward game. It was bold tactics to adopt against what was the best pack in the division last season, but the result justifie l it. Toko had more of the attacking' and at times stayed in Cardiff’s twenty-five for minutes on end, but Cardiff .maintained a defence which after Toko’s' only try was impenetrable. To A. Bennett goes' the credit of gaining the marginal points. The teams were:— < .?

Cardiff: Kemsley; Pitcairn; S. Herdman, McMillan; R. Herdman, Price; Clarry Babbington; Neal, ClOm. Babbington;. Huckstep, ‘ Bennett, Davidson; Peterson, Shannon, Steiner. * •Toko: Standring; Rowe, Latham, Thomas; Wilmshurst, Wrigley; J. Sangster; Martin; Harrison, Brown, O’Hanlon, -Buhbury; Jones, Were, Kilsby, Toko went • very near to scoring on two occasions while the team had Cardiff held on its line but Was unable to press; home the advantage. When: Cardiff broke away it gave Toko a taste of its own medicine?. Dutirig': a 'hot'Cardiff Attack the ball was kicked through and Huckstep chased it over the-line for the first try. The kick failed, j X :

j At the start of the second spell Toko harried'Cardiff mercilessly till-a scramble in the comer gave J. Sangster his'chance, and he evened the score. Toko made thrust after thrust at the Cardiff line for' a full 20 minutes, and' it seemed impossible that Cardiff .could hold out. But Cardiff shook off the Toko yoke to place Toko on defence. It was then that Cardiff was awarded the penalty with which Bennett was successful and gave his team the decision. ; . Cardiff ................ 6 Toko 3 Mr. W. J. Davis'was the referee.' ELTHAM DEFEATED. OLD BOYS’ GOOD DISPLAY. Although -hampered-by long, grass and a' heavy, greasy ball, .the Eltham and United Old Boys teams gave a good display at Stratford that promises well for the season. Old Boys wort by 14 to nil, the score comprising four tries, one converted. The game was largely confined to the forwards, only one or two good back • movements being seen. The few, all staged‘by Old BpyS, were snappy but broke down in the final,stages. Thel Etham backs seeiped' to lack cohesion, the ball never, once going any farther than the five-eighths. The link between the scrum and the backs could also have been improved. Both Gaver and. Carter, who played full-back in the first and second spells .respectively, were Unreliable. The Eltham pack was a hard working set of forwards who used their weight well, but it did not seem to have enough finish to score. It had many opportunities, but ragged play lost them. Cowell and Tibler worked hard to lead the pack. Old Boys’ display was good. The for-, wards lost ground at ;he start, but soon settled down, and returned the bustling Eltham men as good as they gave. Thurston, a new man, Eagar and Cannon were prominent among a crowd of solid toilers. The backs had a good many chances but used few of them, -ach movement breaking down at an early stage. The four tries all come from individual work. There was promising material shown, however, and for the .first game of the season it was commendable. The teams were:—

United Old Boys: Wilmshurst; Richardson, Irving, Vincent; McCready. Calcott; W. Lash, Lamason; Thurston, Thomson, J. Kofoed, Gray; Cannon, Bulmer, Eagar. Eltham: Gower; Prestidge. D. Carter, M. Sheehy; R. Martin, F. Maslin; L. Robinson; F. .Cowell, R. Bootten, C. Walker; K. Cross, /T. Hdrocks; L. Bootten, J. Horrocks, W. Tibler.

For the first ten minutes the game was almost dominated by the Eltham forwards, though a determined defence kept them out. After a dribbling rush from half-way led by McCready, Old Boys was awarded a free kick, but Calcott failed. Old Boys’, forwards hammered away steadily and & moment later were over again, only to see Eltham force. Old Boys fought its way back and McCready received from a loose scrum. He found a gap, sidestepped at top speed, and scored close to the posts. Calcott’s kick failed.

The second half opened at a great pace, Eltham making play up to the line in a few minutes. Richardson took the ball just past half-way, raced down the line, and threw it infield as he was forced into touch. W. Lash dribbled it over the line and scored. The kick failed. A mis-

kick by Vincent in his own twenty-five nearly had United Old Boys in trouble but Wilmshurst brought off a brilliant tackle to s°ve an apparently certain try. Vincent made amends a little later, when from a central position about quarter-way Lash,-worked the blind, and the winger made a good run to cross the line in the corhef. The home forwards hooked from a loose scrum on the twenty-five, the ball went to McCready, who was tackled in possession, and was carried line, by Calcott. Wilmshurst converted the try,'and the whistle blew immediately, leaving the scores: , United Old Boys 14 Eltham 0 ■ Mr. G. Carter . refereed. , ■» DRAWN GAME AT INGLEWOOD. MATCH AGAINST STRATFORD. Inglewood and .Stratford drew 3-all on a wet ground at Inglewood, each scoring an unconverted try. On the day’s play Inglewood held a considerable territorial advantage . but Stratford put up a stub-, born defence which enabled it to draw. Several times, especially in the second spell, Inglewood was within an inch of scoring, but good tackling by Stratford helped to keep the line, clear. Grant, Inglewood’s five-eighth, played a great game and was well supported by Rumball and Trigger. In the forwards the teams were fairly evenly matched, and 'hard football resulted. Foley, Stratford’s full-back, played an outstanding game, saving his side time and time again by taking the slippery ball well and by accurate line kicking. ' The teams were: —

Stratford: Nelson, Thompson. Charlton, ■■Volyke, Vivian, Somner, Madgewick, Young, Blackstop/Foley, Wpllett, Collins, Burke, Hill, Wellington. Inglewood: Allen', Trigger, Gyde, Linklater, Grant, Rumball, Ladbiobk, Standing, Rumball, Harkness, Peters, Susans, Russell, Knowles, Crossan. ■ Stratford kept up the pressure for some'time with forward rushes till Ladbrook set his backs moving and Trigger came through- well. After a scrum near Stratfords' line Collins cleared with a fine kick. Grant cut through,and with a clear field passed' to Linklater, who dropped ‘a good pass. ; After several scrums on Stratford’s line Inglewood was awarded: a free; kick, but Allen failed to goal. From. a forward scramble in front of. Inglewood’s goal Stratford hooked, but Rumball.<was round quickly and carried-the ball to half-way. Foley at full-back came up well to start a passing rush, but Wellington failed to take his pass. . Ladbrook found an opening to put Inglewood in a good position but a speculator saved Stratford, and halftime was called without score.Burke started a good passing movement for Stratford but Blackstop was smothered, and from a scrum on Inglewood’s line Ladbrook and Trigger cleared.- A moment later Hill cut past Allen and the Stratford forwards carried -play to Inglewood’s line, where after a scramble, the ball was kicked over the -line, and Nelson dived on it. Wellington failed to convert; , Good dribbling by Russell again "put Inglewood on the attack and Grant was nearly over.. Thompson brought the ball through for Stratford to clear. Persistent attacks By Inglewood were rewarded Standing picked up and scored. Rumball failed to; convert. Time was called shortly afterwards < with the scores: A ■ • ■ ■' . . ■ -'-

Stratford; Inglewoofi '•'• '3 Mr. R. Coutts refereed. .