SEVEN-A-SIDE RUGBY

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1935, Page 9

SEVEN-A-SIDE RUGBY

CONTESTS AT OPUNAKE FIFTEEN TEAMS COMPETE. RAHOTU A TEAM THE WINNER. Fifteen teams competed in the seven-a-side tournament which was held at Opunake under the auspices of the Opunake Football Club yesterday, and in a final which provided a fitting climax to a ’ splendid day’s football Rahotu A emerged' victorious with Patea, one of the two visiting teams, runner-up. Perhaps the only disappointment of the tournament was the lack of support from outside junior teams, for whereas the teams in the coastal division had supported the tournament excellently there were only two teams competing from outside the division— Patea and Kaponga. Midhirst had also entered two teams, but they failed to appear. While some of the games were rather drab, several of them provided very bright exhibitions that gave the spectators plenty of thrills, while their closeness also added to the interest. Perhaps the finest exhibitions were in the semi-final and final, in which there was very little to choose between the teams. Patea if anything played the more open game throughout, but in the final Rahotu gave Patea no latitude and in the closing stages outplayed it at its own game.

There was a fair attendance of the public, the feature being the supporters that the coastal teams brought. The games were admirably controlled by Messrs. A. Elgar, L. McLean and R. Bowman. The organisation was good, there being no delay between the games, witlj the result that the final was played early. Those responsible included Messrs. J. Moron and E. J. Wallis (timekeepers), L. Des Forges (announcer), W. Gunson (call steward), A. Francis (team steward) and A. J. Heibner (secretary and board steward) and E. de Tourret. The catering was controlled by Mr. Quin. Presenting the trophies Mr. E. J. Wallis, president of the club, thanked the teams for the splendid games they had played. He particularly congratulated the finalists on their exhibition and thanked the referees and others who had assisted in the organisation. , The teams were:—

Rahotu A: D. Norgate, R. Norgate, D. Pennington, J. Cunningham, E. Lowry, W. Ngaia, H. Waswo. Rahotu B: C. Pepperell, G. Butler, Waswo, Emerson, J. Niwa, Thompson, T. Norgate. 1 Rahotu C: Hawkins, Brewer, A. Mitchell, J. Milne, Okawa, G. Pepperell, Butterini.

Opunake A: L. Matthews, Anderson, Simmonds, Walker, Ross, Harrop, S. Hohaia. i ■

Opunake B: L. Matthews, P. O’Hanlon, H. Rowlands, S. Hohaia, J. Sexton, Tamatea, C. Trotter. Opunake C: Crawford, Dobbin, Ebbett, McCullum, McNae, O’Shaughnessy, Smith.

Opunake D: Dobbin, Bradley, Butterini, Barraclough, ’ Stewart, L. Smith, C. Smith. ' '

Okato A: Moorby, McCabe, Hickford, ’Haskell, McCarty, Price, Hodge. Okato B: M. Goodin, M. Larking, E. Coates, S. Snowdon, C. Randrup, C. Ashley, J. Bellwood. Okato C: Chard, Corbett, Goodin, Carey, Loveridge, Tapham, Andrews. Kelly gang: E. Ashley, J. Lawn, M. Lawn, Hutchins, Roebuck, Matson, Loveridge. .■ . Kaponga: Eynon, Davey, Kilpatrick, F. Walker* Lyons, Hayward, R. Walker. Warea A: C. Sole, E. Caldwell, J. Clark, T. Harvey, B. Collins, J. Hunt, S. Pepperell. Warea B:_Neilsen,. BelJ, Wells,' Sole, Muir/Goodin, Calletoh.’ ’' £*-“'•?' r j Patea: D. Bourke, P. Hurley 1 ; E. Cousins, C. Hunt, E. Berry, .A. Amon, G. Signal. / Results were:— First Round. Rahotu A 13 v. Opunake B 3. > Opunake C 9 v. Okato C 3. Rahotu C 5 v. Opunake A 0. Kaponga 3 v. Warea B O. Patea 14 v. Okato 80. Okato A 14 v. Opunake D O, Rahotu B 6 v. Kelly Gang 3. Warea a bye. Second Round. Rahotu A 6 v. Warea A 3. Kaponga 6 v. Rahotu C 0. Patea 23 v. Rahotu B 0. Okato A 14 v. Opunake CO. Semi-finals. • Rahotu A 3 v. Kaponga 0. Patea 3 v. Okato 0. Final. Rahotu A 8 v. Patea 6. Details of the F.IRST ROUND. Superior pace and better , handling enabled Rahotu A to gain a comfortable victory over Opunake B. Half-way through the first spell a ! passing rush saw W. Ngaia sprint across, and Cunningham goal. S. Hohaia kicked a splendid penalty for Opunake B, the spell ending Rahotu 5, Opunake 3. In the second spell Lowry drew the’ opposition and sent Ngaia over for a second try, whilst D. Norgate scored from a forward, rush, Cunningham converting one try. In the game between Okato and Opunake C Goodin scored from a forward rush. The ball remained in play for a couple .of minutes after half-time was called and McNae made a great opening for Smith to score. McNae converted. Just on time in the second spell McNae drop-kicked a goal. Rahotu C pressed early and A. Mitchell picked up and flashed over, converting his try. Rahotu kept play in Opunake’s territory throughout the spell. Opunake had all the better of the second spell but could not finish its efforts. The game between Kaponga and Warea B proved very drab until near the close, when Eynon snapped up and brilliantly scored. Only solid tackling kept Warea B out. . < '; i

Patea, showing speed and combination, opened brightly against Okato B, Cousins capping a passing movement with a try. Rahotu attacked but Patea was soon back again, and a mis-kick gave Amon a gift try. Patea continued to have the better of the second spell, in which Berry scored a try from a forward rush and Cousins from his own twenty-five beat the whole team to score, Hurley goaling. The game between Opunake D and Okato A opened sensationally. Opunake was attacking hotly when Moorby snapped up on his own goal line, broke through the opposition and galloped the length of the field to . score with three men in attendance. McCabe goaled. Another light passing bout ended in Hodge going over. Early in' the second spell Price scored from a passing rush, as did podge a little later. The match between the Kelly gang and Rahotu B was the only one in the first round to require extra spells, two additional spells;being required before a decision was reached. In the first spell M. Lawn scored a try for the Kelly gang which was not converted, whilst in the second spell Niwa kicked a penalty for Rahotu B. In the second extra spell G. Butler, who had followed up fast, scored for Rahotu,. SECOND ROUND. Fast and open play characterised the game between Warea A, which had a bye in the first round, and Rahotu A. Play travelled fast up and downfield un-

til a splendid passing bout saw W. Ngaia outpace the opposition to score for Rahotu. Cunningham’s kick struck the post Rahotu attacked early in the second spell and D. Norgate scored from . a solid forward rush. Warea pressed hotly and Caldwell scored in the corner. Judicious kicking saw Kaponga keep Rahotu C penned, Rahotu on one occasion being lucky to force. The game - was drab. Kaponga had all the better of the second spell. Almost on time Kilpatrick snapped up from a forward rush and scored. Almost from the kick off , Davey scored another try for Kaponga. Patea set out to make the game open from the start, but Rahotu B, keeping the ball at foot and tackling well, kept Patea out until twice in quick succession Hurley at five-eighth, running hard and straight, scored fine tries, which he converted. Just on half-time Amon scored for Hurley to again convert. Flay was even in the first spell till Cousins scored after pretty passing. Hurley converted and soon scored again. The game between Opunake C and Okato A opened brightly. A breezy passing bout saw Hodge score and McCabe goal. Okato kept throwing the ball about and Hodge showed a clean pair of heels for a try. Fast following up gave Hickford a third try for Okato and Haskell converted.’ Moorby scored after running three-quarters of the length of the.fleld. i SEMI-FINALS. . Kicking characterised the opening stages of the first semi-final, Kaponga showing more judgment and gaining more ground than Rahotu A. Kaponga j backs opened out but met determined tsckling. The forwards carried on and pressed hard but could not break down the opposition. Kaponga had all the bet- 1 ter of the first spell and again attacked in the second spell, when Pennington snapped up and sent the Rahotu backs galloping for the line. Fast play followed. One moment Ngaia was nearly Vj over for Rahotu and in the next Kilpatrick was just hauled down yards from the Rahotu line. Hard play fol- ' lowed till time was called without any score. The extra spell started with solid play until Ngaia kicked through and Cunningham scored. . . In the Okato A team Snowden replaced C. Price against Patea. The teams pro- ■ ; vided a bright' game full of interest. In the first minute Okato was nearly over but for a knock on. Again Hodge was nearly over. Patea, kicking high, followed up fast, and in the resultant play the ball was swept over the line for ?. Hurley to score. He failed to goal. Early in the second spell Okato pressed, smothering the opposition, which found' ■ safety by speculating. From a scrum alongside the goal Patea cleared, and in the next moment had Okato hard put to force *in time. Thereafter Okato more than held its own, but the position was unaltered. final. Rahotu pressed from the kick off in the ■ final, but Hurley relieved with a long.'; kick. Patea followed up the advantage for Signal to set his backs moving. All handled well, and Cousins, clapping on J' full speed, grounded the ball as Ngaia tackled him. Hurley failed to .goal. Rahotu charged downfield, ball at. toe, and Cunningham dived for a try, but the ball bounced the wrong way. Patea / ’ looked like scoring till a pass went astray, and then Rahotu burst downfield ’ ' for R. Norgate to score and Pennington to goat Rahotu was ahead only mom- 1 entarily, as after .the kick off Patea charged down and Signal scored as halftime sounded. Both teams kept play ' . close in the-second spell, in which the pace was telling its tale, and after play. Rahotu began to assume the upper hand and started to throw the ball about. Finally Cunningham shot the ball to Ngaia, who when blocked sent a great pass infield to Lowry,' who galloped oyer near the corner. Cunningham failed to goal. Patea fought hard to retrieve the game, and amidst tense excitement swarmed on Rphotu’s line. Rahotu, however, fought back and was attacking as time sounded..