OPUNAKE TAKES POINT

Taranaki Daily News, 28 June 1935, Page 9

OPUNAKE TAKES POINT

RUGBY LEADER HALTED CLIFTON-INGLEWOOD CRITICISM. SATURDAY’S SENIOR FOOTBALL. ' '•ln drawing with Opunake on Saturday, Stratford might have been a little unlucky, for the side held territorial advantage for three-quarters of the game. Nevertheless Stratford was at fault in throwing away golden opportunities, when only good handling was necessary for a player to walk over. The failure of ’the handling at critical points cost at least six, and probably more, points. On the other hand, Opunake won honours for the ferocity of its defence. Some of the tackling, particularly by Richards, was as clean and hard as one could wish for, and there was no chance of anyone standing against it. 15 # ■ # , * * Personal honours for the match went to G. Sangster, Stratf.-dd’s first fiveeighth, whose soundness in all departments was splendid. Last season he was often criticised for hanging on—this year there can be no question of that, i On Saturday he gave the men outside all the feeding they wanted and sparingly but judiciously used a swerving cut-in which always gained ground. In generalship, the direction of attack and defence and in kicking Sangster

showed himself a brainy player, and it will be no surprise to many if before the end of the season he is brought back to the representative team. He is not spectacular in his methods, but his work is done with a quiet deter- , mination. :t /*: ■ * " One never knows what is going to happen when Clifton end Inglewood meet. Clifton still has the habit of rising to’, heights against a good team and sinking to the same level of performance as *a poorer one. On Saturday Clifton showed the same lack of incisiveness as Inglewood, failing; to show that little extra polish that would have defeated Inglewood’s defence. It would still appear that Clifton would be well advised to spend time, on the training of the backs. Simonsen and- Wilson are valuable men in the line and could be developed into a strong attacking force with straight running and snappy passing by the first five-eighth, Hobson cr Edwin. Cole has the necessary dash for a winger but has not ' yet learned the tricks of the trade. When he has—and the tricks will come with practice—he will be a player worth watching.

The charge has been justified against Inglewood in the past of aimlessness, and it does appear that alterations in the back line have been too prone to occur. Inglewood would probably do a great deal better if definite men were chosen for definite places and trained to them. Combination and snap are lacking in both backs and forwards at present, although individually fire players worked well- Inglewood will not win. matches until-the team is trained to co-ordinate its play and go on the field knowing what to do. * * • * Okaiawa was unfortunate to be without the services of G. Ngaia and P. Toro in the backs against Tukapa at Okaiawa on Saturday. It was the northern team’s rearguard that won the game, and with; a better counter Okaiawa would probably have kept those flashing backs out more.often than it did. As it was Okaiawa’s backs acquitted themselves, nobly. It often looked as if nothing could stop the Tukapa men, when a couple of Okaiawa men would appear on the scene and retrieve a dangerous position. On defence the Okaiawa backs were sound, but they lacked the snap of Tukapa on attack. Wallace, at second five-eighth, gave an impressive display, while Brown, though he did a lot of usrful work, lost valuable time by making a complete turn before getting away with the ball. Boswell fed his backs with good parses, and. went down gamely to many an Okaiawa forward rush. The handling of the Okaiawa backs was too frequently a disappointment, but among them Edwards stood out well on attack and defence. Of the full-backs neither was inspiring. Papps frequently mulled the ball, while Tuki, although he made some good “saves,”’ was not outstanding. He was unlucky to receive bad knocks , and had finally to retire. Ex-All Black “Dave” Johnston, who came on in his place, showed flashes of his former greatness, tackling in fine style and attempting a difficult field goal when four points were badly wanted to give Okaiawa the lead. i Of the forwards Voullaire and O’Dowda in Tukapa’s pack and Wallis and Rosewarne in Okaiawa’s were impressive. » * «■ * The Old Boys-Eltham match was something of a paradox. The better team on the day undoubtedly lost—not by ill luck or a series of those peculiar little failures which the football critic finds difficult to sheet home, but because Galbraith, as centre, completely dominated the last ten minutes of play and z had, before that, completely altered the aspect of the game with one of the finest field goals the writer has ever seen scored.

The Eltham forwards, with the exception of one period of a few minutes not long after the opening of the second spell, dominated in scrums and close work and more than held then - own in the loose. White and Young played fine,, enterprising football and the finish of the backs behind them was superior to that' of Old Boys. Nevertheless Old Boys won. Why, apart from Galbraith, is a.' poser. Of the Old Boys backs Richardson played sound football, and Hoskin, if handicapped, nevertheless got the ball away unobtrusively and cleanly.' Among Eltham’s rearguard Townsend, if not on his top form, nevertheless played football that did not break down into outright weakness at any moment that really counted. # sfc # A striking feature of the KapongaWaimate match was the eagerness which is not always seen under better conditions. Play was confined to forward struggles in which polished effort was impossible and luck and hard pushing were the most important elements. Gar-

gan’s work was a lesson to the other forwards; he was continually on the ball, scoring tries or making near attempts whenever opportunity broke.

There were other forwards, too, whose work was worthy of commendation, and both packs toiled ceaselessly. Waimate was a trifle unfortunate in being unable to complete several promising attacks. In dry weather Kaponga’s rear-guard would probably have outclassed Waimate’s backs, who were by no means a well-balanced combination. **' * *

Neither Kaponga nor Waimate has anything like the teams possessed a year or two ago, and their football leaves considerable room for improvement

Both teams need the assistance of seasoned players who brought them to the top in past years. « # # * Paterson, James and Arnold were the brightest of Kaponga’s backs, the latter again playing briskly, after recent injuries. Gargan, West, Benton and Thoumine were the best of the forwards. C. Whalen and Paterson made Waimate’s back play, and M. Burke, C. Bourke,

Gulliver, Sutton, Hansen and G. Murfitt were prominent in the forward ranks.

In its last two games, and more particularly against Patea on Saturday, Athletic has shown a steady improvement. The main trouble seems to be the lack of interest shown ,by several of the players in turning out to practices. The same line of backs has never taken the field on more than three occasions, and while this continues the team cannot expect to develop any sort of combination. Improvement was particularly noticeable in the forwards on Saturday, Bublitz* Kerrisk, Perrett and McDonald being right on their game and often responsible for good rushes. Patea forwards did most of the hooking. Whenever Athletic did get the ball the back men did not allow it to go out cleanly to the half; /consequently the backs were given few opportunities to function.

L. Edwards,' the Patea second fiveeighth, was the only back to play a really sound game on Saturday. On defence

and in attack he was a shining example to the backs of both teams. His handling and kicking were always safe and he gave the men-outside him plenty of the ball. He is capable of a remarkable burst of speed and can swerve and sidestep without any riackening of pace. # # # #■ That a game is never won until the final whistle is sounded was never better illustrated than in the Hawera-Star game on Saturday. Having been kept on the defensive for the whole of the first half, Hawera turned the tables in the next spell and hammered away at Star’s sound defence. Unable to break through Hawera resorted to a\ tactical move that within five minutes 7 of time resulted in Guy kicking a field goal from a scrum under the posts. ’ ? ( Had Star been able to turn its first half opportunities to account there would undoubtedly have been a different tale to tell. Star had everything in its favour, the forwards penning the opposition down and securing possession in the loose. The backs, however, failed to deliver the goods. Macfarlane, who otherwise gave an impressive display, rather overdid kicking into touch. McKay and J. Kinsella were starved of the ball. A good centre would overcome much of Star’s back line difficulties. Hawera had the material in its rear line but failed in its efforts to pierce the Star defence. Dymond and Dowdle were the outstanding backs on the field. Both sets of forwards toiled well throughout the game.