FOOTBALL

Te Puke Times, 26 August 1919, Page 2

FOOTBALL

TE PUKE WINS THE / KUSABS CUP.

The final for the Kusabs.Cup competition was played on the racecourse grounds, Rotorua, on Saturday last; * A large number of Te Puke supporters made the trip to Rotorua in the morning, and iudeing by the vociferous athe late

stages of the great .Kugoy struggle, they went there in good barracking condition. The cars with the team on board eft the rendezvous at the Te Puke Hotel at 9 o'clock, Rotorua was reached about mid-day, and all the invading host camped for the time , at fie House. M 2.30 a farhorse brake pulled up outside the hntpl and the Te Puke team,

nOlvl —• i. i stripped for the fray, were taken to the convincing ground. . ; KotQ>. rua had turned out en masse. The weather left nothing .to .be desired. The local band was in attendance playing lively airs. A large number of ladies were present and the soldier boys were there in strong muster.

At five minutes to three a burst of cheering all around the course greeted the advent of the Rotorua team into the arena. As they marched out, clad in the AH Black colours, they looked a .formidable and hefty lot of warriors, and the enthusiastic applause wfth which they we're i welcomed indicated that Rotorua felt,the

muiuaicu - ...„ coveted Kusabs< trophy was in the, hands of capable defenders, Montgomery shortly afterwards led his men in single file out m the field, and it was observed at once that, as a team, they were lighter than the they were in the pink of condition and eager for the tussle. The preliminaries were completed, the whistle sounded, and the fun ber

From the outset the Rotorua team attacked hotly. They go the ball in the scrum, and oat it went to their backs in good style. The backs charged down_on the Te Puke citadel, but the Te Puke rear«uatd was there solid as a rock, and man after man ias taken in superb.'style,-and the line cleared. Again and again the Rotoruas carrte ut-it, ih>3 toiv tMnrda ioininK in the last ana

Wttiuo jviMiuo •» —- , , dashing play, but- the collating was deadly and effective, and Austin's line-kicking w.Muro. Here, as the game proceeded, a factor in the result became aprmrent. Some of the speedier I e SSe forwards, the ball. being lost from the scrum, were chasing the • attacking .backs, and tearing them down with eager hands. Some brilliant work oa bothsides marked this period of the game, when the Rotorua star spemed in the ascendant, Three timeß in this spell Te Puke turned on their opponents and invaded Mipir territory. In .one attack

Well' leimvij' -» --- Gardiner secured the ball from a line-out, and fending oft one opponent after another, came up the touch line like a charger, only to be called back by the line urnnire. In another a passing rush by the Te Puke backs, which I Monty, Rogers, Asher, McGeehan and McEwen took part, gave Kotorua a foretaste of what was' to come later, when Montgomery set his backs galloping in earnest,, The other was a forward attack headed by Gardiner, Morton, and Petherbridge, but theßotorua full-back,Thom; was equal to the occasion, and, kicking strongly saved the situation. The second quarter saw a gradual change in the: nature of the

play. Te Puke fcad the measure of their rivals, -i-he fast tactics of the Te Pake forwards, and the dashing jcharacter of the backs began to be apparent, Superior form and speed also were beginning to tell„and the game travelled rapidly up and down the field, long safe kicks by Rotorua gaining great spaces m the held, rushes and passes by le Puke regaining the lost ground, Ihe nace increased, and the play became very willing. There were no beg pardons and no hesitation. In this part of the game Petherbridge was in his element, and was playing with evenvmore than his accustomed brilliancy and dash. Unfortunately for Te Puke, malaft in "front Ol tilG

in a general meiee in iruui, ui mo coveted line he received an injury to his knee which necessitated his removal from the field, and Naira took his place. Half time was sounded shortly afterwards. The resumption of hostilities saw a heavy, offensive launched by Rotorua, but Gardiner cleared, and the-ball was worked down the line to within striking distance. Then Monty# slung his backs into action,'and a spectacular passing rush, Monty to Asher, to Kokiri, to McGeehan, saw the , latter player tackled strohgly near the line, The ball wwlwt,

but in the general- scramble , Asher secured, beat several men. was blocked in front of the*; goal, side-kicked across to Rogers, > who snatched it up, dodged hrt { opponents, and, amid tumultuous,; !__i oni-naa roffiarPi'.

applause, dasnea across, ing the first points for TePuke. Gardiner added the extra pointfl-r" TePuke 5, Rotorua o.' Froni the * kick-off Te Puke came again to the attack., Tapeta the line-out . charged down the line,- and was Bhoved out in a, dangerous situation.- A line-out followed. Monty secured, ats sent out to Asher, tq Kokiri, to Rogers, to McGeehan, and the; latter putting .on steamy caryM-i 'up the intervening' in,; a good position transferred; to Wihapi, who dashed round hw men and was over.' The kick at : goal failed.; TePuke 8/ ]^oraa (V " u ' MS'"'";!

Rotorua now shook themselvelS up and matters became very willing and interesting. Thomvßeke, and Woods; were conspicuous ?it some smart work/ but' Te Piike'i defence was impregnable; 4de terminer run by a heavy.Rotorui forward was stopped by a slash ing heavyktackle of Rogers, fan a Te Puke forward attack deyel oping, long line kicks by Rotor® brought that side much needs

relief. * • The last quarter was chock fi of exciting incidents. It openc with an attack by the Te Pul backs which was blocked arid line oat resulted. Loose ; : pl followed. ■ Monty' secured, sg ic to Asher, to. Kokiri, top Geehan, to McEwen who rat along the line and over.,i t kick at® goal failed. 'From' , kick off Gardiner marked, am fine long kick again had Roto in : trouble. Another' forw rush developed near tta goal in the willing scrarhKa for; J session of the ball Mor ton I cured and transferred to Mofi who crossed the line andscpg ; McGeehan added the rriajor pcfi , From the kick off the'-Rotog i attacked and drove their opg ents down the field, and her® ! interesting piece of play dH

oped. A scrum in front of Rotorua aoal say/ the ball? t from Clarke, the Rotorua| to.Reke, to Woods, to Thorn the latter was almost over:; a brilliant tricky run when , got him low with a hard, tackle. McGeehan cleared? mid-field, the forwards'! the ball'down the field, £ Gardiner, snapping it another dashing run, anffi ferred to Tapeta. who. lj magnificent spurt got acrog scored. The' kick failed.fi Rotoruas were playing ha|

came to light with an| From a scram in Te Pukej Rotorua half, Clarke, 6 transferred to Reke, to T Woods, - 'who raced for .tl McGeehan- galloped up somewhere, grabbed hi snatched the from hi set off back f he Rotoi The Rotorua attack becar treat with every.man oft save the fullback, bearir speedy Rover. He ran tl length of the field,, and; ; moat over when'the fulu him, But Te Puke* were robbed of thtir prey, N ; out of the ruck, sent, • Asher, to McGeehan, to ; raced oyer at the.cc BC.rid the final try.^Th' , not converted, and tl c ended. • ,

CMUGUr- ' V V Te Puke : 22, Rotort It is hard to picfc players in the winning' is sufficient to say that i justified his position lrt Montgomery- as skippi team, gave a of generalship, For Rotorua, the vet' was really the best inv Rekft, Wood* ' and! also played Mb games ■ Mr R. Rule, of : trolled the game in an efficient manner. 1 A most gratifying fef day's did spirit shown by tti supporters, The victory was, $ plauded, find too M be said for ihe fine' spirit which is to bd;i hot lakes districts. -

Club matches mm next Saturday, RaiM Rangatawa on No/Jffl Cooney.to be refereew meeting Paengaroaffl ground with Mr N YfIM On Saturday reps will visityTferßH the following SattiWgi the Te Puke rep'reseH| j journey to;WhakawH