RUGBY FOOTBALL

Te Puke Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 59, 26 July 1938, Page 3

RUGBY FOOTBALL

OPOTIKI V TE PUKE

The visit by the Opotiki representative team on Saturday was the first made for many seasons to Te Puke. On this occasion the team which took the field wad considerably weakened by the absence of l five of the originally selected men who were not able to make the trip. The fixture was poorly attended, and possibly the Australian-N.Z. test was a detrimental factor in this respect. Te Puke defended the town end of the field first. The Opotiki forwards packed nicely in set gcrtUDS, and led by Ashdown (Capt.) Walker, and McLoughlin, ■■ were stemmed by P. Mann who played solidly throughout. At foil back, had plenty of work, fi<Sbing surely but lacking power with his line kicks. The Te Puke forwards, among whom Clark was making a worthy debut, gave the backs a feast of the ball. P. Mann and Ahomiro combined efficiently, but neither K. Kelly nor B. Smith made much head-way. J. Griham and T. Wilson, both first class scoring agents were

consequently starved whenset movements took place. Both how- » ever, made play from the loose and Grahame in the first half brought «he crowd to its toes with a couple of spectacular bursts. On the tew occasions McDonald, Apanui, Mihaere and Shalfoon were -in possession, they handled snappily and penetrated dangerously.

An even first spell ended in favour of Te Puke by 3pts to nil, the points being gained by Ahimiro, who scored from a nice opening by P. Mann. The local representatives gave a much bett* r and brighter exhibition on resuming, and almost dominated the second spell. Immediatly on resuming, Steevens, Rhubie and Clark returned the ball to Opotiki teriritory and bustled Walker, Shalfoon and Delamere

combined and brought play to grand stand side where scrappy football i took place. A promising back , movement in which Mann, Ahimiro. Kelly and Wilson figured, was pulled up when J. Graham failed to secure an inside pass. Apanui picked up and line-kicked strongly. From the line-out the ball was thrown back smartly but McDonald missed altogether and in a flash P. Webber was through, and when opposed near the posts handed to P. Clark who completed the movement with a good try. Satherly goaled. Shortly afterwards, P. Webber s again conspicuous with a fine break but was this time unsupported. Opotiki were definitely unlucky when Apanui cut in smartly and Mihaere broke clean away.' Porter and Delamere handled ?tnd had a clear and short run to score when the last named tripped and was ' quickly surrounded by the Te Puke forwards. Opotiki maintained the pressure and were awarded a penalty on the side on the 25 yards mark. Ashdown missed. A. Rhubie who was in the thick of everything, cleared successfully for Te Puke. From the line-out, the ball came back to P. Mann who fed his backs and Kelly broke right away, sped down the field and handed on to Wilson who looked certain to score but was tackled by Walker. T.

Wilson was soon in the picture again

and after picking up in the loose cut out a man and seht on to Graham who ran around the opposition to score. The kick failed. Te Puke .were definitely on top at this stage and K. Kelly with a powerful run almost scored on his own, being tackled bn the goal line. T. Wilson short kicked and caught Walker, the full-back in possession under the goal posts. A scrum followed and Opotiki releived. Back at half-way Ahimiro passed to Kelly, who short kicked towards the touch line and T. Wilson racing through and securing outpassed the defenders and scored a well deserved try. The kick missed. Play continued at a fast pace and fluctuated up and down the field. On the call of time, N. Shalfoon picked up in the Te Puke 25, veered in-field and flung a pass to Delamere who scored behind the posts. No further points were added and Te Hike were victorious by 14 pts to 3. ' The referee was Mr A. Spratt. JUNIOR TRIAL *

The match, Possibles versus • Probables, ended in a draw, 3 all, both lots of points beine gained early from penalty kicks. The Possibles, composed of more or less the representative back line, threw the ball to each other as much as possible. Most of these passing movements, however, were crosscountry in nature and gained little ground. Webbie handled delightfully and proved himself a tricky player. The Probable backs tackled well bat individualism marred their efforts on attack. The Possible » forwards held the Probables in fine gtyle. Referee, Mr C. Donovan.