OVAL ONCE AGAIN SEES DESPERATE RUGBY BATTLE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17835, 1 May 1926, Page 9

OVAL ONCE AGAIN SEES DESPERATE RUGBY BATTLE.

OLD BOYS BEAT CHRISTCHURCH AND ALBION DOWN LINWOOD.

Football enthusiasts flocked in their thousands to Lancaster Park this afternoon to see Christchurch and Old Boys try conclusions on the Oval. The meeting between these two old rivals generally results in a fast and spectacular game. Interest in to-day’s contest was increased by the fact that at the end of the previous round Old Boys and Christchurch were first equal in the competition. The two other senior games played at Lancaster Park were Linwood v. Albion, and Varsity v. Merivale. The weather was dull, and the rain had made the grounds softer than has been the case to date this season, a fact that was welcome to the players.

Old Boys v. Christchurch. There was again a very large crowd at Lancaster Parle this afternoon, when the third round of senior matches was played in dull but fine weather. The rain had made the grounds in capital order for play. The teams were:— Christchurch.—A. Neill, J. A. Fyfe, A. C. C. Robilliard, I. H. Brown. F. G. Hart, N. P. M’Gregor. T. F. Mullan, H. S. Feast, W. Melvin, H. B. Godfrey, A. H. Frame, T. F. Gibson, C. L. Bacon, P. Kirby, G. Scrimshaw. Old Boys.—J. Harris, R. Carleton, J. Hobday. S. Carleton, G. Mortlock, D. Hay, \V. Dailey. D. Dickson, J. Low, C. Speight I. Skipworth, I. Gray, S. Baird, F. Clark, D. Nixon. Old Boys kicked off from the south end, and immediately attacked. The Christchurch forwards broke up quickly , and got in amongst the opposing backs. A long kick by Scrimshaw compelled Harris to force down. Mullan marked from a weak left-foot kick by S. R. Carleton. but he made a poor attempt to goal from a good position. Adopting high kicking and fast following-up methods, Old Boys fought their way down to the Christchurch twenty-five, where a fine mark by Mullan checked an attack. Christchurch worked their way back to mid-field. From a scrum the ball came out to Mullan. The Christchurch half slipped round on the right-hand side of the scrum, and, beating Nixon, the Old Boys wing-forward, and Hay, he instituted a passing rush, in which the ball went smartly out to Brown, on the wing. When Brown was tackled he passed infield

to Robilliard, who finished off the movement with a try near the corner. Brown missed the shot at goal. The crowd became wildly excited, cries of "Red! Red! ” and “ White ! White!” came from the rival barrackers all round the ground. Dailey earned cheers from all quarters of the ground for a brilliant piece of solo play which took the ball from half way to inside the Christchurch twenty-five. Here Old Boys instituted a series of hot attacks, one of which was pulled up right on the line, through offside play by Gray. Old Boys were over anxious and some good opportunities were lost through penalties for off side. An Old Boys forward rush, headed by Nixon, Low and Dickson, reached within a yard of the Christchurch line where Neill, the Christchurch full back was caught in possession. Nixon kicked too hard and Christchurch forced down. Further breaches lost ground for Old Boys who were forced by a long kick. A Christchurch passing rush looked promising but broke down inside the Old Boys twenty-five. Dailey stemmed the Christchurch attack by taking a fine mark near his own line. Play swung back to midfield and Brown had a shot at goal from a penalty about five yards beyond the half way. His kick, however, was a poor one. A Christchurch attack on the left wing saw M Gregor centre well, but his kick was a little too hard and enabled Harris to force down.

Dailey was repeatedly conspicuous for good play, but the other backs were not handling the ball at all well. 0 1 d Boys, who had had numerous penalties against them, received their first fiee kick after over half an hour’s play. A second followed and Nixon had a shot from well beyond the twenty-five, but the ball went wide and Christchurch forced. Old Boys were not to be denied and a great forward rush swept down on the Christchurch full-back. Baird picked up the ball and hurled himself across the line with three or four opponents hanging on to him. It looked as though he might have.been held up, but the referee was on the spot and seeing Baird ground the ball had no hesitation in awarding a try. S. R. Carleton converted with a great kick from just, inside the touch line. Old Boys 5; Christchurch 3.

The pace slackened down for a few minutes and after quiet play in neutral territory Low got off side in a scrum near half-way and Brown had a shot at goal. The ball fell short and S. R. Carleton made ground with a long kick. Th- Old Boys forwards followed up a high kick and things looked dangerous for Christchurch, but Baird took the final pass off-side and the movement was pulled up. Halftime sounded with the score:— Old Boys 5 Christchurch 3 The play was being keenly contested and the tackling on both sides was

hard and determined. Mullan and Dailey, the rival haif-Dacks, were temporarily injured, but were able to resume. Dailey had to have some attention from the Ambulance men. Mortlock moved up to half-back and Dailey played second five-eighth. Old Boys were attacking near the Christchurch. line when another penalty sent them back. Old Boys were again three times penalised. From the third penalty Brown had a shot, but it was not his day on.

Old Boys attacked immediately on resuming, and a passing rush broke down at the Christchurch twenty-five. Here Melvin and Scrimshaw broke through and took the ball to their opponents’ twenty-five. Dailey was penalised for picking the ball out of the scrum, and Brown had a shot, but the ball went wide. Dailey worked the blind side cleverly- and sent R. Carleton away, but the wing three-quarter stepped into touch. Harris gathered in a ball beautifully on the run and gained forty yards with a fine kick, which rolled into touch. -

An Old Bows passing rush broke down at half-way, and. Robilliard broke through. He sent the ball on to M’Gregor, who ran up to Harris, and then passed to Brown. The Christchurch wing was left with a clear run in. He failed to convert his try. Christchurch led 6-5.

The excitement was now intense. Having recovered from his knock, Daliey moved up again to half-back. There was a roar as Sid Carleton broke away in a passing rush. The ball, however, was knocked out of his hands, and a lovely try was lost. From a penalty at half-way, Nixon essAyed a shot at goal, but the distance was too great. The ball rolled over the Christchurch line, and Robilliard forced down. A moment or two later S. R. Carleton had a shot from just inside half-way, and with a magnificent kick he turned the penalty to advantage by sending the ball fairly between the po?ts. Old Boys 8, Christchurch 6. Christchurch attacked properly, and some anxious moments on the Old Boys line followed. From a scrum the ball went to Brown, who dropped at goal. The ball went wide, and Hobday forced down. Play continued to be hard, and Mullan and Bacon were both temporarily laid out. Bacon had injured his leg, and had to go off, being replaced by H. N. Galbraith. A Christchurch passing rush broke down at half-way and, gathering up the ball smartly, Reg. Carleton ran to the Christchurch full-back and then passed to his brother, who beat the opposition for pace, and scored near the corner. He failed to convert his try.

Old Boys 11, Christchurch 6. Old Boys were having the better of the later stages of the game, and did most of the attacking. A long kick by R. J. Carleton was followed up by himself and Harris, and Robilliard was compelled to force down. The game ended with the play at midfield, and the final score: OLD BOYS 11 CHRISTCHURCH 6

Linwood v. Albion. Linwood kicked off with the wind In their favour. In the early stages of Bam® Albion attacked, hut their efforts were spoilt by off-side play. I heir backs tried pasing rushes, but without a great deal of success. A good run by Elvy put Albion on the defen- | sive. However, a Linwood player kicked too hard, and Albion forced. Plav settled round about half-way for a while. Then the Albion backs set up a passing rush, and Thompson was nearly over at the corner. He was pushed into touch. A minute or twe later Albion were awarded a free-kick, and Lilburne landed a goal. Albion S, Linwod 0. Albion continued to have the better of the game, one occasion Mortlock and Lilburne were prominent for good work. They gained ground, but were not supported by the other backs, and a chance of scoring was lost. From a penalty between half-way and twenty-five Lilburne had an unsuccessful shot at goal for Albion. The Albion forwards came away with a rush, but Columbus held them up by marking. Then .Linwood attacked, and for the first time carried play on to the Albion line. A free-kiclc relieved for Albion. Linwood kept up the attack. Their backs tried passing rushes, but without much success, owing to faulty handling and passing. Good work by Millar put Linwood in a scoring position. but Lilburne saved for Albion by a well-judged line kick. The Albion forwards, headed by Wylie, rushed play to the other end of the field, but it was returned to Albion’s end when Oornaga charged down a kick by the Albion full-back. Once again Lilburne saved, and got his side out of a dangerous position. Then 131 vy broke away, but he was wellmarked, and he did not get very far. Half-time was called soon after with the scores:— Albion 3, Linwood 0. Soon after the start Deidrich broke away and made an opening. He passed to M'Cormack and then the ball went to Payne who put in a good run but was brought down a yard or two from tne goal line. Linwood kept up the pressure and Deidrich secui*ed possession and dived for the line but just failed to get there. Play was transferred to mid field. Then Albion attacked. Lilburne and Smith were prominent. Smith put in a fine run which gained a lot of ground. After a line out near the Linwood goal line there was a scramble from which Pettit scored for Albion. Lilburne converted. Albion 8, Linwood 0. A few minutes later Smith scored for Albion after a good passing rush I started by Raxworthy. Smith dashed j

over with a great burst of speed. Lilburne failed to convert. Albion at this stage were having much the better of the game. From a mark Kennedy with a cross kick set Albion ori the attack. The movement ended in Mortlock scoring a nice try. Albion 14. Linwood 0. Then it was Linwood's turn. Elvy dodged his way through, and dashed away with only the full-back in front of him. He dodged Eaglesoine and went on to score between the posts. Edmonds added the major points. Albion 14, Linwood 5. The final stages of the game were strenuously contested, but there was no further score, and the game ended : ALBION 14 LINWOOD 5 Referee, Mr W. Duggan. Merivale v. Varsity. Soon after the start Merivale attacked strongly, and Jeff ides led the pack with a great run. From a scrum near the posts Hooper tossed the ball to Rhodes, who cut in nicely and scored. L. Ebert converted. When play was in Merivale’s twenty-five Rhodes broke away and transferred to Ford, who gave the dummy to Dickson and punted. Doreen, following up, beat the opposition for the touch down. Ebert’s kick failed. ’Varsity made several attempts to open up the game, but failed to strike combination. Alexander slipped in attempting to field and the ball rolled into touch near the line. Things looked dangerous till Smith headed the ’Varsity men in a great rush. In another Merivale attack the ball was centred arid Ford had an easy run In. Ebert converted. Continued effort carried ’Varsity to the Merivale line. Brodie secured from a scrum and forced his way over. Low’s kick missed. Dickson intercepted nicely and was backed up'by Shaw, the pack joining in, but fumbling spoilt a good movement. At half-time the score was: Merivale 13; ’Varsity 3. From loose play Duggan secured and set the backs going. Smart passing in which several men handled ended in

Doreen scoring near the corner after a determined run. Ebert did not convert. Merivale, playing up strongly, carried play to the twenty-five. From a scrum the ball went to Norrie, who ran straight through and ran round behind the posts. Rhodes converted. Green added to Varsity’s total by kicking a goal from a penalty. Varsity were penalised for offside play and Ebert kicked a goal. Varsity livened up their passing and threw the ball about very freely. They could not put on the finishing touch. Rhodes had a kick at goal for Merivale. The ball hit the post and bounced outfield. Stewart scored for Varsity. Petrie did not conert. The final score was: MERIVALE 24 VARSITY 9

NEXT SATURDAY’S MATCHES:— Linwood v. Christchurch. Varsity v. Albion. Merivale v. Old Boys.