ALBION ATTEMPT TO LOWER OLD BOYS’ COLOURS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17877, 19 June 1926, Page 9

ALBION ATTEMPT TO LOWER OLD BOYS’ COLOURS.

The weather was beautifully fine for the continuation of the Rugby games this afternoon. There was a large attendance at Lancaster Park where Old Boys, with a substantial lead for the championship, met Albion on the Oval. This was the first appearance of Albion on the “ pride of place ” ground this season. As they had sprung- some big surprises the public were anxious to have a look at them. There was also a big crowd at the Show Grounds, where Merivale and Christchurch were contesting the position of runners-up.

POSITION OP THE TEAMS. The following: table shows the position of the teams at the end of to-day’s

Boys made another determined effort, and a series of scrums occurred near the Albion line. An Albion forward was penalised near the twenty-five, and Nixon had a shot at goal, the ball just going wide. A period of wildly exciting play followed. Old Boys were making desperate attempts to make up their ar- , rears, but the Albion defence was very j solid. 11. Lilburne was brilliant and j frequently earned applause. Dailey set j the Old Boys backs going from a scrum, ! and Mortlock made a good run. He | tried to go too far, however, and was j overhauled, with Harris and Carleton I outside him- Old Boys were not to be denied, however, and passing be- ! tween Dailey, Hay and Carleton let the j wing three-quarter over in the corner.

Old Boys v. Albion. Old Boys.—J. Harris, R. Carleton, bCarle ton, J. Hobday. Mortlock, D. Ilay, W. Dallev, J. Low. I. Gray,. P. Clark, A. Jacobs, D. C. Nixon, C. Speight, S. Baird, and D. M’K. Dickson. Albion. —M. Kaglesome, G. Mortlock. M. Lilhurne, R. Thompson, L. Rax worthy, H. Lilburne, 11. Cox, T. Cerottv. T. O'Connor. W. Pettit, R. Calder. D. Finnegan, J. Middleton, J. Kennedy and J. Beattie. Old Boys wore crepe bands on -their left arms in respect to the memory of the late Mr C. E. Bevan-Brown. Old Boys played with the sun, and had the better of the opening exchanges. Much to the delight of the big crowd. Lilburne made a fine run to near the Old Boys line, but his pa&s in-field was mulled. Then a passingrush went out to the right wing, and Thompson had bad luck in knocking the ball on when he had a clear run in. Albion were undoubtedly favourites, and their attacks drew applause from all round the ground. Prom a penalty from beyond the twenty-five Lilburne had a shot at goal, but the ball fell short. Nixon was penalised for charging into a line-out, and II- Lilburne had another unsuccessful shot at goal. A moment or two later Lilburne had a third shot., through R. Carleton getting off-side when he and Hay handled the ball together. The third time proved successful, Lilburne opening the scoring to the accompaniment of loud cheering and applause. Albion 3, Old Boys nil. Albion set up a hot attack with a dribbling rush, but the chance of a try was lost through the ball being kicked over the dead ball line. A couple ol penalties against Albion saw play removed to the other end, where from a scrum Albion were penalised again. Nixon's shot went wide. H. Lilburne checked an Old Boys' attack by taking a mark. Passing among the Albion, backs saw play once more at Old Boys’ end, but then a snappy bout of passing among the Old Bovs’ forwards sent the ball back again, and a score nearly resulted, the last man being brought down a yard or two from the lme. From another penalty beyond the t wen tv-five Nixon had a shot. The ball fell under the bar. Working the blind side cleverly, Dailey sent the ball out to Hay, who passed in to R. Carleton. The last-named centred to his forwards and a dribbling rush beat tnc Albion full-back, Low falling on the ball in a good position. S. Carleton missed with the kick. Albion 3, Old Povs 3. Albion came at it again and Grotty made a run. but Thompson was just too far away to be able to take the pass cleanly when he had practically a, clear run in. Then Low broke away with a great run for Old Boys, following which Old Boys set up a passing rush, but Hobday was safely brought doftvn near the line. A penalty against the attackers enabled 11. Lilburne to clear Albion's line. Dailey made an

Nixon kicked a magnificent goal. Old Boys 8, Albion 6. Albion were penalised near their twenty-five, and Nixon kicked another fine goal. Old Bovs 11. Albion 6. The game was not over yet. Albion stuck gamely to their task and a passing rush in which the ball was beautifully handled, ended in Thompson getting across in a good position. Lilburne failed to convert. Old Boys 11. Albion 9. Time was called shortly afterwards with Old Boys on the attack. OLD BOYS 11 ALBION 9 Linwood v. Varsity. Tri the early part of the spell Linwood forwards pressed very hard and penned Varsity in the 25. Green cleared on several occasions, and then the Varsity backs got into their stride, gaining some territory. Lpveridge had a kick from a penalty; it was a poster. Returning to the attack again. Limvood hovered in the 25. J. Turpin had three kicks from penalties. All were good attempts, but missed. After scrambling play Brittenden scored for Linwood. Edmonds missed the kick. M’Cormack headed the Linwood pack in a great rush, but Fookes broke through the ruck arid set Varsity off in a. bright passing movement, in which several men handled. Edmonds cleared in the nick of time. Elvy scored a. try on his own. Following up fast, he kicked past Green, gathered in the ball and crossed unopposed near the corner. Turpin failed to convert. The score at half-time was:— Linwood 6, Varsity 0. Within a few minutes of the opening of the spell Varsity swept up to the line. In a. passing rush Barak cut in nicely, transferred to Grant, and then Dickson crossed. Loycridge failed to chnmotorised *a~ good* deal' V»f '"the spelt. Varsity equalised when Brodle set the backs going, and the ball travelled to Eoveridge, who crossed unopposed. Lovcridge did not convert. Varsity backs opened up play, but found the defence good. Payne, Millar and Hopley carried play to the Varsity line. Turpin cut through. His pass was intercepted by Low, who, however, sent out a ba d pass. Hearn dribbled up to the ’Varsity twenty-five, where a Linwood back had it drop kick at goal, which missed. The final soore was;— LINWOOD 6 ’VARSITY 6 Referee: Mr 33. Rudkin. Merivale v. Christchurch. Merivale. and Christchurch met at I he Show Grounds. Merivale were without the services of tneir half back, Hooper, and this necessitated a rearrangement of the backs. Rhodes played half, Ford live-eighths, and Duggan was moved from the forwards to lake Ford s place in the three-quarter line. Jeffries was also an absentee, and his place was taken by Giles, boon alter the kick off Christchurch attacked, and Merivale were compelled to force. Christchurch came at it again and a good chance of scoring was lost through M’Gregor failing to take a pass. Good work by Ford and Duggan saw play carried to half way. The Merivale forwards worked play well inside their opponents’ territory. A free kick relieved for Christchurch. A few minutes later Merivale returned to the attack, their forwards headed by Blazey sweeping through the opposition. Ford joined in and he was nearly over between the posts. Merivale kept up the pressure, and presently Norrie scored for them. J3bert. added the major points. Merivale 5, < Miristchuroh 0. Scrimshaw, the Christchurch wing forward, got away with the ball at ills toes. He dribbled past everyone and a try seemed certain, but Doreen just beat him for the touch down. Doreen stopped another Christchurch rush by taking a good mark. Christchurch continued to attack, and presently their efforts were rewarded. Galbraith picked up a few yards from the goal line. He threw the ball out to Scrimshaw, who scored between the posts. Mullan converted and made the score 5 all. The Merivale backs set up a passing rush, and Doreen was nearly over at the corner flag. Clever play by Oliver gave Maxwell a chance, but he did not know what to do with the ball when he had it, and he threw an opportunity of scoring away. Half time was called with the scores:— Merivale 5, Christchurch 5. Kirkland, who had been injured in the first spell, retired at half-time, and his place was taken by Jeffries. Soon after the kick-off the Christchurch forwards, led by Scrimshaw, set up a strong attack. The ball was dribbled over the line between the posts and Farrant touched down for a try. Mullan converted. Christchurch 10. Merivale 6. Merivale set up several strong attacks, Oliver especially being prominent for good play. Once the ball was thrown out to Duggan on tlie wing, when he was in a handy position to score, but he dropped the pass. A few minutes later Ebert kicked a good goal from a penalty. Christchurch 10, Merivale S. Then Christchurch took another turn at attacking. M’Gregor gained ground with a clever run and then transferred to Galbraith, who scored between the posts for Mullan to convert. Christchurch 15, .Merivale 8. A litlle later Mullan added to the 1 Christchurch score with u. goal from a penalty. Christchurch 18, Merivale S. After this addition to the score Merivale attacked and there were some exciting struggles near the Christchurch goal line. Christchurch drove Merivale back, but they returned to the attak, and from a penalty Ebert kicked a goal for them. Christchurch 18, Merivale 11. Merivale made desperate efforts to add to their total and several times they came near doing so. At last their efforts were rewarded. Doreen scoring far out. Ebert failed to convert. In the last few minutes Christchurch attacked and from a, passing rush F*yf on the jrlng, gcoratL con-verted

opening and sent Dickson, Baird and Nixon away in a dribbling rush. The. trio dribbled the ball over the line, but Albion forced down just in time. A well sustained Albion rush swept through the defence, and from a low pass M. Lilburne kicked the ball over the line and Mortlock dashed up and fell on it. H. Lilburne just failed to convert. Albion 6, Old Boys 3. The crowd were once more, delighted that the championship leaders were three points to the bad. G. Mortlock, Old Boys, next made a fine dribbling run, which gained forty yards of ground for his side. Passing among the Old Boys’ backs saw Hay caught in possession near the Albion line. Further passing among the Old Boys’ backs found the Albion tackling very solid. From a loose scrum near the Albion line the ball went out to Hobday, who got across, but was pushed ; nto touch in goal. Half-time sounded with the scores:— Albion 6, Old Boys 3. Syd. Carleton did not c.ome on again for Old Boys after half-time, and this necessitated a rearrangement of the backs. Harris came up to centre, while Nixon went to full-back and Skipworth filled Nixon’s place in the forwards. Old Boys had the better of the opening stages of the second spell, but Albion were playing a spoiling game, and consequently the play was not particularly bright. From a loose scrum near the Albion line, Dailey ran round on the blind side, and grounded the ball a foot inside the corner flag. He was very much surprised to find the line umpire standing with his flag up about four yards from the corner. Following the line-out, a couple of good kicks by H. Lilburne cleared the Albion line. Shortly afterwards Albion were awarded a free kick in midfield, when Nixon fielded the ball. The penalty evidently was for obstruction, but the crowd did not take it very kindly. Working the scrum on the blind side, Dailey sent the ball out to Hay, who got across the line, but was held up. Fast following-up by Nixon had Eaglesome in trouble, but H. Lilburne saved nicely from behind his own line. Three penalties against Old Boys placed Albion on the attack again. Raxworthy charged down a kick bj' R. Carleton, and Old Boys were very lucky; in effwsfcm* at force Old

With a fine kick. There were no further scores and the game ended— CHRISTCHUURCH 23 MERIVALK 14 Referee: Mr 11. Walker. MAOSI TRIAL. Per Press Vssociation. GISBORNK. dune 1?. In the Maori trial to select a team to go to Franco the score at half-time Terawhiti 5, Rest of North Island 2. PLAYER INJUJRED A footballer named Marshall, playing for West Christchurch, was kicked on the head and was taken to the hospital.

play:— Points Oh. w. L. r>. f. a. Pts. Old Boys 8 1 1 141 SO Si Christchurch 5 3 2 140 102 G Albion 5 u — 71 134 5 MerivRJe .... 4 G — 139 125 4 Varsity 3 R 2 114 130 4 Bin-wood 1 6 3 70 3 04 2b