FOOTBALL

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1648, 4 June 1925, Page 5

FOOTBALL

THE BU&BY VOAMRV

CANTERBURY, v.. WEUJNGTON.u : .;,;

(By- Telegraph. fcreSa Association.)

WELLINGTON, This Day

in At the Soccer, mat&h, 'Canterbury, y. .WftHington, oijlyi about 1000 people braved the wintry day,,, Despite the., sodden ground and driving rain there \yas .some exciting,play'and the visit-' org deserved their win; by 5 goals to fj 3. Trotter, their crack centre for-' ward, was brilliant throughout and, three of the goal's. > ' ,';..' "'■: • |

n.z. v. Wellington!

Wellington; .. This; Day.

The New Zealand v. Wellington Rugby match, was played,in a southerly gale, with cold .rain falling .-most of the time and the ground was a, quagmire and really "good play was out of the question. The attendance was only about 3000. Wellington scored two tries, both ; of which M. Nicholls converted, one by a splendid kick from near the touch line. New Zealand, also had two tries, both in front of the goal, but neither was converted. In the second half they had the wind at the back of them and hammered continuously at Wellington's line, but the defence was far stronger than local sides have put'up for some years past. Though technically beaten the New Zealand team did enough to show it contains some fine players who may be expected to show up much better on the fast Australian grounds.

HAWKE'S BAY BEAT WAIRARAPA.

(By Telegraph. Press Association.) NAPIER. This Day. The first Ranfurly Shield match against Wairarapa resulted in an easy victory for the holders by 22, to 3. They had Nepia, Mill, Paewai, M. and C. Brownlie playing, and though the visitors did good work in the loose they had little ability in pushing home their attack. The day was fine but dull, and the attendance was nearly 10,000. For the holders Greenside (2), Mi'l, Brownlie, Wylie and Mahoney each scored. Booth scored Wairarapa's three points a penalty kick.

WANGANUI v. TARANAKI,

WANGANUI, This Day.

The annual Rugby match was.played in wet weather and. resulted in a draw (12 all) after exciting play. For Taranaki Brown kicked a penalty goal and Robinson, Kivelland.Ennis. scored tries, none being converted. For Wanganui tries were obtained by Bellis,, McAuliffe (2), and Collier, but none were converted.

COMBINED WAIPA V TAUMARUNUI pirates: v

The Junior match arranged between Taumarunui Pirates and a combined Methodist-Rovers team eventuated on Albert Park yesterday afternoon Mr I. F. McDonald officiating as referee. Neither side was up to full strengthfar from it; in fact Taumarunui actually only had 14 players, and borrowed young Clarke (High School) who, however,'played his'part well and was in the thick of it right through.' Taumarunui kicked off and essayed an attack, but the locals soon took the offensive and in a few minutes were pressing the visitors hard. After five minutes G. Balme (who was playing first five-eighths for the. first time in his experience) secured the leather, ran straight, punted and again secured to run in and score a try. E. Storey goaled with a good kick. The locals were soon attacking again, and throwing the ball about more effectively .than their opponents. K. Balme and G. Bowden were stopping, all attempts to break through, while "Wenham, Bell and G. Balme were quick to press home each advantage. From one) invasion .of Taumarunui's 25 G. Balme secured in front of the goal, and ,he made straight,for the posts, cutting in neatly to score his second try. Storey was again .successful with the kick, The visitors, though getting the ball cleanly from the scrums, were not making good use of this advantage,' and their backs were being bustled by the Waipa forwards. On the 25 line Storey secured and.had a pot at goal, the ball going just outside the uprights. A minute later he marked 30 yards out and again his kick was a good one, though unsuccessful. After the change oyer Taumarunui forwards were warming up, to their work, Olsen leading the van in three or four loose rushes. 'However each attempt was broken down and at length K. Balme secured near the side line, raced ,up the line, punted over the -.wing, three-quarter's • head, and rushed the full .back, who did not clear neatly. Hall, who had also dashed up, secured on the back line and scored Waipa's third try. Storey failed to convert. At half time the score was 13 to nil. The second half saw Taumarunui playing an appreciably better game, With varying fortunes. For an infringement by "a Te Awamutu forward.right in front of his own goal. Austin registered "a nice goal, thus scoring the opening points for Taumarunui. The last.spell had only been in progress a couple of minutes when Austin scored a try from a loose scramble in the local 25.; Rice failed with the kick. Play was faster and more keen, but the visitors could not improve on their score. The game ended: Waipa 13, Taumarunui 6. ■. . ..■"■• '■■■■■'■: .i .. ;>?■■;« •:•>.

For the winners G. Balme gave ,the best exhibition among the rearguard, though the others did well Of the forwards Bravo and Adams were the most conspicuous. Taumarunui's best backs were Rice (full back), Grattan and Gabblinsky, and in the forwards Olson. Austin was improving as he went along, a remark that applied in l lesser degree to all the visiting pack. " In the evening the visitors were; entertained to dinner, where they were complimented on their sporting spirit and clean play. : There was a-desire for a return match on the first available Saturday, preferably at Taumarunul, but if not practicable, then at Te Kuiti. Judging by the way the teams fraternised on and off the field the whole thirty would like to -meet again. - The visitors returned home by the i Main Trunk express train last night!"

MANIAPOTO (7> V; WAIPA (6). The Waipa 'Senior reps, played their first 'game this season yesterday ; -at •te -Kuiti, when the Maniapoto representatives were their opponents. Neither,team. was. up ,to jits full strength, and as they lined but the chief com- ' men't was -the. disparity in size and apparent weight; the King Country be quite list,, heavi i.er M ,in. the. average. ,'. However, the /Waip.as went off , from the start full of vim and by fast pW soon bad the ! home" team doing their very best to avoid, sigqal defeat,- Fred Beet, Was first.to score* getting a nice try, his ■swervy run quite baffling the. opposition. Keeping iip. the pressure, with Ralph Smith leading the van most times,- the Waipas -were again attacking, and F.. Beet, scored a second try. Again ; the attempt to goal failed. La-, ter one of the ; Maniapoto forwards bustled over Waipa's line-and scored a try. < p;ay was much more strenuous in the second half, and the home players were being urged on by their , barrackers. Waipals " centre threequarter was limping from an injury suffered early in the game and Mauriohoho; was not feeling at ease. He changed places with Pat Quin at fullback. Kelly was not seen to best advantage, being rather too prone to hang on : to the 1 leather instead of ; opening the play. Some good openings , were missed chiefly through this lack.. i The Maniapotos profited by some long kicking and gradually 'made ground until they had Waipa defending strenuously. The ball came out from the ruck to a.Maniapoto back, who potted a neat goal, his task being made easier by the fact that he was unmarked. This gave the home team a lead of one point, and Waipa could not reverse the position, try as they may. The game was a really good one and the final scores—Maniapoto 7, Waipa 6 indicates the strength of the teams on the day.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. A vast improvement in the standard of play was evident in all matches on Saturday last, and as predicted in previous notes when the season is a bit further advanced the Rugby code in this Union wi/l,,he on a par with anything seen here for some seasons past. While Parawera struck their real'form, the OhaUpo team apparent-ily-.had; a day off 7 Their forwards did not.combine so well as previously and as a result they were hard ,put to it to keep Te Kawa from securing a victory:l" j ''"■'

The work of the Parawera backs was at times a treat to watch,, their backing up and understanding being notable. Bbswell was on his',.game, for the first time this season,' as, was Barton. Freeman put in a lot of useful work and opened the eyes of the spectators when he gave Noble a start and a beating in the length of the field. When Noble intercepted a pass on Saturday it looked any old odds on his scoring. Like many other players when all the players are behind them Noble made the mistake of looking behind, and it was just this. little peep that lost him the try. Players should keep their-eyes glued on the goal line once-they have passed all the opposition. , ;•.,•;. <.H.'lv-

That there is something wrong with the Juniors this season was made more apparent last Saturday, when Rovers and Parawera could only field 22 men between them. To say the least of it this. state of affairs is a farce. We have only three Junior teams in ; the competition this season and when a Club cannot turn out a full team it is time the Union gave a little more consideration to the lower grades. It is Ml very well running after the Seniors,'but if>this state of af-fairs-is allowed to continue in two or three years time there will be- no Seniors to follow.

Crotty had a, great opportunity to. rhaYk'-'in front of the goal on Saturday; but instead tried to swing . his bapiks into action. It was a sure thTee points The' Rovers Seniors played a much better game on Saturday than on the previous Saturday and if Parawera had not come to light and shown their true form Rovers would have broken their "duck." A continuance of this form will make it awkward '.vfbr the leading teams'in the second round; A-very palpable, weakness in/..the Rovers backs was the tendency of-most' of the players, to wait for.the bounce which in the majority of times beat them. • '.,-.• .. J .

This writer has. a lot of time-for Campbell, as a rover, but if he continues to try/and "speculate" a ball which is fout or five feet off the ground as he did a couple of times onl Saturday "Offside" will have to change his views. .Cut it put Charlie before it becomes a habit. Remember that trip south with the Waikato reps. TEAMS FOR SATURDAY. . Rover Seniors;— Langmuir, Short, Noble, Rawiri, Nicholls, Dalley, Bennett,. Flay, Lehndorf Moore, Higgins; Crotty, Loomb. Gallagher, .Patterson. Emergencies:' Hinton, Teddy. Te Kawa Seniors^—R; Kere, T, Wright, B. Carr, G: Narby, G. Thompson, T.Wallis, J. James, ,T, Hamana, N. Rodgers, P. Ngarotata, R. Grant. C. Tamaki, T. Kingi, H. Tai and R. Ormsby. Emergencies; W. Hose, Ngama„T. Clark and Kite. ■■■■..■ :. ' Methodist Juniors.—Head, Raine, Parrish, Swain, Rodgers, Lawry, Morris, Woo'lston, Balme'(2), Nicholson A. Patterson, Johanson, Shepherd, Marsh. : Emergency.—'Christie.

K" Rover Juniors. —Ticklepenny, Wen : ham, Wood, Irwin, Black Finch, G. Bbwden, Storey, Harris, Walker, Mall,. Old, Adams, Bridge, Spiers, Bravo and Sutton.

Methodist Thirds,—Vincent, Parrish, Connolly, Martin, Sinnett, Johnson, Short, Mehsforth, Bowden, Mills, 'Nixon, Gregory, Bro Ugh (2), Were, Hay ward, Anderson, Smith.