RUGBY FOOTBALL

Waipa Post, Volume 51, Issue 3645, 19 July 1935, Page 7

RUGBY FOOTBALL

PEACE CUP ELIMINATION. WAIPA v. MANIAPOTO. The Peace Cup elimination match, Waipa v. Maniapoto representatives, was played at Albert Park on Thursday afternoon, but owing to adverse weather conditions there was not a largo attendance oi spectators. Mr H. Johnson, oi Hamilton, w,as the referee. The teams were:

Waipa, maroon and gold: W. Bell, E. Bell, W. Tombs, L. Young, J. Hanna, ,M. Beil, A. Oakes, Scriven, Spence, Askew, T. Thomson, A.. Thomson, Holmes, Meredith, Thomas. Maniapoto, green and white: Turner,-; Craig, Pickrang, Gault, T. Brown, Peterson, Trust, Davis, Johnston, R. Barton, J. Evans, Elliot, McLeod, K. Cameron, Buckley. Waipa opened the game with an attack along the line, and then the ball went right across, where W. Tombs was almost over. Play was worked back upheld, and Waipa were in trouble when W. Bell was caught in possession. But hard work by the forwards recovered the ground. A penalty kick .40 yards out let McLeod have a shot, but ho failed and M. Bel) found the line. Scrums in Waipa’s 25 saw Spence come through and open piny/ but tliby were still.ort the defensive, and kept there for several minutes. The visitors were doing best in the scrum work, hooking consistently. Spence, offside, let Maniapoto make more ground, and Waipa were in trouble from a nice passing rush. Line work , let Waipa upfield, but McLeod kicked right to the cor ner flag. The ball soon went right across to the other corner, and McLeod had another shot at goal from a penalty. The kick failed and Meredith cleared only to see Bradley return it to the corner. Meredith off side from a scrum gave Cameron a chance, but the ball fell just under the crossbar. Then the Waipa backs combined nicely, for E. Bell to be dragged down. W. Bell found the line for safety. An exchange of kicks followed, with Buckley doing best, but W. Bell was kicking with judgment, and soon he compelled Maniapoto to force. Waipa were on the attack for a time, but were sent back, and McLeod from a penalty kick failed to find the side line, and Waipa forced. The pace slackened, and Maniapoto were steadily gaining ground. Gault created excitement when he dribbled down the side line, but he was grassed, and half time came with no score.

Even ,play followed the resumption of play, and then the Waipa forwards combined .nicely to almost go over, but they lost the advantage, and soon Meredith was offside. McLeod missed the side line and Young returned it. Soon another penalty in a better position was punted high, but E. Bell was sound. Pickrang next broke away and the Waipa backs, mulling badly, were in difficulties, and a penalty gave McLeod an easy chance to goal, but he made a very poor effort. Soon Craig came through and had Hanna bustled, but E. Bell came in to save. Then the Waipa backs combined nice ly, until Tombs was grassed and Barlow kicked through to W. Bell, and the latter kicked to the side line. M. Bell was solid on defence, but an opening was quickly made and the visiting forwards rushed to the attack. The position was critical until Waipa forced. Meredith and A. Thom son led the local forwards, but McLeod came in and cleared, and then the visitors gave a nice display oi passing. Held up momentarily, they came again, and catching the Waipa forwards out of position, Elliot scored wide out. It was a fine try. Cameron’s kick just missed. —Maniapoto 3. Waipa 0. Almost at once Maniapoto forwards bustled through, and when M. Bell missed in trying to pick up a spinning ball Turner and Craig led the forwards right to the line, but M. Bell kicked through and play went back to half-way. The pace was solid, but Meredith offside let Cameron have another shot, but the ball did not rise. Buckley stopped the return and sent it out well down field. Waipa were in a good position to beat the opposition, but fumbling spoiled the chance, for Cameron came in and kicked to the line. From the line out Craig was next prominent. Spence, offside for scrum infringement, gave a penalty, but a man in front nullified the advantage. Waipa forwards raced up field, and M. Bell carried on to make Buckley kick to touch in goal. Waipa backs handled nicely until Tombs knocked on. The Maniapoto tackling saved the situation. Next Tombs kicked through, but Buckley was safe. Oakes gained more ground with a line kick, but the advantage was lost. Scrums and line outs followed, but Waipa was penalised for offside play. Then Elliot was similarly penalised. After a great rush led by E. Bell, a penalty let Young have a shot at goal, but the effort was a poor one. The ball was rushed and then sent right along the line from the halfback to E. Bell, who scored unopposed. W. Bell failed to convert.—Waipa 3, Maniapoto 3. With honours even the pace was fast. The visitors rushed to the attack, but close work by the Waipa forwards gained ground. Buckley tried for a field goal and Waipa forced. A penalty for offside play in the line out let Waipa upfield, and Maniapoto had to force. A smart movement by Oakes and L. Young took play to the corner flag, but the defence held. Time was up with Waipa attacking. Two spells of ten minutes each were decided upon, for a win was necessary to eliminate one side. Even play followed, until Young failed to field a high punt, but Waipa forwards were soon racing upfield, led by Spence, but soon a mark by Buckley gave relief, for he kicked past half-way. Waipa were bustling hard, and using the line to make ground. Excitement was caused when the Waipas bustled Cameron, but the opening was left, and in a passing rush almost the full length of the field Gault scored a good try, for the Waipa backs were caught out of position. McLeod failed with the kick.— Maniapoto 6, Waipa 3. The Waipas rushed to the attack again, on changing over, E. Bell doing well on the wing. Craig came through, but iW. Bell found the line. The ball was sent right along the line for Young to sidestep Elliot and fall over the line, but the try was disallowed for touching the flag. A penalty next gave Maniapoto relief,

and their backs attacked, only to knick-on, and then Meredith and Thomas came through, but the de fence held. W. Bell failed with a difficult penalty kick and McLeod returned to half-way. Waipa attacked again and were thrusting time after time, but the final whistle soundeu with the scores —Maniapoto 6, Waipa

3. Maniapoto would have been unlucky to lose, but they Y ere lamentably weak in goal-kickers. Penalties were awarded against Waipa time after time, in all sorts of positions, but not one kick succeeded. Maniapoto s strength was more in deadly Of the fonvards Graig was the best of the visitors, with Gault and Pickrang particularly good, in the tight work. Of the backs Buckley, at ful back, gave a good exhibition, but McLeod was below form. Waipa's best forward was Con Meredith, and probably next best was T. Thomson. Of the backs E. Bell was seen to most advantage.

Probably a draw would have been the best, indication of the relative strength of the teams, for after playing a draw an extra twenty minutes was necessary to find the winner. Of the period Waipa had the territorial advantage, and narrowly escaped scoring more than once, while Maniapoto’s score was from solid defence, in which Waipa left an opening that was promptly seized upon, the ball going almost the length of the field, with forwards and backs handling alternately, for Gault to force his way over.

TEAMS FOR SATURDAY. ; Te Awamutu seniors.—J. Martin, Irwin, Quin, Tombs, Urlich, Hanna, Sutherland, Adams, Craig- (2), Dalton, White, Laskey, M|cAlpine, Turney, Short, Grant, Stanford. Old Boys’ juniors.—D. Hinton, L. Hey, A. Empson, S. Shepherd, D. Hey, D. Empson, J. McGovern, C. Reilly, A. Blair, H. Renton, J. Hinton, G. Mkndeno, D. Fitzgerald, J. Jourdain, H. Wynyard. Old Boys’ thirds.—G. Kidd, D. Fraser, C. Corboy, M. Haselden,. P. Quinlan, D. Ellis, W. Burchell, L. Clarke, J. Reid, C. Sklenars, C. Eyre, M. Bridge, B. Goodall, B. Mandeno, A. Murrell, D. McLean, J. Brown, D. Steer.