Athletic Defeat Rata To Win Junior Champ. In Marton Rugby

Wanganui Chronicle, 29 June 1948, Page 2

Athletic Defeat Rata To Win Junior Champ. In Marton Rugby

Conjuring up just that little extra energy and determination which the occasion demanded during the linal 15 minutes of play, Athletic were rewarded with a try a few minutes before time to defeat Rata by nine points to six in what virtually decided the junior championship. Athletic now have to be beaten in every game to be deprived of the premiership—decidedly unlikely as they have na unbeaten record to date.

Kata’s defeat can be traced to the failure of their inside backs to feed a dangerous three-quarter line. It possessed tons of pace, especially on the flanks but the inside backs hung on too long. Had the ball been whipped out sooner to J. Rhodes and L. Nesbit, the wings, Rata would have won. Rhodes had two good runs and on one occasion it was only tile brilliance of O. Mainwaring, the Athletic half, who came from out of the blue, which halted the Rata fleetfooted wing three-quarter when he had almost a clear pathway ahead. The Rata half, S. Potaka, persisted in running round the side of the scrum instead of sending his backs away, and time and again he was enmeshed in the web the opposing breakaways spun around him. Such a policy played right into the hands of Athletic, whose forwards revelled in the tight playFor the first half-hour of the game play was mostly confined to the forwards, although D. Barr, the Athletic wing, made one penetrating run before Nesbit grasped him. Athletic were slightly superior in the set scrums, but their backs were not a happy combination, although as individuals, mostly on defence, played reasonably well. Their best back was Kereama, second fiveeighths, whose tricky r uns often presented Rata with a problem. At fullback, F. Dally was very shaky. He nearly presented Rata with a try on one occasion, when instead of finding touch he kicked weakly infield to D. Kingi, who burst through several tackles before passing to Rhodes. Fortunately for Athletic, the Rata wing juggled with his pass, knocking on badly when the way was but thinly blocked. Oa the other hand, R. Gibbs, the Rata custodian, revealed himsell as a player of merit. His kicking and handling were first class, and several times linked up with his backs in the hope of creating an overlap. W. Welsh played a grand gam® in the Athletic pack and was always on the ball. He received good support from C- Stantiall and J. Johnson. G. Pull was also in the limelight on occasions, but was q little astray with his kicking. A proficient line-out Dlayer in the Rata forwards was A. Gibbs, who used his height to advantage.

K. Zander scored for Athletic in the opening minute of the game from a lineout and then just before the interval Rata evened the scores when the entire back line handled for Rhodes to score. Soon after the start of the second spell Pull placed Athletic in the lead with a penalty goal and then Rata retaliated in a bright forward manoeuvre for A. Gibbs to touch down after two Athletic players had made unsuccessful attempts to force. In the last 15 minutes of play Rata were ha r d pressed and two minutes before time from a forward scramble on the Rata line, J. Johnson scored a try, which decided the game and the championship. Mr. R. T. Batchelor was the referee. U.N. APPEAL CLOSES IN MARTON WITH £772. Tlie United Nations appeal in Marton for distressed children in war ravaged areas overseas, reached a total of 1772 5s 7d. The treasurer, Mr. C. c. McDonald, acknowledged last evening the final contributions as follows: Previously acknowledged. 1682 12s Id; Mrs. W. J. Tipping, 10s; Anon, £5; Anon, £1 10s; Anon, 10s; Mr. and Mrs. A. Diehl, 10s; Mrs. J. Taylor, 10s; W. S. J. Thompson, 11 Is; Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Bosselman, 11 Is; Smith Bros., 110; Mr. F. L. True, 11; Anon, fl; E. C. and L. Swan, 13; Christensen and Stanford, 15 ss; Miss M. Wilkie. £1; N.Z.R. staff, £2 Is; "Etricdale,” £5; Mr.! T. Gardiner, £1 Is; Mrs. M. and E. 8., £2; Anon, £3; Mr F. H. Cash, £5; Mr W. H. Czepanski and family, 110 0s 6d; Anon, 11; Mr J. Henderson, 12; Mrs. E. Rosemergy, 10s; Marton District High School. 17s; Anon, 11; Borough staff, 13 17s; Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Nitschke. 110; Brooklyn Farm, £5; Miss Metherill, £1 10s; total, £772 5s 7d. PERSONAL. Miss I. Suddaby. the Marton Plunket nurse, who has been on a month’s annual leave, is to resume duty in Marton on Thursday. Miss A. Gallop, Ongar, Essex, who has been the guest of Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Tidv for the past six months, left on Saturday by the Mataroa, on her return to England. Commodore G. W. G. Simpson, C.8.E., R.N., Chief of tlie New Zealand Naval Staff, will visit Marton on Thursday and will be the speaker at the annual meeting of the Rangitikei branch of the Navy League. THIRD GRADE REPS. TO PLAY OROUA AT MARTON. The curtain-raiser to the senior club match between the two local teams—Marton Old Boys and Athletic—at Marton Park on Saturday will be the representative match between Rangitikei thirds and the Oroua Downs junior B team. At Rata last Saturday, the Rangitikei team played a match against the Awapuni jockeys, and were beaten by 11 points to nine. Last evening the sole selector. Mr Ken Kerr, announced the following team to represent Rangitikei: Full-back, S. Lowry (O); threequarters, A. S. Bryden (FH), R. McChesney (MDHS, capt.), B. Phillips (A); five-eighths, D. Robertson (OB), B. McChesney (MDHS); half, W. Rogan (Ratana); back of scrum, V. Simcox (A); middle row, R. Lourie (MDHS, vice-capt), N. Newman (A), R. Coleman (OB). D. W. McLaren (FH); front row, I. Harre (Hunt.), W. McChesney (A), D. Timmons (MDHS). Emergencies: C. Gleeson (A), T. Burford (O), forwards; R. Kan (MDHS), W. Gardener (Ratana) backs. Owing to injuries F. Miller and W. Thompson, both Ohingaiti, were not available for selection ONE HUNDRED RUGBY POINTS. Only three teams so far have scored over 100 points in the Rangitikei Rugby Union’s competitions and to Rata juniors go the honoui of hoisting the century first. It was against Turakina, 10 days ago. that Rata accomplished this feat. Athletic thirds and Rata seniors both passed the 100 mark last Saturday, the points scored by these three teams now standing at: Rata juniors 118, Athletic thirds 113 and Rata seniors 105.