ON THE BALL

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXI, Issue 2440, 11 May 1925, Page 3

ON THE BALL

FOOTBALL SEASON OPENS, TWO SENIQR\CONTESTSi. JUNIOR AND THIRD GRADE MATCHES PLAYED. ~ Under ideal conditions as far as the weather was concerned football openo'd in this Sub,-union .on Saturday, Two senior games only were played and resulted in Rovers being beaten on tin local-ground -and ,Onga> t Qnga..receiving a further victory • at-Onga, •Waipuku.rau defaulted to To Ante*, the first time this club-hag, takem-this course in the whole of its-.history, It- is said. Several Junior ■f and Third' Grade • game's were ■ also played.

On Russell Bark Takapau ( . ; pro,yided the sensation of the day, by securing a w,ell». ? d(egcryed,. yjetoroy ■ Rpvers, thiCi country players running out victors offer a close game by 6 to 0.

Ai fair crowd watched- , tho ■ contest which - was played on a very hard ground with a cross wind and a bright sun.

, The. ./teams. .lined.,out. w.th AlHßTack Bill Irvine leading Rovers and Wi. Hunter- afy,..thg h ea <l 'Oftdthep, (led and Blacks. ■ Takapau,, .looked , t thheavier side 1

<The.; Black.and- Whites Jost' th-ei toss and Takapau,elected.tp fac.e .thfi s an . From the, kick off the open ng was sensational and within three minutes of the start All Black Bill Irvine secur cd a hard knock and had to retire.

The play .for a start was all amongst the forwards, Takapau, if anyth ng holding the advantage, their big fast vanguard keeping the ball at toe and testing the Rovers ’ defence to . the top. In the excitement of one such sweep ing crusade by the Red and Blacks a free was given to the visitors for a Rovers’ back hanging on and amid, some cheering from the crowd Grobs, the Sub-union representative, with a good kick piloted the ball over the bar. Takapau 3, Rovers 0. Rovers spurred by the early reversetook the- offensive, but Takapau relic v ed by a fine forward rush. At this stage there were half a dozen stoppages,., for injuries to player* mostly attacks-of cramp. Wlien play .settled again Royers were given an ,opep..^hot f at. goal, but from well),back the shot went, astray.

Takapau thep.pressed .again, but ti e pressure .was . relieved, Rovers retaliat ing.by a .strong counter, attack wh.ch .’swept to the visitors .line.. Here from a scrum the Takapau forwards again took the ball away. The- Black ana Whites again camo this time w.th a passing rush, but the last players to handle; went.out at t .thc flag.

Several more breaks by the Red ana Black forwards were stopped only in time. Before one of these, how,ever, the Rovers’ defence fell and Qlsc,u got over in a good position. The attempt to add the major points failed. Takapau 6, Rovers 0. ;

Half ti'me* came soon after. After “Ip^ns’s.Rovers.-rallied and for a while, had the best;■ of. the ■ argument, one piercing pass. ng rush being ‘‘all, but.” The Takapau last line of do fence earned applause- several times for accurate fielding, which saved his side more than once.

The Rovers attacks gradually spent themselves, however, and Takapau held the upper hand till the finish. The Rovers’ def'nee held, however, till the whistle, when there was no further

score. Takapau 6, Rovers 0. Mr A. Collett, of Waipawa, held the whistle.

At Onga Onga, the Sub union chain pions of last year ~secured mn 8 to 6 victory over Waipawa. The fortunes of th s game underwent some peculiar changes, the Yellow and Blacks scoring first, with an uncon verted try. Waipawa 3, Onga Onga 0. Onga followed this up toward the close of the first, spell with a, converted try, which left, (the tallies at half time. Onga Onga 5, Waipawa 3. About half.way through the second spell Waipawa again scored, the kick being unsuccessful. Waipawa 6,,, Onga Opga 5. The champions then came to light with an eleventh hour burst and in the last minute- of the game scored, again. The additional points we.rc not added and (Onga ran out winners. Onga Onga 8, Waipawa 6. Mr Carr, of Onga Onga-, held the whistle.

The other senior game set down for decision was Waipukurau v. Te Ante, but the town club forfeited to the Maori school boys.

Prior to the big game, on Russell Park the junior divis.ons of I he two local clubs met and after a tigerish encounter —literally true in the- case of

some forwards-on both sides —the Bine and Whites ran out vectors by 14 to 6. The game was chiefly characterised by good forward rushes by the Waipukurau boys though perhaps the best movement of the day was the one from which Scherfe scored for Rovers. Wasson, Gibson, Stabler and Adams scored for Waipukurau, Watson converting one. Scherfe and Afcßao scored for Rovers, neither kick being resultant, the first striking . the cross bar and second the upright. Air H, A. Kirby had control, 1 At Waipawa the To Aute juniors 'held thef upper hand throughout and beat Waipawa Old Boys 23—6, Tikokino, the junior champions cf last year, played at Otane and beat the home, team by 23 to 8. a noiw junior team, defaulted .to Waipawa. Various third grade games were aiso played. At th-oi Empire ground, Waipawa, the Waipukurau thirds held the whip hand over Old Boys and ran out winners 16—0, Waipawa 1 High-School, who. for the past four years have won the third grade competition, boat Te Aute at PukehoU), by. 16 to 6. Both sides gave a fine display of football. Waipukurau D.H,S. had a bye.