CRUSHING DEFEAT

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20888, 21 August 1939, Page 13

CRUSHING DEFEAT

j THAMES VALLEY ROUTED i —.— | SOLID DISPLAY BY WAIKATO I j BACKS BA'F’FLIN'G TACTICS .Times Special Reporter' TE A RUM A, Saturday Mainly because of the poor positional play and the weak tackling of its opponents the Waikato backs were able to employ a variety of tactics for the team to beat Thames Valley by 31 points to 6 at Te Aroha to-day. There was a lack of cohesion amongst the \ alley forwards and in both the scrums and the line-outs Waikato had the most of the ball. With its for- | wards essentially superior and with an open field in which to work, the Waikato backs were afforded every opportunity and the majority of points were secured by them. The teams were:— Waikato.—-Ensor, Goosman, Aitken, Perkins, Cole, E. Taylor, Tetzlaff, Warrender, Stewart, Stancich, Thompj son. Wynyard, J. M. Taylor, Catley, Caldwell. Thames Valley.—ißapana, Mortimer, Ludwir-r. Fisher, Martin, Woodlands, Clarke, Parton, Rowe, Dwight, Kotara, Gibbs, Brankin, Strange, Heenan. Amongst the best of the Waikato backs were Tetzlaff and Goosman. With the forwards keeping him busy throughout the match Tetzlaff rei quired to be in his best form and he I did not disappoint. iHe fed his backs J to advantage with quick snappy passes, : while his blind-side tactics earned I Waikato two bright tries. Goosman | filled the gap, caused by Phillips' absence, admirably and used his speed ! well, while his handling was faulti less. Weak Links I If any fault could be found in the j Waikato back line it lay with Aitken I and Perkins. Although he was res--1 ponsible for 13 points, which in- | eluded a brilliant try and a neat field 1 goal, Aitken was too slow considering ! the weak opposition he had to face, jOn several occasions he was caught ; in possession and he might have let ■ Goosman have more of the ball. Perj kins, obviously experiencing an offI day, failed to take the majority of ; passes handed him but he made up for j these lapses with two excellent tries. In the forwards 'Catley hooked bril- , liantly although on several occasions Ihe was arrested by the referee for j lifting. Thompson, Warrender and i Taylor worked well throughout, but j Wynyard was inclined to be a pasj senger at times, but was a valuable | acquisition in the line-outs, j Easily the most impressive of the j Valley team was Clarke at halfback. The few occasions on which he was J handed the ball he took full advantage j of. and at one stage made a brilliant ' solo run which took the defenders ’ completely by surprise. Ludwig and Mortimer were also impressive in the | backs, but the forwards were comj pletely outclassed. Waikato Scores Early I First points to Waikato were hoist- | ed when the game had been in operaj lion five minutes, Tetzlaff, working the blind, sending Goosman over in the corner. Aitken's kick passed just i outside the post: Waikato 3, Thames • Valley 0. After Waikato’s chances of securing another three points had been marred by Perkins dropping an easy pass and Valley had failed to benefit from a ! penalty kick, the Waikato backs j handled nicely and Goosman made a j brilliant run before being foreed out jin the corner. Valley failed to clear j with a free kick and Catley, finding a j gap, beat everything to score between tlie posts. Aitken converted: Waikato 8, Thames Valley 0, Brankin came fast from a line-out to down Tetzlaff and Clarke secured to put Valley on attack. Ensor tlelded the ball well and found the line. Shortly afterwards Aitken twice tried to dummy his man but was caught in possession and then the Valley backs handled for the first time. Another line-out saw Tetzlaff whip the ball out to Cole, who handed on to Taylor, and he in turn passed to Aitken. who brilliantly cut in between Ludwig and Woodlands and beat Ratana to touch down near the posts. Aitken con- | verted his own try: Waikato 13, i Thames Valley 0. j Clarke failed with a free kick from a difficult angle and Waikato secured. After a series of smart exchanges Aitken kicked across field to find the line 15 yards from touch. Stewart tried to break through but it was Warrender who eventually forced his way over. Aitken’s kick was disallowed: Waikato 16, Thames Valley 0. Aitken’s Field Goal Waikato increased its tally with a well-judged field goal by Aitken. Perkins was caught in possession and his pass to Thompson went astray, but Aitken secured from the tight" and landed his kick from right in front of the posts: Waikato 20, Thames Valiev 0. Following his failure to succeed with a free kick Aitken, following up, attempted to break through the defence but Wynyard came up fast to receive the ball and score under the posts. Aitken's kick was a good one: Waikato 25, Thames Valley 0. With the sun and wind in its favour. Valley kept Waikato fairly well in check during the second half. Free kicks to both sides were of little benefit and then Valley launched another attack in which Martin, Ludwig, and Woodlands figured prominently. Awarded a penalty in a handy posi- ] lion. Ludwig gave Valley its first | points: Waikato 25, Thames Valley 3. Again Valley attacked but Thompson grassed Kotara in time. Snappy reverse passing by the Waikato backs proved unfruitful but another well planned movement, in which Cole came in on the blind side to receive from Tetzlaff and then hand on to Perkins, allowed the speedy winger to score well out. Taylor just missed with the kick: Waikato 28, Thames Valley 3. Brilliant Run Twice Valley overcame the Waikato defence to gain considerable territory but the visitors were soon on the attack once more. Perkins, following up fast, secured the ball at half-way and beat everything to go over near the corner. Again Taylor was unlucky with the kick: 'Waikato 31, Thames Valley 3. Valley, although obviously beaten, did riot let up on the attack and after catching Ensor in possession, Kotara followed up fast and bustled his way over to score. Ludwig missed an easy kick: Waikato 31, Thames Valley 6. It was in the last few minutes that Clarke beautifully cut through the Waikato five-eighths, kicked smartly past Ensor, but failed to retrieve the

ball before Goosman snapped it up and found the line. This brought the encounter to a close with the score: Waikato 31 Thames Valley 6 Mr R. Richards (Te Aroha, was the referee.