SHOCK OF THE CENTURY

FIRST-TERM SHOCK WAS TOO MUCH FOR O. & M.

(By Brian Perryman)

Ovens and Murray's failure against South-West in the Caltex country championship match at Albury on Saturday can be summed up simply as: O. and M. played behind and stayed behind.

With a few notable exceptions players made little attempt to get in front of their men and were reluctant to go in and get the ball.

The shock of seeing South-West race to a lead of 2.2 to nil was one of which O. and M. never really recovered.

On only a couple of occasions was there noticeable enthusiasm and determination in the O. and M. team.

South-West held the initiative at all times. Showing superior and sustained determination, they out-marked, outpaced, out-bumped and out-thought O. and M.

O. and M. had few winners, Alby Dunn and Alan Forrester were in control on the wings for most of the game and Curly Hanlon at least broke even with Peter Box in the centre.

But elsewhere South-West were on top. With limited opportunities in the first half, half forwards Lionel Ryan, Frank Hodgkin and Max Urquhart kept O. and M. in the game.

But after centre half-back John Cornish was switched to the flank on to Urquhart and Bob Spears was moved on to Hodgkin, South-West effectively closed off the O. and M. avenue of attack.

Roving to a beaten ruck, Ken Bennett and Kevin Seccull battled against opposition. They never really got into the game.

Bennett, deadly accurate, made the most of every chance he got on the forward line and kicked five goals.

Stan Sargeant, out-manoeuvred most of the time by the experienced Max Kruse, also made the most of his limited chances and kicked five goals. Jim Sandral was no match for the taller and heavier Ian Gillett.

In the last term Sandral was thrown into the ruck and Des Dower given the task of quelling Gillett.

However, Dower fared no better than Sandral and left the ground half-way through the quarter, to be replaced by Bernie Killeen.

Two other switches in the last term also failed to pay off. Urquhart went to full forward, Sargeant to the flank; Lionel Ryan went into the centre and Curly Hanlon out to the flank.

South-West always looked the better side. O. and M. got within points of the lead in the third quarter and again looked a possibility in the last when two goals by Bennett brought them within two goals of South West and O. and M. rallied momentarily. But any optimism about an O. and M. victory was short-lived.