The Shield Goes West

These three pictures tell the story of how Golden Bay-Motueka lost the Seddon Shield to Buller in the first challenge match of the 1961 season. They show the start and finish of the only scoring move which gave Buller a 3-0 win in what was for the most part an uninspiring match. Torrential rain the night before the game may have been in answer to Bay prayers, for it was obvious to many that on a dry day the Bays would have been beaten by a bigger margin. The Buller backs always looked the better unit, with W. Forsythe at centre making many splendid breaks down the middle. In the first half only desperate defence stopped Buller from scoring often, but in the second half Bays showed great improvment and with a bit of luck could have equalled.

It had been hoped that lineout expert Rob Wratt would have been able to keep a lot of the ball away from Buller, but very often he was allowed to get only half-way off the ground. The Bays backs, had they been strengthened by a little experience, might have pulled the game out of the fire, but finally it was left to the forwards to try and save defeat.

In the morning a first class procession of 40 floats depicted what Bays was to do to Buller.