As predicted Marist beat Invercargill 1955 for showdown with Bluff

Marist as predicted did AsInvercargill which sets it up for a grand final against Bluff in the Galbraith Shield competition.
Again, Marist's back proved that they are the best in the competition, and the forwards looked good, and after Saturday they will give the Bluff pack a run for their money.  Marist 23 Invercargill 6.

A disorganised Invercargill team failed to fire against Marist and it was the latter team's forwards that paved the way for a good win.  Invercargill lost half back, R. Malcolm, just after the start of the match, and as he is a key player, Invercargill virtually lost their way from then.  They had not answer to the strong Marist forward pack and they could not launch any decent attacks to put the green and black under pressure.  With long periods of broken play it did not make it a very entertaining game to watch. It was not a totally one sided game with Invercargill holding their own in the first half with the score only down 3-8.  Several times during the game a speculator or a punt over the half-back's head had Invercargill scrambling.
In the second half and with Invercargill facing the sun and slight breeze and Marist hot on attack,  Invercargill wilted and was soundly beaten by 17 points.  Had B. Reilly been in his normal goal kicking mood the margin could have been greater.
Bill McCaw gave a solid performance in leading the Marist side and many of the Marist rushes were spearheaded by F. Ward, who has been showing great form as a loose forward this season.  Ward headed several attacks which Invercargill stopped more by good luck than good management.
Behind their forward pack, Marist were able to engage in a couple of good runs involving the whole backline.  The Invercargill did not work with cohesion or commitment and only once did the ball reach the wingers.
P. Knight, Invercargill had a solid game at first five eight and his tackling was of first class, but he failed to jell with L. Crosswell who moved in from centre to half-back.  Crosswell who played an attacking game, threw his passes too hard and inaccurate which made it hard for Knight to take comfortably.  N. Millar played well at full back for Invercargill.
The best feature of Tom Edie's game was his kicking where he kicked two penalty goals with little effort and one of drop outs went 53 yards into touch.
MARIST - B. Reilly (1) (1pg) R Flynn (1) (1dg) D. McDermott.(1), R. Bewley., J. Hawke.(1), R. Wills., K. Creedy., W. A. McCaw., F. Ward., G.B. Winders.(1), M. O'Neill., B. O'Connell., H. O'Neill., W. Duggan., L. Ward. (1), P. Perkins.
INVERCARGILL: N. Millar., E. Holland., L. Crosswell., W. Smith., T. Edie., (2pg) P Knight., R. G. Malcolm., B. Millar., R. Barclay., A. Borland., R. Heathcote., M.O. Jennings., W. Davidson., E. Sutton., M. Shaw., R. Thwaites.