Squash

their heavier opponents. After Ampleforth had narrowly missed a penalty, Woodruff put St. Peter's ahead with a penalty from the "25" line. Half-time : Ampleforth—O St. Peter's-3.

After only five minutes of the second half Ampleforth drew level with an unconverted try scored by R. J. Gerrard. From then onwards it was anybody's game, as play swung from end to end. The School forwards shone once again, being resolute in defence and always dangerous in attack. The one feature of the game which stood out was the excellent touch finding of Woodruff and Kirk. The pack were once more ably led by Hewitt, whose inspiration rallied the team when uilder pressure, and to draw against what was probably the best school side in the North of England was a great achievement.

Alexander and Robinson were awarded their caps, and R. L. Bruce and Parker their colours.

Team:—M. W. Woodruff; R. A. Wood, M. T. Bell, A. L. McKay, R. H.

Parker; J. D. M. Hackney, R. L. Bruce; D. H. Rhodes, F. J. A. Hewitt (Capt.), R. G. Bruce, M. McCallum, J. R. Brown, U. A. Alexander,

J. M. D. Kirk (Vice-Capt.), G. P. Robinson.

v. WORKSOP COLLEGE

Played away on Wednesday, 23rd November. Lost 18-6.

This match was played in completely contrasting conditions to those encountered at Ampleforth. As opposed to the fog and mud there, it was a sunny day and the pitch was very dry and in excellent condition for open rugby. Unfortunately the School's style of play was not suited to these conditions and the Worksop three-quarters showed their superior abilities in the later stages. St. Peter's did however make a good start, Wood jumping on to a defensive mistake to dribble over for a try between the posts. The conversion hit the post, but Woodruff made up for this mistake quarter of an hour later by kicking a penalty from 40 yards out. Worksop then began to make use of their ground advantage and by half-time tries by C. Dibell and T. Weastell had levelled the score. Half-time : Worksop 6 St. Peter's-6.

With Parker a passenger on the wing and one or two other St. Peter's players suffering from minor knocks, Worksop got well on top and went ahead when R. J. Tubley scored another try. Further tries came at regular intervals from D. J. Reason and T. Pearson; none of the five tries were converted, but three minutes from the end C. Dibell kicked a penalty goal. Though it was a rather disappointing end to the season, the School need not be too disappointed with their performance, as they had never before played with conditions so fast.

Colours were awarded to Bell and McKay.

Team :—M. W. Woodruff; R. A. Wood, A. L. McKay, M. T. Bell, R. H.

Parker; J. D. M. Hackney, R. L. Bruce; D. H. Rhodes, F. J. A. Hewitt (Capt.), R. G. Bruce, M. McCallum, J. R. Brown, G. P. Robinson, J. M.

D. Kirk (Vice-Capt.), U. A. Alexander. 39

v. OLD PETERITES Played on Saturday, 10th December. Lost, 0-3.

With an advantage of probably as much as 24- stone per man in the scrum, the pattern of events was clear for all to see; the wonder was that the Old Boys did not more effectively dominate proceedings with their vast superiority in weight and physique.

On the other hand the school tactics were poor, for here surely was the opportunity for attempting to run their opponents off their feet or see them sink deeper and deeper into the mud with frequent switches in the direction of attack and a variation in play. As it was a monotonous succession of ill-directed kicks-ahead played right into Ratcliff's safe hands and the Old Boys' defence was seldom tested.

Players clearly enjoyed themselves, but from the onlookers point of view play seldom rose above the mediocre, and the only try to be scored by an anonymous forward resulted from a shove-over after a loose scrum.

OLD PETERITE XV K. M. Ratcliff; C. H. Lewis, C. D. King, A. McCallum, R. D. Wheatley;

C. D. Hunter, J. E. Fawcett; N. J. Bell, L. T. Beaumont, C. W. Thompson (Capt.), J. S. Megginson, M. B. Wilson, C. U. Burdass, J. A. Jackson,

M. Willstrop.

Mr. M. Willstrop has taken over as master in charge of Squash and G. W. A. R. Alderson was appointed captain for the second season.

A full term has been enjoyed, six first team and three second team matches having been played. Of the six first team matches, four have been won and one narrowly lost. The only defeat in which a School player failed to win was when Scarborough L.T.C. beat the School by five rubbers to nil. However, there was no disgrace in this, for Scarborough L.T.C. are a very experienced club side and indeed it was in this match that Alderson played his best squash of the season.

Both inter-School matches were won; Hymer's College were beaten 5-0 and Bradford G.S. 3-2. In the latter match Alderson was surprisingly beaten, but no doubt he will set this defeat right should he meet his opponent again. Good wins were recorded, too, against the Staff and Old Peterites, and York R.I. only just beat the School 3-2. Alderson defeated D. J. Oliver, the present York Champion, 3-1 in this match.

I. T. Parkin, the School's No. 2, has played consistently well and was re-awarded his colours, and J. C. G. Wheeler will no doubt be a better player next term, when he can devote more time to the game. P. W. Shepherd, a promising young player, has played well in his first season, though he needs to quicken a great deal. M. C. M. Jesper, another young player, introduced for the last match, is also a player of promise, but he has, at present, a backhand weakness.

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