NORTHERN UNIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 160, 7 July 1914, Page 8

NORTHERN UNIONS.

LEAGUE CHA.MPrOXsTIIP. PROSPECTS NAREOWIXG DOWX. The financial result of imp game between Xortb Shore and City on the Dpvonport ground on Saturday must have highly satisfactory to tiio Auckland League-, and to the officials of ' the surburban dub. who larrely carried ■out The arrangements. The fact that a paying crowd of such dimensions can !be attracted by a. fixture across top har- : hour argues that—provided the difficulty J of capital outlay could i>o overcome—the J acquisition oi a ground by the Auckland I Lcjjiie would not only l:e a financially . sound enterprise. but would give .1 gre.uly improved status to tiie game. Saturday's frame wjfj another illustration of the additional attractiveness of the frame from a sppctar-ulsr standpoint, when the crowd i- kept under proper (•ontrol. for the arrangements made by I the local officials for ""policing" the 1111----fenced fide of the ground were admirable, and there, was practically no encroachment by spectator?. The result of the mateb has an important, bearing upon The league championship, in that it is now practically certain t.Uat the honours of the reason "will fall to either Xorth Shore or Ponsor.by. City.- defeat places them entirely out of th" running and. assuming that- Ponsonby beat City ami X-orth Shore dispose of Xewlon on Saturday, it will be far the two winning teams to fight out the fiual turf-le for the championship. However, any prophesy as to the result of the frame between Ponsonby and City would be in ; the- nature of "ra.-:i and hazardous speculation," and. while Xonli appear to have 3 comparatively simple proposition in meeting Xewton. it m as weil Ito rawmber that there's many a -lip j 'twixt tup and lip. CITY'S LOT CHANCE. The matdl between North Sliorc and City mi one of exceptional keenness. At "the outset City shaped badly, and following upon Walter-' try something in lbs nature of a debacle threatened. Never before this Reason have Xorth Shore thrown no much enthusiasm into their work as they did during the first j quarter of an hour of Saturday's frame. At every mcmPllt th'-y threatened to I cross, but when City had rpcoverrd from I thp stairgering i'opcp of the initial onUlaushts. their defence shaped well, and I gradually wore down the invaders. Had I top wearers of the red and black had 1 the initiative and confidence to -promptly turn defensive into aggres&ivc taej tire ai this point. they bavo saved defeat. but. having I repulsed the attack. they wer<I content to lake things ea.-ily, and iit was not until half time that they j played every card 10 retrieve the fail- | mi's of the first half. On. the whole, i however. City were disappointing both forward and behind, the performances of A. Asher. Burns and Rogers in thp hack division- being the only ones worthy of commendation, while Denia; was rfwavs to the fore in forward )>lay. 'till tV? fact that North Shore only woa "7 two points, and that the winnßßT -Tore came from 11 pcn-.vty kick latp lit the game, indicate.-. ■' very even content. For Xorth Shore Paul kicked wei] and atoned for some of his failures in the Ponsonby ! match, while YVe-tou w.if" outstanding amongst the hacks, playing 1 brilliant -jme both in attack and defence. The winder proved himself to he one of the most dashing three-quarter- in local football. ON THE DOMAIN. The uioct noticeable feature about t'.ie I match on the Domain between Graiton j and Ponconby vaa the weakness of the I place kicking, none of the sin trie? I scored during the sifternnon hi-in:; con--1 verted, and ' some of them wer.-> easy lenoueh. Ponsonby'* -core would have been much bigger if some of t.hcir player* had not been so forgetful of the fact thai there were others on the Meld. Combined play te Hie only sure winner. ! except in extreme in*uncce. which only jgo to prove the rule. OTAHCH US BELATED WTX. j Otahuhu have a! last registered a win. They deserved i:. f.ir the whole team i worked well right till Hearing the end. when the -train told upon them. Cook. Otahuhu wins three-quarter, played splendidly, and his pace served him in j pnod stead. He would have given more ! chance- to hi= side lih.l he p.i.--cd occasionally instead of trying to force his way through unaided. Brennan also played ill line form. The forward- were an even lot. but Hardgrave to I be lacking his usual dash.

Bennett was undoubtedly Hip *Ur of the Newton pack. He was in the forefront of tli(' attack, ami worked untiringly the whole game Hira stood our prominently amongst the back*. SPEfTATORS TO THE TORE. Once more tile old. old s-iory of badlycontrolled grounds anil encroaching spectators hiij t» be toW. On Victoria Park the public -too<l -■> far over the lines that there were several collisions between players and ovcr-t'iithii-i;i:;ic spectators. The unreliability of tlie official programme continue* a «ource of great annoyance to patrons nf the Same. Bashful players, wearing no number, continue to seek the shelter of anonymity, while others effectually baffle the curious by the simple expedient of wearing the wrong number.