NORTHERN UNION

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 140, 13 June 1916, Page 8

NORTHERN UNION

SOME IMPORTANT RESULTS. Saturday's matches were looked forward to by many League supporters as having an important bearing upon the fortunes of the championship, and as promising some definite indication of the direction of the wind. The meeting between North Shore Albion and Grafton Athletic, for instance, was fraught with I much interest, while the City RoversOtahuhu contest was expected to define the southern team's probable place in tho competition. At the other end Ponsonby United and Newton Rovers were tussling to get a start in the ascent of the ladder. Prior to the matches the clubs were running in pairs, in the following order: City-North Shore (5 points each), Grafton-Otahuhu (4 points), Nov. tonPonsonby (0). The crushing" defeat of Newton by Ponsonby will be accepted by most as ruling out the Rangers from championship honours, and as removim: Ponsonby from dangers of the last position. It is doubtful, too, whether Otahuhu will be able to throw out a strong challenge, and, unless there are war revolutions in the personnel of the teams, one may justifiably reduce the senior championship competitors to three—Grafton, City, and North Shore. Once again last year's champions. Grafton, may be fairly selected as the cleverest exponents of the finer points of the game, and despite their reverse at Otahuhu. they are pretty certain to make a strong hid for the. championship. On the other hand both City and North Shore, playing a different type of game, are sturdy teams, and bulldog battler-.. Tho tactics and strong points of the two clubs are closely similar, and, when fie tact that their first meeting ended in a draw is also taken into consideration. :t will he seen that any forecast of their respective positions at the end oi the season would be based on mere "fancy." lor the present, however, Grafton seem to be playing a type of game that looks most like winning football, and if City or North Shore are hopeful of championship honours they will have to take their football and training verv seriouslv.

CITY V. OTAiHLyKU

From the first piping note of the whistle on Saturday afternoon there was some indefinable element in the play on the main Victoria Park pitch which'suggested that neither City nor Otahuhu were displaying their best goods. Only at rare intervals—notably at tho close of the game—were the teams able to rouse their supporters to the requisite enthusiasm for a little lung practice,! and at times the players were positive!;' lethargical. Of course when one invokes such adjectives as " lethargical" and "listless" to illustrate the gentle pastime which keeps a man in a lather of perspiration for an.hour and a-half, one does not mean to imply literally that the players indulged in short siestas or leaned up against the referee to take their breath, but there are games which supply abundant evidence that the players are putting a minimum of thinking and by no means a maximum of physical effort into their work. Such a game was Saturday's. The generalissimos of both forces wero unable to rally their men for cohesive attack. The strategy appeared to be nil. and the tactics quite haphazard. In these respects Otahuhu were the greatest sinners in the earlier stages of the game The conditions for a fast handling game! I Could not have been better, and had 1 City made even a feeble attempt at combined play they should have rattled up a big score in the first half, when they wcie almost continually in Otahuhu quarters. In like manner, had Otahuhu infused the energy they displayed in the last quarter of an hour into "the whole of their play the result might have told a different story. When it was too late to turn defeat into victory they attacked with great spirit—fn' a rou«!i and ready style that had little method about it—and managed to knock thp-e points off City's lead of 10. The Roveis will have to show vastly improved form il thoy are to frustrate Grafton's challenge for the leading position next Saturday. In a jrarac in \\h\s.\ individualism was the keynote, few individuals shone. Sutton, in the City threequarter line, played the best game for his side, but was never propcrlv supported, while in Otahuhu'a fecbl'e performance Gray, a new forward, was the only one whose work was consistently of a higher standard than that of his colleagues. The last twenty- minutes of the game was hindered by* half-a-dozen stoppages for minor injuries, but these, as far as could be judged from the' stand, did not result from unduly rough play. A break in the season evidently does not agree with the teams, and it would not take an expert to decide whether the men had got out of practice or were overtrained during the fortnight's interval. Overtraining is not a common failing in these days.

A ONE-POINT VICTORY. The match between Shore and Grafton at Devonport was an interesting enough exhibition, the score. 8 to 7 i„ favour of the visitors, indicating the evennesa of the teams. The fust half was spoiled to a large extent by the reluctance o!' both teams to open out, but there were several pleasing attacks and combined efforU that helped matters alon"Throughout the first spell tho game hovered in Grafton's half, with the Shore forwards several times bringing up against corner flags. The first score was sprung in a surprising manner by ifwersen, who took the ball from half-way and scored brilliantly for the erstwhile defenders. The loader of Grafton's team actually secured the ball when the opposing forwards were carrying it, and seemed to be -well on the way to a score. His subsequent achievement, when he scored again, was hardly less brilliant, and when the game emled he was responsible for Grafton's entire score. It was not until the latter part of the second half that Shore rallied to the attack and several times carried the game across the line.

I The afternoon wa3 marred by the obvious antagonism towards the referee displayed by a number of onlookers. Feeling waxed high when towards the end of the game Shore appeared to get across from a scramble on Grafton's line. If there was any mistake made, the spectators were themselves responsible for it. Carried away by excitement, they crowded on the line and made it impossible to tell exactly what was happening. This sort of thing is inexcusable where grown-up people are concerned, for they should know that a cardinal rule of the game is that a referee's decision must be respected. Any complaint or diS6atisfa<tion regarding a ruling should ooino

from the players themselves, and should be voiced through the medium of the controlling body. It is absolutely unpardonable for spectators to interfere with the referee's work in any way. Probably the number of small boys who were on the ground accounted for a good deal of the fuss that followed the conclusion of the game.

NEWTON OUTCLASSED. Newton once more failed to register a win on Saturday, their Ponsonby opponents having the game on their side aimost throughout. Though the final score may indicate that the game was overwhelmingly against the Rovers, they made the best of a bad situation, and even with a shortage of two men. played gamely, while the score-board played against them. It was quite evident from the manner in which the team rolled up, however, that there was not that interest taken by some of the members of the team that there should be in view of the club's present position. Several players had failed to put in an appearance at the time appointed for the commencement of the match, and it was not for twenty minutes after the other senior match had started that the team turned out of the field. Even with a shortage in the team, it was not looked upon that the score would pile up so considerably against the Rangers, but their chief fault lay in the fact that the ball coming out of the scrum —and it was not infrequently that it came out to them —was not handled smartly or carefully enough. Tho Ponsonby men, on the other hand, were always well lined out in readiness for a passing movement. The most useful man of the Newton team was Bennett, its efficient skipper, to whom is probably due tho credit for the only try secured by his side. Potior was also found reliable, and almost succeeded in making a try. Farrant, at half, and Hannin were frequently in the van, and took their full responsibility. Walsh, the Ponsonby half, appeared in the limelight in several smart pieces of work, as did also Cadnian. who proved very successful in evading the clutches of his opponent tacklcrs. McClymont and Winters also were up to standard.

The City Council has written to tnc management committee of the League, expressing its willingness to grant the use of a further ground and an additional dressing-room at Victoria Park, and has requested the League to make a formal application in writing.

The management committee has approved the transfers of C. Roberts, from Newton to Richmond, and of .1. Faulkner from North Shore to Sunnvside.

Club secretaries arc reminded that application fees are due. and must be paid immediately. Secretaries are also requested by the management committee to forward a complete list of playing members for registration, and any additional names for the roll of honour.