NORTHERN UNION.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 155, 1 July 1919, Page 8

NORTHERN UNION.

The League championship games

' have at last progressed sufficiently far for any League tan to make a more or , less accurate guess at the result, lor the positions 01 the senior teams to-day give Maritime, City and l'onsonby the lead with each an equal number of championship points, but both Maritime and City have played nnd lost one more game than the other team. By the play 1 between City and Maritime on Saturday it was evident that the team from the waterfront is in danger of losing its place among the actual leaders of the contest, and in this connection the game that is coming next Saturday between City and l'onsonby will be of double interest and importance, because, apart from the enthusiasm that will surely be attendant upon this meeting between two old rivals, the result of this match will give one or other of these two teams a definite superiority in the championship. The last time Maritime met Shore they were lucky to win, and this week-end they may not repeat their victory. But ut all events, before they can be announced definitely ns leaders in the tournament they will have to meet once again either City or Ponsonby, and then, so fur as close followers of the game can judge at present, their colours will probably be lowered. That will leave cither the team from the metropolis or the thirteen from the Three Lamps at the head of the tourney. The Marist Brothers Old Boys team is entitled to all credit for the sportsmanlike way in which it comes out every time to face almost certain defeat, and this attitude compares very favourably with the Otahuhu and the Grafton standard. There is renson to believe that Marist Brothers has just as much difficulty ns anybody else in getting a team together and keeping it going. The table up-to-date is as under: —

•One game won by default. PLUCKY NBWTON. Xewton mustered a team again on Saturday and met Ponsonby in a game that proved open nnd fast enough, but hopelessly one-sided. Ponsonby's play. while on the whole much better than that of the opponents'., was not singularly good, and with better tactics they could have put up an even bigger margin than the forty-one to three with which the game ended. In their passing runs the Ponsonby pack invariably crowded on to tho side-lines, instead of running straight and the usual result was the ball going | out near a corner. Xewton put up a i plucky fight, but were unable to muster j a strong enough defence. They have learned a reputation, however, for being I thorough sportsmen—which, it is advijsable to remember occasionally—is the real object of the game after all. THE BETTER TEAM WON. There was less science and less accuracy of hand and foot-work iv the City-Maritime game on Victoria Park last Saturday than has often been seen before. The game was close enough, and willing enough, and there were not many loafers on the field, but an j astonishing number of chances were j missed by faulty work, more perhaps on the City side than with their opponents. This may be explained best by the fact that City had the most chances, for there can be no doubt that on the afternoon's play the wearers of the red and black were better than the team from the waterfront. The packs were in contrast, and although several of the i Maritime forwards were shining all the time, their pack as a whole were beaten by the others. In the serum this was noticeable, for the City men had more than their share of the ball, and when Maritime did get it there was nothing done of any moment. This was even more noticeable in the case of City, for whereas the Maritime hat-ks as a combined line were never in evidence, the City ones wore, but every time, practically without exception, the back movements missed frre before they were completed, mainly because someone was always out of place, and there was always a bad pass that upset any chances. The reputation that Maritime gained at the beginning of the tournament is dying, mainly hecause there is, never much more than an occasional flash of combined brilliance with them. They do not seem to be able to get together scientifically as a team, and they have been given enough opportunities now

in the senior competition to prove that , they never will. This criticism has been j ] held back to see what this team could ! do, but the fact is that now the time I | is passed when games can be won on I condition alone, and Maritime lias not | i yet found the science and combination j to back up any material that may be there. , Saturday showed Postlewaight as an ' accomplished kick, powerful and with good direction. He and Tute played rather energetic games in the City threequarter line, but Home, on the wing, was at a disadvantage because he had I to handle so many difficult passes. Mit-1 ' chell was in as half, and again he demon- I strated that his place is anywhere on | . the field. He had a nasty kick in the j ; face thnt looked worse than it evidently j J was, for he came on again. Thomas and I ' Reed and Francis were the mainstays j : of the red pack, with I'mggan not a great : ' deal behind. The backs hud many weak j ' moments, and worked not at all aecur- ; ' ately, though individually they were oc- . I casionally good. Adlain is a coinpara- j ' tively new full-back who made surpris- < ingly few mistakes, and several times | when he did err be retrieved himself brilliantly. On the Maritime side Lunn was the half, and his brilliant work was too ; often done by himself to be of great use to his team. But there is no doubt he , is a resourceful palyer. J. Sutton was , full, and his work was as usual, not brilliant, but mighty sound and reliable. Robinson and Beacliam and Sheehan and ' Delaney are all willing toilers who began by feeding Davidson quite a good deal, ( but City were taking no chances with him. and had him marked so thoroughly t that he never bad a ghost of a chance. There were two Averys in the pack, and the new arrival, the heavier one of the two. established himself as a good forward, right in (he thick of it every time. Ho wns one of the few Maritime packmen who did something with the ball whenever he had the chance. Veart plnved a good forward game, nnd Arndt nnd Hogg slaved at. the job too. Altogether, the game was good and hard, more of a "roughneck" piece of business, as an American might say. than anyIhing else, but i# was fairly BBti«fnetory, take it all in all. i PON'SOXPY V. XF.WTOX. ;

The result of the game nelween Pon- ] sonbv United and Newton was as dis- j appointing as it was surprising, for Pon- , sonbv completely reversed the tale of , the previous meeting of the two teams, and the wearers of the royal blue and black romped home with a handsome, victory. It is difficult to account for the reverse sustained by Newton on. this occasion, hut there ifi no gainsaying j the fact that the winners were desorv- j ing of every point of their success. The , task of selecting the relative points of t superiority is comparatively simple, but ] this dees not explain the slump in the f form showed by Newton. Ponsonby; | .ontrolled the scrum, and it was from j , this vantage point that they built tip; ! their success. Neal was more adroit, , and-resourceful than the half-back who j opposed him, and consequently the Pon- ( sonbv back division was able to mon- ; opolise the attack, and by reason of j their superior speed wore down the defence. There was good forward work on ( both sides, but it was the scrummaging; an<l the openings therefrom that ' counted, and the Ponsonby men, hand- , ling with confidence and judgment, made . the nacc throughout. Tn the full-back position, too. Ponsonby were better served than Newton, and for some reason or other Mansill did not fill the role of the last defender with the ability he usually displays when differently placed. He was disposed to hang on to the ball far too long, and time and again was tackled in possession. On the other hand, I)eIgios~o. the Ponsonby back.l saved the legs of his forwards to an uncommon degree by his judgment in kicking. As before mentioned. Neal, the

Ponsonby half-back, did exceedingly useful work for his side, and also outstanding in the back division were .McNamara and McGregor. The former, playing at five-eights, turned his speed; and weight to the fullest advantage, andj did quite a lot of judicious cross-kicking. Amongst the forwards Chatfield executed particularly smart, work in the loose, lies. Thomas nnd Keenan did good work amongst the Newton backs. The lastnamed was outplayed at half-back, but nevertheless rendered his side good service. The forwards were a hard-working lot, who were always good enough to take the offensive in* spite of the gruelling they received in chasing the speedy Ponsonby backs. Ponsonby were full value for the score of 19 points against three. SHORE V. MARIST OLD BOYS. White, the standard of play in the Shorc-Marist Old Boys match on the Domain fell short of what is expected from senior teams, the game was nevertheless fast and keenly contested, but

ocrambly. The Shore backs were probably the most prominent section in the game, some of their passing bouts being particularly fine. In this section Rundlo showed up well, putting in o lot of work to pood advantage. He was ably assisted by Nelson and Roberts. TCmerali was the weak link in the chin Invariably he overran his pass, and his kicking was weak. Of Shore's pack, Pullen, Bailey ami Boy en were conspicuous l>y their dash, the former in particular being prominent botii in the ruck and in the open. He was the responsible party for many of the passing bouts that gave Shore the advantage. Play was more even in the first epell than in the second, the tally at the spell being B—o in favour of .Shore. Mariet Old Boys" try was got as the result of a splendid bit of play on the part of Hing, half for the Old Boys, who can always be looked to to give a good account of himself. On this occasion he intercepted the pass well in hi- own team's territory, and after gaining a lot of ground, centred, and Cilynn. following up, made good. The second half was more in Shore's favour, and from this out tliey added an additional five points, winning by IS points to 8. Hing, Robinson, and Campney, in the backs, and T. Harris, I Olynn, and Clark, were the pick of ; Marist players. There was more comi bination in the play of the winning team j than their opponents, who relied to a great extent on individual effort.

p. City 7 I'olisonliv .... 0 Maritime 7 Newton 7 N'nrlh Shore .. S MarLsl Brothers 0 Points Cli. W. L. For. Azst. Pis. ..• 2 O.'l OO 10 1 8!) 41 10 .-> 2 112 70 10 4» :t s:t fir. s 4 4 SO 04 S — (I 17 110 —