OUTDOOR SPORTS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 167, 15 July 1919, Page 8

OUTDOOR SPORTS.

(By ACTAEON.) FOOTBALL. 3RUGBY. The second round of tne Auckland Cup matches was opened on Saturday, when the Grammar Old Boys sprung a surprise by beating University, the leaders, and thus putting College Rifles in the lead. This result leaves University and Grammar Old Boys standing level, a point behind College Rifles, with Grafton just two points further back. The meeting of University and College Rifles, which is included in the next draw, is consequently invested with exceptional interest. The positions now

I GRAFTON V. PONSONBY. j Good football was not to be expected (under the weather conditions prevailing I on Saturday, with a drizzling rain and: ia ball as elusive as a cake of soap in a i bath. Despite these handicaps, however, i jtbe black and whites put up a remarkably line exhibition of the game in their j fairly one-siued contest with Ponsonby. The greasy oval, which would bounce I in a most erratic manner and produce quite unexpected changes -in the game,! I'proved no deterrent to the activities of 1 the Grafton backs. They handled it as confidently as if the ball had been a dry (one, and better than they have done dnrling previous games where the conditions have been more in tlieir favour. Gas[paricb, Nixon, and Burns put m much I clever combined work during the afternoon. In comparison the work of the Ponsonby backs was very disappointing. They failed in their few attempts to handle the slippery ball, and combination was sadly lacking". Righton and Poison did much good work as individuals both .in attack and defence, the former in particular being prominent in one spectacular run, and the latter scoring Ponisonby's only try. Except for the fact jthat the {.rafton pack usually got the iball from the scrum, the forwards were jfairly evenly matched except during the .'closing minutes of the game. All grafted hard in the heavy going, and it would be j difficult to individualise. Throughout the I match was contested in a particularly | fine spirit, and went from kick-oiT to noside without a single hold-up for injury or other reason. COLLEGE RIFLES LEAD. . By their defeat of Marist Bros, and the victory achieved by Grammar Old Boys over University, (liitherto the leading team in the competition) College 'Rifles now take pride of place at the i top of the list. The Rifles were not at their full strength on Saturday, while their opponents also experienced difficulty in completing their team. The ground was treacherous, and the ball becoming very greasy, a good open exhibition was out of the question. Play was more or less of a loose nature, with not much concerted action, though on several occasions the bouts which were fruitful were brought off by the winning team. The tackling of the Marist Brothers' backs was lamentably weak, and on two occasions Wilson evaded the majority of- them, while Grierson also beat j several men in putting the finishing touch on to a good movement. Several of tbe other backs ably supported the players mentioned, but efficient handling was out of the question. In the opposj ing rearguard Pilling, Graham and 'Molloy did yeoman service. The for- [ wards were more at home with the preI vailing elements, and disputed matters I evenly. On Saturday week College play T'niversitv, and, given a fine day. a highly interesting match should result. NEWTON AND PARXET.L. Parnell defeated Newton by a margin of thirty-two points to three, and did not have much difficulty in doing it. Besides being the weaker team. Newton played two men short, so that the match yielded very little in the way ot interesting play. GRAMMAR'S BIG WIN. Grammar School Old Boys on Saturday did what they have been threatening to do' for the past two seasons—they heat the leaders in the championship competition. This team has always played a 'fast, open, sporting game and made things interesting both for their opponents and the spectators, but hitherto they have lacked endurance to keep the pace going from end to end, because in most instances the weight was against them. But with the return of tha "diggcra" their team has been built up in this respect. With the addition ot i.Billinjj-on and J".-. Ivronfeld to the pack, i and G. Badelev and Woolley to the backs, ■they have now a side which sustains its | pn.ee, and has plenty of stamina. Despite ■ the heavy conditions on Saturday they set a fast pace at the jump, and sustained it throughout, lasting even better than the University side, which has a deserved reputation for doing things in the second spell. Generally the University team has been able to rely on a solid pack, giving its backs full opportunity in the second spell when the steadiness and combination of the rearguard has been able to bring the side triumphantly through all j difficulties, but on this occasion Grammar dominated the scrum throughout, and their bustling tactics in tbe open and the strong running of Woolley, backed up by the good handling of his supports, carried the University backs off their feet. Frequently the students rallied, and on two or three occasions they missed scores by the narrowest of margins, but on the day Grammar were the better team, and recorded a popular and merited win. The outstanding feature of the gama was the strong dashing play of Woolley. at centre for Grammar. 'Ighis player has pace and weight, and be uses both to the i best advantage, and has a natural in« jstinct for using his feet at the right time. •His breakaway dashes demoralised the ['opposition, and he rarely made the misjtake of going too far on his own. Nico (heady play by C. Badelev at inside fivej eighths gave Woolley every opportunity. Nicholson save one of the cleverest displays of full-back work seen here this season, his strong point being the holdina up of forward rushes without losing control of the ball. Taylor and llcCullough beat the oppoing hookers for the ball throughout the game, and Oonyngham, Ivronfeld, Molloy, and Billington were most noticeable of a. pack which did some rare combined work among the forwards in open play. University have rarely appeared* to such disadvantage. At times their forwards bunched and broke away, when Thomas, Elill'e, Miller, and Sims* showed

up, but generally the students were held to defensive tactics, hoth back and forward. Ross did yeoman defensive work, while most of the other backs, with Brineden conspicuous, left little complaint for their individual efforts. But they were unable to develop combined attacks against the strong tackling and nippiiiess of the Grammar team. ■:.i ■ NORTHERN XTNION. The championships are now almost over, and Ponsonby is the winning team. Their draw with Maritime last Saturday settled the question for the season, and there are many who will say that Mantime were rather unfortunate, under the circumstances, in not winning that game. The wretched conditions put the two teams more on a level, because the wetness was in favour of the watereiders and against Ponsonby, because it hindered them from using any combined work. The entries for the Koope Roctster are due to close on Tuesday next, and this competition should be of great interest, because when it comes to knock-out business, the struggles between the teams are alwaye so much keener. This coming Saturday there will be no League games, except the one between the Auckland reps, "and the Returned I Soldiers. The two teams have already j been published, and they will be meeting ' on the main ground at "the Domain at a I quarter past three. The selectors say they might perhaps have chosen a slightly stronger team to represent the city, but they could not do this without including some returned soldiers, and it lias been their aim to draw an absolute distinction between the two. Every player under the red, white and blue colours is to be a returned man, and not one of the red and blacks can claim thu x .same distinction. And yet the two teams appear on paper to be very evenly balanced, and it will be a toee-up which will win. The writer is inclined to think the soldiers will have the better of it. Let us hope so. A good deal of comment has been aroused by the action of the Wellington City Council re the Basin Reserve grounds the Wellington League applied for, and much satisfaction exists because, the original decision of the Wellington Council has been reversed. It is useless to go into a newspaper argument about professionalism, because tf some people think a man paid, say, two shillings,to cover expenses, is an amateur, and a man paid, say, ten shillings for the same purpose, is a professional, what argument will convince him? At least there was one argument made liy a Wellington Councillor that was indiscreet, and that was that a Southern League has paid £50 to a man to play League. That remark ie interesting, because it is so well known that not a single League in New Zealand yet, except perhaps the, Auckland League thiis year, is at all strong financially- In the Southern have never yet held as much as £')0. according to responsible officials of the New Zealand League in Auckland. THE DRAWN' GAME. Ponsonby and Maritime made things rather interesting for the spectators on Saturday. There was mud . and rain about. in plenty, nnd this* effectively stopped any attempts at passing bouts or intricate footwork. In fact, the game was nearly all individual work, and it had only one incident during the whole play that might possibly be open to question. That was the" ruling given by Referee Murray against H. Avery, who had taken the bafl past Delgrosso and then overran it. He slewed aside and left it alone till another forward came up to kick it on. This man had a clear field, but when he touched it the referee penalised his side. Mr Murray's explanation was that he penalised Avery for waiting off-side, but it is at least doubtful whether the big forward could have done anything else. He was going fast, so was the ball, the ground was slippery, and he no doubt thought he was doing the right thing in getting out of the way. He had no time to turn and come back before the following forward was past him. On the Ponsonby side Delgrosso, the full-back, showed himself again to be quite a satisfactory footballer, and Neal, the little half who has not long come up from junior, is a player the team will do well to hold on to. For Maritime, Robinson played full, and many times his straight, efficient work saved his side. Sutton played up to standard, and Delaney was conspicuous on the whole ground for the way he handled and kiel*d the greasy ball. One other player should certainly be mentioned, and that is H. Avery, who is afl fine a forward as any. ASSOCIATION. On Saturday last the first round of the Falcon cup competition wns played, and with one exception, resulted in very easy wins. At the Domain. Shore disposed of V.M.C.A. by five goals to nil, while Everton defeated Ponsonby by two goals to one. At North Shore Northcote met and defeated Devonport Presbyterian by five to one. The game at Victoria Park, between Queen's Park and Brotherhool resulted in a very easy win for the former by seven goals to one. The result of the games in the first round leave Everton, Northcote. North Shore and Queen's Park in the semi-final. The latter team, which play in the second grade con hardly be termed a second grade team. Thpir display on Saturday proved them to be a real good senior eleven, and they are sure to take a lot of beating in the cup tie. HOCKEY. Unpleasant conditions, consisting of rain, wind, and the natural result a treacherous turf, prevailed for the continuation of the championships, and the state of the ground interfered with play to a certain extent. Jit. Eden fully recognised the conditions, and adapting their play, had College Rifles in trouble for a considerable portion of the game, eventually winning by the narrow margin of three goals to two. Traimng College reproduced the form displayed against College Rifles on the previous Saturday, and proved victors of Somervell in a game of exceptionally heavy scoring by six goals to five. St. Luke's defeated Areta by four goals to one, while University had little difficulty in adding two points at the expense of Ponsonby ."with a total of three goals to one. College Rifles had the satisfaction of completing the first round without loss, but their long Eequence of successes was interrupted by Mt. Eden in the first stages of the return journey. It was anticipated that Mt. Eden would fully extend their opponents, but there were very few sanguine enough to predict that Mt. Eden would figure so prominently, and on the general run of play there was at least a greater difference in favour of lit. Eden than the score denotes. Mt. Eden had easily the best of the encounter, in which a splendid pace ,was maintained. They not only did the

bulk of the attacking, but aleo had innumerable ehots at goal. Mt. Eden opened up the game by hard hitting to the wings, and under the prevailing conditions this mode of attack was eminently successful, for it gave the vanguard plenty of opportunities to develop their individuality. College Rifles, on the other hand, persisted with the short passing methods, which, on the day, were entirely unsuitable ac the opposing -backs had frequent opportunities to intercept on account of the pace of the ball varying on the sloppy turf. Another mistake was attempting to initiate attacks from the centre, which happened to be Mt. Eden's strongest position. While the Mt. Eden backs hit College rear division, with a couple of exceptions, were not able to obtain the same results. Several incidents cropped up during the game which, were subject to a good deal of comment. For instance, quite a number were under the impression that College Rifles' first goal was shot from outeide the circle. Then Mt. Eden's second goal, according to a number ot critics, did not go into the net. A shot by Alexander was stopped by the College goalie, and the ball ran along the goal-line and just turned outeide the poet. Just before time a melee ensued in the mouth of the Mt. Eden goal, and it was only a matter of fractions whether the ball crossed the line. Xo only did the Mt. Eden forwards excel in the open, but they subjected the College goal to some very severe bombardments, and it only required a little more accuracy to have furnished further food for reflection to the College custodian. Mt. Eden's most dangerous forward wan A. Alexander. Not only was his dashing work in the open effective, but he rocked in some very "hot" stuff goalwards. Hunt played a capital game on the left-wing and made many openings as the result of speedy work. G. half, and in the new position smothered frequent attacks by clever stick play and firm hitting. Wheeler put a stop* to a lot of rushes. Both full-backs, King and Jarman, wore reliable. College Ritles' last moment goalie, Lepinc, stopped some very fast drives and cleared well. Slonuin was not co j much in the picture as in previous matches. The half-line was frequently baffled by the opposing van, and did not support the full-backs to any extent. Uaildon was the most consistent. The work of the College forwards suffered by attempting the short-passing; they seldom opened up the attack to any extent. The work that did go to Grayson and Garrard on the wings was generally utilised to advantage. Areta were a sadly depleted team when they lined out to face St. Luke's. With Bishop. Ellison, and White absent the oi'tlook was not promising. llo\tever, the junior team had a victory by default, and they all flocked across for a game. They were so enthusiastic that half a dozen of them had to be chased off the ground. Although not a full strength team it performed so well that they hehl St. Luke's for two-thirds of the game, and it was only when tiie maroone played at the top of their form that a substantial margin was secured. Both back and forwards did good work. Hanna (g<"»l) was safe. 'Williams was the more consistent of the two backs, and in the next divieion Webster and !McL*eocl were in evidence. Forward. Duncan and Rich were the pick. The latter wade a capital run from circle to circle, and just missed scoring, however, Hookham did the trick. Areta's defence was severely searched in the latter stages of the game, and Hallam in goal had a busy time. Preston took Ellison's place —quite a new role— and was fairly safe in the more lonely position. Knglnnd proved the strongest member of the blacks' defence. Robinson* did best work in the half line, but was not altogether happy at centre. Amongst the forwards, Richards wae eiisilv the best performer. Although Somcrvell figured so well in the early part of the first round they came to grief last Saturday against Training College in a game of big scores. It was a fairly eve* encounter. The dashing work of the Collegians just manned to bring them the desired result. Mackin was the outstanding forward for the winners, while Olphert and Scherer were aleo conspicuous. At halfback Carr accomplished a lot of excellent work, and Boswell was ac good as usual. Truscott was safe at full-back. It is time that the Somervell forwards realised that the centre-forward not only caters for the line, but is in the best position to notch goals; therefore it is advisable to return the pass at times instead of blundering on. Norton hit the ball about for the benefit of the rest of the line. Carter and Watts worked -well enough. The halves were not quite up to the mark, and of the full-backs L. Munro shaped best. The game 'between University and Ponsonby wae robbed of interest on account of Ponsonby having the misfortund to be minus the services of four of their most capa-ble performers. Two of them, Holland and Ryan, are unable to play again this season, while Satchell and Darby were unavoidably absent, and only a couple of the vacancies could be filled. It proved rather a tame encounter, as University held the upper 'hand from the start, and did not take matters very seriously. REPRESENTATIVE TEAMS. The selector, Mr H. B. Speight, has chosen the following teams to play a match at the Domain on Saturday, in connection with the peace sports carnival: — Auckland (blue and white). —Goalkeeper, C. Hallam; full-backs, R. (J. Slom'an, J. C. Rennie; halves, S. Robinson, G. Hunt, A. Boswell; forwards, L. Grice, A. Alexander, A. C. Johns, R. VV. Harman, H. J. (Jrayson. Rest of Auckland (red and black). — Goalkeeper, P. Hobson; full-backs, A. Steele, C. A. Jarman; halves, W. Alilers, G. Crawshaw, D. Clayton; forwards K. Garrard, W. Garrard, H. C. Fletcher; I. B. Macken, J. W. Olphert. Reserves: Goalkeeper, B. Cooper; full-backs, R. England, E. George; halves, E. G. McLeod, W. F. Swan; forwards, H. (J. Carr, R. Hunt, J. Sparkes. MEETING OF EXECUTIVE. MATCHES FOR MONDAY. A special meeting bf the 'Executive Committee of the Auckland Hockey Association wae held at the sports clubroom last evening. Mr L. C. Kent presided, and there were also present: — Messrs 'L. H. Horton, A. Murdoch, H. B. Speight, D. McGregor, A. C. Johns, and H. J. Grayson. It was resolved that all club championship matches, postponed on Saturday next on account of the Peace celebration eporte, be played on Monday afternoon. The question of commencing matches earlier than two o'clock, owing to the tramcars being engaged for +JlO conveyance of school children, was lett to the Appointment Committee to decida * v I *I~ ttliSi-v I

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