FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 118, 18 May 1920, Page 7

FOOTBALL.

! RUGBY. I The Rugby matches on Saturday have added quite a lot of interest to the championship competition. Anticipations that College Kifles and University would leave everything elec behind and fight out the finish were blown sky hign by these teams going down to Marist Brothers and (Grammar ifld Boys respectively. This makes it plain that there are at least four teams distinctly in tha running, while l'unsonby, who beat Marist Brothers, who beat' College Rifles, claim to have a say also. Graftoa and Newton have yet to "break their duck" in the matter of points and wins, but the former is by no means a negligible quantity. Parnell has pulled out of the contest. The positions of the teams now are:— j I'nints Oh. P> W. L. K,,r. As. J'is. I £™™ 0 ™» r 2 2 - 31 11> 4 College Rifles..., ;; i 2 iiS :i.~i •' University 2 1 1 ;« :u! 2 ! Marist Urothers 2 1 1 j.> U ; -j < Orafton •• _ ■> ->-. _ Newton % 2—5 _ L'L> — j Local enthusiasts will have an opportunity of getting a line on Wellington club form next Saturday, for the Victoria College fifteen will" play that day against Auckland University, at Eden Park. As places in the New Zealand ; University team to meet Sydney University will depend on the form 'shown in this game the players on both sides can be depended on to go their best paces. THE GRAMMAR OOTT. : Grammar Old Boys effected a surprise oy apfenthrc t.'n-ivcrsiry. Alter the latter teams display against College KifloH ihe previous week opinion was entirely on thu side of a win by University. It was anticipated tbat Uraminar would make Uiin-s I warm for tbe flrst spell, ami bo teuton l>v I the weight and pace of tue Cnlverslty f-.f-----wardi ia the second speil. As a matter of j Tact the Grammar forwards proved the ' corner-stone of the team's success. Tliev ! packe<l and booked better t.ban did thoi'r opponents, and In tbc loose and in i:n<--work they more than held their own. preventing the University park from . initintlnc the breakaway ,msb and close ' passing bouts that proved so effective : •when the students played College Rifles. ' On the day the I'niversity pack met slightly more than its match. While Tay- ' lor. M.-ftilloupli. BilUTißton Wilson. and KronfcM broke up tbe combination of tJle blues, the reacby. dashlns play of (ireville kept Lucas, t.aspanob. Thomas, and Ci>. I too busy on defence to atteml very much I to raldhic stunts on their own account. On > the game. Grevllle. whose reach was a fine i asset on the line, and whose handling nnd thkc, was the host forward on the ground, i not eiceptinsr 1/ucas. Both teams mlght with advantage, have used their feet more i to play on before handling. The (rrainmar backs were Individually good, but collectively their display could i have been a great deal better. There was : far too much fumbling of passes and hesi- i Olsen and V. Tiadeley. while Fisher's propenslty for roving out of place brought passing of the University hacks was much crleper than that of their opponents, but i they were hnndicanped Tiy Hopkins having an off day and being slow to get tbe bull . iiway. White's work at inside nve-eicbth compared unfavourably with the form | shown the prevlons week by Mi-Ivor, while Philips and E<ldowes (fii!l-l.a<k) stowi out as the best men among the backs. V. Badeley's coal-klcklnjr was once ngstn a feature of the game, and proved cveutnnllv the TVinninc factor of the game. If | 1 the firamniar backs can get more snap ' into their handling -work the team should. | with the forward talent it now has. prove i one of the most dangerous scoping sides In the competition. A KOKWAItn TRIUMPH. The result or the Mann T-rotliers-Coilege Rifies contest was a veritable surprise, though it was known that Marist had ; strengthened their team by the Inclusion | of O'Brien and Singe. Notwithstanding this the team was an experimental one in the arrangement of tbe players. The two blues owe victory to tbeir pack, who in the second half beat tbe College vanguard and

demoralised their backs. There was very little snappy combination among cither set of backs, the College machinery, as mentioned before, falling to work In combination against the bullocklng forwards. Their pivot was the principal failure, while the nre-eighths showed a disinclination to get down to the 'Tykes' rushes. The winning backs were little superior to their opponents, for whereas they got plenty of opportunities not once during the game was all the chain of attack linked up. • Of the two players that suppwmented the Marlst ranks botli were disappointing; O'Brlea was particularly safe In his handling, bat seemed pnxzled by the kicking direct Into touch rule. Singe, who played first five-eighth, did a lot of work both in defence and. attack, but at no stage displayed tbe versatility essential to a fiveeighth. Karlly, behind the scrum, was clever, and played probably the best back game of the afternoon, tbe only blenilsU I being slownesß in getting the ball away. Malloy was the best of the otner backs. The forwards are a'solid lot, nnd played a hard game at times, spoiling good work by questionable tactics —neck screwing and Jolting an opponent after tackling—and some of the offenders were lucky to escape the referee. This play, unfortunately. Keemed to be encouraged by a portion of the spectators Somervelle, Martin, and Teters were the best of the pack. It Is doubtful If Marlst made the most use of their backs in the re-arrangement. Malloy is ((tilte an average fnllback. and O'Brien's cleverness and generalship would be much more I beneficial if he played nearer the scrum. Singe also appeared out of his place. The College pack, though beatun in the final stages, were not disgraced, and it was really their backs that lost them the match. The Fletcher brothers stood out prominently. Of the backs most of the defensive played a good game. Wilson got few opportunities/, but Ilines at full was safe. lie made one serious mistake in fumbling a kick from Karlly near the end of the gume, a try resulting. ONE-MAN UUCBV. The Ponsonby-Newton game calls for very little comment. It was ragged from start to finish. There were a few occasions on which the blue rearguard attempted handling the leather, but despite the disorganised condition of the opposing backs these I' efforts produced nothing, aud almost all of the scoring was tbe result of individual I effort. Ponsouby forwards certainly kept I better on the ball than the reds did, aud I Koss, at half, did a considerable amount of I good work, while Matthews proved himself ti strong runner. Ou the Newton side Murray was the best of a set of backs that seemed to have little idea of relative posii tions, and N\ ilson showed a good turu of I speed that he was uliuost never permitted to use. Tuc giinie was played iv the best e£ spirit throughout, and Newton, though hopelessly beaten, kept battling uloug eumusiaslically until time sounded. LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP. CITY AT THE HEAD. COMMENTS FROM SATURDAY. <!ity has drawn away as the leading team in the League championship, two points ahead of Maritime, with Newton and Ponsonby together in tbe next position. The City win from Newton was a larger one than perhaps it should have been, and spectators were not. wanting— even City barrackers^ —to say that Mr. Ball, the referee, unduly favoured the winning team. While that view of the matter cannot be supported, nevertheless, Mr. Ball was not always well up with the play, and tie missed occasional breaches by City on the attack t hat perhaps gave them pointe; Tehile Newton were not bo fortunate in carrying on their attacks outside the referee's field of vision. Afjer a decisive defeat by City a fortnight ago. Devonport ran a tie with Ponsonby/ and at the same time demonstrated that when their pack is "right after it" these forwards are capable of giving battle- to-the best. , •

The form shown by Marist against Maritime was frankly disappointing, and the team from the waterfront put them down. Maritime is to meet City next Satur- ! day, and on form the latter should notch o fourth victory, while may be able to make things interesting for Newton. Mariat and Grafton will probably decide once for all the capabilities of these two clubs. In the meajitime the games— if we may judge them from two or three days—seem to require a keener coordination among the players, backs especially. City have introduced a fast raiding ey3tera that is calculated to put any slow back movement out of gear, and altogether their aggressive mode of defence, although no new thing, makes them unique for the present among the local clubs. Two or three of thp teams have a general notion of the more obvious rules of the game, but there U n distinct absence of tbat subtle finesse that has the effect of putting snap and fire into a game. The championship table is now: —

NEWTON'S ■MISFORTUNE. Newton deserved a better fate on Saturday than to go dows by so many points tity. and the winners, Lhoujyh perhaps not lncky to win, were fortunate in getteiur such a bis verdict. Though not parti cularly fast, the game was set to a solid, slogging pace, nud the Mietalned attacks even though rhey brought lio good. Hiir the general conclusion to be drawn from this and rue previous mateh —City with I'onsonbv—is thuL dtv has v line defence with Ulng and Weiberall coming out an two live-eighths, wit.h Stewart the haLf, make n line connecting link bi-tween the close and open player-s. :!hough Stewart has not been quite so consistent as th:- other two. \V. Davidson is a haudv man in centre, always on hand, ills young brother l> will probably romp out again ue.it Saturday. Mitchell is one of the I>«it forwards, u-kh a capital knack of nrcnkJnz away fast enough to annoy the oppusii ion. iicid nnd Francis do their best work at the head (if the pack, aod Thomas is distinctly good in the hard, close places. iJnfty. the Newton full, 'has been falling wi-th his kicks lately. Th*. j>ow.-r is then-. ■but his direction is not so certain. Bass comes oil: as the pick of the forwards, a sure tackier with good points in "both loos~ and close work, and he is well backed by Newdk-k and Somers. Tolson. the half, is setliu« well Into line. rXJL'STPPIEI) EXPECTATIONS. | If Devoaport can only get consistent j results as good as on Saturday, Uiev will he a i.owcr to reckon w»h In the cimpMition. Their tie with I'onsotri.y was a ,lennite upsetting of popular expectation that was based mostly on showing against *"*ity two weeks before. l»cvonport heid work, mainly breause of Walters. Hie man I opposed to l.awry. and th,' -amp ilself I

was foujrht out chiefly between ilw» opposing packs. Morgan, 'the Shore half, lias a couple of good meu harking him in <J. Stewart and Matthews, while Nicholson in centre played a bright game. Uodlck on with Walters makp a'Rood ba4t]lng trio. Again Helgrosso came up In iljn capacity of an olTenslve full-Tiack. He is fairly saf,in his di-feniliiiß capariry as well, and has a powerful kick. McGregor brfrtthpr- <"ross auil <Mv«t,VU)ont w*re si-arcely coiinectpil enoiißh. and the half was somewhat wr-ak. ('huttield and '.Soutliprnwoinl were perhaps tup best pair of packmen on tJie day's piny. I'nnsonhy wont out wit.li a t"nm tout can si-arcely lip <-ulh>d ruli strength, thoush it was very near ihp best. Thi-y may be forKlveu if Ihej- hi'ld ULeories of a* <ert.itu vli-rory. lMir It niU-ht Up as well for th.m in tlio future to tflke no cluinces with mk , i ..u iur.r;a,a sunn- as foota.aH. MAR IST ANT> MARITIME SHOW ■1"OORLT. Kxcppt In Ihe sumi-oivasionnl «nap< of interpsiitis oppn play. the meeting of Maritime and IMarist was not a particularly pleratlilK exhi'blHon of iJ.thpr tJip principles or the practice of I he Northern I'uion came. Obviously the wo teams hare yet to learu sufficient of t!he sHeucn of the game to give :i finished display, and as for Marisi. their standard was at any rate fifty per cent bplow the style they set In the first ~ame of the season, -liuili siijrs made many irretrievable mistakes, that showed some lack of Intelligent c-ordlna Uon. Maflst made a far better .showing in the clorfus minutes of the K*ine, but the spurt came three-quarters of an hour too late. It should have been there at rhe beginning, but they proved that ihey are young gentlemen of spirit. IndiW.lual play on both aides was often good, but there was little successful com-bination. The score. .Maritime 1«, -Marist in, just about Indicates the difference. Taite was out and away the best of the Tykes. Quick on Lhe break, setting a fast puce, he was often away ahead of his nearest supports. St. is a front row man of merit. Stormont not so bad. and the whole pack Is oue with plenty of energy ami enthusiasm. .Hinjj was not quite up tn previous form, but I-overldpe. liret five-eighth, was brilliant. He had some hard knock*, and look them well, tibenl is a good half, souietim-es a trine slow. I'rv. the full Iback. lakes things 100 easily. Suttou, centre three, was out far ahead of the Maritime backs, and Avery the pick of the bunch in loose anil tig-ht work. Yar.l ley and Urey have the makings of v bright jiair, and Lang the half was good In places, but all of I hem were mishandling too much. Arndt and Herring and O"Brieu did good work for the park, which is of the' hard slogging type, Uiat usually does fairly well.

Tpam. p. i\v Cit.v a ;• Maritime ; 2 ■> «ft»» •■! 1 'I'nnsonhy :t .] Devonport -J _ Mnrist DM lltoys . . :". Urafton 2 __ II. 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 P. <; 4 :: 1 1