NORTHERN UNION.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 153, 28 June 1920, Page 7

NORTHERN UNION.

MARITIME STILt UNBEATEN. PONSONBY GKTS OPAFTON. " MARIST LOCK'S AGAIN. THE TREND OF TIIR GAMKS. A ciipnle or good games, and one that was scrappy, were played Iwtween nix I eiiene sfir.or teams on three different par: s on Saturday afternoon. iMore than <;ir<Xl p.-oplc wa(<-he<l i.Marltime beat N>wton on Viciria 'Park to the :une of fourteen ivoints to seven, after n came that was fast and hard all the '.vay. and was characterised by ~reat vigour in all its ni'.v. ments. The Shore match was next .best in point of ililcnxst. and here the home team. Devon-port I'nitcd. pulled down the Marist colour* by a try hti.l a goal, the actual tally reudin.2 eiirftt points to three. This came npcnrd slowly, but rlevcloped lo a fast ami interesting finr-h. Graf ton losi heavily to Ponsonby, who defeated them by •Jβ to 0 on the liomaln frlcket Ground. These zanies coni-h.de the tir-t round or l-he ehamp'onshlp. am! lnav,. Hie icaius in Iho following positions:— Pis. Ch. Team. P. W. P. 1.. For. As. Pts. Maritime B c. -- — ill S3 11' <~ity ii 4 — •_■ lul T: , . S Newton « :: 1 -J 71 l>! 7 Marist c .' 1 :; 117 ."': .". Ponsonby rt J 1 ■'• '.1!> Ti '•' I rivrmipn'rl ... H i* ] :i 4:: SI 5 Gralton a — — u« ;r> 12U — •My default. MARITrXIE POCTSf.KS sftwTON. At m> time liurin? the whole came l>etw.'cn Mrirltime anil Newton was ih" FCOTiiiK more than ill tem|«-.rary favour of !ci;her team. «md the lightning chanues In 'the p'.ay the crowds always in anticipation or a rcv.rs.-il of the iead. Newton iMi.rterl out wjth -i couple of μ-oals. Marl|tinitf followed with iwo tries, and Newlon had another try, which left them a point up at half t:nie. In ihe second spell Maritime wenl over their opponents , line twice a-irain. and with a lead of five points they hud in rltfht otr a vei-v determined attack. ■liiaht on the '-.ill of Hni" they s.-ore.l i another coal, civinc them fourteen points i iiuninst Ihe Newton >even. I The eliar:..;erlstb-s or the play were its I sped and Us viKour. but though t.he ball liraveHeil ovi-r every inch of ihe piaylnjr arra. the In.-k of ttnish in the work of tiie ■backs. Newlon parDcnliirly. lef] them short of ihe ir.-iln obtej'iive of their strong and c.nsl-tent .-ilt.-icks. Poison, the Newton half, was ihe kincPin of his team. playing up with the pack fn al.aitk. and i-howiPß plucky and effecMve tacklinc on defen.--- Th« hlg loose forward movements that often had Maritime pi-uned up were mo-.tl;- led by thp Jaraes ijrotliers and Somers. riass also rl.,ing well. In all the ■ 'fen play K. C. Grey, the Maritime c-ntre-was prominent, slid especially was his work of advantage in MopTilnc those open runs of Hie opposition. P.rien. the full. often in rilfficnlly. but. Lane did well. and ihe front row men. Arndt. u'Rrlen ami Ho-js. did mod work. Cloke made many mls'akes. and indrpd, mMiamllinit and oilier fa ill;* of the Newton backs lost them a number of bright .se.irinz chances. rONSONRV V. GHAKTO^N. T!!.fK AND r.IJACKS EAST' WIN. Grafton failed to make much of a show nsrnlnst the on No. J pround at the liomaln. That this was anticipated was evident from the small al tendance of the public ih.it witnessed lap same, the grand-.-land belu- -barely full. The state of the trrnnrM was airainst .-, -rood exhinition. for In :ii!«'li tion to hf*lns consequeiitlr slippery, it was well cut up. two ma I dies having been decided on the eround earlier in the <my. Willi the additional revi k that this (tame could not s-lart before dispersed before the game tinished. in a very bad light. The tirst half eaUs far little of vote wit>h the cxcepUon of the closeness of the. Ponsonhv nni-hing up at the end of the half with r> points in hand to their opponents' nil. .Play up till iheu was of a very i-crambly order, the heaviness of the cround prrveiHine any sort of a display from the ponies' vanguard. They did better In the second half, howpve.r. and ere the bell hid sounded had a.-counted for an additional ".'I for their opponents rtplif through the last b-ilf. despite several black and white invasions into their territory. Ai times the ball traversed up and down th» field wiih srreat speed, 'but ihe blue and biacKs never at any stace Kioked like losinc the crip they had on The came. Mo '"lyinont was out 'to see his colleagues at it. hut was prevented from plviytnc throueh the bump he received some few days a;:o. Orafron were in Fore str-aights half way through the second half, for'in quick succession three wearers of the black and white jersey left the field In quick succession: Neal as a result of Ix-tnc ordered off. one a* the result of an Injury, and Ihe A feature of the game was the goal-kicK.-ns or r r ,,ss. for Ponsonby. his fine piloting or tin- ball considerably enhancing the blue and blacks point tally. The blue and black vanguard as a -whole worked well together, throwlns the ball about unselfishly and to ffood advantage. To differentiate between them, particularly in the second half, would be difficult, 'it follows that the forward division had little to do. but what <Hd come their way was well negotiated. Bennett, in particular. shone out prominently. Kor the losers Woolley and Partington relayed n-ood games asaiiif-t big odiis. the former showing up well both in attack and defence, in which Grafton was very weak. Neal. at half, was also doing well, until from an order hy ihe referee he was compel><] to. leave the field. Grnfton's forward pur in a deal of band work, but It was .lacking in effect through want of combination. Mr. Thompson gave every satisfaction as the. referee. nEVONPORT DEFEATS MARIST. The game between Devon-port and Marist r.rotners opened at the Shore r.ither slowly from the spectacular point of view, and hflf time whistle blew. After this the mate!) was very hard and developed many interesrins situations. Devonport scored no I more, and M.iriM fought hni-d r<> catch in to their rivals' ia!ly. Imt could only cross the goal-line once, the game ending's—•"!. The cnital defensive work of tte home team, rallying round Shehmd. their safe full-back, vied with the very determined attacking points of the Tykes' to make the I last 'half of the game an exciting one. |<!hent Loveridge. and Hlng started most of these attacks goiug. and "stormont was the shining light of the vigorous Marist ipaek. bin they were up against a powerful opposition in Seac;>r. Walters. Helander [and Pullen. while Morgan and his flveelKhtns made an efficient connecting link with the bark department. SECOND GRADE. City Rovers 17. beat Ponsonhy United 8. THIRD GRADE. Devonport 21, beat Point Chevalier 7. FOURTH GRAD£. Kingsland la. beat Nortlx-ote S. Kichmond 32 beat TH-x onport I'nited 0. Kinxtdnnd IJ. ben I Northeote 3 Otahuhu drew with fity, 2 all. FIFTH GHADE North Shore 14. beet Otahuhn S City C, beat Maritime U. J7RST LEAGL'E TEST. AI'STRALIA BKATS KSGI.AND. EIGHT POINTS TO FOUR. '. ißeccived S.:v> p.m., I BRISBANK. June -fi .The first League football test mated between Kngland and Australia was paved Hereto-day before :*..,),) s , e .tator, P Tne Z ?n% < d . uil , :,n ", '"™- Toe game resulted In a win for Australia by S points 'lhe Krgiishmeu attacked a> ihe outset and almost got over, bur Bacon was force.] nut. Horder then brt.ke away twice without result. Thp Englishmen 'were awarded a tree kick, and ijronow, from near the ,ipntre, obtained a goal: England 2 insJ™"* 0 - T" 1 " , Eps-lishnien continued To have. ♦ be better-or the play, though the Australian defence was too strong. rjronow agaln got a goal from a penalty. England 4, Ai stralla 0. Australia then rook the play to the nther end of thp field and made several determined attacks in which Broadfoot. \ e»t. and Horder were prominent twice failed at i-oal from fr.-e kicks, roe game became rough and scrappy, both teams playing offside. The referee warned Hilton iF.nglend) and Pearce .Australiai for indulging in flsricuffs. During the reft or the Br*t half the Australians were In charge

and Frazer. picking up in the loose, scored a try which was not converted, making the scores at half-time: England 4. Australia 3. On resuming play went up and down the field. Rroadfoot made a brilliant dash on the wing, but Thomas and Rogers tackled and bustled htm into touch near the .-orner. The Australians were penalised for illegal tackling, but Gronow failed with the kick at goal. Play again l>ecauie rough, ami excitement reached a high pitch. Rroadfcot i A tist.ra lia i and Thomas (England! participated in a rush for the bail over the line, the latter saving. Broadfoot collided with a posl. but resumed shortly afterwards. The linesman reported that some of the Englishmen were punching in the scrum, and the Australians were t a warded a free kick, hut I-'razer failed in his attempt at goal. After scrappy piay Horder kicked up to Ihe left wing near the line, and Burse made a flying leap and dived over. Horder com-erted. Australia S. England- 4. There was terrific excitement when Horder again broke away and almosr scored. The Australians were penalised near midnuld. bu! <ironows kick failed. The final scores were: Australia S. England 4.