THE LEAGUE CUP.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 201, 23 August 1920, Page 7

THE LEAGUE CUP.

GOES TO MARITIME. TYKES BEATS CITY. IN A GREAT GAME. GRAFTON LOSF.'S TO SHORE. The result of the games on the Domain on Saturday afternoon will have the effect of tenninatlnc the League championship without any more contests, and now that Maritime has established a lead Saturday's games .will probably open the Knope Rooster knockout competition. A crowd of between six and seven thousand hail a Krcat day out. They wr Maris! Brothers Old Hoys defeat City to the tin'" "l t<" points to live, iv one of the best open games the Auckland llu.iiv i-eii,c----has presented this season, and Maritime, after beinc held at bay by Pmisouhv, who gave them-as as they M>t i" the Urst spell, eventually eoi the advantage of the team from the Three Lamps, and won by 20 points to 10. lipvon-port I'iiited had also a vl-tory over Grafton. the Shore thirteen coming on* the Held on the big end of a 13-B Lilly. "Too good to rnls-s" whs (lie unanimous verdict or tlic.se who saw the Mar'st-ClfV meeting. Right from the jump the play was fast anil open, an.l one or t-.vo scoring r-haeecx that each team lost left the first srell wlib the result of nil everybody. Thotic-li City had some bad luck, (he Tyke win was thoro-'clily deserved. Tho pb'V right tilt-ouch was punctuated by many flashes of Individual brilliance, and open work alternated with fast forward str-iircles. As v team, the City backs .were ahead of their opponents, hut as resourceful Individuals- they were nowhere. All the Tyke forwards were full of Are. Tlie match between Maritime ami Pnn*on'hv was very fast, the excellent combine'! nl.iv by l.ntll -.p.ims mnkiiig It II SIIC--tncul.ir exhibition. After n gre-it tussle Maritime led at the Interval by 11—7. and afterwards managed to put another I" no'i-ts on to this score, thoueh the losers were "by no means always ou the defensive. On Xo 4 I. itrnupil. mvirc to Grafton's having defnr'trd to nevnnpnrt In the first round, the tirst gnme of the season wns pin veil hetwren these two teams. Tl'" came wa« "eu-'ri'llv fust, and although both tennis were lnrklnf in pood comblnn tion. vet s«me Interesting ulny was .vit nested nevonport had the better i.f their n-noi.ert« nil tbrourlv and finally triumphed to the extent of 1."? points to ... . The cluimploushii. points now are: — Points Ch. P. W. D. L. For Ag. I'M. Mn-itinie ... 11 0-- 2 NIS .«.'! IS r-ltv VI R 4 270 131 10 Mnrlst 11 t 1 ■• 1°- T4 " Newton 11 « 1 -I IT) 1o- Ijj T>evonnort ■• 11 '< - " '•'" J-j' „ Ponsonby ... 11 2 2 7 V.'., 1«S . > Grafton .... 11 1- HI 7S 22* 2 MAUI ST BEATS CITt Marist Old Boys 10 points. City o. The game that brought this result was keen and fast, and was one of the finest club expositions of the League code that has been presented here for many weeks. Periods of exciting open -piny alternated wiih hard struggles between the two packs, and the spectators conceded that, though their game was not without faults, the Tykes, playing with iflne spirit, had Che best of it.

Whereas tne City incu played well together, but were without any great outstanding Individual brilliance, the Tykes were more of a lenm of Individuals. Fraukly, their handling of the ball was very bad, and through this they lost several line scoring chances. 'MeXamarn. Nt full hack, has a big powerful hoot, and he used It much too often, several times getting his teapi Into difficulty iv this way. Hlng, the captain, was the giant of the day. and Loverhlie was close •<. him. But the wearers of the green demonstrate a spirit and fire In their playing that should make them a hard nut to crack in the knock-out Roope Rooster rompc-tlttou.

The City men. notably Wetberall and •Mi-tchell. played soundly, but their pack was behind the opposition in tlie results it attained, and the back department was hen-ten In Its rather obvious passing policy hy the speed aud comparative certainty or the Tyke t.irkllnz. Here again fiunblln? lost scnrlnn chances, but the City fiugerihg was not so l.ad :is the Marlst.

Adl.im h.°s i> habit of going on his knee to take the hall, aud the Davidson brothers were 100 slow to r]o much against tiie swift opposition. Thomas nnd Green were the most successful City forwurds. PO.VSON.BY V. MARITIMiE. Maritime, In defeating Ponsonby on No. 3 Domain ground by 20 to 10. established a lead in the .League championship. The gaum was fast throughout, and Ponsonbv had a good share or offensive, but the tri coloured defence was solid, the Ponies only Iwlce getting across during the g-ame. Tor Maritime H. and C. Grey each got a try In Mic first -spell, against one by Mcirmon. and in the second half C. Grey and Blerninc each perfetruted twice and Hogg once, agtaßrst one success by "Mormon. Amonjr the prominent players on 'the winning side were C. Grey, McGregor and Ijing among tibo hacks. Herring. .11. Grey and Blucher being the pick of the forwards. The stars o>f the Ponsonby backs were .Mct'lymoii't. Cross and 'E. McGregor. There was nobody outstanding among their forwards. DEVOXtPO'RT V. GRAFTON. The Devonport and Grafton teams met on No-. 3 ground at the Domain on (lay for the first time this season, owing to the latter 'having defaulted in the first round. At the outset Grafton took up the offensive, but Devonport rallied, and the attack set up by them finally resulted wit It a score near che corner. Grafton nex-i scored a. well merited try. the goal kicked adding a further two points. Devonport pressed hart and had run up 11 'points as against Grafton's 5 by the coiH'lurdon of the first spell. In the second hair Devon pop: maintained their advantage, an- 1 registered another try. Towards the end Grafton ralllril wtt'h a persistent offensive. which, however, railed to make an impression on the Devonport pack. The game ended. Devonport 1.1, Grafton .1. Among the Devonport team Nelson and Mann di>'tingiil.-'litd themselves In the forwards, while Godick. Nicholson. Jaggs and Stewart put in good work amongst the backs. Bennett and Brady played good games for Grafton iv the forward line. Seal at half was also a useful man. ■Elliott, Grafton's full-back, played an excellent gam-e. which was the more evident since Grafton was. for the most part, ou rhe defence.