LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 235, 3 October 1921, Page 8

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

CITY'S GREAT VICTORY. MARITIME DEFEATED. FINE EXHIBITION AT CARLAW PARK. WITNESSED BY 8,000 SPECTATORS. I . r ? A record crowd for Carlaw Park l assembled at the charity match on 0 Saturday, and besides giving their shil- c lings to a good cause the spectators, who, J on a conservative estimate, numbered t some 8000, had the additional satisfac- c tion of witnessing the final of the J lioope Rooster competition. To say that ' this, the final meeting between the old rivals, City Rovers and Maritime, was a j spectacular game would scarcely be t doing it justice, and the final result, J which put City at the big end of a 30 puints to 14 points tally, hardly mdicates what a splendid tussle it was. in the opening r-ovements of the i game, City fought with spirit and speed f to attain the advantage, but their backs " were not showing the best, form of the i season, and in fact a few errors in hand- r ling and an apparent indecision in tneir j attacking work spoilt one or »two good c scoring chances, and later on when the 5 players all got warmed up to the game, I Maritime showed distinct advantage both in the forward sallies and in the i passing bouts. There was, however, c really little to choose between the two j teams, both parties working witli keen- r ness that made bright following up and I fine tackling the twin characteristics of ' the game. . Maritime were first to score and all c their puints came practically in a bunch, ■ but by half-time City had got up , on them and the points were even, S all. 1 The second spell of any football game is ' usually faster than the first, and this j match was no exception. The City < backs improved greatly over their form • in the first spell and they combined to melee matters hot for Maritime. The , Davidson brothers scored 22 points 1 between them. Avery, for Maritime, ( scored three tries. In its last stages , the game was verj- keen and hard. I For City, in addition to the Davidsons, Wilson, the wing-three-quarter, ' was specially fine, Wctherall also was ; good. It would be difficult to select any one in particular from the pack, all , being about equal. For Maritime, Little- ; wood, on the far wing, E. C. Grey and I Yardley were a tower of strength, while ; the prominent men among their forwards 1 were Ballantyne and Avery, Avery him- 1 self scoring three tries. The gate takings were over £230, a j record for Carlaw Park, although the 1 figure has been nearly reached on pre- J vious occasions. The money will be j divided as follows: ou per cent to the j Auckland League Sick and Injured '. Players' Fund; 2.") per cent to the j Hospital Radium Fund; and 25 per cent f to the St. John Ambulance Ass-ciatiou, I which last association provides first | aid men at all the League matches. . THE GAME. At the beginning of the game the City ' backs did not altogether satisfy their sup- , porters, for although the reds kept Maritime ou the defence tnelr backs lost several ; possible points by faulty handling. The •blues were the -first -to wake up anil settle 1 down to keen work, and Avery, the big forward, who is always en the ball, was on hand to complete the work commenced by Brien. who Intercepted and ran away. Avery scored on the corner, and a .very few minutes afterwards he scored again by -allocking his way over. City bad boon getting the twill nearly always from the serums, -but now Maritime started to get l heir share, yet City scion had them defending again, and after the reds had lost two scoring chances by mishandling, B. Davidson scored 11 try and his t>rother goaled. A little later :Paki obstructed yardley on the line when the Maritime player was a-l-ws't over, and lE. C. Grey goaled the penalty. Maritime went on attacking, and City were saved several times by Wetherall and the other backs, wlio eventually took play dowu to the blue end, and Mitchell, seizing an opportunity during a scramble, scored a try. This tlnished off the first spell. Maritime 8, City 8. Right from the li—ginning of the second spell the game became much fas-ter, aud there was plenty of give aud take play. Avery again, by his fast follow-up tactics, scored a try by getting the leather as It bounced out of reach of Harley, and again a little later he caught illaricy when he slipped, and sent the ball oret to Brien, who scored again. .Both the kicks at goal were unsuccessful, but blue was now -ix points up. Wetherall. with a brilliant rnn. started the next Important City movement, passing lo Hawkes. to iMackie, to W. Davidson, who scored and goaled. That ' put City one point 'behind, and they made a powerful effort to catch up the deficit, eventually doing so when W. Davidson goaled a penalty. With -the scores -IC>—ll in favour of the reds the game became very hotly contested, and honours were fairly even until B. Davidson, out on the wing, finished off a couple of passing bedta with two tries, each <sf which W. Davidson goaled. With an -fl-point lead against 'them Maritime made -great efforts to score again, bu-t. could not, mainly owing to the great defensive work of seme of the backs, notably Wetherall. Just 'before the timehell Harley took a pass and sent It on to Hawkes. who scored under the posts, Wetherall goaling. Thus the game ended. City 30 Maritime 14 MORRISON AND MORRISON TROPHY. " Herald " heat Clark and Mathlesoa by 13 points to 13. For the winners, Herbert, Wilson, and Ninkio scored tries, Wilson kicked one goal, and O'Hanlon two. For Clark and iMatheson, Stone scored two tries, Whnicy one. Wilson and Wcstwood were the best for • rhe winners, and Stone played best for . losers. SENIOR CADETS. 13th Company A beat 18th Company by 10 points to 4. Trie- were scored by Thorbnrn and Carroll. HAMILTON COMPETITIONS. THE KNOCK-OITT FINAL. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) HAMILTON, Saturday. The final of the League knock-out competition took place this afternoon at Seddon Park between Frankton and Athletics. The game was won by Frankton by 39 points to 31. Athletics had the worst of luck in . losing two men from casualties early iv the game when they looked like winners. The ! feature of the match was the goal-kicking, of ; Jack -Clarkin. who landed two very difficult ' goals against the wind. Brisk also r-hone with his nippy runs. Tries were scored for : Frankton by LMcWhlnney, R. .Forbes, \"ertiall. Sanelison, and For the losers " the scorers were Brisk, Glover (21, Brain, 1 aud CUirkiu. __--