SPORTING GOSSIP.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 142, 17 June 1924, Page 9

SPORTING GOSSIP.

LEAGUE FOOTBALL. A WONDERFUL IMPROVEMENT. Although tin- AiiMr.Ulun ruivi-raltleii , team failed in win ,i;iy oi tin- l\.ur matches played in the An-kl.iiiil lTuvime the visi- ,,,;-!. ba\e I hi. , KUislilclinli u£ knowing thai in 'ihd mial Uiuli-U llKilinst Am klan.l i.v Saturday tln-y di-inoust rated lliflr aliility 10 piay niuii-.l.isN ruulliuil. In ihu l\vu previous uaines against tin; Amuiaiul n-pre-sentaLlvrs and in Ihi; mauh against a Wai kato thirievu tlio »iudviilH did uut livu up iv the reputation whirl) thi-.v brought over , x itb them, and in oue game— tlie second coulcst against Auckland—ii is li-tling them dowu liguily io say they gave a ilis.appointiu- display. So bad was ihclr Blowing that nolindy thought l<.r a moment tiny ,-oulfl not ilo hi-rter. Tho inumiirer. ciiptiiiu, in fact, all lliu members of Hie teiim wore disappointed at their KUowinjr. despite the wrelched conditions uiidi'r wUivli the Bamf w«a staucl. Till! visitors hop.d for n dry ground, but pvi'ii on Sntiinlny tlii'lr liopi-s

fudilon an-1 not in favour i>l , ftist lim-lc play. J'.ul this made mi rtinVri'nee t» the Auhhlps, lit le.ist not on Saturday, iiiirt they treutpu , lhc crowd to wuuu brilliant lo.jil.mll in t lie second half i.f 1110 sunn: In ill- lirst spoil the In.Hours wen- with (lie lui.nl nun. who mttl<-.l on 14 points, while Iho Aussi.-s fnilccl to F.ore It i-i-rtalnly Inokml us

though our friends from across the T.isuiau were in lor another trouncinc. despite the fact that they lv\cl been making a better showing than the tli-Mi scores woulil kiijl;<'st. Their downfall up t,i the Interval v.fiß the inability nt the hookers tn pot the hall: but there was n different tale in tell in the second half, when in ninety per mil of the scrums the visitors heeletl the leather hack tn Finn. And then began trouble Cor the locals, trouble which they could lint ward iiff. The Aussie backs, individually :md collectively, were superior to the Auokla nders. e\eo;it in the ease of Wetberill and l.ami.-. The forwards, too, wete holding ilu-ir own. and it was not surprising when tlie A\issies heßun to show what they rvally could do when they pot moving that Iries began to go down to their credit. Kxcept that there was jtisl pausing was superb, and the try scored by P.ynn. the seventh mull hi handle the ball, was hrilliaur and deserved the applause it drew from the crowd. In the flrst spell | Auckland rattled on It points, and in the | second half the students did likewise, and the flnnl score-1-1 nil-was a fair decision, fnnnees were lost on both sides, and mi one occasion :iu obstruction try might easily have heen awarded the Atissles. P.it when all is Bald. I he best feature of the same was the brilliancy of the visit int. backs and the fi.n Ililr demonstration that the team can produce football of a high standard. Of the visitors. AllniHn. nl fullha.-k. was fairly solid, but he was overshadowed by the Aueklander. C nufty. who has few. it any. superl >r:» in the position. Ryan was much more brilliant than Flattery on the opposite wins in the throe-quarter line. In fact, Flattery seemed To be a tritle weak In attack. O'ltourUe und Barry, with the assistance of Lnno. were nt times. and there were occasions when, thanks to openings made by Lnue. they had the .Aneklandors b.-wildered. Behind the pack Finn was decidedly <iiiiek to grasp and make the most of bis opportunities, and realising in the second hair of the srntne that it would pay to play to his backs lie saw to it that they were fed. The forwards, ton. worked hard, and Piinworth. rialberstatPr and Bridguinu were very much in the limelight. On the Auckland side it is sufficient to say that Dufty was as good as ever at fullback. B. Davidson stood out by himself In the three-quarter line, though it is only fair to say that Littlewood did not Ret many chances. Both Laing and Wetherill "were solid in defence and over prominent in attack, while I'olson had been brilliant up till the time he met with an injury and had to retire. McDonald was again .the best forward on the ground, and of the others O'Brien (I)evonport) played a great came. However, all played well, and it is unlikely the selectors will make any alterations when they again chouse a pack. POSSIBLES V. PROBABLES. Those wiio anticipated a good game in. the Possibles v. Probables mulch, in which teams selected from the senior clubs met, were doomed to disappointment because neither side pave a display in keeping with the best club football On the day the 'Possibles deserved their win by 14 points to 9, without being in any sense brilliant. Peebles and Crewther were tap best of the backs for Possibles, with Herring and Webb shining amongst the forwards. On Hie Probables' side Wilson-Hall ana Stewart showed good form, and a like remark applies to Shirley and Veart in the forwards. However, it is unlikely that the selectors of the representative thirteen were enamonred with the display of any of the players, and the only ones who could be considered as possible representatives were the forwards Herring and Webb. RESUMPTION OF CLUB MATCHES. The break which was necessary in the senior grade competition owing to the visit of the Australian Universities' team will be repaired on Saturday next, when the competition will be resumed. The usual programme of four games will be on the menu, but the only one likely to arouse general interest is that between Devonport ! and Athletics. It is a coincidence that I both teams should hold an unbeaten certificate—with four wins aurf !i draw each— I and the result of Saturday's game will I possibly play an important part in the championship this season. The Devonport Bide is a vastly improved combination, but little fault can be found with the side Athletics will field, and it would come as no surprise to see the latter secure tha verdict. The contest promises to he thu best staged, and it will be surprising 1C the attendance at the I , ark on Saturday is not a record for a club match. Mangere can hardly hope to hold their own with Marists, and City should experience little difficulty in beiiting Ponsonby. A good contest should be th.it between /tichmond itnd Ellerslie. with the chances favouring Richmond. THE ENGLISH TEAM. The defeat Inflicted by the Queenslanders ' upon the Kuclishmen on Saturday was quite expected, because the Queensland thirteen had recently administered defeat to the New South WalPri representatives, and the latter bad. in their second contest with the Englishmen, scored a most decisive victory. To date the englishmen have played six matches in Australia, and four of the games have been wtin by them, but in three eases the opposition v.ould not be over-strong. The first real teat of Ihe quality of the tourists was when they met New South Wales on Saturday week, and. after a close game, won by 10 points to fi. However, two days later. on the Monday, the New South Wales team turned ttie tunics, and secured an easy victory hy an points to IS. Defeated again by Queensland on Saturday by 23 points to 10. it would seem thnt the best Australian form is better than the Englishmen can produce, but even if this be so the scoring suggests that the tourists have the happy knack of being able to score tries, because each time they hnvp pone tinder they have tagged together mints. The Englishmen will reach New Zealand in a few weeks, and judging by the showing of the local representatives in their three matches against the Australian Universities' team we should be in a position to offer the visitors strong opposition.