THE LEAGUE CODE.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 220, 16 September 1924, Page 9

THE LEAGUE CODE.

DEVONPORT'S GOOD WIN. There have been some great exhibitions of football at Cariaw Park this season, but tlie game between Devonport and Marist Brothers on Saturday was easily the most exciting, and few contests have had the crowd at such a high pitch ot" enthusiasm. 1 The Devonport thirteen, not only this season, hut in past years, have been somewhat inconsistent, and whereas one Saturday they will be defeated by a weak opposition, very often they will follow up ! a poor display by downing the best in the competition. And the present season has been quite in keeping with their previous record. Just over a week ago, when running level in the lead with Marist Brothers for the championship Devonport ! met the City thirteen, and though the ' latter put a useful side in the field, it was by no means overstrong. Yet it was a side too good for Devonport, and the latter ' were beaten fairly and squarely. As , pointed out in these columns at the time, I the defeat was due entirely to the poor display of the Devonport backs, who. with I the. exception of Harper, played wretched ! football, while a couple of them did not j show lirst junior form. While quite prepared to see the seasidcrs make a much I better showing on Saturday, few gave them ] much chance of beating the powerful i . Marist Brothers team, but once more form | went astray, nnd to the delight of Devonport's supporters, and to the chagrin of j Marist Brothers, the latter were beaten fairly and squarely after one of the fastest ' nnd most exciting games played at the I Park. Marists began well, and though I really doing no better than the blacks, they were fortunate in putting on 11 points nt half-time, while the men from across the I harbour had to he content with 5 points. lAt this stage it seemed that Marists would secure the title of champions for the season :of 1024, but "you never can tell till the numbers are up.'' and so it was on Saturday. If Devonport had played well in the first spell, and they certainly had made a good showing, they improved 100 per cent :in tbe second half?, and playing like chamI pions. everyone of them, and the forwards in particular, they had Tykes in trouble. . The deficit against them was soon worked off, and then they battled for an advantage. Both sides played strenuous football, Devonport for the greater part attacking. I and Marists defending. The defence was solid, hifc water will wear a hole in a stone, and the continuous onslaught by Devonport ' gradually wore the defence down, and I i towards the latter end of the game the j ! winning points were scored by Devonport, 1 : the final scores being 25 to 10. Though | i beaten, the Tykes never played better, hut ' ■it was Devonport's day out, and when that | j happens It takes a good team to bring about their defeat. I On the winning side, Harrison, at full- ! back, wns inclined to take chnnces, and this | I fault led to one of Marists' tries, otherwise ] he gave a useful exhibition. The' three-1 I quarters did not get a great many chances, j but what work fell to them they accomI plisheil well. B. T.aing, Voysey and Webb I 1 were the attacking trio in the backs, and ; they were always hammering away at the , Marists' defence. The forwards were a solid lot of grafters, never casing up. and playing n great game. One and all played well, with Douglas and Scott perhaps the best. For Marists Gregory was very solid at fullback, but outside of Ghent and Sweeney the other backs did not quite fill the bill. J. Stormont and Johnson were the best of the forwards, the former playing a great The Ponsonby-Xewton match provided a very bright display, both sides throwing the hall about in line style. Newton's win, 17 points to 12, was quite in order, as they had the best of the game, and the tenm has i improved wonderfully during the past few I weeks. ! A surprise was the defeat of Athletics by | Mangere, the latter just winning in the last ' couple of minutes. The Mangere team includes some hefty and promising players, ] and next season the team may be a tough proposition to cope with. I The position in the competition now is that Devonport and Marist Brothers nro running level in the championship, and the indications are that last Saturday's battle will have to be fought over again on Saturday week. Next Saturday Devonport will meet Athletics, and though everything points to Devonport winning, no chances can be taken with a team like Athletics, because three weeks ago they downed i Marist Brothers, nnd if they take the field lat full strength on Saturday it would not Ibe a surprise if they scored a victory. The following table shows the position of . the various teams in the senior grade

I NOTES AND COMMENTS. The cup fixtures were resumed last I Saturday afternoon after a lapse of two weeks, while the representatives was away lin Christchurch. The teams were back to j normal, and both games provided close struggles, while play was rather strenuous at times iv the conflict between University I and Areta, which resulted- in a victory for j Areta by five goals to four. In. front 'of the pavilion, St. Luke's met and defeated Mount Eden after a close and ! interesting game by three goals to one. The game commenced at a good pace, and • the scene of operations changed rapidly in t/lic first few minutes, and during the I remainder of the spell gravitated between rhe two goals, yet no score was registered | until the teams changed over. The con- ! testnnts were fairly evenly matched, and ,in field play, which was hampered and ■ robbed of a certain amount of brilliancy ' owing to the nature of the turf, there was : little to choose between theni, but in the j circle, Mount Eden appeared to be the more | dangerous performers, notwithstanding I that they failed to score, which was partly due to the aggressive goal-keeping of j Menzies. St. Luke's had almost as manychances as their opponents, but their ! attacks frequently broke down on the edge !of the danger zone. The second spell pro- ■ viilcd even a better fight than the preceding thirty-five minutes, and play contained more incident, besides becoming faster. ] Free and rapid hitting frequently marked ] the exchanges, but not nt any time did I I onq side gain a decided advantage, although i : St. Luke's obtained the lead fairly early in ! the spell, when the game restarted. A couple of St. Luke's goals were the out- , come of excellent centres from the left while the other wns the outcome of a lone- | handed sortie which caught the opposing ; backs napping. Although Mount Eden did i not suffer much misfortune in the way of : scoring, the manner in which their attempts were frustrated came as a bit |of a surprise. Por St. Luke's, Menzies saved brilliantly nJ,w„ lt „ W ? S „H XC , eedinßly rlßk 'y business. I Rowe, at fullback, accomplished' a lot of I useful work in good style. Steele shaped ■ much better than in the previous game, while Potter was as tenacious as everT and , bottled up attacks from the opposing centre ;In the forward line, Hookham, though not so_ reliable as usual, was the most prominent factor in the movement towards the Mount.Eden goal. Barnes must .I credited with a couple of centres that pro- \\ U rZt e< "i lS - * At ful ">»<* fr Mount Eden, I.T_f„n pa^ed 'i conspicuous part in the defence, and robbed Hookham of a wellnigh certain goal by a powerful lunge stroke. Radcliffe has methods that do not appear fast enough for a centre-half vet he was invariably reliable and seldom caught in possession. Jaffrey also did good work Ix" , th « forwards, D. Alexander was respond •it oen°tre man / attncks " <*"«» worked bard at centre. Penman made a good imnres I _*22, on th , e left : R - Alexahdefmadc"some h?« Jft en ,'?„?' bl,t d,,rin '* the second spell | his wild hitting needed restraint. | ARETA V." UNIVERSITY. i With botl. teams at practically full strength, a keen strenuous congest"was c" sftv T.,e h d£n, etinS , of Areta aud SSw sit} The display, however, was disappointing owing to several players indulging in crude and pointing tactics. Early resorting to appeals—and gaining them—led to pointing that no one anticipated, and. iin the • interests of hockey, care will have to be exercised in staging future games. Areta on the day was the better team, and | it was chiefly.owing to forwards snapping I opportunities presented that they won Both forward lines showed good combination at times, and Areta had better backing | from their rear division. Wilkie was patchy in goal for Areta, and badly misjudged several kicks in tho first spell. Ellison and Davis were an excellent pair of full-backs. the former shining in stopping and his partner in clearing. Ash- ; ley was the best of the halves, although j both Conpland and Savage played sound ; games. R. Carter was best of the forwards and Lewis, on the wing, made many flue runs. Of the students' forwards- Burton ; and Seelen were best, and repeatedly ; opened some fine attncks. Elljffe was very prominent on the left wing. Of the backs. I'otheringhani claims first mention, some of his stickwork being of a high order. Dobson was best of the full-backs. Steen, in goal, made several good saves, but should , have come out to meet -some of the attacks.

competition :— Team. Marist Devonport City Athletic Ponsonby Richmond Mangere Newton Ellerslie P. 14 1-1 15 14 14 14 14 14 14 W. in 10 8 (I :. L .1 3 c. 8 :i 11 Ch. T>. Pts. 1 21 1 21 S 17 2 16 0 ll> 0 12 0 10 0 111 1 5 HOCKEY.