LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 145, 21 June 1926, Page 12

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

SECOND ROUND OPENS. PONSONBY DEFEAT DEVONPORT. WINS FOR ORAFTON AXD CITY. PLAYERS (.HOSEN FOR TRAINING. As the time for the selection of the '"Kiwi*" to ;onr Knglniid thi* seasoii draws near, the char.cc? of various players pettintr in the fortunate 26 are freely discussed. In the South Island trial matches have, and are being, played, but Auckland ha* not yet made ,a start. The firs; real step towards the Jocal trial matches wae taken on Saturday, when :he selectors r>i the Auckland representative team chose twenty jpiayers to go into training. These men will be placed under four trainers, and a final selection of the tesrn to meet South Auckland will be made on Thursday next. There was an attendance of 7000 at i'arlaw Park on Saturday. The rain liekl off. and gwd football was witnessed. tPonsonby defeated Do yon port after a stirring game: Graf ton won from Richmond by the narrow margin of a eingle "Jioint, and. as was expected, City had an .easy victory over Newton.

PONSONBY BEAT SHORE

j Before the game -was a minute old I .JFon-=oni>7 had crossed the Shore line. The i Ponies' pack heeled from a scrum at midfield, and the ball went via Peckham. to Cole to Gardiner to Littlewood. The wins showed a big burst of speed, working bis rway right round the Shore left flank, and .then circling to score by the posts Del:T;rosso converted. Ponsonby 5. Devonport .JJO. Both teams were playing a fast, open :>game, and passing runs aroused enthusiasm. burst through the Ponsonby in- : ;:gi<le backs, and then passed ro Cleaver. : >who in turn, whipped the bail back to Stewart for thp latter to score wide out. Lain;; converted. Ponsonby D. Devonport 5. The next score was spectacular Ponsonby were defending in their own twenty-five when Peckham whipped the ball Cole. The latter shot through hard and ! Straight, leaping high to avoid one low ■ itfackle. He passed to Gardiner who had *Pelgrosso trailing in support. A well- ! ttimed pass gave the latter an open fiehl : 'He carried too much pace for Laing. and ' :crossed the Shore line just before L Scott ' ■who came fast on a diagonal line, converged. Ponton by S. Devonport 5. j> The second session started with fast, open play. At midtield McNeil sent the ball tv Peckham, to Cole, back to Peckham. and the latter raced through and scored under the posts. Delprosso missed an easy shot. 11. Devonport 0. Ruby and St! "George led the Shore forwards right up to the Ponsonby line. The seasiders' backs made great effort to score, but the Ponies' tackling was deadly. Devonport were well In the picture at this stage, but the uue thing that really counted —the finishing touch— was missing. At midtield Rili-y made a clean break, and leaving the opposition standing he wound up a sensational run from h.-Ui-way by scoring between the posts for Delgrosso to convert. Ponsonby 16, Devonport 5. Within the nest half minute Riley. who was playing brilliantly, was across again. Peckham put in a stab kick, and Riley, shooting through fast, got the ball on the bounce. He beat Webb for pace, and got another try. Ponsonby 19, De-vonport 5. To the surprise of the spectators Devonport hit back, and. rising to great heights, played inspired football. A passing run saw Seagar beat three men cleverly, and then the ball go on to the wing for L. Scott to dive at the flag and score. Cheered by the spectators. Devonport threw the Call about with a glad abandon. In quick succeseion O'Brien and L. Scott scored, Laing converted one, and the scores were Ponsonby 19, Devonport 16. Devonport made hard efforts to even up the scores but Poneonby defended desperately, and the end came with the scores unchanged

ATHLETICS , CLOSE CALL.

A Richmond passing run broke down as soon as play started, and Avery and Herring dribbled up to the Richmond goal! a knock-on losing a certain score. A free to Grafton at short range saw Dufry raise the flags. Grafton 2, Richmond 0. soon as play started Richmond were again penalised.' Dufty took the shot and from a few yards inside half-way landed a «en•ational goal, the ball hitting the post high up and dropping over the bar. Grafton 4, Richmond O. A brilliant break by Prentice ■took play to the Grafton end. The defenders were penalised and Parkes put over a pretty angle goal. Grafton 4, Richmond 2. The Grafton backs got going, and 'Smith, in a fast dash alons the tonch-line, beat three opponents In succession. Challenged by Hyland, he sent a long In-field pass for Herring to gather the ball. The latter was tackled by Hanlon, but fell across by the post Dnfty converted. Grafton 0. Richmond 2. Richmond rallied, and, by passing, got close to the Grafton line. From a set scrum Davis worked the blind side cleverly for Bass, who fought off a couple of high tackles and scored wide out.

The exchanges that -followed Just after resuming gave the advantage to the Grafton forwards, and after a series of serums in Richmond's territory Avery took the ball off Hanlon and dived for the line, but he lost the ball when abont 10 cross. Richmond then instituted a bright movement which brought the play to just insid.; Grafton's half. Then one Of the most brilliant tries seen on Carlaw Part this season was brought off by the maroon and reds. Davis went to the open ■lde of the scrum and then reversed to the blind side, handing the ball to Prentice. This player handed a high lob pass to Parkps. who set off at a great pace and passed in-fie!tl to Donald, who registered. It was a smart piece of work on the part of Davis. Prentice and Parkes. and the large crowd present were not slow to recognise it. Parkes succeeded in landing a goal from a difficult angle. Richmond 10, Grafton 9. With this reverse the yellow nnd blues infused still more dash into their work, and the forwards latter were penalised for off-side play, j-;This gave Dufty a chance and he piloted ! the ball between the posts , . Grafton 11. \ Bichmond 10. Richmond were also playj Ing a dashiDs game. Prentice bellip prominent in much excellent work:. He com- . pletely fooled Dufty on one occasion, and , 'Went up ia mid-field, with Davis along- .; iide him. When a try seemed Imminent. • Davis dropped a pass from Prentice, and : J Herring intercepted. For quite a while < Richmond kept Grafton solidly defending. ' •At this stage, when Parkes was making j . a dash along the line. Raynor, Grafton's | lullbnck. appeared to trip him. Anyway, . the referee evidently objected to the manner in which Raynor stopped the Richmond . man. and ordered Raynor off the field. Dufty rhen went into Raynor's place. In the concindinc siages of the contest both j «ides made herculean efforts tp "further j Increase the score. Smith. Dufty and ' Avery lookeil like bringing off a score just j on time but their nice movement was nul* • lified by Hanlon. who punted downfield ' [ Prentice secured the ball and gave it ro i Redwood. This player essayed a solo run j to Grafton's goal line, bnt he did not have! sufficient pace and was soon overhauled! from behind by Jones. When Duftv kicked out the bell rang. The final scores were :— Grafton XI Richmond ' iq Hγ. Rogers was the referee. MANGERE OVERPOWERS PARNELL. For some time after the commencement of the game play was very even throughout but both sides lacked real football XlaKli- Xlangere. however, were the first to "come out of this "spell of sleep." for Lipseombe. although a full-back, while running at top speed, took a good iia-.5s ami scored a wonderful try. Parnel). who then became aggressive, had bad luck in not scoring after their line series of back rushes, but were rewarded from a tree -kick when Brockliss obtained for them two well deserved ptoints. Shortly before halftime Hird for Mangere made a great dash and scored a good try, anU Wilson (jun.) padded the major points. Playing after the spell. Parnell pushed hard and were well rewarded for their hard work when pressing hard. Hosking scored an unconverted try. Wilson, for Mangere. certainly their best player, scored a try similar to that of Hosking. but it also was unconverted. «ay ended by a fine icore for ilangere _ gained tw Wilson,

CITY DOWNS NEWTON.

City set the game in motion,*and a few exchanges kept play at centre. Then it ' was that Lewis snapped up from a bunched ' field and made for the line. He sent to \ Wetherill, who sent to Davidson, the latter ■ giving it to A. Townsend, who shot across to score. Wetherill converted. Nothing , daunted. Newton returned the compliment | in a great forward rush that caw Har- ' greaves cross the line. Mansill converted. ! I'lay was brisk now, and within the space I of eight minutes of play Wade broke through j on th>? line and added three more points. The kick failed. ) Forcing play. City dominated the game | with nippy passing bouts, and a minute ! later Wade made a second sprint and | scored. The kick failed. Then a penalty i gave Mansill a chance aud he dropped tne j ball over the posts. Newton now began ' to force the jrame and repeated DreaKs ; carried City off their feet. The odds were j disputed in City's territory for a few minutes, and then a forward rush saw CH.v I assume the offensive and carry play back. Davidson started a passing bout on tae wing which ended ia Wade scoring an unconverted try. City showed np well, but Xewton were trying hard, and Harsreaves made a great solo effort down the Hue that took Newtoa j into City's territory. Hβ could not beat t-he opposition, and piay centred In the | twenty-dye. Then Davidson came to ] ; and Intercepting sent out to Wade, n-ho beat i the opposition to score. Wetherill cou- i verted. Ghent started his pack again, ana \ Hawkes scored while Xewton looked on. \\etherii: converted. Xewton replied witn | a spirited attack, which saw Mansill send I to Hnrgreaves. who sot over. Mausill con- j verted. ] I For the Brst few minutes after commeue- ■ ! inj Newton attacked solidly and made i tnings warm for city. The latter then came ! at them and Lewis sent to Davidson, nlio j gave it to A. Townsend. who scored, i Wetherill converted. Newton still strove i hard, and after many breaks Poison picking up sprinted down to score. Mansill converted. A few minutes of solid play and . Ftroivn followed up to score fJr Newton. Mansill failed to convert. Fast, spectacular play was the rule now n-lth Xewtnu I showing greatly improved form. City ■ forced the piay, and thin,'? moved some- j what briskly. Just on time Ghent got Over. , Netherill converted. The same endedCity 3 4 Newton 20 Mr. Minehin was the referee. \ A CLOSE GAME. After plenty of even play Herring had I an unsuccessful shot at goal. A good for- ' ward rush by Kingsland resulted in E, I Sims going across. Herring converted. I Kingsland 5. Northcote 0. The next score j went to Kingsland as a result of a gooil I run by Kailey. who passed to Carter.' who ! scored near the corner. Herring failed with i the shot. Kingsland S. Northcote 0. Kinas- j laud were having the best of the game, j I heing near to scoring on many occasions. ! I The spell ended with Kingsland attacking. ' ! KJncslanc! 8. Northcote 0. The spoond spell was oncned by Northcntp | forwards, who carried the hail with them. and from off-side by Connolly, Wilkins had , a successful shot at goal. Kingsland S, ! Northrote 2. Xorthcote were now putting I •nore vim iuto their work, having Kingsland . ■ hard pressed on many occasions. Speight aud List "ere now putting In great work I for their respective sides. Good forward 1 play by Kingsland resulted In Railey scor- ! Ing. Herring converted. Kingslahd 13. Northcote '2. A brilliant try was scored ; when List went across under the posts ; after tbe haj] ha<7 passed through five ; players' hard*. Hrrrjng kicked the goal. Kinjrsland JS. Xnrtlu-ote 2. The final whistle went with victory for i Kingsland. ' Kiugslami .'. IS ! Xorthcote 2 j Mr. Simpson was referee. GOOD HARD GAME. _____ ' • *•"- v i A good hard gaihe •wags, ~itneesed between i Ellerslie and Otahuhfi on the Pomain. i For the first ten mlnuree play —as of an even nature. Then Otabnhn commenced a combined attack, working tbe ball down to within a foot or tw s>:qt EHerelie's llneV: but a breach by the attackers let the fenders out. Ellerslle'e first score came j trpm Cooke. He kicked hard, and follow-, ing , ' up — ell. scored near the posts. Hetett," missed an easy soal. Ellerelie 3* Otahuhul 0. Ellerslie continued to attack., but Ota-3 liuhu's defence was too solid. Give and talie play ensued, and half-time raw, Ellorslic attacking. Otahuhu opened thp second spell in a similar manner to the first. They were.l a bit slow, however, and did not take. adv.infages giv them by tbeir opponents. ■ Otabnhu had Ellerslre pinned down on the ] line, but the defence was too solid. This happened on several oeaoslons. Then Matt-I son got £ ng and passed to t-. Williams. '. who sent on to A. Williams, te Cooke. The li. mentioned streaked for the linr and scored between 'i c posts. R. Johnston lucked. the goal. Ellerslie S, Otnhuhu 0. The closing stages were play d in darkness, and just on \ time Ellerslie scored, the final figures ■ being: j Ellerslie n 1 Otahuhu 0 Mr. McCowlett was referee. OTAGO-COAST BEAT CANTERUBRY. 1 (By Telegraph.—Press Association.! i CHRISTCHUHCH. Saturday, i The League trial. Canterlmry and South Canterbury v. Otaco and West Coast, was played to-day In fine weather. j In the first spell the Canterbury for- ! wards dominated the play, and the half ! time score was: Canterbury 13, Otago-West : Coast r>. I in the last fifteen minutes tbe Otago- . West Coast condition told: their backs got I going and overran Canterbury, the final j score being:— ■ Otago r,i Canterbury -S Hickey was the best scoring man for Otago-Coast of the bacs.<. in which Dodds (West Coasti and Vorrath shone most; i while Mouat. Thomas. Wright, and Cameron led the forwards. Wilson-Hall, the half-back, was also prominent throughout. I out. Pat O'Connor and A. Mack!e. in the Canterbury backs, and Henrr. Vivian. Mason, and T. O'Connor, in the forwards, led the Canterbury attacks. JUNIOR GAMES. I r SECOND GRADE. Ponsonby 6. drew with North Shore 6. FOURTH GRADE Athletic 6. beat Ellerslie 3. Itichmond -0, beat Otaiuhu 0. Parnell S, beat Point Chevalier 0. ■ WELLINGTON V. S. AUCKLAND, j I (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) j WELLINGTON. Saturday. The following will represent the Wellington League against ■ South Auckland: — I 1 W Ramm. W. Desmond. A. Haley, S. Brace, i T Love J. Kyan. E. Elliott,' A. J. Carroll, , J Elder, R. McKandall, J. McCarroll, C. | Lund, F. Green. • GAMES IN THE PROVINCE. HAMILTON. I Frankton 21, beat Athletic 11. I United 22, beat Whitlroa 4. I —