THE LEAGUE CODE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 169, 19 July 1926, Page 11

THE LEAGUE CODE.

CLUB COMPETITIONS CONTINUED.

PONSONBY V. CITY. j DEVONPORT'S DAY OUT. Strong counter attractions saw the attendance at Carlaw Park on Saturday well below the average, but all things considered the crowd was a good one. After three weeks' break the club competitions were continued, the old rivals, Ponaonby and City, providing the treat of the afternoon. Heavy rain fell just after the match started, and made the gTound a*d ball slippery, settling what would otherwise have been a aparkling exhibition of open football. However, the game did not lack interest, and the closeness of the scores, together with the pace, which was on all the time, had the interest of the crowd sustained. All seemed in order for a draw, but inside the • last minute City registered the winning try. On No. 2 ground, Devonport had no trouhie with Richmond, and won by 24 to 0, while an equally -comfortable win went to Marist Brothers over Grafton.

CITY V. PONSONBY. PonsoiKiT put themselves ou the credit side earl.r. and iuside a Minute bad scored. Allen and Fngan were at the head of a combined movement, vvhich Gardiner flnisbeO off with a s-ore wide out. He failed to convert. Ponsouby 3. l.'itj 0. Saudham then had a shot from a penalty, but kickrii a "creeper. , " Moore and Payne broke through the opposition. I>avids<>n briUijiiift off a s°od save. Mr.- Tayloi was In goml fortn with the whistle aud both sides <ver* being freely penalised. . Uttlewood «■«» looking *-ell after Davidson, and several times doivned the City man early in a movement. Delj?rosso made good use of a penalty ajialnst Mit. hell and found the M»* well inside City's twenty-five. Payne th-n dribbled through. Brown saving well, ami getting in a jsood clearing kick. City nau a ecorin« chance, but Wetherlll hung on t«o long and was beautifully upended ny (.rayGardiner raised some excitement when he picked up from the loose and streaked for the . line He pushed off Lewis, but was tackled and thrown out by Davidson. Goodley, Fagan and Payne were prominent. Fagan just kicking a trifle hard and allowing Brown to save. Ghent and Wetherill were responsible for an attack which ftw play . settle down near Ponsonby's goal. The ball was sent oat, and Davidson handed on to Wade, for the latter to go over for a try. Sandbam missed. Ponsonby 3. City 3. Ad attempt at goal by Delgrosso from a penalty failed to raise the flags. A heavy shower of rain made the ground wet and slippery, and the players were having difficulty in handling the ball. Several fine '"Soccer"' shots by Gray came in handy to Ponsonby, when City were threatening danger. If anything City •were having the best of the play, and good passing between the forwards and Davidßon looked certain to end in a score, till Llttlewood stepped In and saved Failure to play the ball right gave Wetherill an easy shot, and he made no mistake. City 6. Ponsonby 3. City again added to the score when Littlewood failed to gather- in the ball when it was across Ponsonby's line, and Ghent dived on it. City 8 Ponsonby 3 Llttlewood, then Payne and Moore took play to City's half. Brown proving safe each time. The Ponies' pack were putting a lot more vigour into their work than in the first hair, and keeping the ball down, produced some food dribbling rushes. On the other hand,' the City backs resorted to hard kicking to keep the play in Punsonby's half. Smart following up by Gray and Payne pu: Ponsonby on the attack and play was Dear the half-way line when a Ponsonby and City player were having a real Sight. The line umpire stepped in and gut the referee to have a word with the offenders. A shot at goal by Gardiner fell short. Patting a lot of dash into their work. Poneonby had City well tested. Play was in the reds' quarter when Moore neatly gave the reverse pass to Delgrosso. the latter handing on to Goodley. who beat Brown and ran round to score behind the .poets Delgrosso goaled, and the score read 8 all. Snappy passing between Moore, Gardiner. Littlewood, and Goodley put Ponsonby within scoring distance, but City gradually cleared,, and good work ty Mitchell and Ghent looked likely to bring a score, but Donovan played for safety by kicking Into thr dead ball area. Goodley and Payne bad a clear Held and City beaten, when Goodley knocked on in attempting to pick the ball up. Ponsonby were attacking, when Mitchell, who was playing a fine game for City, broke away, with Townsend and Hamilton In support. Desperate play ensued almost on Ponsonby's line, but the good work came undone when Gardiner made the best use of a penalty. The pace was on, but the greasy ball broke down what would, on a dry day. have been sparkling movements. Gray spoiled a good chance when he kicked instead of passing to either Payne or Hntt. who were running In support. With less than a minute to go City broke away, with Davidson in the lead. He knocked on in attempting to pick up. bat this went unnoticed, ana, the ball go;ng over the line, Wade touched down. 3aud.iaid's shot missed. The game ended. City 11 Ponsonby 8 Mr. Taylor was referee* ELLERSLIE V. KINGSLAND. EUerslle being one point ahead of theii opponents (Kingsland) in the B championship, a good game was expected on the Domain on Saturday. Up until half way through the second epell It looked as tf Kingeland would down the opposition, but the men from the racecourse suburb came with a "late run" and snatched victory by 11 points to 10. The teams were :— KingKland.—McKay. Herring, List, Campbell, Klley, McManus, Klndley, Carter. Atkins, Brice, Lindsay. Flower, E. Simms. Ellerslie.—Hetet, Cooke. A. Williams. Quintal, Page, L. Williams, Slater, McClure. Roxbrongh. W. Johnson, Dance. Crotty, B. Johnson. The first five minutes saw Kingsland have to force twice in quick succession Then they got going, some good pausing rushes being witnessed amongst their backs. Kingsland's first score came f-om a good opening by Campbell. A scrum resulted on the line, and E. Simms bustled his way over. Herring kicked a good goa.l. Kingsland 5, Ellerslie 0. A * shower fell and the ball became very slippery. Kiley got away on hie own,' and beating- half a dozen opponents scored under the bar, for. Herring to add the extras. Kln'gsland 10, Ellerslie 0. " From now on till half time many scrums .took place, the ground being slippery,; it: was difficult ■■ for the. players to ' keep their feet. 'Erratic 'passing was indulged in and the whistle blew, with no further score. •" ."

The " secona spell saw EUerslle more aggressive. They gradually" worked the ball down -field, where. lt : - went, 'over the line. Two or three tried to gronn* It, bnt failed, •and it was -left, to Cooke to touch down; He failed with the kick. .Kingsland 10, EUerslle 3. Eltereiie's "next try came from a melee on Klngsland'S line: ReTeree 14%il awarded a penalty try to A.. WtUiams against Flower, of Kingsiand. - Ellerslie 6," Kingsland 10. ' ... Play, now livened'np, 'arid'the best football of th£ afternoon ..was witnessed. Following' up .tteir ".adTantages, Enerslie Initiated a good paetfng' rnsh, which saw L. WlllUms icote.. anil Copke klcfeed-the winning goal- of; the match a .few minutes before-time was called: The flnal score »as: ' j* r. ' "-.' '. '■"..,''■

E1ter51ie?.. 7,.....„..„...'. 11 > Kihghland ;."..;;...V...;..-.:... Iβ i JJAKISTV V. GR4FTON. '■ Thegame' was a poor one ffcrougbout and plky Irai .of a loose order, neither tpam team shoeing any combination. The greens booted oft acalnst tie wlod tudfiin anil a'stfong attack was launched by' the Grjttqri ' forwards headed-' by > Stevenson and Courtney.- VThen . just inside, the Tyke* t-«wiifry-3B.ve line' Graft on-.was conceded a free. Kayner. tbe full back placing a gottd goal. .• Graf ton- i Marlst o.' ; ■T6« Marist bacSwjrot moving on several ocjusions but nearly always -tbe passes went' astray, spoiling good opportunities. Each side took turns at attacking for quite a long, spell bat nothing resulted owing to thf faulty handlins of tbe ball.' Rirwanin stituted ■ a . good passing ' moreaject, and O'Btiea'was..the laet to. ncgixe, Kunnlny np ; to-a ■ few'yards-from ; Grif ton'a 'llnie be was pushed oiit, having no companion to pace- to..Graftoa 'then made aeTeral «alHe«

back being particularly prominent. He wormed his way through the Marlst pack and when a yard off the line. Singe took the ball off him and set up a strong attack, the bal; going out at half way. Gra*toe were very unlucky on more than one occasion after this, for they repeatedly drove Marist back hard up against their line. Then Sweeney got possession of the leather after Gregory had cleared, and I short kicking over a Grafton player's headhe rushed through to gather the leather on the full, continued on and outpacing RayI ncr, registered a fine try near the corner. j Singe missed. At half time the score was— ! JXarist 3 ; Grafton 2 I Not long after resuming, Johnston was ordered off and the greens continued with a dozen men. Grafton soon hail to force and the greens kept the pressure applied. Gregory passing to Crewther. who sent the ball across, to Hudson, who scored. Singe missed the shot. Marist 6. Grafton 2. Grafton attacked strongly but could not get over and Marist were allowed to clear. A scrum was ordered on the live and O'Brien picking up smartly, only had to tall over to score. The try went unconverted. MaHet 9. Grafton 2. Although the yellow and blues made a series of dribbling exc-ursions into Marlsfs half they lacked Ibe necessary dnish necessary to obtain a try. After nearly all the Marist barks had handled, the ball went to Hansen to secure a try which was converted by Gregory. Not long afterwards the preens scored again . O'Brien passing to Kirwan. who easil.v beat Rayner and touched down iinoer the posts. Crewther soaled this time. Marist 10, Grafton 2. A few minutes before time was up the Grafton forwards came away with the ball at toe. After heatiuff Gresory. Jones fell <-n the ball, but not until it hart trnrehod into the dead area. There was no further ■ score.

J Marist jq Grafton o Mr. Simpson was the referee. J DEVONPORT V. RICHMOND. Rk-binoiid carried tbe play to tbe seaslders end as suou as rlie same opemu. "Ut Uevonport soon settii-il duwn ami Douglas and Uixuu stiiTieii liie veune t.i uf itit-iim.MiU territory. ISoryer tried u> fi-i iii:'avks njovins. hill they did not fuu.ri.iu well hi rhis stai:e. Fruni loose jjlav un the fringe of tbe Iti'-hniuud tweutj-nve A. Sent! sent the :iali to Seagar. Tlie latter vt-ered to the sideline, and after drawing the defem-e well -rntred. (Tririeti gathered the ball beautifully, and sailed in "aetn.-eu the posts. A. Scott converted. o. Richmond 0. Hanlon made a good tint unsuccessful effort to hoist points from a free that came Richmond's *ay. and it -vas followed by a brilliant solo effort by l»ivntice, who went riaht throiish to the Share custodian before be was stopped. Bota sides were throwing the hall about but tbere was a lark of to the play, and a beavv shower of rain did not improve niatters. Rli-hmond were petting the oali ■ rotn tbe set s.-rums, and Davis was sendiu? the ball awn.T well, but tbe Devonport b.i'Kg were tackllnc In rerr solid fashion. Plaj was on tbe Dovonport side of half-way whet, Dixon made a break with Ruby In support The former handed out tbe dummy to tne Richmond fullback, and then continued to score a runaway try. which Laing converted. The half-time scores were:— Devonport 8 Richmond 0 The second session opened with fluctuating play, both teams finding it difficult to handle the greasy ball. Prenticp and Bass in turn made good openings for Richmond. but the necessary support at the psychological moment was not forthcoming. The Devonport forwards were playins a fnst virile game in the loose, and were now to a large extent dominating the game. JSeacar set the Devonport backs going, aud Laing with elUßire running made a great opening before spnding the ball on to A Scott, to L. Scott, the latter diving over at the flag. Devonport 11. Richmond 0. Tbe seasiders kept in the picture. K. Scott put In a dash, and Sen gar and Rule carried on the movement, the latter scoring wide out. Devonport 14. Richmond 0. The Scott trinity showed up well for Shore ■svben A. Scott. L Scott and K. Scott combined well, a family affair that carried play into the Richmond twenty-five. Then Laing got the ball away to A. Scott, to K. Scott, and tbe latter evaded Hanlon and went across to get n good try which Seagar converted. Devonport 19. Richmond 0. Prom (he kick off Devonport came again. I!ule from loose play diving over well out. Seagar again located the bar. Devonport -4, Richmond 0 Richmond made a final ral.y, and were attacking when tbe call of time came.

. MANGERE V. OTAHUHU. 1 With the kick-off. Otahiihu followed up hard, an-1 Meniere's position ax once because a dangerous one. But after about ten minutes' play Mansrere hecatne aggressive, and play moved up the field in their favour. From this position Wilson (junior!, taking the only opportunity offering, secured the leather from the loose, and. with a remarkable run. in which be tricked several of his opponents, si-ored a brilliant try. which was unconverted. Mansere's backs, who were playing with soo-i combination, were soon at work nzain. for L. Wilson, taking the ball from a passinz rush, scored a fine back score. For some time now it ws proved that Mangere had come to the ?nd of thoir tether, tor Ota hutau forwards nse<l mure dash than they had been using previously. Half-time came but with no further score. I Mangere 6 I Otahuhu O I On resuming play, the game became gene--1 rally more eveu, and Otahuhu played very i consistently, but their barks woul-1 nul ! combine, and thus golden opportunities were missed. Mangere's tries were both secured by ! sudden rushes, together with excellent coiiii bination, although their forwards did not j pack as in other matches. ! Ham Intervened, an-1 the. game ended • half-way through the spell.

NORTHCOTE TOO GOOD. Northcote set the game is ragtioa, auu pressed hard, but I'arntsU held eoiidlv, anil yi&y went to tlie formers twemy-tive, were a penalty was awarded Faruell. An easy kick «as mulled by Biockliss. i'ar cell were certainly showing out better in their passing bouts, but NorUicuie defended well and aid not let many chances slip by. The game was fast, and a number of minor casualties resulted, Faulkner uell) having to retire with an injured leg. Jagger replaced him. Forcing their way, I'arnell took play into Northcote's lertitory, where the occupiers hail tv uyht haru to hold the attackers. Speight made a great opening (or Nortbcote, but his pass went wide, and play settled at centre. i'arnell were getting the ball out of mc scrum, but did not seem able to bold the advantage. Then C. Mcßae started a forward rush, and sent to Speight, who gave It to Thompson, the latter slipping across 10 score an unconverted iry. I'arnell opened out a bit now and carried play to Northcote's twenty-live, where they forced (•Jay. Just on half-time I'erry made a great solo, effprt and shot over. I'atton converted. The second spell opened with Xorthcote attacking strongly. Speight was unlucky to be' tackled right on Parnell's line, but Thompson followed his team mate, ami scored an unconverted try. A willing pace was now. set. with Northcote showing better-combination. Honours were fairly even-for come .time after this, the play going, up , and down field, with neither side holding a great -.advantage. Some time later 'Xorthcote wakened up, and strenuous efforts on Parneirs line gave them a penalty shot, which was successfully taken by-Mcßae., Following up the advantage. Speight. Mcßae and Thompson figured in a forward- rush that ended in the latter scoring. Mcßae converted. Parnell was trying bard, but Northcote was not to be beaten, and Speiaht shot over from the rocfe to score. Mcßae converted. A few minuter later, and jnst on time Grey matle a break, and losing the opposition." scored an unronvprted try. The game ended:

Nortbcote' -■.' 21 Parnell 5 Sir. Kodgers was referee. GAMES IN THE SOUTH. ....•- CHKISTCHORCH. Marist A- 20: beat Horeby 8. Addinzron 34. best Marlst B 10. WoolsfoD 38, beat Waimairi 0. DUN"EDIX. Pacific 27 beat Kaitangata 8 Athletic Iβ,' beat Christian Brothers 9 City.3l, beat Kaikorai 10. TEAM LEAVES FIELD. CHRISfCHCRCH. Saturday. In 'the second spell of the League match against Addirigton the Marist B team left the fleld,. following their captain, H. M. SiucT, who had been ordered off. Adding. toasetm nj- a*: t» -1% *

N.Z. V. AUCKLAND. THE XEW ZEALAND TEAM. The following team has been selected by Messrs. A. McClymont, R. Stirling, E. H. Mair, and C. Harding-ham to represent New Zealand against Auckland at Carlaw Park on Saturday:— Fullback: Dufty. Three-quarters:' G. Gardiner, B. Davidson, L. Brown. Five-eighths: W. Desmond, A. W. Hall. Half: F. Delgrosso. Forwards: E. Herring. A. Carroll. F. Henry, J. Wright, L. slason, B. Avery (captain). The coach, Mr. Mair, requires every member of the team selected for England to be on Carlaw Park every Tuesday and Thursday at 7.30 p.m., starting to-morrow. JUNIOR GAMES. SECOND GRADE. Point Chevalier a, beat Richmond 0. Ponsonby 21, beat Otahuhu U THIRD GRADE. Grafton Athletics 13. beat Northcote 0. FOURTH GRADE. Parnell 2S. beai Richmond S. FIFTH GKADE. Ellerslie 11. beat Grafton Athletics 0. SIXTH GRADE. (A Division.) City 11, beat KUhmuud 0. IB Division.) City 9, beat Point Chevalier 0. PLAYER'S ANKLE BROKEN. I (By Telegraph.—l'ress Association.) CHISTCHURCH, Sunday. A member of the Marist B senior League team, M. Crowe, had his ankle broken while playing against Addington yesterday afternoon, lie was admitted to the hospital.