LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 132, 7 June 1927, Page 15

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

ECLIPSE OF NEWTON.

PONSONBY STILL WINNING,

The attendance at Carlaw Park slipped back to tne 6000 mark on Saturday, but it was a big gathering of spectators in view of the fact that races at Ellerslie were in full swing. Great interest was taken in the Marist-New-ton game as the result of the wonderful recovery that the latter team have made, and they justilied their appearance on the main ground by giving Marist a great run. It was the best game that has been staged this season. Although not perfect, the play was of a very good quality, there was plenty of sparkle of the kind that the League crowds like, and the finish was close enough to sustain interest right to the end. Ponsonby won rather easily from Grafton Athletic, although the game was not one sided. There is a big leaven of junior talent on tlie Athletic side, and their turn will come.

MARIST FINISH AHEAD. Had Newton taken all the scoring chances that were otTereil they would have beaten Marist. In a lesser degree, Marist, by a similar grasp of the gilts that the gods of fate offer, might have done better. Vet it was ever thus, and it is that little uncertainty that makes the code so fascinating. On the day Marist deserved to win, and ability to finalise team-effort pulled them through. Right through tho game a very fast pace was set, and, in general, tho tackling was keen and deadly. The forward play of both teams was of a very high order. Contrary to the usual run of things lately, the scrums were well packed, and tho ball was properly put in. Here it was that Newton had 0110 advantage, as Somers' hooking was too clever for his vis-a-vis, and ho gave his backs every chance by sending the ball out cleanly. In the loose play Newton forwards were superior. The Newton inside backs failed to team —the real and apparent weakness of the side on the day —and were not the equal of the Marist inside players. Last, not least, Marist had in Gregory a champion fullback, whose worth to his side on the day could not be assessed on points. Well as Gregory usually plays, lie rose to superlative heights, and his sense of anticipation was in keeping with the great skill he revealed. Kirwan and Brisbane also played at the top ■>t form; and collectively it was a trinity that could scarcely have been i m proved upon. Kirwan was heady, •lover, and habitually did the right thing at the right moment, while lirisbane got one of the best scores of the day with splendid opportunism. King at wing three-quarter, again impressed with splendid tackling and resolute running, while Knott, on the oppo.-ite wing, made another good showing. He is not as robust as King in his st vie, but lie plays neatly, and has a nice turn of speed. In the Marist forwards Noble, by reason of unflagging energy, showed up, although there were times when he did not seem to know what was the best thing to do with trio ball when he got it. Of the others O'Brien was perhaps tho most prominent, and on occasion was quite nippy. Apart from Somers, whoso hooking was invaluable, Henry, Hall, and Clarke stood out in the Newton pack, tho work of this trio in the loose being a bright feature of tho game. Melntyre behind the pack, set a new standard of halfback play in Auckland, and a* a result of his connection with Sydney football disclosed some of the finer points of the code that are unknown to the average local lialf-back. He had the sharpness I of a champion, and his opening up of the play was brilliant in the extreme.

Little, at wing three-quarter, played with great dash throughout, hut lie got nothing in the way of scoring chances. Herewini at fullback was spectacular. He played well, but he was not up to Gregory's standard. As individuals. Dufty, Hardgrave, and MeLeod all showed up, but they had no real combination, and, until they learn to get the ball swiftly to the wings, one cannot see Newton getting points commensurate with the work of a good pack in front of them. Tliev did combine on one occasion. Dufty. out of position, cut in and through the Marist backs. MeLeod and Hardgrave trailed into position on the outside, and finally Hardgrave, after sending to MeLeod, gathered an in-pass perfectly to go across and score. Despite the fact that Dufty landed two goals, 'he was, on the day, an unreliable place-kick, and he missed several times from good positions. Had it been one of his best days in that department it is quite possible that Newton might have continued in winning vein.

GRAFTON STILL STRUGGLING. In face of a succession of reverses, some of them overwhelming, to say the least, the young (Jrafton Athletic team that is battling for recognition in the senior ranks, came up smiling again on Saturday to meet Ponsonbv. Although decisively beaten by 30 points to 14. they played one of their best games to date. Not even their most sanguine supporters expected them to notch an overdue win, but for all that they had the blue and blacks nonplussed at times, and on-, at least two occasions, when Herring scored, had the defence fairly and squarely beaten. After the first quarter of an hour they did not look as though they would create a surprise, but their dogged persistency allowed them to reduce the margin of difference between 15 points and 3 points at halftime to a mere five points advantage early in the second spell. Tneir spasmodic attacks lacked nothing in the direction of nippiness, but cohesion at

the business end was not the keynote of their tactics, frequently spoilt by erratic passing. Ponsonby were not at home on the "hoodoo" ground, and their play lacked the lire and dash that has characterised their previous matches, until disillusioned as to the real ability of their opponents. The game was not of absorbing interest, but possessed many bright features, including determined tackling. Grafton received a greater share of the ball than hitherto, and Lucas revelled in the opportunity to set his backs in motion. He shono as his side's best back, made the most of penalty kicks that came his way, and was well supported by Stevenson and Angelo. Herring played a fine game in the pack and his speed and ability to get up with his backs let him iu for two nice tries. Avery, Courtney and McLaughlin, were always prominent and played a big part in getting the ball away and quieting the opposition. The Ponies were not as strong as usual, Grcv taking the absent. Langley's position at fullback, and Hutt coming out of the forwards to fill the gap in the three-quarter line. Ihe latter combined well with the others in the line— L'sher and Gardiner—but it could not he said that any of them ro-e to brilliant heights. lii ley and Delgrosso, in the five-eighths line, were sound on defence and danjrerous on attack, while IVckham's style was cramped a good deal as the result, of the ball not coming through cleanly to him. McNeill. Tavne ragan and J. Peck ham were the outstanding forwards.

SHORE'S VICTORY OVER RICHMOND. The Richmond Devonport encounter, staged at Carlaw Park on the Kino's Birthday, instead of at the Shore on Saturday, proved one of the brightest games of the season. It glittered" with bright incidents that kept the spectators in suspense till the final whistle. The pity of it was that only about 3000 spectators were fortunate enough to witness the titanic battle. thc"lar~e number of counter attractions in the city attracting many regular supporters ot the code elsewhere. A notable feature of the clash was that Referee Emerali had occasion to order no less than four players off the field, one for answering him back, and three for indulging in wrestling bouts, punctuated with a few short-arm jabs Cautions, however, would no doubt have met the cases, for taking it all round the game was fought in excellent spirit. Admittedly there were no "be£ pardons," and if a man got the ball lie went down well and truly. But that was all in the game. Each team lost two men, and ended up with cricket teams. There was little between the sides on the day, the forwards were well matched, and the backs moved rhythmically at times. The maroons, possib?y wcre slightly the more incisive when Davis got the ball away to his rearguard, but the tackling of the opposition and the dash of their forwards more than counter-balanced any advantage Richmond had in this department. ° A draw would have been a satisfactory result of the game, and it might have ended thus had it not l>cen for the fact that from an off-side pass late in the first spell Dixon scored a runaway try between the posts. The try should never have been allowed, for Dixon was making no attempt to get ou side. The maroons, led ly Bass, kept their opponents busy throughout, getting their fair measure of the ball, and holding their own in the tight. Carroll, Campbell. Stewart and Telford also shone. Davis, behind the pack, is one of the best scrum halves in the competition, and he fed his backs continually, l'arkcs played one of his best games to date at centre, and was well supported by Prentice and Jenkinson (the two insides), and Dixon and Swift (the two Jlank men), llanlon played solidly throughout, although lie made a few bad mistakes. He was caught napping completely when Dixon sailed away for his trv.

Ruby was possibly the outstnndins: forward for s?bore. and liis fast following uj) and energy throughout was an t lesson to tlie f re mam dor of the team. I" uess to ilart any opportun.. that presented itself brought his side one wellmerited try, when a passim: nio\ement fell ju-t short nf the mai k. St. (ioorge. Dixon and U'lirien also caught the eye. as being in the thick of the hard stuff. Preston was not impressive at half, and the back play of the blacks improved when, in the second spell. Webb shifted from fullback to relieve him. The tactical move brought almost instantaneous success— a pretty try. which was prtxlueed largely as the reulst of Webb's genius. Cleaver and Seager combined well inside, while liemmingway was ever dangerous at centre. Scott and lieattie did not see a great deal of the l>all, owin;: to the solid tackling of the opposition, but made the most of their opportunities.

SENIOR B SECTION. What little spectacular play there was in the Mangere-Parnell clash at Otahuhu. 011 Saturday, was all provided by Mange re. Not once in the whole gae was there a movement in which all of the Parnell liacks participated. (>ll the other hand Mangere did their best to make the panic bright and open, and one movement in particular—the one which ended in L. Wilson scoring— was a fine piece of combined play, in which live backs handled the ball. Parnell's tackling too, was atrocious. Ineffectual attempts to catch their opponent? around the neck occurred altogether too frequently. Patton was a bad offender in this respect. It was the weak tackling of the Parnell rearguard that let Mangere through time and again. The Mangere <lefence was much sounder than Parnell's. Every plaver tackled low, with the result that there were few . occasions when a Ma 11 ire re player missed his man. In the forward divisions both packs were evenly matched, although Mangere hooked the ball most from the scrums. In the closing stapes of the contest the Parnell players—both backs and forwards—warmed up to their work, and tho Mangere citadel was shaken bv many an attack. Kerr, full-back. Henderson and Patton put in a tremendous lot of pood work for Parnell. but Patton spoilt this bv plarinply bad tacklinp. Brockliss and Wilson were two forwards who performed very creditably. Wilson, senior, played his usual pood pame for Manpere. Bosicur infused a lot of dash into his play. Grubb, L. \\ ilson and \\ il>on. junior. plavcJ their best panics so far this season. Ellerslie quite outplayed Point Chevalier, and put 011 points consistently throughout the panic, per medium of smart back play that pave tries to Littlewood. Gropan, K. .Tohnston. Pape and Crowther. Coals were added bv Shand, T. Johnston (2), and C-apne'r. For Point Chevalier, Monaplian kicked a poal. and Humphries scored a try from a forward rush, and Shand. Pai-e and Littlewood were always prom inert for Fllerslie. Humphries and Monaglian were the outstanding players 1 >r th<> losiup side.