LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 150, 28 June 1927, Page 14

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

NEWTON'S RETURN TO FORM. GOOD DAY FOR DUFTY. CITY IN THE SHADOWS. The evenness of. the teams in the senior, grade was-illustrated, at Carlaw Park on Saturday, when Newton returned to form and won by a clear-cut margin from Richmond. City at the moment are in tho shadows, and although they put up a good fight succumbed to Devon port. Marist had things much their own way against Grafton Athletic, and won by a big margin. The results of the Saturday games puts Marist and Devonport at the head of the points table, both with ten points. Next come Newton and Fonsonby, each with nine points, with Richmond and City, each with five points further down the list. Grafton Athletic are at the bottom of the list without a single point to their credit. At the moment Ponsonby are in third place, much for the reason that they had the bye on Saturday, and'did not have a chance'to add totheir record. The two leading teams have each had two losses, whereas Ponsonby have had but one loss and a draw. The points table shows that there are six teams very evenly matched at tho moment, Grafton Athletic being the one team that at the moment is not up to the strength of the others, although it is a sido with a big leaven of young players which may make itself felt before the season is out. The evenness of the teams has also been reflected in the players. The standard has been good, and there is a difficult task ahead for the selectors when they come to sort the Auckland rep teams out.

ECLIPSE OF RICHMOND

DUFTV KICKS FAR AND SIRE. The ]>lacin«r of the Newton-Richmond ,game on the No. 1 pround was a smress from every viewpoint, the teams playing well under slightly adverse circumstances —the surface was on the soft side and the players were at times not sure of a foothold —and giving a display

that vas full of interest. It was niostly Rugger of the hard, liphtinjj kind, yet there were occasional classic movements

and the pretty passing game which is one of the salient features of the code. The better side won on the day. The Newton play was keen throughout, but Richmond were a hit listless at.times, and .they played like a team that was beginning to feel the strain at the end of a strenuous season.

With the forwards fairly even, the issue rested with the backs, and it was there that Newton displayed more finish and a better appreciation of positional play. It 'meant much to Newton that Dufty played one of his best games. His lino * kicking had the extraordinary length that broke the hearts of the English team- when they were hero in 1920,' and both in attack and defence he was always prominent. With combination Newton would have a very brilliant back division, and although they have not as yet perfected the teamwork, the talent is there, and merely wants moulding into tho proper shape, little and Hardgrave stood out with brilliant dash in attack, and their work carried sting right through tho game. The Übiquitous Herewini gathered the ball liko a class slip on the cricket field, while his kiekfflg was powerful and well directed. CJarkj, Henry, and Stack were a trio" that stood out in the forwards, the latter getting in a couple of great runs,during the game. The. Richmond backs were not as impressive as 5 they were in their previous game'against.Ponsonby. Parkes played at five-eighths and was the best, but it could not be said that he was as outstanding as the previous week, when at centre three-quarter he gave a magnificent display. Hanlon played his usual sound game at fullback, and was A pillar; of strength to his side. Taylor ■played brightly on occasions, but it was unfortunate for Richmond that ho left his kicking boot at home, and his inability to land fcjals from frees at short range lost two golden opportunities for the maroons to amass points in the early part of the game, to say nothing of the moral effect by getting the first scoring-blow in. Prentice played soundly in the intermediate - line, and tackled splendidly, while Davis behind the pack played at the top of his form and was quick to set his backs going in attack, or check the opposing forwards when they were breaking into the ruck. The Richmond pack was not the virile six of a week before. They fought— fought- hard—right through the piece, scrumming solidly and backing up well in the loose play, hut the devastating attack which so sorely tried Ponsonby was not there.

DEVONPORT DOWNS CITY.

WEAK TACKLING BY KKDS. Possession is nine-tenths of the law in any football code, and .while Devonport had possession in their match with City on the Park on Saturday, they led the reds a merry dance. Eclipsing their i opponents in every department, they ' pressed home their advantage with good [ effect, and left City only one scoring , opportunity during the spell. They might ■ have done better too had it not been for erratic passing by A. Scott, 'who played ' an otherwise ■plendid gam*. The field

was lashed into a as the o anie progressed, the ball became greasy as a consequence, and the standard of play depreciated—especially that of the Shoremen—and on the change-over the spell was evenly contested. Indeed, although it must be, conceded that the blacks had the better of exchanges territorially, the scores in the second stanza were confined to two, a penalty gaol by Laing. Tackling was not a feature of City's play, in fact, it was lamentably weak in the early stages. A glaring instance of this weakness was given when lieatty beat off three or four •"caresses," to make

I lie going easy fori Dixon to Fcore a try. There was no •omparison between the two packs that went down. Undoubtedly the blacks were superior, this heing the ease more particularly in the loose. Dickson, Ruby, O'Brien and St. George, were always in the picture, and it was no fault of theirs that there was nut a greater margin of difference between the scores in the end. Hadley, the veteran Maekie, Hamilton, Home and F. "' iwnsend, wore the particular grafters of City's Prniminagers, and held a good deal . their own in the tight as the game wore on. Cleaver was the outstanding back for the blacks, and his selling of the dummy, and cutting in to make wonderful openings, was much in evidence. Webb played his usual solid game behind the patk, while L. Scott on the left wing, made every post a winning one, and finalised several good movements in characteristic style. Perry, the full-back, demonstrated that he has a safe pair of hands, but his judgment in returninc kicks could be imp!o\cd ii good deal.

Ho seemed to be obsessed with the idea that ho must kick, on occasions when he could have set his chain in motion.

Of City's rearguard, little can be said.j and it was only on rare occasions that they looked like being dangerous. Wetherj-ll covered a tremendous amount of ground l>oth ou the defence and on the offensive, and his services were invaluable to his side. It would be a very disorganised City team without him. Ghent performed well behind a generally beaten pack, while Wade showed his pace on the wing, and came within an ace of scoring on several occasions. He could brush up his defensive work a good deal however.

MARIST BACKS TOO «500 D

ATHLETICS QUITE OUTPACED

The match lxHweon Grafton Athletic and Marist at tlio Domain on Saturday was a very one-.-ided nlTair. The Tykes were not a hit extended to win by 34 points to 0. The. score might easily have hocn larger, too. but after Ma+ists had piled on IS points in less than that number of minutes, they thought that they mijjht win, and so eased tip considerably. Grafton Athletic were not up to senior standard on the clay by reason of the fact that Hudson, Christmas, and Cavanagh were away, and the team was greatly chopped around to make room for the reserves. The Tykes fielded an exceptionally strong thirteen, having a great advantage over Athletic as regards weight and speed. But in spite, of their superiority and better combination Marist did not play up 10 expectation. Tlad the players exerted themselves all the time instead of only sometime. 4 , the scoro would have been much larger.

Gregory was unquestionably the best of the Marist backs. He was very sound on both defence and attack, and kickedi some excellent goals. Kir win was ! not, as good .as j usual, but Knott, Brisbane, Sweeney, and King were in good form and all I scored tries. In the \ forwards the two I teams were more evenly matched, but here, again, the Tykes were superior. O'Brien, Keenan and Stormont were the most outstanding playcr=. For Grafton Athletic Avery played one of his best games this season. There was no other forward in the team nearly as good. Courtcnay and Herring shaped well, but the rest of the pack were only mediocre. At full back Longville played a splendid defensive game for Athletic. I By no means flawless, at the same time this young player came through a trying ordeal very creditably. Lucas also was pood and played well behind the scrum. Anpelo was not a huge success at fiveeighths, while Pau and Waring were very ordinary.

ELLERSLIE SCRAPES HOME.

The victory attained by Ellerslic last Saturday at the Domain, 'when they defeated" Parnell by 21 points to 20. marked their seventh successive win, the team not having yet sustained a defeat. The game from bell to bell was one of the best that has been seen this season in this section. Though the first spell was quite good, the second half eclipsed it, both teams playing at their best and keeping the spectators at the highest pitch of excitement.

If anything. Ellerslie were a y* lucky to win by the mar-in of one point. as Paraell were on their line three timet to Ellorslie's one at the loser's line, but they could not finish off the effort.'j U st five minutes from time. Keano, from a, scrimmage on Ellerslie's Ymc, scored right out near the comer. The an«l ft '" was a little too difficult for Patton, and the ball went just outside the uprights. Although Parnell tried hard to penetrate the defence, they could not make the necessary two points to win. For the winner?, Butterworth, «t. full-back, did not play as well ts usuaL his handling at times being faulty Roxborough, on the wing, gave a <*ooi display, his line running bein<» verv good. Sband n-d Williams also plaved well, trying to open the game all The time. Among the forwards, Cooke and Capner were con r picuous by their fine following up. On the l'arnell side. Kerr was \err safe at full-back, saving his tide on many occasions. There is room for improvement in Faulkner's displav on the wing. However, a« this is his first game this tea? -. he should improve. Patton and Anderson, at five-eighths combined well, and put iu some reallv good passing movements. McClurc, at half-back, fed his back* well. It would be hard to pick out any forward, as all were toilers, but lirockliss and Ritchi* were about the best forwards on the I ground.