LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 233, 2 October 1928, Page 15

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

ROOSTER SEMI-FINAL

GOOD FORM BY PONSONBY.

STALLARD CUP SURPRISE.

There is often a touch of burlesque in the staging of a veterans' game, but on the other hand it may be educational in some of the finer phases of football. There are two cases on record in Auckland football where a veteran played so well that he stepped straight into a representative team the next Saturday, but perhaps the veteran of the "past was more inclined to linger at the camp fire when the caravan passed on. Two good teams were selected for the veterans' match on Saturday, but all did not put in an appearance, and there was some difficulty in assembling sides. In the case of one old-timer he was eager for the fray, but he capitulated to a family indignation meeting, which was unanimously of the opinion that father had already done sufficient doughty deeds on the football field to enable him to retire honourably upon hard-earned laurels. In deference to advancing years and heads which were beginning to thin and grey two short sessions were played. The form —what there was of it—was quite good, and if the speed of other years was missing, the general method of progression with straight running and a laudable effort to back up the man carrying the ball was certainly good. A draw was a fitting reflex of the ebb and flow of the play, and the trials and tribulations which beset the respective sides. It was a short game, which recalled some vivid memories to those who have more than a passing acquaintance with Auckland football, and one saw players who in their heydey had an international fame. One commanding figure was Albert Asher. It is 31 years since A.A. made his appearance in Auckland football, an eleventh-hour choice by the late Joseph Warbrick when a Tauranga team came up to play Auckland. Asher at that time was a lad of 17, but he was a football prodigy. Next year he was a member of the ill-fated Parnell Club—a club which in a few short years slid from Auckland champions to the Rugby scrap heap—and it was Parnell barrackers who gave him the sobriquet of "Opae," the name of a popular racehorse of that period. Next year A.A. began a long associationn with the City Club, and in his first year in League football he had the distinction of having represented New Zealand in two codes. At his best A.A. was the best scoring wing three-quarter in the laftd, just as his colleague, George * Smith, was the greatest centre. A .A. always went for the line with a joyous all-out burst; he •had a penchant for hurdling opponents, and a convulsive wriggle which necessitated mere than an ordinary tackle to stop him. The old mannerisms were there on Saturday, the expectancy and the tip-toe poise, something to comment on in these days when so many players are fiat-footed and lose valuable yards before they begin to move. Another of the veterans who had repped in two codes was A. D. McGregor, whose play on occasions on Saturday was as good as to suggest that his retirement from big football must have been a bit premature. A.D. was another country product from the south of Auckland, and rep. football first knew him in 1908. Aa in the case of Asher, he was speedily lured to a city team, and was associated with Ponsonby when the western suburbs' team lifted Auckland club football to the highest plane it has known. Sturdy, although a bit on the small side, A.D. relied solely upon skill and sure hands; fine speed, with a disconcerting swerve, made, him a very dangerous scoring player. • Later generations' of great players of a past were represented by S. McClymont and George Davidson. McClymont was one of the finest exponents of League back play that the land has knoyn, while George Davidson, although perhaps never really great as a player, was certainly the fastest footballer ever seen on a ground in New Zealand, a striking claim when one recalls the sheer pace of mien like Surnjan, Smith and Harold Horder. In his athletic prime GJ). was one of the fsur men whom New Zealand produced capable of running a hundred yards inside even time, and he has had the. distinction of representing New Zealand "at the Olympic Games.

PLAYERS FROM THE POINT. The fact that Point Chevalier defeated Grafton Athletic for the Stallard Cup will increase the difficulty of the local League legislators who are now pondering over a scheme .to bring the senior A and B divisions into line. After a triumphant season among the B's Athletic collected most of the riectar that i was offering, and they are how casting longing eyes at the green fields in the A grade, from which they were evicted last season as the result of a successful challenge by Ellerslie: Now Athletic, by the same token, have challenged Ellerslie for pride of place, and the 'match remains to be played. Last year some people seemed to have serious misgivings when Point Chevalier were elevated to B grade status, but the Point supporters had no illusions about the quality of play staged in the pathless suburb, and their contention has been proved to the hilt by the result of the game on Saturday. It all goes to show that a junior team of to-day; provided that their players keep together, may be the senior champions of a few years hence, and in making new playing schemes it is well to keep in mind such essential things community of interest and esprit de corps, something which can scarcely be achieved when a club's players are drawn from all over the Auckland landscape.

OLD RIVALS MEET. It was a tragedy for Newton that they had to take the field for the playoff in the semi-final of the Roope Rooster competition minus two of their best forwards in Homers and Clarke, but they made a splendid fight of it, and it waa only in the last stages of the game that Ponsonby indisputably looked the better side. On the full run of the. game it was-quite possible for Newton to have won, as the points difference at I the end was but two, and before that stage Dufty had missed at least two ! easy conversion chances to glean extra points. On the other hand -Ponsonby also lost some points on the day by the proverbial cat's whisker, and thus the all important "if" must be discarded

when summing up the merits of the play. Near the end of the game Ponsonby were able to hold the Newton pack with five men in the set scrums, with the result that they were able to adopt the English tactics so successfully exploited in STew Zealand by Gallagher, and play one man off the scrum, much in the same manner that Devonport have exploited that tactical move earlier in the season with A. Scott. To play the extra back game successfully a gifted player of the rare opportunist class is necessary, and the man was there for Ponsonby in Hutt. j It was he who got the winning try for 1 Ponsonby, a quickly gathered pass close to the New- . ton line, and a resolute dash and sueT' cessful climax, Hutt hurling his fourteen stone weight through the air despite frantic attempts to stop'the flying missile. He was certainly the outstanding player on the Ponsonby side, and is maintaining the form which led the managers of the English team, recently this way, to express the opinion ttfat he was one of the greatest forwards in the world. Delgrosso gave another masterly display at full-back for Ponsonby, and repeatedly extricated his side from difficult situations. There were a few familiar faces missing from the blue and blacks' rearguard, which gave a chance for White, a junior, to be tried-out, and create quite a favourable impression. Although Peckliam and Thompson played well in the inside backs, there was a combinative weakness further out, with the result that the wings saw precious little of the baU, which was rather a pity, as Crooks was showing all the pace necessary to turn even the most flimsy of scoring chances to the best account. Similarly the Newton inside backs seemed unable to get the ball out to their wings, although from chances which they made themselves, they got the only scores which came Newton's way. Right through the day the Newton inside backs were hampered with the swift covering defence that ,the opposing "backs put up, and they found it exceptionally difficult to make headway. Cammick opened the play up brightly, Wilson played the true fiveeighths game cleverly, and mixed his play headily, while Dufty gave his usual sheetanchor display although unfortunately for the red and whites he had an off day at goal-kicking. Little and Hardgrave on the wings made the most of a starvation diet, both playing with the disadvantage that they were nursing leg injuries. The outstanding forward was Hall, who played heroically, and has never been seen to better advantage. Good support came from Rhodes and Purdy. Easily the. most spectacular incident of the game was the try recorded by Hardgrave. Play was at midfield at the time and the Ponsonby backs began a blind side passing move, which : . promised well. It was when a long pass was given that Hardgrave flashed into the picture with brilliant interception, and he was racing through to Delgrosso, the Ponsonby full-back, before the others grasped the situation. With & full knowledge of Hardgrave's pace and ability to inswerve, Delgrosso made a special effort to get his man, and would probably have done so had not the Newton flier at the peak of the swerve interpolated a jump which got him clear of Delgrosso's tackle. He got full acceleration again before a chasing tacklc by Crooks could land him, and the rest was merely a gallop with an open field ahead,. Hardgrave is idolised by the Newton supporters, and they gave him a great ovation.