SHORE DEFEND TITLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 142, 18 June 1929, Page 13

SHORE DEFEND TITLE.

CLUB GAMES ALL CLOSE.

PLAYERS IN PERSPECTIVE,

PONSONBY'S UNLUCKY DAY,

A feature of Saturday's League games, when tho second round of the club competition was embarked upon, was the close scoring in all matches. Even the much-buffeted Ellersiie thirteen, who benefited greatly by the services of C. Dufty, making his first appearance for his new club, ran Richmond to within five points. City had an" exceedingly close call against Kingsland Athletics, while Marists scraped home by a lone point against Newton, whose footsteps "were dogged by misfortune. There was a five-points difference between Devonport and Ponsonby, when the. teams met in a memorable clash to decide which side was to take the championship lead. Following are the positions of the teams: — Pts. Pts. Ch. P. L. D. F. A. Pts. Devon port .. S — 1 135 05 15 Ponsonby 8 - — 152 70 32 City .. .. S 3 — 87 M 10 Kcwton 8 S — 104 100 10 Richmond V 4 — 80 79 (5 Marist .. S 4 2 131 115 6 Kingsland 7 5 1 7 6 13'J 3 Ellerslio .. S 8 — 00 134 — SHORE A TRIFLE LUCKY. Ponsonby went down against Devonport with* colours flying, and the consolation that they were a trifle unlucky aiot to emerge from probably the most memorable encounter of the season on even terms with the championship leaders. Territorially, they had the better of the game between two teams fleet in pursuit and possession, but their orthodox tactics were not sufficient to penetrate the defence of the opposition, "which has built up a reputation for being one of the best defensive sides the League game in Auckland has ever seen. The game was won and lost in a twinkling a few minutes before the curtain. Straining every nerve, the teams were tattling in neutral territory, when the Shore forwards took command, and, led by Dixon, swept all before them. The big forward appeared to knock on the ball in attempting to gather in, but the breach went unnoticed by the referee, and McCarthney dived in for a tr J'- ~^l Mistakes in tactics were made on both sides. Both Seagar and Delgrosso, the first five-eighths, kicked through too often instead of letting the ball through tho chain, although the Ponsonby captain's object was very apparent—lie played to Winters, his right winger, continually. Otherwise both men gave excellent exhibitions, their defence in particular being sound. Had western suburbs varied their tactics, they must have scored from passing bouts Oil several occasions, but always they relied on regular chain passing to carry them through. Then,, again, Shore missed a gift try through over-eagerness, three forwards fumbling and struggling to pick up the ball with • an open field ahead of them, till the opposition had a chance to come round .and cover the hole in the defensive wall. Though the backs on both sides repeatedly flashed into a fast-moving picture, the forwards decided the issue, Ponies' onlv try and Shore's two cornfrom this quarter. Both sextets pla ved great games, varying hard work

in the tight with fast following up and swinging away from scrums to join in movements initiated by their half-backs. Shore's big six excelled in the latter department, while in the hard stuff . Ponsonby maintained a balance of power. Lou Hutt, for western suburbs, was unquestionably the best forward on the ground. He was here, there and everywhere, took a power of pulling down when he had the ball tucked under his arm, and scored for his side by sheer, battling determination. Skelton and Fagan did fine work in the loose, while Stevens raked the ball cleanly from a big percentage of the scrums. Dixon reached the top of his form for the seasides and played his best game of the season. Most conspicuous as his supports were Casey, McCarthney and Rule. Of the two full-backs, L. Simons was the better, his handling, kicking and tackling leaving little to be desired. Moore's positional play was at fault at times, and he "(vas caught on the wrong foot when Shore swooped down for their winning try. Otherwise he played well. Riley, at centre for Ponies, was Ponsonby's outstanding back, showing up repeatedly for flashing runs that would have borne fruit had he had support or had Schofield a surer pair of hands. Winters played soundly on the win", though well watched, while Thompson "fulfilled his part well as second fiveeighth. Delgrosso would have done better on the slippery ground had he had longer sprigs in his boots, and Mclntyre was as alert as ever behind the scrum On the day L. O'Leary as an attacking force outshone his clubmate Len Scott on the opposite wing. The latter let nothing past him on defence, but rarely had a gallop. When he saw the ball he invariably mulled the pass. He was not at his best by far. T O'Leary ran up against a brick wall in Thompson, and found little scope for his tricky mils, while Coghlan, behind the pack, was a solid little battler always in the picture, and working very hard till the end. He could afford to watch where he is passing on every occasion instead of taking too much for granted. A pleasing feature of the match was the cleanliness with which it was fought. Despite the many tense moments in a hard and close contest, Referee Bull had no occasion to warn a single player for questionable tactics. RICHMOND COLOURS. The duel between Richmond- and Ellexslie was fast and diverting, though neither team was at full strength; the margin of 10-5 reflecting the merits of the ° contestants. Hanlon, who again nlaved with refreshing judgment at full, measured up with Dufty, the latter, in new company, having a heavy task behind an uncertain three-quaiiter line. Gro«an was only fair, Mays on the other erratic, and S. Crewther at centre, charged with variety and strength, as i"?iinl R Crewther and Johnson were 1 " . . quite a match for the opposing line, but. tliev missed Olliff at half with his spirited dashes and sturdy defence. fHenn, a promising junior, did the honours and with credit, in the face of energetic attack. Hobbs and F. Chapman were prominent of the forwards, and W. Johnson, the Waikato man and brother of the five-eighths, did rhis share. Richmond's three-quarters Mineliani and McKinnon particularly, accomplished splendid work, and Da\is (who has been off the s*.ene lately), with 1

Jenkinson, were often in the limelight. Hamilton continues to show his paces, and the half, Agnew, was always keen. Though the pack Mas lighter it worked well together, but held the upper hand in tlie "loose. Colebrook bolted away on occasion but was unsupported. W. Jones was inclined to tackle a trifle vigorously at times. The team is inclined to allow young Mincham to shoulder too much responsibility, instead of reserving him for attack. Tho game was conspicuously bright and speedy, much to the credit of a referee who interpreted the advantage, rule in quite up-to-date manner. KINGSLAND IMPROVE. Although City supporters expected their team to gain a fairly easy victory in their match with Kingsland Athletics, it was only in the last five minutes that a try by G. Perry, converted by Watene, gave the red and blacks a five-point victory. After the great exhibition they gave in their tussle with Devonport, the City team was expected to give better displays, but their exhibitions of late have fallen much below expectations. On the other hand, Kingsland-Athletics have improved as the season progressed, and fully extended City in their match 011 Saturday. It was lack of getting the ball from the scrum that kept reds' rearguard from swinging into motion on more occassions, and this brought about their downfall. For the winners Watene, at full-back, was a little uncertain in the early stages, but improved as the game went on. L. Barchard has not been playing at all well of late, and was very weak on defence., McLaughlin, playing in a new position, that of centre threequarter, gave an excellent display, and showed keen anticipation when making openings for his wings, which, however, were not taken full advantage of. Iveson was the better of the two fiveeighths, and was always prominent when the City backs were on the offensive. W. Perry gave an excellent exhibition behind the pack, opening up the game well, but was assisted by Pascoe hooking the ball from practically every scrum. Hadley had a big afternoon's work leading his vanguard in attack, and came through with credit, being ably assisted by Barchard and Pascoe. Longville was giving a very safe display until he suffered an injury to his hip" which considerably affected his showing in the later stages. R. Carter did not get many chances, but made the most of any that did come his direction. List, also lacked opportunities, but played a great defensive game over the last quarter, when City were making strenuous efforts to gain an advantage. Nasey and Angelo collaborated well as the two inside men, the pair standing out for fine opportunism. Lucas did not feed his backs with his usual dash, and was faulty with his handling of the oval. Of a very willing pack of forwards, those particularly noticeable were Railey, McCloughen and H. Carter. MARISTS SURVIVE. By defeating Newton by a one-point margin in a high-scoring tussle, Maiists returned a compliment, though tbev were hard put to it to stall off loss in the concluding stages when Newton's stock rose with a growth of confidence. N. Campbell again gave a clean full-back display and contributed eight points in goals/ Bulcraig had an off day, the bulk of play veering to the other wing, where Batclielor did well. Brisbane and Bradv were always in the going, but the best individual 'display on the day—and one of the most brilliant fii'e-eighths interludes seen this season—was that given by McDonald, the ex-Arapuni man, who also shone against Devonport the previous week. After being ofl tli>s scene with a* nasal injury, he* is striking foim and rapidly developing into a dashing inside man with all the requisites of

! speed and straight-running vigour. He made the most of every opportunity. More will be seen of him. Purdy was safe enough at half, but paid rather too much attention to his active vis-a-vis. Moisley was outstanding of a lively pack. McLeod did good service, as rear-liner for Newton, and, not being too sure about his toe, was wise enough to run his backs into motion whenever opportunity offered. It paid. Brimble was threequarters for a while, but played better when restored to five-eighths. Hardgrave, who is developing his knowledge as an attacking player with initiative, and Butterwortli were a power, the former showing plenty of brilliance. The new five-eighths, Hill, is a likely colt and he inspired several useful movements. With length, speed and lithesome ability he should advance in the. faster _ code. Francif, Rhodes and Hall excelled in the forwards, who showed cohesion in the loose. REFEBEES' ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby League Referees' Association was held last night at the League rooms. The following officers were elected: —President, Mr. W. Hammill; chairman, Mr. W. Murray; lion, secretary, Mr. H. Taylor. The various affiliated leagues were represented by Mr. L. Bull (Auckland), Mr. T. Hill (South Auckland), Mr. W. Murray (Canterbury), Mr. H. Taylor (Buller), Mr. R. Stirling (Wellington), Mr. A. Ferguson (Otago). West Coast and North Auckland "have yet to appoint delegates. Several important rulings were requested by Otago and Auckland. These were fully discussed. During the evening mention was made of the great progress the code is making. In this direction all centres are to be congratulated on their work during the past season. Hope was expressed that there would be no let up, and that the aim of all associations would continue to be good, clean football.