LEAGUE CLUB EVENTS

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 146, 23 June 1930, Page 14

LEAGUE CLUB EVENTS

MARISTS DOWN NEWTON. SHORE RUN PONIES CLOSE. WINS FOR CITY AND RICHMOND.

Calculations were in no way upset at Carlaw Park on Saturday, when the League club games went smoothly 011 their way. Newton were starred with Marists, the leaders of the senior championship, for the principal game of the day, but the brightest exhibition was provided on the opposite ground by Ponsonby and Devonport. Fielding many of their old stalwarts, Shore put up a great battle, but fitness told in the end, and Ponies won by 8 points to 6. Speed, superior collaborative effort and experience were the factors that turned the tide in favour of Marists by 31 pomts to 10. In the curtain-raiser, Kingsland-Athletics went down gamely against City to the tune of 17 points to 13, while out at Grey Lynn Richmond deserved their victory by 8 points to 0 over Ellerslie. Marist Easily. Although their defence tottered and finally crumpled, Newton put up a game performance against great odds when they met Marists in the principal game of the day. In the first spell they held the championship leaders by fast - raiding and deadly tackling, with the result that at the interval the scores were only 7—3 against them. In the second spell, however, weight in the forwards, experience and speed told ,their tale, and Tykes piled on points with monotonous regularity. The final scorcs, 31 points to 10, were hardly indicative of the trend of the game, however, as Newton up to a point, hung on with dogged persistency and fought well in face of adversity. Beaten for the ball in the majority of the scrums they were fortunate in holding the score within the I bounds that they did. Brisbane and Gregory, the two Marist internationals, were simply irresistible, and gave performances that augur well for their success on Australian soil.. Brisbane shone for straight running and the alternating of pace that cut the defence to shreds, while Gregory, although he showed up to a lesser degree on the move, drew the opposition nicely, and defended like the Gregory who never seems to let his side down. To make matters worse, Newton struck Brady, the Tyke centre, at his best. Brady gave promise of developing into the greatest centre in the code in Marist matches against South Sydney last year, and he was a popular candidate for the Australian excursion. This season, however, he failed to rise to the heights anticipated, and it was no wonder that he failed to catch the eyes of the selectors. His return to form has come a trifle late. Behind the scrum, Hassan did all that was expected of him, while the wingers, Batchelor and Drew, finished off several passing bouts with determined running. Drew was the better of the two, and should go far if he continues to improve in the way he has done since linking up with the greens. Campbell got through a lot of useful work at fullback, but lie by no means overshadowed the hard-worked Newton full-back, Dempsey, a boy with a nice left foot. Dempsey was conspicuous for his gameness when the burly Marist forwards were 'charging down on him, and for low tackling. His line kicking was a feature at times. The remainder of the Newton backs were-naturally seen in a subdued light, but in the first spell their tackling -was grand. MeLeod gave a bright performance on the wing with the.limited opportunities that came his way, while the Brimble brothers and Herewini combined well early in the piece,- although they were no match for the Gregory-Brisbane-Brady combination once it commenced to assert -its strength. The Tyke forwards had a rare (lay out. Not only were they up to participate' in most of the passing rushes, but they Were superior in all departments of the forward play. Young was best ruckman on the field, but other good battlers were J. O'Brien, Graham and Johnson. Although they did best at fast breaking up, the most outstanding Newton forwards were Kirkup, Middleton, St. George and Ferguson. Francis was splendid in the loose, but as usual, he spoilt an otherwise good display by erratic handling.

PONSONBY SHAKEN. Stepping out with eclat on a greas; ground, Devonport showed impressive fori! against Ponsonby, though they went dowi to the tune of B—6 in the end. _ It wa a willing contest from start to finish,- am showed that the team from over the har hour is rapidly regaining • the standan which it has set in other seasons. It i: true that the western suburbs' team wai without the services of P. Skelton, Thomp son and K. Peckham, who have given fin< exhibitions of back play lately. On tin othei/ hand Devonport, with other com pensations. were minus Seagar and Trevo O'Leary. The trans-harbour men made tin pace extremely lively in the first tei minutes, but the defence was found sadli wanting when Schole field accepted a pass from Lunn and rar half the length of tin field to Score. At this stage St. George was hooking well and sev eral good chances went begging owing to faulty handling for which Beatti< was the worst of lender. Considering :is pace and othei ibility this inaccu acy is hard to_ un derstapd, especially as his weakness is always so apparent al critical moments Smith, a lower gradi player, was doing <1 lot of saving and revealing a keen sense o: anticipation, while his partiality for kick ing could be pardoned in view of the lacl of support ffe was receiving. Saxon was deputising at full-back and making quit< a good job of it, except for an initial mis take. Prom a fine breakaway by the Devon port forwards, Casey, who was always con spicuoiis, went over the line for a good try Then Ponsonby woke upu and the backs goi going in pretty style for Winters to take ar inpass at such a rate of speeo that lie was through the opposition in a twinkling Gardiner missing the kick, Ponsonby wer< eight points , to three in hand. .Tust be fore the interval Casey intercepted anc sent Alf Scott away for a try after a rut from midfield. For a man of his size il was a great effort, to which the fast Dixor had contributed by a timely pass. . Th< score of B—6 in favour of the Ponsonbj team was. unaltered in the course of the second half, during which the Ponsonby forwards hooked better and thereby stalled off trouble. Fagan, Stevens and Lunn were

a very consistent and tireless trio, but McLeay showed weakness in handling. Gardiner Hashed out on several occasions and Moore was mostly notable for his futile tackling' resentments —the refuge of a weak man. Mclntyre has given better displays at half-back and Angelo did not link very well with Kiley in the fiveeighths line. Consequently, Delgrosso, at centre, was all at sea and the had few chances. Scholeiield again committed glaring tripping breaches, J. Wilson, the new fuir-back, played a safe game for a novice in the code, but has something to learn in regard to placements. Shore forwards played well together and once they strike form should be a proposition. Casey and Dixon were outstanding on the day. Preston and O'Donnell were indifferent inside backs, and the rest of the vanguard did very well in the circumstances, particularly Smith. The best back on the field, however, was Rhodes, the Devonport half. Ponsonby appear to have slipped a bit, whereas Devonpprt are on the up grade. Watch the latter next time out.

RICHMOND SUCCESS. The game between Richmond and Ellerslie at Grey Lynn on Saturday resulted in a win for the former by eight points to nil The Richmond pack was slightly heavier and although the greasy state of the ball nullified' good passing to a certain extent, there was some splendid work by the vanguard. Solid tackling by the Ellerslie team saved them on several occasions, and twice overeagerness saw the tri-colours throw away a chance that would have been an easy try. Solo efforts by some of the Richmond players were most noticeable, and, had they ! the backing needed, would have added to the score. It was a great recovery aftpr last week's game, and Richmond well deserved tlleir victory. Richmond got their first score when Davies, securing from the ruck, passed to Lennie, who, after eluding Webb, transferred to Patterson, who cut in to score under the posts. Mincham converted. In the second spell it was not long before Patterson again scored after a „ , , „ brilliant solo dash from half-way. Mincliam failed with the kick. About this time it was seen that Dufty had come forward to second fiveeighths, while Webb transferred to fullback. Ellerslie attacked, but although they were near the line several times they were unable to break the defence. For the winners Lee, Mincham and G Davies were the most outstanding backs! while Lennie and G. Davies gave an excellent display in the pack. Patterson and .Jones were most noticeable for dual passing movements. For Ellerslie Dufty extricated his side from danger on numerous occasions, while Olifl. fed the rearguard to the best of his ability. AYebb and Ilemmingway were to be seen in the foreground, and in the pack Campner and' Chapman were the outstanding -players.

DISAPPOINTING GAME. Playing as the preliminary to the chief attraction at Carlaw , Park, City did not have matters all their own way in defeating Kingsland-Athletics by 17 to 13. The sodden slate of the ground did not tend toward fast open play, but still there was no excuse for the poor handling by both teams. Some excuse may be advanced for the failure of the Kingsland backs, most of the players filling positions that were strange to them. For instance, the fullback role was taken by McCloughen in the early stages, York took his place in the second spell, both of Whom are the club's foremost forwards. I For the winners . Bare-hard was as solid as ever, his line-kicking being especially good. McLaughlin had more opportunities than Patno, but both made the most of any that came their way. G. Perry was the best of the backs, making some really brilliant movements, beside shining in defence Davidson was off form, while Reynolds, having his first game for six weeks, proved an excellent substitute for Shortland behind the pack. The forwards were all hard workers, Barchard being outstanding, while Hadley and Iveson were also prominent It would not be fair to judge the Kingsland back's on Saturday's exhibition, as Lucas, McCloughen, Simms and York were all playing in unaccustomed positions. York, however, gave quite a good exhibition at full-back, frequently repelling City invasions with line line-kicking. List struck his best form and was a tower of strength to his side. It was about his best exeliibition this season. Carter put in some very determined dashes down the line, while his defence was particularly good. Simms did his best behind the scrum, his try, as a result of tine anticipation, being a real gem. The vanguard were toilers right to the end, with JRamm, Kailey and Atkins prominent.

GRADE RESULTS. SENIOR 33 GRADE. Northcote 15, beat Richmond 7. Point Chevalier 5, beat Parnell 4. SECOND GRADE. Richmond 5, beat Marist 3. THIRD GRADE OPEN. Ponsonby SO, beat Richmond 2. Kingsland 0, beat Ellerslie 2. Avondale 25, beat Devonport 0. THIRD GRADE INTERMEDIATE. Akarana 15, beat Richmond 8. Devonport 10, beat Northcote 0. FOURTH GRADE. Ponsonby 10, beat Glen Lynn 4. Richmond 8, beat City 2. Point Chevalier 17, beat Mt. Albert 0. FIFTH GRADE. Marist 18, beat Ponsonby 0. , Akarana 8, beat Richmond 5. Newmarket 14, beat Papatoetoe 8. SIXTH GRADE. Newton 3, drew with Pt. Chevalier 3. Ellerslie 2, beat Marist B 0. Marist 3 24, beat Kingsland 0. City 8, beat Northcote 3. Newmarket 13, beat Glen Lynn A 0. Ivichmond B 0, beat Devonport 0. Pt. Chevalier 10, beat Glen Lynn B 0. Avondale 6, beat Marist 0. Richmond A 14, beat City 0. GAMES IN PROVINCE. HAMILTON. . Seniors. —Ngarnawahia A 22, beat Hamilton 5; Ngaruwahia B 3, beat Huutly A 0.