LEAGUE CLUB STARS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 163, 13 July 1931, Page 12

LEAGUE CLUB STARS.

SHORE SCRAPE HOME.

ELLERSLIE EXTENF tfONIES.

MARIST DOWX XEWTOX

Close competition characterised Saturday's senior Rugby League games. Play was, generally speaking, of a high order, and, in both the matches at Carlaw Park, the crowd was kept guessing right up to the final bell. Richmond full}' extended Devonport and looked like winning at one stage. In the end, however, the seasiders profited by their mistakes .and won by 14 points to 10. The surprise or the daywas the remarkably fine showing of JMlerslie on No. 2 ground, where they pinned Ponson-by to a win by the narrow margin of '20 points to 17. The racecourse'side is much improved, and they took all that was coming to them and returned it_n ltli interest. Out on Western Springs Marist continued in winning vein, and, alter a fast and interesting encounter with iNewton, won, 17 points to 9. _ The position of the teams is as follows:— T rh

SPARKLING BACKS.

Marist speed and polish, though held well in check, were a little too much j.oi Newton, who went down gloriously by 9—17, a point less margin than; when the teams previously met at the end of May. In their latest game, however, Newton were a points better side, but their goal kicking was poor, so, virtually, they sacrificed six oasv points. Campbell, at fullback, played like a champion for the greens, though Dempsey gave quite a hue display. Brisbane!. List and Meeban, weil served by Hassan, were the mainsprings of Maris: rearguard operations. On several occasions, however, Meelian showed a little weakness on defence, but that was in the later stages. ISrady was not properly wnrnifd up when he retired and S'-Uultze revealed promise. Bachelor did not hive a great deal to do. He was in great form. OCampbell nookrd cons'stently and was in the thick of the hiitHo Uailo.v. Cuvtor and Johnson —and Clark when not roaming amongst the backs —being most prominent forwards. In the open they had nothing on the Newton pack men, who plaved inspiring!}'_ throughout. Middleton, St.* George, Francis and Fui'die were In the fray. Emanuel seemed a trifle stand-offish 'at times. Certainly lie has shown better form. Forteous was splendid behind the scrum and, with Lrancis. alwajs alert, the pair letting 'little pass them around the scrums. Brimblo played his finest game of the season, showing speed, judgment und tackling ability. lie went well with Tope. It was Ilills weakness in defence that sometimes let rvewton down. Occasionally he gained by Marist mishandling, but was inclined to delay in taking prompt measures to stop List, if' wingers. Harris and Bddleston, performed creditatiiv and went near to scoring. . both are reliable on defence. The positional pliiv of Marists was hflrd to beat and Newton did wonderfully well in the circumstances.

ELLERSLIE'S GREAT GAME,

Ttifi' Pousonby-Bllorslie matoll, played 011 No. li ground, was Quite an attractive same and was not the 0110-sided affair so raiiiiy know-alls so confidently predicted. The bovs from the racecourse suburb showed plenty of dash and patches of brilliance, and were, if anything, a hit unlucky not to win, Or at least make a draw Of it. It was a hard-fought tussle, the result being in doubt right up to the final moment, despite the fact that Ponsonby converted two tries before the Bllorslie lads got into their stride. With a less confident team the initial scoring of their opponents would have spelt demoralisit i 011 in the ranks, hut not so with KUerslie. The notching of ten points in the early .-daces placed them 011 their mettle, and they settled down to a hard fight, and if t.ne reputation and experience of the two teams are taken into account it might be said that the honours were with the losers. When the half-time whistle went I'oiinl>v had the good score of 17 against klleislie's 7 so that it was a great perforin•liiro fir the letter to get within three points of the winners in the end, the game concluding with the score board leading . Ponsonhy -0. Ellerslie 17. For I'onsonby, .\ngelo was always safe in the last line of defence. Thompson nlaved a splendid game, and so did I?riend, who scored two tries in quick succession. Others who played well in the back division wer" Rilev and Delgrosso, while of the forwards Slcelton took a leading part, Thompson and Hutt also being prominent. In the Bilerslle team, Webb played a spectacular and sound game for the backs. Hickey, 01 iff and Keesing were also fceiitoadyan- , oe,n The forwards did a lot of good work, Chapman, Mobbs aud Arthur being alvavs in the picture. The work of the Press representatives on \o 0 "round ftt (Jiirlaw Park would do ontTv if the authorities supplied the reporters with the! list of team 1 'bailees before the commencement of the matches A printed programme is issued, and it often happens that players are included at the last moment whose names and numbers do not appear in the printed .programme. •

SHORE GETS THERE.

With a trifle move luck Richmond might have emerged with their colours flying from their encounter with but. as it was, they went under to the tune of 14 noints to 30. At one stage of the piece trios by Mincham and Prentice and a conversionbv G.- Davis against a penalty goal save tbe'in an S points to 2 advantage. Even a really brilliant try by Smith, promoted to Shore's five-eighths line, left the qpusiders down at the interval. In the second spell mistakes by both sides were frequent, and the ability of Devonport to turn those of the opposition to account, coupled bv a nice score by Harding, another plaver elevated from the reserves, decided the issue. On ■■■ ,m the run of the play, there was not a great deal between the two tliirtcens, but the murines' backs were the more enterprising of the two sets. The performance of the side as a whole,'however, left one with the impression that they will have to brush up their team work if they hope to turn the tables on Marist and carry off the championship. One must ' concede that Shore's combination has suffered a temporary set back owing to the necessity for reorganisation of their backs through the defection of the O'Leary brother" Trevor and. Les. In Smith and j Hardin" they have two excellent "spares " of the versatile, dashiug type, but it was ■\ case of lifting them into their proper niche The result of the reshuffling was 1 tint d'Doimell was seen in the new role of scrum half, with Rhodes, who usually Hlls' that position, in the five-eightlis line, with Smith. Seagar (centre), Len Scott fwine) and Simons (full-back) were the onlv fixtures, while Harding filled the remaining position in the three-quarter line. On the last, named's showing, he is likely to hold down the iob. At no stage did he let his vis-a-vis. Fell, away, and was al--rr-jivq ready to give it a go. He was an improvement on Les O'Leary, who has not been fulfilling his earlier promise and was canvassing for a term on the side-Une. Smith fully justified his inclusion and gave the chain extra thrust, if anything. He was alwavs backing up, his positional play wis good", he made several glorious openings and scored a try from as smart a piece of"anticipation seen on the park this season What more could be expected of a mere voungster playing his first senior •'ame for ni3uy a long day? Seagar was sound throughout, and Rhodes and O'Donnell were solid, if not brilliant Len Scott

Had an off cay, and Minchaui ran rings round liim on several oc-casions. bimons has played bettor games and ba £> bustled on several occasions. Of the toi wards, Ruby was outstanding and recehed his 'best support from h. and ATnspfield. A. Soott b jxeneraismp *yi. noticeable and bis kicking turned tbe scales in was also subjected to a certain amount of chopping owing to an early injury by Marshall. A full-back, the latter was going well »hen fnri'pd to retire. Lawless was taken iroiu the forwards to fill a difficult Position, ami for a man unaccustomed to the work mi well Then G. Davis went into tlj e.scri and Prentice relieved him a f, Lawless would hare done better in tIK n-n»k- mid Prcnticft at. custodian. up 10 the time of the reshuffle, the Riqhmoiiders were more than holding their own among the backs. B. Davis was a grafter behind the pack, which got a goodsiuare of the ball. The weak link was fetelir, who gave Smith far too much bitvtuce and too slow in releasing the ball to bis sui ports. Mincham was in radiant mood. tie made the most of the oppor umties that came bis way and scored as the result 01 nice individualism. . The Richmond forwards were a tenacious lot. Their tasi following up and bustling tactics freq ently troubled the, defence. Alwaj s T pf for d picture were Lennie, K. -Tones and Telfo. Telford has yet to learn to keep on Muc and incidentally control his temper- Prentice and Lawless as forwards were an ener getic pair and between them cnginccrc-l their side's second try.

GRADE GAMES,

SENIOR RESERVE. Richmond iO, beat Devonport^O. l'oiisouby' 34, beat. Ellershe o. Marist '21, beat Newton 0. SECOND GRADE. Point Chevalier 8, beat City 0. Northcote 18, beat Papakura o. o Mt. Albert 20, beat Jit. Wellington — THIRD OPEN. Richmond 17, beat Papatoetoe 0. THIRD INTERMEDIATE GRADE. Marist 0, beat Richmond 4. Akarana 10, beat Glenora 0. Marist .0, beat Richmond 4. FOURTH GRADE. Point Chevalier IV, beat Devonport 4. Newmarket 10, beat Avondale 0. Akarana 9, beat Papatoetoe 7. \ FIFTH GRADE. Northcote 15, beat Pousonby 0. City 10, beat Newton 0. Glen Lynn 32, beat Mount Albert -. SIXTH GRADE. Point Chevalier 2, drew with City 2. Marist 2, drew with Richmond J. Newmarket 14, beat Akarana 2. SEVENTH GRADE. Newmarket 7, beat Point Chevalier o. Richmond A 17, beat Papatoetoe 0. City 6, beat Richmond B 0. Ellerslie 27, beat Glen Lynn 0. PRIMARY SCHOOLS. Papatoetoe 0, beat North Shore 0. Newmarket S. beat City 0. Newton 0, drew with Akarana 0. GAMES IN THE PROVINCE. WHANGAREI. Hikurangl 10. beat City 6. Towai beat Waro by default. Juniors. —Waro 23, beat City 3. HUNTLY. Auckland 25, beat Kia Ora (Huntly) 7. Taupiri 7, beat Huntly 5. Juniors.— Hmitly 11, beat Paupiri a. Colts.—Huntly 22, beat Taupiri 2. GAMES IN THE SOUTH, DUNEDIN. City 31, beat Pacific 12. (i Christian Brothers 21, beat Athletic uCHRISTCHURCH. Hornby B 8, beat Linwood 6. Addington 23, beat Riccarton 11. Hornby A 14, beat Sydenham 10. WELLINGTON. Chatham Cup.—Wellington final: Petoue 1, beat Hospital 1. CHRISTCHURCH. Western 4, beat Marist 0. Nomads 5, beat Rangers 1. • DUNEDIN. High School Old Boys 2. beat Seacliff 1. Mosgiel 2, beat Morning-ton 1. Maori-I-lill 4, beat Northern 1. Technical 2, beat Port Chalmers 0. WANGANUI. Manawatu 8, beat Wanganui 2.

p. W. L. D. F. A. l'ts. Devonport .... 9 8 1— If 8 74 10 Mnrist » 8 J ~7 c.i I- « Richmond .... 9 4 4 1 oo. •) Ponsonby » * <M 117,102 9 ( <ii t 8 2 5 1. Oo 100 o ■:::::: » i § 2 nn 4 Ellcrslie 8 — 7 1 . oJ lb~ 1