LEAGUE CLUB GAMES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 169, 20 July 1931, Page 12

LEAGUE CLUB GAMES.

MARIST DOWN CITY. ELLERSLIE OVERWHELMED. WINS FOR RICHMOND AND PONIES. A troublesome wind did not put Leaguers off their game on Saturday afternoon, when club competitions were carried a stage nearer to finality. The principal attraction at Carlaw Park was the second meeting of Marist and City, and, after a hard tussle, the former emerged on top to the tune of 18 points to 10. Across on No. 2 ground, Ellerslie, who put up such a sterling light against Pousonby the previous week, made a lamentably poor showing against Richmond, and were walloped by. 32 points to 3. Over on Stafford Reserve, Northcote, a large crowd saw Ponsonby and Newton engaged in an interesting clash, the attraction being staged to raise funds for the local ExServicemen's Association. Although the ground ■was on the heavy side, the teams gave a good exhibition of the code, Ponsonby being a trifle lucky to win by 12 points to 7 after a pointless second spell. The following table shows the present positions of the teams in the senior championship:—

MARIST UNCHECKED.

The only team to check Mai'ists' run of successes in the first round, City made a game fight of their second meeting with the championship leaders. But for the brilliant individualism of Meehan, the greens' flying winger, and a weakness in their last line of defence, City would have again emerged triumphant. As it was, a win in the first round by 16 points to 2 was reversed to aereat by IS points to 10. The game was fought in excellent spirit, and, although it did not reach any great heights of brilliancy, it was not without its spectacular incidents. City opened the scoring after both sides had come close to scoring, but at the interval Marist held the slender advantage by S points to 7. In the initial stages of the second spell the greens did practically all the attacking, and only resolute tackling, and incidentally nnstaKes In. handling, kept them at bay. Then Meehan flashed into the picture, brilliantly intercepted,

kicked over the head of. Reynolds, City's full-back, and went on to gather and dive for a well-merited try. This reverse etung City into fresh activity, from which came a try, and the issue was not properly sealed until the Inst minute of the game, when Marist registered a converted try. Marist were given less latitude on attack than they have had for many a long day,

Davidson

and were not as Kfwas of tbe brilliant inor-play that usually characterises their work. This was attributable'to .the fact that they were given less of the ball tnnn they to receiving;. owing to the hooking of I'ascoe. City s ledountabie front row man, and also to the absence of Brady, their penetrative and brilliant live-eighths. »»?/«"»*£,: ing with an injury, but will be } for his club's excursion to Wellington. Then again, fast raiding by the Citj for wirrß with Fierce, Clark, Hamilton iinu ?v«on always if the van nullified thor efforts to open up from the loose. Hassan worked valiantly behind the scrum to open up the play, and, generally speaking, gave a P good display. .Ho ™**».ui*V*tticularly fine run on the blind side earlj in the piece Brisbane, at first five-eighths, was too closely marked to get.up to any of his tricks. Hβ was always in position, however doing his bit, and covering up any loopholes in the defence. Pat Tounß filled the vacancy caused by Brady, an 1, while he was not as enterprising as the attor, made few mistakes List at centre was in good form, and took a power of stopping once in his. stride. He gave bis wingers plenty of room to work in, ana sent Meehan over for a try with a welltimed pass. Lists handling has improved creatly since throwing in his lot with the ireens, and he should go close to rep. honours this season. Bachelor was a hard worker on the wing, and time and again •walked rings round Steve Watene. lhe outstanding figure on the field was Meeton on the opposite Hank. The ex-Newmarkct player again gave glimpses of the «»atehwinning genius that he has revealed in his earlier matches, and scored half of hit. side's points. Two of his tries were typical of him, nud resulted from quick thinking and fast following up. Both In the lirst and second spells he intercepted bri'lliantly, kicked over the City full-back s head, and won in the race for possession. Properly nursed and given a cool head, ho should go far in the game, although yet a bit young for rep. honours. >. eampbeu tilled the role of full-back artfully, and was not greatly troubled. Of the forwards Clarke showed up for good work in the loose, but was inclined to do too much among the backs, while Kailey, Webberley and Campbell were always going great guns It was no fault of the City forwards that their side did not emerge triumphant. Weaknesses in the backs lot the team down. Reynolds did not prove a success at full-back, a position to which he is unaccustomed, while Steve Watene was as equally not at home on the wing. A change-over between the pair came too late in the piece to be of much benefit. Little was seen of Laurie Barchard. The ball rarely reached him on the wing, and his positional play was at fault at times. Vlderton was a solid worker behind the pack, while McLaughlln and Savage played well on defence. The pick of the City backs was Ben Davidson, who set an examplo to his supports by low tackling, and made several smart openings. His hard and straight running sent Watene in for a beautifully manoeuvred try.

WON WITH THE WIND.

The high wind which' swept the Stafford Reserve Ground, Northcotc, from end to end in the first half of the game between Ponsonby and Newto*n, made for anything hut good football. However, using that advantage, Ponsonby made their black play quite attractive, although there always was the temptation to chance the value of possession <by leaving the hall to the elements. Newton had a torrid time on the defensive and boys who scouted behind the goal posts, beyond the sea wall, were kept busy.

The blues were unlucky not to land a Ce'w more points, while credit must be c;iven to Newton for i stubborn resistance under adverse circumstauces, though several of their playerslid not perform as in \irlier contests. A change in the complexion of the game incurred just before the interval, when the red and whites, ifter opening their account with a penalty goal in reply to Ponsonby's 12 total, registered _ one of the

finest tactical movements seen in Auckland this season. Porteous came straight from the scrum, and, instead of handing out to Francis, on the blind side, gave it inflela to Middletou, who was moving at top. Brimble flashed into line for the next pass, and, changing direction to the right. Pope accepted in a diagonal run lo yards in front ofe the posts. Riley and Culpan threatened, and Hill was next to handle. Pope came round him to receive again and Hill repeated the process and swung round full-back Angelo at the corner to place the ball behind the posts. It was the champagne of the march and delighted the onlookers. Being converted, the try left Newton to start the second half with a five-point deficit. A shower of rain had made the ground greasy and the high wind having dropped, the reds were robbed of a ear ?.v?»r§»us le x » the blues were dangerous on several occasions Angelo played in splendid style as custodian for F nsonby, taking the ball cleanly, moving adroitly and fielding accuratelv Schotield showed pace ana penetrating ability, but threw away chances by kicking too much. On the other flank, Culpan was better on defence. Biley, in ■bis first game of the season, did not sparkle, bo* in tfe« flrsfc fealf talked np

cleverly in the rearguard chain, a feature of which was smart work by Chas. Thonip-, son, at second five-eighths. Delgrosso i played well in the early stages, and. but, for good tackling would have scored in the second spell, when he did not give his supports many passes. His goal kicking was an important factor, and it was due to his generalship that Newton wem unable finally to gain the verdict white showed versatility behind the pack, whica played very evenly, McLeay being outstanding. Stevens hooked consistently, though there was not much between mm and St. George. Middletou, who injured his knee before the end, Emmanuel and Francis were a good trio in the red van. Of the Newton hacks, Deuipsey, at full, and Hill, at centre, at times showed weakness on defence, and the wingers, Harris and Eddleston, did not reveal their usual enterprise. Richmond beat Newton 6—3 in the first round. The maroons will have their work cut out to repeat the success this week-end. Ponsonby will have to use all their resources to repeat their 24—12 success over City.

RICHMOND'S WIN. The match played on No. 2 ground between Richmond and Ellerslie disappointed Ellerslie spectators, who had been considerably elated owing to their team's good display the previous week. Others, too, thought Ellerslie had a good chance or winning, but they were outclassed in all departments, and the score was more like one recorded on the cricket field so far as Richmond were concerned, the game ending in their favour by the wide margin of 32 to 3. It was very ragged football, and even the winners failed to show that combination in the back division one looks for when the season is so far advanced. The ground was certainly in a sticky condition, this no doubt being due to the training operations carried out through the week. It rained occasionally during the game, and this did not tend to improve matters. From the word go Richmond forced the pace, and the Ellerslie players were unable to keep abreast of their more agile opponents. Mincham played a good solid game again, and he was ably assisted by Webb and Pell. In fact all the backs did excellent work at times, while Prentice in the forward division was a tower of strength, scoring three tries in succession. Lawless was always prominent, and so was W. Jones. Nobody stood out prominently for the racecourse suburb. The back division did not show the vim expected, but there were patches of good individual play which were always spoilt by lack of pace and combination.

GRADE GAMES. SENIOR RESERVE. Richmond 10, beat Ellerslie 2. Ponsonby 6, beat Newton 0. SECOND GRADE. Northcotc 3, drew with Pt. Chevalier 3. Mt. Albert 24. beat Papakura 5. City 5, beat Huntly 3. THIRD INTERMEDIATE GRADE. Richmond 8, beat Akarana 0. Pousonby 6, beat Mount Albert 3. FOURTH GRADE. Northcote 3, drew with Newmarket 3. Akarana 5, beat Pt. Chevalier 3. Richmond 3, beat Marist 3. FIFTH GRADE. Newton 5, beat Ppnsonby 2. Marist 20, beat Richmond 0. Devonport 8, beat Glen Lynn 3. SIXTH GRADE. Newton 3, beat Akarana 2. Newmarket 24, beat Devonport 0. SEVENTH GRADE. Glen Lynn 11, beat Papatoetoe r>. Bllerslie 78, beat Richmond H 0. City 13, beat Newmarket 2. PRIMARY SCHOOLS. Richmond 14, beat City 5. GAMES IN THE PROVINCE. TAUPIRI. Taupiri 28, beat Hamilton 3. Ngaruawahia Colts 28, beat Taupiri 0. HUNTLY. Devonport 19, beat Ngaruawahiav.6. " Colts' Grade.—Huntly 6, beat Ngaruawahia 3. WHANGAREI. Senior Representative Trial.—Probablos 23, beat Possibles 14. Mr. McClymont, the North Island selector, viewed the match. Juniors.—Whakapara 8, beat Waro 0; Kanio 19, beat City 2. GAMES IN THE SOUTH. CHRISTCHURCH. Hornby B 14, beat Aldington 3. Hornby A 11, beat Linwood 8.

P. W. L. D. F. A. Pts. Marist 10 9 1 — 171 80 18 Devonport .981 — 14S 74 16 Richmond .. 10 5 4 1 121 88 11 Ponsonby .. 9 5 3 1 120 109 11 City U 2 (j 1 105 124 5 Newton ... 10 1 7 li 00 127 4 Ellerslie .. 9 — SI t>2 104 1