LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 175, 27 July 1931, Page 11

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

PONIES DOWN CITY.

WINS FOR RICHMOND AND SHORE

MARISrS SUCCESS OX TOUR

Despite the heavy going on Saturday, Rugby League teams gave quite creditable exhibitions of the code. At C'arlaw Park, City made a brave showing against their old rivals, Ponsouby, but faded out of the . picture in the last quarter, and were ' beaten by 18 points to 7. The teams chased the ball with vim and vigour throughout the day, and puuetuated their play with quite attractive passing bouts. On No. 2 ground, Richmond held slightly too many guns for Newton, and. after a hard tussle, won by 8 points to nil. Over at Devonport, the home thirteen had to extend themselves to beat Ellerslie by 12 j points to 6. Jlarist made the most of the bye by travelling to Wellington, where they met and defeated the local representatives by 40 points to 9. The positions of teams in the senior | championship to date are as follows:— j rts. Ch. P W. L. D. F. A. Pts. Marist 10 9 1 — 171 «< J 18 Devonport ..10 9 1 — 160 §0 18 Richmond ..11 6 4 1 129 88 13 Ponsonby -.10 6 3 1 147 116 13 Citv ... 10 2 7 1 112 14J o Newton .... 11 1 8 2 GO 185 4 Ellerslie .... 10 — 9 1 68 JOb 1 PONIES STAY THE DISTANCE. Fine kicking br Delgrosso, and the Inability oi City to stay the distance were features of the second meeting of tiie oldest league rival,, Pon.onby and City. Well into the second spell the latter held the advantage both territoriallyuud ou points, and it looked as though thej would carry the day. In the last uttec.. minutes however, their stock dumped badly, and Ponies rattled on eleven points In quick timo to win bv 18 points to i. While tne conditions wofe such that they favoured individual effort rather than concerted work, the teams made valiant eftorts to open up the play, and they did throw the ball about quite attractively at times, .Witn thn ball as slippery as a greasy pig, it was only natural that mistakes in handling were made, but several of the tries secured came through the ball travelling through half a dozen hands. Judged on the wetweatlicr standard, the game was good to watch, and the crowd —a really good one considering the threatening weather—was not disappointed with the football served up to them. A good deal of the play was among the forwards, who chased the ball tirelessly from boll to bell. The Ponsonby sextet held the advantage, however, and their bustling tactics

in the end scaled the issue. They were a pack of hard grafters, but those who shone were Fagan, Hutt, lioodwin and McLeay. One of the outstanding figures on the field was Iveson, the light City scrunimager. He was persistently on the ball, made some really lino openings, and was always on hand when required. He revelled in the mud, and his best supports were Pascoe, Fierce and Hamilton. Another

player who impressed, primarily for his ganieness in going down to forward rushes, was Alderton, City a midget half. Davidson in the five-eighths line was patchy, but defended soundly, and made several nice openings. Both the wingers. Laurie Barchard and Ihomas. a

promoted reserve grader, did well. The former .scored a beautiful try, and the latter showed plenty of determination on the move. Steve Watene was uncertain at full-back, but was one of the hardest worked men on the Held. A good many of his mistakes could he traced to the conditions, but he was too inclined to wait for the bounce, and then trust to dashing in and taking the ball from the feet of the charging Ponie forwards. On one occasion in particular, he made a bad break, overrunning the ball and leaving the door wide open. Fortunately for him others experienced difficulty with the elusive leather, and City literally scrambled nut of a tight corner. Angelj?. the Ponsonhy custodian, did a good day's work taken on the whole, although Barchard walked rings round him in scoring his try. Pat Kkelton had an off-day at centre, and again demonstrated that he is not a wet-day player. Neither Thompson nor Delgrosso rose to great heights in the five-eighths positions, although the latter compensated for his indifferent display, caused to some extent by erratic passes from White at half, by his splendid kicking. He landed several goals from out near touch, and deserved the generous plaudits of the crowd. The wingers, Sehofield and Friend, did not receive a great measure of the hall, but made the most of their opportunities. Frien-d had plenty of tackling to do on his flank, and let little past him. He also finished off a passing bout in fine style.

RICHMOND IMPROVE. Considering the awful state of the going, the second meeting of Richmond and Newton provided quite fair play, and again a narrow win for the Hovers by 8 points to nil. It •was just that little extra bit of pace and combination in the backs that told against the Newton battlers, who have moulded into a thirteen much to be respected. Thompson, a new man in the Richmond rear guard, shaped well, and Min chain and Dunn wen; always to the fore. Stehr was fairly enterprising at h've-eighths, and Prentice, Lawless, and Jones were good forwards. Dempsey got through a heavy day with credit for Newton, and the three-quarters were safe on defence, Harris, if anything, showing out in general play. Brimlile. Pope, and Porteous did a power of hard work as inside backs, St. George, Kirkup, and Enianuel being good of the pack. With continued training, Newton will nave something to say when the Roope Rooster starts to flutter.

DEVONPORT COMFORTABLY. With patches of the ground a veritable quagmire, it was hardly to be expected that play would be at all spectacular, and the Devonport-Ellerslie match was no exception. The game was really a forward tussle, in which the heavier pack of the seasiders were seen to most advantage. Both teams had innumerable opportunities of augmenting their totals, but faulty handling invariably nullified the opening. Devonport held a territorial advantage, from the start, and on a fine day would most likely have inflicted a much heavier defeat. The backs were triers all the time, but the greasy ball was against handling and passing with accuracy. On the other hand Ellerslie did not appear to have collaboration among their backs, this probably being due to the fact the men are having their positions continually changed from week to week. The forwards were the mainstay all through, and wonderful tackling on their part was a bisr factor in keeping the blacks at bay. The final score of 12 to 6 was not exactly a proper criterion on the run of the game, Shore being on the ascendant for the major portion of the play. Shore were the first to assume the offensive, and it was not long before they opened the scoring. Miss-handling by Freebairn let S.eagar away, and drawing the defence, he transferred to Smith, who neatly side-stepped the full back to score wide out. Ellerslie made valiant efforts to keep them out. but bright passing by the black backs was finalised by L. Scott scoring. Play was of a very desultory nature, and cohesive movements were few and far between. Right on half time Devonpnrt added another try when O'Donnell boat Chapman in a dive for the ball over Ellerslie's line. A great deal of kicking marked the resumption, with an occasional passing rush waking up the spectators' interest. Tlifkey. who had been giving a fine exhihibition, with a fine individual effort finally onrned the Ellerslie team's tally. After this success Ellerslie infused more dash into their play and for a time more than held their own. Continual pressur" by the tri-colocrs resulted in Hi \ey aga: i adding a try as the culmination of fast following up. There was no further sroring to the bell, the final scores being 12 to 6, with victory to Devonport. For the winners Simons gave his usual solid display, fielding and kicking in great style. Harding was perhaps the best of the Shore rearguard, his anticipation and opportunism being a treat to watch. He has an abundance of pace, and with experience may develop info a representative wing three-quarter. Smith made some really brilliant openings for his supports, combining very well with Seacar. He revealed a very pretty side-step in scoring

Shores opening try. O'Donnell worked hard all through, while of a hard-working pack Ruby. Casey and Simpson were always in the picture. Boswell was not a success as custodian for Ellerslie. his bad habit of waiting for the bounce frequently bringing trouble to his side. Keesing was the better of the two wingers, his try beinu the result of hue determination. Iliekey was the host back of the team, his brilliant individualism resulting in his scoring all Ellerslie's points. He did not receive much support from the inside backs, consequently having to make his own openings. Olliff toiled valiantly behind a losing vanguard. Ilobbs was the best forward on the ground, and it is hard to understand the attitude of the selectors in not jrivin:: him a trial with the repp. Il<> was ably assisted by Onldcr and Chapman. MARIST IN WELLINGTON. WIN WITH 21-POIXT MARGIN. (By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.') WELLINGTON, Saturday. The torch of Rugby League burned brightly to-day at Wellington, when Auckland Marists delighted a record attendance at the show stadium with a dazzling exhibition of the code, to beat the local combined clubs, composed mostly of Newtown players, by 40 —10. After a morning of misty rain, which cleared up, the playing area conditions were atrocious, and far worse than any experienced by Marists in Auckland. The locals held on well in the iirst spell, but their defence was eventually cut to pieces by the pace and passing combination of the visitors, whose clever play created marked enthusiasm. Wellington's best centre was replaced by Awatere, Alarists beinj,as announced. Within four minutes, from a. scrum, Hassan set his backs away, and List handed on to Median, who 'scored easily amid cheers. The kick failed. The blacks retaliated with vim, and Davies (ex-Ellerslie) missed with a penalty. Marists continued with changing moves, one being well stopped by Davies, Robins and Petheriek backing him up in an invasion. Kelly missed with Wellington's second penalty shot. Meehan and Bachelor in turn were prominent in bright runs, and List was in line for the pass, and in a straight 20 yards dash veered in to score under the poets. Kelly bustled Hassan, and Davies followed through from midway to near the line. Here Kelly gathered and Brace, Davies and Ward handled to score wide out. Davies missed with the shot — Marists 6, Wellington 3. The greens again sparkled, and the ball went rapidly through the chain for Bachelor to score as he liked. Then Railey opened a diagonal movement, and Johnson sent Meehan in wide out with a lons pass. Bachelor and Railey failed with goals, and at half-time the score was 12—3 in Marists' favour. Petheriek defended well in the second half, and Joyce was most active of the forwards, hut Marists again got into their stride, and the defence was shattered by rapid movements from all directions. Young and Meehan (3 each), Johnson and Railey scored, and the latter two players converted one each. Dutch (2), Dariesiand Robins scored for Wellington, and the final tally was Marists 40 Wellington 19

BRILLIANT PLAY. ATTRACTIVE EFFORT IN THE MUD. Auckland Marists, who returned to the city this morning, gave a delightful display of the code in their match against combined Wellington clubs on Saturday. The Winter Show Stadium area, known as the League Stadium, presented a morass surface which had been churned up by a schoolboy curtain-raiser in which Linwood (Christchurch) beat Wellington by 2 points to nil. Good play was expected of Marists but, of course, allowance was made for conditions which, however, did not trouble the Aucklanders in the least. Once settled down the team went like clockwork and in the second spell the defence was riddled as the green backs and forwards rose to great heights in scintillating open play which won the greatest admiration of a record crowd for the ground, though, in reality, not a large attendance as Auckland would regard it.

From Campbell at full-back, through the side to his namesake as hooker, there was given an exhibition by Marists, marred only at times by an offside tendency on the part of the man racing in support waiting for the pass. That fault, however, was properly penalised: otherwise, the game was replete with scientific skill on the part of the winners, who left a most favourable impression upon those who saw the game played iu mud and slush.

Every player of the Marists team showed good form aarf ability. Campbell was in his element in the last line, clearing the ball with judgment, handling cleanly and often swinging the rearguard into position. The Old Boys' three-quarters were seen in sparkling vein, Meehan working adroitly with the resourceful pivot List, and Bachelor was equally vigilant on the other flank. P. Young, in Brady's place, made a name for himself in association with Brisbane. Taking his passes at top speed, Young unwound some good cut-ins and swerves, before sending on to his centre. Hassan was getting a feast of the ball and there was no delay in effecting its transit. He and Brisbane also defended ably, Riley. Carter and Johnson were gootl in an even van.

Petherick, the Wellington full-back, played well defensively against big odds. His task was made particularly heavy bv the palpable failure of the centre threequarter, Awatere, who replaced Merson in the team chosen. The latter is considered to be the leading back in 'Wellington League and it was most unfortunate that an injury received in the trials prevented his appearance. The weakness of Awatere also penalised wingers Robins and Holmes. Kelly, the local captain, first played at half, eventually changing places with one of the five-eighths,' Harris and Brar-e, whose positional play and poor tackling allowed Marists to so successfully get under way. Davies, ex-Ellerslie, came out of the pack in the second spell and certainly strengthened the defence, which then showed, for brief spaces, hopeful gleams of team-work, and the forwards figured in good rucking which produced results. Ward, the breakaway, was outstanding, and he received support particularly from Dutch, Joyce and Russell. Wellington were far from disgraced by their performance. The team and supporters were accorded a hearty private reception in the morning by the Mayor of Wellington, Mr. T. C. A*. Hislop, in the Mayoral room. At the request of the visitors the evening entertainment proposed by the Wellington Rugby League was concelled. GATE-TAKINGS AT DEVONPORT. The Ellerslie-Devonport match, held at Devonport on Saturday, attracted a largp crowd of spectators. A sum of £12 5/ was collected to assist the Devonport Welfare League's funds. GRADE RESULTS. SENIOR RESERVE Ponsonby 1-3, beat City 3. Richmond 10. beat Newton 0. GAMES IN THE PROVINCE. HUNTLY. Huntly Colts S, beat Ngaruawahia B 3. GAMES IN THE SOUTH. CHRISTCHURCH. Hornby A 26, beat Riecarton 10. Addington 15. beat Linwood 11. Hornby B 2, beat Sydenham 0. DUNEDIN. Christian Brothers 8. beat City o. Pacific 24, beat Athletic 0.