LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 150, 27 June 1932, Page 14

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP ISSUE. NORTH SHORE'S INCREASED LEAD. PONSONBY CONQUER MAEISTS. Playing with marked tenacity on defence, Ponsonby surprised a largo attendance at Carlaw Park on Saturday by running home winners in a high-scoring game with Marists, wlio.se rearguard speed and thrust was somewhat offset by smothering tactics and the balance of power held by the Western Suburbs pack. Ground conditions militated against general spectacular play, but the contest provided a plentmme of thrills and incident. City Rovers also reversed a first round decision by beating Richmond with a margin of two goal kicks whilst across the way on the Ao. 'J urea Devonport, the leaders in the competition, were extremely lucky to snatch victory from Newton by one point, the losers making the play fast and spectacular from bell to bell. With two scries of matches to be decided for the Auckland League championship, Devonport have a lead of four points, the fixtures pending being with 3larists on Saturday, and the rising City team the following week. The Marinesidere were all out to beat Newton by a point on Saturday, so there is no certainty about the ultimate premiership outcome. The position of the teams to date is shown in the following table: —

CITY TO THE FORE.

In the first half of the curtain-raiser. Richmond had all tho best of exchanges against City Hovers, and the interval scort 1 , o—o, was hardly a criterion of (ho advantage thai: came largely from fast and effective rearguard co-operation. The maroons thereafter conceded their mastery by adopting defensive methods rather than constructive attack, anil the Kovers jumped into their stride to make the points level. So the issue was never much In doubt, though us of yore, Richmond battled ■with their traditional •'never say die' , spirit and had the satisfaction of making their tally 10 to City's 1-t points. Watene had his kicking boots on and this made just the difference. He was steady as lullliiick and on several occasions, by vehement runs, gained territory before kicking. I'urdy, at first five-eighths, Davidson and l> Herring wore, however, the mainsprings of action. The ex-Wlgau player was alwavs in the picture, hut Herring was too slow" in letting the ball out to his supports. Ilickey and G. Perry, therefore had limited chances. Atkins was particularly n.c.-ssful in winning the ball m tliL second stanza and Peckham made the most It it. l'earce. .T. Herring and Hobbs were the best forwards. Clarke showing a want of handling ability at times, m contradistinction to Lawless, of Klchmond,-who unquestionably enhanced his rep.ita ; ma* ,i fast-raiding and heady , I' la - vor -. n iul T t .° (> r .' mid Stehr also worked with a will, ltev--1 Is was nippy at half and Turner spoilt good displaV at five-eighths by■several ,-i.etly mishandling errors. Harry Johns bore the brunt of the encounter on both ttaek and defence. He is one of the beet c.lts of the season —clever, elusive anil hardv and should he well in the running bbm&smp> championship, Richmond have done veil.

"PONIES" SHOCK MARISTS.

mmm B&ces failed to reveal that consistent nuofancy whieh so often has carried them t" victory Several times they seemed to lave the game within their keeping, only o lose the" grip through some inconseouential slip at a critical moment On thn?her hand Ponsonby unfolded unusual ilrivin" power bv the manner in which thev turned defence to attack with good supporting plav. Delgrosso shaded CanipbeUPin full-back tactics, and was certainly a tower of strength in the rear line. He nntributed in five goals eight of hisi team s 2U points, and it must be said that his performance generally was well up to international form. Friend, who played at Centre instead of Roy Bright, whi st overshadowed by his vis-a-vis, evidently acted according to instructions, tackling with more certainty than usual, and feeding the wingers judiciously, thereby maintaining attack. . Thompson again proved his capacity as a determined scoring man, his sound positional play and pace enabling him to score twice. Scherer was dashing on the other flank. A feature was the first live-eighths display of Mills, who collaborated well with half-back Orams, who was on in. lieu of Mclntyre. Elley scintillated in the outer berth. The alert Mills gave Dunn a lot of trouble by his varied methods, and Riley was ever ready to shoot off the mark when an opening was required or appeared. The pair also moved up promptly to meet attacks. The Ponsonby forwards stepped with cohesion, all playing creditably. If anything, Hutt, McLean, Fleming and Fagan were outstanding. Stevens hooked well, barring a tendency to go down too low before raking. Norman Campbell got through with credit a tremendously heavy day's duty as Marists' custodian, though honours went to Delgrosso. List was the star of the rear divisions, his vigorous straight running and clever moves paving the way for openings, exciting unstinted admiration. Brisbane, too, after being off the scene previously, was brillinnt in patches, an(J is evidently getting back into real trim. McDonald, the right tliree-<juarter. pleased for his general alacrity. When there is a gap he is a speedy customer to overhaul, as his two tries.indicated. In the thick of the fray always was Hassan, who, on occasion, changed place with Dunn at first fiveeighths, and showed much initiative. Brady was not at ease on the left wing. Hβ is a natural inside back. Clark was the best forward on the ground, putting every ounce into his work, and raiding resolutely in the open. Ho was well supported by Iveson and Johnson. Campbell won a fair shave of the bull in the scrums. Ponsonbv deserved their win, and yet Marists must be accounted a trifle unfortunate not to have emerged evens. Hassan's untimely retirement was a telling loss in the concluding desperate rally to pull the game out of the fire.

_. T1 » scoring was:—Ponsonby: Tries by Thompson (2), Mills, Riley, Fleming anil *?£*• kicked four goals. MaVists: oh b n v- d . ( , 2) V List - Clark a nd Hassan Clark kicked three goals.

ONE POINT MARGIN.

Playing in a whirlwind way Xewton made a clean break of twelve points against Ix>vonport, and at that stage it looked as lhnngh the red and whites had Ihe match safely in their keeping. But Devonport played in a tenacious way; they slowly bridged the gap and in the end they won by a single point. Yet the honours of the match went to Newton. They opened with vim, speed and dash, they sustained it, and it was only in the closing stages when a heavier Devonport vanguard made its weight felt, that the advantage slipped from the metropolitan team and went to the seaside™. Once more the Newton leaven of youth made itself felt. Brimble showed headwork and resource to make countless openings in attack, and Pope teamed in well beside him, while on Hip Wing Crooks nJiowcd bursts of real brilliance. At fallback Dempsi'y scarcely put. a foot wrong nil day, and gave an outstanding exhibition. Kirknp» _Al>n ana Middleton stood out In the Newton van. The beet of the Devonport forwards was Tj«atl»«ifcairo'W, a born opportunist on the a*y» ao<l -the two trtes that cumo liig way

meant all the difference between a win and a loss for his side. Ruby -was as übiquitous as ever in the loose play, while Sowter and Hunt gave great service. The Devonport backs were more solid than sfleotacular. Olliff got the ball away well from either the set scrums or the breaking rucks, Smith and O'Donnell paired well in the intermediate line, while in, the centre Seagar alternated attack and defence cleverly. Laing at full-back played his usual sound game.

GRADE GAMES

SENIOR B GRADE. Devonport 27, beat Newton 15. I'onsonby 2. beat Mnrist 0. Richmond 13, beat City 0. SECOND GRADE. Papakura 23, beat Ellerslie 10. Pt. Chevalier 12, beat Ponsouby 0. Mangere 11, beat Devonport S. THIRD GRADE OPEN. Mount Albert 5, beat Glenora 3. Mnrist 10, beat Ponsonby 0. Akarnna 11, beat Papakura 4. THIRD GRADE INTERMEDIATE. Richmond 0. beat Devonport 0. Northcote 45, beat Mount Albert 0. FOURTH GRADE. Papakura 0, beat Richmond 8. Akarana 10, beat Otahulin 0. l't. Chevalier 21, beat I'onsonby 0. GRADE. Akarana 8, drew with Marist A 8. City 8, beat Newton !>. Northcote 14, beat Richmond 0. Devonport 5, beat Pt. Chevalier 2. Marist B 40, beat Papatoetoe 0. SIXTH GRADE. Pt. Chevalier 10, beat City 5. Richmond A 19, beat Richmond B 0. SEVENTH G.RADE. Richmond A beat Ellerslie by default. Richmond B 3, drew with Devonport 3. PRIMARY SCIIOOLS. Xorthcote 0. beat City C. GAMES IN THE PROVINCE. WHANGARKI. Junior reps. 0. beat City seniors 0. Towai defaulted to Takahiwai. HUNTLY. Junior Grade. —Waiterimu 11, beat Huntly 2. Colts. —Huntly 25, beat Kai Orn 3. TAUPIRI. Ngaruawahia 10, beat Taupiri 14. GAMES IN THE SOUTH. DUXEDIX. City 3, beat Christian Brothers 2. These teams" have been at loggerheads, but to-day's meeting provided a good, clean game. Athletic D, beat Pacific 3. CHKISTCHURCH. Hornby 20, beat Addington 7. Sydenham 22, beat Riccarton 7. ENGLISH LEAGUERS. XORTH QUEENSLAND MATCH. BRISBANE, June 26. The English Rugby League footballers yesterday at Townsyille defeated North Queensland by 20 points to 2.

Pts. Cli. P. W. L. D. F. A. Pts. Pevonport ... S 0 — 2 110 SO 14 Murist 8 4 2 2 114 92 10 j'nnsonby .... S 5 3 — 121 llii 10 JCi'WtOD S 2 4 2 !)3 83 1! Kicbmond 8 2 (! — 93 109 4 City 8 1 f« 2 S3 133 4