LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 134, 8 June 1936, Page 15

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

the matches reviewed.

SHORE STILI, IN UEAD. I DRAW WITH RICHMOND. The Auckland Rugby League's competi-' tions were advanced a further stage on Saturday when the matches "were played under perfect conditions, although the grounds were a trifle on the hard side. At headquarters principal interest centred in the meeting of the championship leaders Devonport and last season's champions Richmond, and after a strenuous tussle the seasiders retained their position at the head of the championship table. In the curtain-raiser Ponsonby defeated Newton by a decisive margin, while on No. 2 ground Manukau played a carefree game to"romp over Marist. Out at Papakura City sprung a surprise by winning narrowly from Mount Albert, to notch their first points of the season. Results:— Richmond 13, drew with Devonport 13. Ponsonby 22, beat Newton 10. Manukau 30, beat Marist I'B. City 21, beat Mount Albert 18. Positions of teams:— Points. Cli. P. \V. L. D. F. A. Pts. Devonport ... (> 4 1 1 104 07 It I'onsonby .... (! 4 2 — 110 05 8 Richmond ... 0 3 2 1 "JO 77 7 Marist 6 3 3 — 79 104 0 Mount Albert 6 3 3 — 85 88 0 Manukau 6 3 3 — 107 111 0 Newton 6 - 4 — 72 79 4 City 6 1 s— : 84 116 2 LEVEL PEGGING. * Devonport can consider themselves lucky to have emerged on equal terms with Richmond after the teams' clash in the main game of the day at Carlaw Park, for one of their tries was scored off an obvious forward pass which escaped the notice of the referee. The seasiders led at the interval by 8 points to 5, after territorially having the better of the exchanges, but as a result of getting a greater share of the ball from the scrums following the change over Richmond teamed better, drew level and forged to the front. They could not maintain their lead, however, and when the teams filed off tile lield 11 all appeared on the telegraph. The game was played at a fast clip, with the forwards of both sides working with a will and the backs opening up at every available opportunity. Some of the handling was pretty to watch, in-passing and scissor passing being indulged in with spectacular effect. A disappointing feature was the weak high tackling by both sides on occasions, with the result that some of the backs were allowed far too much latitude on the move. The tackling improved as the game progressed, but with few exceptions it was not up to senior standard. The particular shining light so far as low tackling was concerned was E. Scott, the Devonport captain. When he went for his man he usually got him low with a flying tackle. Scott was an inspiration to his side and, indeed, is a jnodel for a big percentage of the players.

A trio of Richmond backs -who played useful and heady games were W. Tittleton, Bickerton and Minchajn. They were always looking for the opening and frequently found it. Tittleton was sound in all departments and when lie cut through he was always working for position and studying his supports. Mincham, playing further from the scrum than usual, was seen in his best form and his nippiness time and again had the defence perplexed. Powell, behind the pack, got the ball away well and showed keen appreciation of positional play on defence. He perhaps overdid his attempts fo dart through the struggling packs and his side on several occasions would have been better served had lie whipped the ball away to his backs instead of indulging in these tactics. G. Tittleton played a useful game at full-back, but on the day was no better than Kerr, the Devonport custodian. Cowan gave a good account of himself as scrum half for the seasiders and opened up the play at every available opportunity. Rhodes was showing np for bustling tactics in the five-eighths when he was forced, to retire injured, while Seagar, at pivotal centre, got through a wealth of work in keeping an eye on Mincham and W. Tittleton. L. Scott and Hall were a pair of fleet wingers, who gave all thev possessed when opportunity came their way. Scott's speed got his side out of a great deal of trouble and on several occasions the winger prevented triesby overhauling opponents from b ® hl " d -. Th ,?,P^ port forwards were a fast, bustling lot who won a good share of the ball for their backs. E. Scott was usually to be fonnd where there was work to be done, while his best support came from Hunt, Simpson, Millicich and Sowter. Trtley was again one of the outstanding Richmond forwards, being constantly in the Picture for fast breaking , away and giving aid to his backs. H. Hadley, Telford and Broadhead also played well. HEMI'S MEN. . . I It was a field day for the. tribes of Ngatimaru. Ngatihika and Mamapoto, and Herai's men played with a joyous abandon to register a runaway victory „ Marist. The greens started well with a quick break of eight points and at flailway had a six points lead. After tliat Manukau cut loose and with careful Play and splendid combination practically uia as they liked. Quickly has become a power and the greatest attraction in the League fold, with a .team that is learning rapidly the intricacies of a new game. On a flood tide of success, Mannkau rose to great heights in the second half and their brilliant handling and rapid backing up and thrust from all sorts of angles would have carried them through to victory against any Auckland League team. Nor did Manukau face the game with a feeling of elation. Their wing threequarters, Davis and Mason, were not available, they had a new half-back in behind the pack, and there was some doubt whether Pickrang, one of their best forwards, would turn out, although the latter did when an emergency was ready to take the field. ' ,

As events turned out the new men all gave good service. The Manukau backs got a fair share of the ball, and when they got properly going their exhibition was one of the best conceptions of League attacking play, as demonstrated in other years in Auckland by teams from Australia. Trevathan's brilliant play at live-eighth and his sharply penetrative running gave the Manukau attack the real thrust that is rarely seen, and the Southerner's display was in keeping with his big reputation l n Dunedin, while in the centre Uroughton juggled with the ball and did some amazing things. Waliima gave a , ver y sharp and accurate service from the "aae of the scrum. Hemi was as colourful as ever at full-back and landed five goals, uault was the outstanding Manukau forward and played exceptionally well. For Marist, Glover played a great game at full-back, with consistently good positional play, while Chalmers, Haslam and Aro played to form. Anderson was the best of the Marist forwards, but Marist solidity availed little when the Maori backs cut loose and literally swamped the opposition. PONSONBY'S GOOD FORM. Newton Rangers had very much an off day when they succumbed to Ponsonby United by 22—10 in the curtain-raiser to the big match. Newton had plenty of the ball from Quirke's front row, bat the backs, outside E. Bfimble, who gave his best display of the season, simply could not get going properly. Sissons, in spite of occasional glimpses of ability, was all "butter fingers." Bright while at centre Was not served to the best advantage, and Brady on the wing was most erratic— ■'no indecisive and slow oil the mark, apart •row faulty handling. He made some

amends late in the game, but it was too late. Deiupsey at lull-back was handicapped by the continual collapse of proH,o & OV6S " Hutt Wall and Nathan were I,p?,i tfi. forWar(l ; s ' w ,ile f< V Ponsonby, who ''' °T n 111 the tj S*t rucking, Jlorpro.ninentherbarrow and J - Stockley were The Ponsonby rearguard teamed with superior uniformity and the speed and thrust of W. Stockley and Kay was conout to th<w| f ,° S i tC<J ' tl ßight from Halloran I flanks, where Jones and Payne a4rn^J eSOI,rC ? 1 ' the team moved with attractive understanding. Payne nlaved a to W be S hi m 2Uf laS £ season > but seems now to be m better torm, and two of his three tfon \ml Sa , ?? a V? ~ U . int °* keen anticipa- . determined running at the psjetiological moment, for it is true that welter nf COUnts neatly' in tiie °* fast play. Ponsonby's passing nly v™ 8 i orthodox when they moved sharply without standing too deeply I? i™?"? tlol \-, wlieil a scrum went down ton 118 . th 0»?" after Interval Newit i!, y oi " s t0 mnke nn even duel of win, .-n rearrangement of tiie backs, with Dempsey at centre, Bright on win™ and Young at full-back, did not pan out e J.' a ; ul when Ponsonby applied the preswere beaten. Nevertheless, ShJSJ,'attractive and a feature was Bright s try just before curtain. With only half a yard in which to work he M pped through after a brilliant 20-vard Vcwton'/ U fl»i , i' t J', e kick ' slMO n« "'iide double. The game. indicated that Ponsonby will be strong contenders with Devonport at the week-end. MAJOR GAME AT PAPAKURA. Mn„nr ii Tih I> ? s,,e mntcll between City and Mount Albert was played at Papakura before a good crowd. It was not all that could be expected of two senior teams It was a tame game to watch, lacking lifo Perhaps the rough ground might be partiallya reason. Another feature was the ™~ tackling. City won their first game of this season by 24 to IS. Mount Albert lost two of their plnyers early in the match both cases'being practically ones of late tackling. Pawson went first and was soon followed by Halliwell, who was seriously injured and was attended by Dr. G W Lock. The City score was made up of six tries. Brown (3), Rata, Tawalii and Porteous. while Wiberg. accounted for the other six points with goals. For Mount Albert Morrisey (2), Bickerton and Gunning scored with Morrisey adding the other points. Mr. M. Wetherill was referee.

AUCKLAND REPS. TEAMS FOR KING'S BIRTHDAY. The Auckland selector, Mr. H. Avery, has announced the teams which will play at Carlaw Bark on June 23 as follows : Against Maori Reps.— Full-hack : C. Dempsoy. Three-quarters: 15. Mineliam (Richmond), W. Tittlcton (Richmond), R. Bright (Newton). Five-eighths: B. Riley (Ponsonby), A. Ka.v (Ponsonby). Half-back: R. Powell (Richmond). Forwards: Hutt (Newton), R. Flannagan (Mount Albert), E. Simpson (Devonport), E. Morgan (Ponsonby), A. Anderson (Marists), H. Tetley (Richmond). Against Wellington— Full-back: F. Paton (Ponsonby). Three-quarters: L. Scott (Devonport), P. Haslam (Marists). E. Hall (Devonport). Five-eighths: T. Trevathan (Manukau), W. Stockley (Ponsonby). Half-hack,; L. Halloran (Ponsonby). Forwards: A. Donald (Devonport), R. Satlierly (Richmond), A. Telford (Richmond), A. Gault (Manuknu), L. Keane (Marists), L. Peterson (Mount Albert). Reserves for both teams :—Backs : Morrissey (Mount Albert), A. Cowan (Devonport), L. Bickerton (Richmond). Forwards: E. Scott (Devonport), S. Quirke (Newton), D. Herring (Mount Albert), A. Sowter (Devonport).

GRADE GAMES. RESERVE GRADE. Marist 0.8. 20, heat Manukau 2. Ponsonby 12, beat Newton 5. Richmond 2S, beat Devonport 3. Mount Albert 10, beat City 3. SENIOR B. Point Chevalier 28, beat Waiuku 2. Otahuhu 15, beat Green Lane 3. SECOND GRADE. Mount Albert 13, beat Glenora S. Richmond 15, beat Manukau 5. THIRD GRADE. Ponsonby 26. beat Point Chevalier 4. Devonport 31, beat Mount Albert 0. Ellerslie 25. heat R.V. 0. Newton A 13, beat Point Chevalier A 11, Marist 10, beat Nortlicote 5. FOURTH GRADE. City 32, beat Ponsonby 2. Richmond 18, heat Mount Albert 0. Devonport 3, heat Ellerslie 2. FIFTH GRADE. Richmond C, drew with Otahuhu 6. Newton 7, beat North'cote 5. SIXTH GRADE. Green Lane 12, heat Papakura 5. Richmond 35, beat Avondale 2. SEVENTH GRADE. Marist 17, beat Point Chevalier 3. City 3, drew with Richmond 3. SCHOOLBOYS' GAMES. SENIOR GRADE. Richmond 2G, beat Ponsonby 0. Mount Albert 7, drew with Devonport 7. INTERMEDIATE. Ellerslie 33, beat Nortlicote 3. Otahuhu 14, beat Newton 5. Marist 14, beat Avondale 8. Manukau 7, beat Mount Albert 3. Richmond 8, drew with Green Lane 8. JUNIORS. Manukau 3, beat Otahuhu 0. Richmond A 0, beat Green Lane 0. GAMES IN THE PROVINCE.

WHANGAREI. Takahiwai 21, beat City 4. Kamo 33, beat W'liakapara 0. Portland 14, beat Kensington 2. Junior.—llikurangi 5, beat One Tree Point 4; City 7, beat Kamo 6. Fourth Grade. —City 10, beat Hikurangi 9; Kamo 19," beat Portland 13. HUNTLY. Huntly South 22, beat Ngaruawahia 2. LOWER WAIKATO. Manaia 19, beat Mercer 3. Te Kohanga 11, beat Pukekohe 0. Juniors.—-Waiuku beat Te Kohanga. GAMES IN THE SOUTH. NEW PLYMOUTH. Inglewood 22, beat Western Suburbs 12. .Eastern Suburbs 8, beat Kaliotu o. NAPIER. Taradale 17, beat City 8. CHRIST CHURCH. Hornby 7, beat Addington 5. Linwood 27, beat Waimairi 8. WELLINGTON. Hutt 8, beat Central 5. i St. George 29, beat Petone 10.