LEAGUE LADDER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 146, 22 June 1936, Page 13

LEAGUE LADDER.

THREE TEAMS LEVEL - SATURDAY'S CONTESTS. SHORE AND MANUKAU DRAW. Further keen contests were provided at Carlaw I'ark on Saturday, when tlie first of the series of games in tlie second round of the Auckland Rugby League's senior competition were decided. The large crowd of spectators was kept interested throughout all the matches, which resulted in several calculations being upset. In the principal game of the day Devonport fought a draw with Manukau after a virile display, while in the curtain-raiser Richmond proved too good for Ponsonby, who were at tlie head of the championship ladder. Across on No. 2 ground Mount Albert triumphed over Newton, and Marist held too many guns for City. The day's results have lent additional interest to the competition, for now three teams, Ponsonby, Devonport and Mount Albert are level with 10 points each, and two others, Manukau and Richmond, arc only one point behind. Saturday':! results: — Devonport 5, drew with Manukau 5. Richmond 15, beat Ponsonby 0. Marist l(j, beat City 5. Mount Albert 11, beat Newton 8. Competition ladder:— P. W. L. D. V. A. Pts Ponsonby 8 5 3 — 133 125 10 Devonport -S 4 2 2 124 S.) 10 Mount Albert . S 5 3 — 10(> 103 10 Manukau 8 4 3 1 127 1..0 9 Richmond 8 4 3 1 123 101 .) Marist S 4 4 — 102 119 8 Newton 8 2 0 — 9+ 105 4 City 8 2 6 — 107 144 4 STRENUOUS MAIN GAME. A battle royal was waged by Devonport and Manukau in tlie principal attraction of the day, and the seasiders can consider themselves a trifle fortunate in that they struggled through for a draw—s points all. Manukau at times played like men possessed, and repeatedly raked the opposition fore and aft. Their trouble, however, was over-eagerness at the business end. Time and again, when tlie defence looked like wilting under the severe strain, they lapsed into errors, and penalty kicks nullified all their line work. Then again, Devonpoft have never defended to better •purpose, attack after attack being re vpulsed in grand style. As time grew on it looked as though the seasiders would carry the day by a slender niargain, as Watene's men seemed always to incur tlie whistle at the crucial moment, but with about ten minutes to go Kerr, the Shore full-back, who had been giving a masterly display of defensive work, was injured, and forced to retire. Devonport played on with a man short, and on several occasions were lucky to keep their line intact. Then in a last glorious burst Manukau swept goal ward for Watene to come up from full-back in a ilasli and dive for a try— the equaliser. The kick sailed wide of tlie mark, and a few minutes later tlie teams filed off the Held on even terms. The game was tensely fought throughout, and

though it was productive of comparatively | little fine concerted play, and few spectacular passing bouts it was fast and exciting. With the crowd spurring tlie sides on to greater effort some ill-feeling was imbued into the play, and the referee, Mr. P. Rogers, is to be commended for calling a halt and counselling the players to play the game as it should be played. The forwards made a great tussle of it, and it was in this department that some of the finest play was witnessed. The weighty Manukau pack battered the opposition from bell to bell, and it was really remarkable how the lighter opposing sixtet stood up to them. Gault was in the 'limelight continualy for fine dribbling and tireless energy in chasing the ball, while others who were never far out of the pic- | ture were Plekrang, Whye and Kawe. For the seasiders Rogers was the pick, and his defensive work was particularly fine. He always seemed, to be on hand when there was a loophole In the defence to be "patched up, while in the loose lie raided with clan. Others who got through a wealth of hard work were Donald, Sowter and Simpson. There were 110 /lronos in either pack. With sueh desperate play going (in amongst the packs, the backs had little opportunity to display their ability, but there were several individuals who stood out for splendid exhibitions. Mahima, behind the Manukau pack, was always endeavouring to open up the play, while Newton and Trevathan in the live-eighths line were frequently thrustful. Broughton was dangerous, at centre, but some of his passing was on the wild side, and spoilt opportunities for his wingers, of whom Mason was the pick, Watene as the last line of defence was never bustled, and he frequently defended and kicked with judgment. The finest defensive game of all, however, was given t>y Kerr, the Shore full-back. His fielding of the ball was almost uncanny, and lie hardly did a "wrong thing all day. He had more than liis share of rush stopping to do, and he tackled this task fearlessly and capably. Time and again Manukau, with their forwards charging in the van, had only to beat liini to score. But Kerr was rocklike. He would scoop up the ball with his wonderful safe pair of hands and dive head first into the charging forwards. Frequently lie swept right through them to clear, but on other occasions he was forced down with the ball, to retain possession and give his supports time enough to get round behind. Kerr had only one fault, and that was in falling at times to correctly place his kicks. Cowan was a grafter at scrum half, while E. Scott in the fiveeighths line was called on for a wealth of defensive work, and he got through it manfully. Crooks bustled the opposition into errors, but his efforts at rush-stopping at times were weak. Seagar at pivotal centre held his chain together well at all times, and kept a watchful eye on the alert Broughton. Len. Scott was the better of the two wingers, Hall showing up rarely after receiving a particularly hard knock. DUFTY'S RETURN. The return of C. C. Dufty to the game invested the City-Marist match with a personal interest, and the veteran full-back and League star of other years, in addition to playing a good game, gave the cleverest exhibition of line finding seen at Carlaw Park this season. Weighing 14st 121b, the veteran looked remarkably fit, but his reappearance in the code at 36 years of age is something of a venture, and the speed that lie' once had is now a thing of the past. There was the familiar call ,of'■'"Give it to Dufty," when a penalty shot came City's way, and he landed one beautiful goal from close to the sideline. Although Marist won by a comfortable maTgin, there was not a great deal between the two teams, but City were quite nonplussed nt times at some of the rulings ■ given against them. The Marist players j showed more sharpness than their opponents in Seizing scoring chances, and their; team work on occasions was of a very high • order indeed. The City backs missed Rata | with his incisive dash and ability to penetrate and very few real chances came the way of McLouglilin - and Brown on the wings, but the City pack stood up to it well all the way, with Clark. Johnson and Herring always prominent. Glover played nndther outstanding gaane at full-back for Marist, tackling well, kicking with fine judgment and showing re-1 markable cleverness in getting out of . hard corners. Loader showed great pace and scoring ability on the wing, while in the five-eights line the play of Haslam, 1 without being showy or spectacular, was ' sound and good in both defence and attack. Anderson continues to show up as one of the best forwards in Auckland and his ability" as a goal kicker makes him a bis asset to his side. 1

NEWTON DOWN. The meeting of Mount Albert and Newton provided a very* bright and eventful game, in which the former, largely through the mobility and sustained dash of their foi wards, had a three-points margin on the right side at the end. 111 one respect ■ Newton had been the unlucky side of the season. Wells, who promised so well on his inaugural appearance as wing tbreequarter at the start of the season, was I hurt, and may hot piny again, and on ; Saturday neither Bright nor C. Brimble were able to take the field. Thus the Newton backs were far from full strength, although the emergency men put iu did their part well. Dempsey gave another great exhibition at full-back, with a wonderful appreciation of positional play. Slssous shaped very soundly in the centre, while W. Brimble showed real brilliance in attack. Newton fielded a solid and even pack, whose work was marked by hard rucking and tackling. The Mount Albert inside backs combined well,- Watkins getting the ball away splendidly in fast and well-directed passing, for Halsey and .T. Schultz to take up the running, while in the forwards Petersen stood out as the best forward 011 the ground, v.ith good support from Shadbolt and Herring. The game once more drew attention to the fact that the No. 2 area at Carlaw Park has a very serious disability—tlie closeness of the picket fence to the playing area. Early in tlie game Young, the Newj ton wing, was tackled close to the touch I line and crashed into the fence with 1 terrific impact. He was badly shaken and extremely fortunate to escape as lightly as | lie did. It was but one of dozens of similar mishaps which have happened on [ the ground. The risk will always be there | as long as the fence—about nine feet from I the touch-line—remains where it is. I RICHMOND IN FORM. Richmond's admirable supporting play and covering defence accounted for the downfall of the erstwhile leaders, Ponsonby, iu a game that was replete' with clever tactical moves calculated to arrest the close attention of tlie student of modern play. The fact that the sides were so well matched as to speed, perhaps detracted from the glamour of the contest a little, but the Rovers had the combination, thrust and power to merit victory'by 15 —6. Their hooking advantage in the scrums was a factor. Telford and Hadle.v are proving a fine pair of props, and Hadle.v played his finest game to date. Like Tetlcy, who shone throughout, he handled well and sent out passes at critical moments that brought tries. Broadhead and Satherley were ill the thick of the heavy rucking. Blood, Morgan and Carter were n splendid trio for Ponsonby in that respect, and the work of Morgan and Leatherbarrow in tlie loose deserved a better result. If. was evident, however, that Ponsonby had not the weight or fire of the opposing spearhead. Powell's half-back play for Richmond was more unselfish in tlie second stanza and the maroons thereby profited, but. considering the disadvantages under which Hallo rail worked for Ponsonby, the latter performed creditably. Brilliant and varied inside back pill}', by Bickcrton, with the ex-South Aucklandcr. AV. Tittleton. collaborating in great fashion, subdued Stockley and Riley, and there was something wanting in Riley's defence nt times. It must be encouraging to the Auckland selector to note the development of Tittleton, whose powerful running and sound tackling are assets. Naturally Kay was not seen in the best light for Ponsonby at centre, but he at least measured up with Mincham. Wilkie was tlie better of the two wingers. Ponsouby's right flanker, Payne, is a sturdy and determined customer, and might go well nearer the scrum. Holland was lamentably weak on the day. The Richmond custodian, Greenwood, has possibilities. l'aton played safely, but lacked enterprise. If th,cy maintain their current form Richmond will have a .good chance of avenging their first-round defeat by Manukau this week-cud. GRADE GAMES. SENIOR RESERVE. Richmond 21, beat Ponsonby 0. Devonport 8, beat Manukau 0. Mount Albert 32, beat Newton 9. Marist 11, beat City 5. SENIOR B. Senior B.—Papakura 15, beat Green Lane 5. THIRD GRADE. Manukau 53, beat Mount Albert 3. Newton B 17, beat Point Chevalier B 10. City 9, drew with Richmond 9. Newton A 13, beat EUerslic 11. FOURTH GRADE. Richmond 23, beat Point Chevalier 0. City 10. beat Marist 0. EUerslic 9, beat Ponsonby 0. Mount Albert 20, beat Devonport 0. FIFTH GRADE. Richmond 8. beat Papakura 2. Glen Ora 27, beat Newton 3. SIXTH GRADE. City 55, bent Papakura 0. City 5, beat Papakura 0. Green Lane 11, beat Avondale 2. SEVENTH GRADE. Richmond 16. beat Glen Ora 2. Papakura beat Ellerslle by default. PRIMARY SCHOOLS. SENIOR GRADE. Richmond 11, beat Devonport 3. Mount Albert 3, beat Ponsonby 2. INTERMEDIATE GRADE. Green Lane 9, boat Marist 0. Otahuhu 15. beat Avondale 10. Richmond 33, beat Northeote 0. Mount Albert 8, beat EUerslic 0. JUNIORS. Riclimorid A 6, beat Otahuliu 0. Ellcrslie 6, beat Newton 3. Ponsonby won by default from Green Lane. GAMES IN THE PROVINCE. WHANGAREI. Walmsley Shield match.—Pakehas 11, beat Maoris 2. A and B Trial.—B's 15, beat A'g 8. Junior.—'City 8, bent Hikurangl 6. One Tree Point 8, beat Kamo 7. Fourth Grade Representative Trial.— North 14, beat South 0. TAUPIRI. Tauplrl 7, beat Huntly 3. Ngaruawahia 18, beat Pukemlro C. Juniors.—Huntly 28, beat Taupiri 0. TAUPIRI V. INGLEWOOD. On the King's Birthday a League football match is to be played at Taupiri between the Inglewood (Taranaki) and the Taupiri teams for a cup, which has been donated by Mr. J. Wells, a vice-pre-sident of the Inglewood Club, for competition between the Inglewood, Tauplrl and Ngaruawahia Clubs. The match 011 Tuesday will be the initial one. REP. TEAMS. MATCHES FOR TUESDAY. At Carlaw Park after Saturday's championship play, the Auckland selector, Mr. H. Avery, announced the following final teams for to-morrow as follows : — Auckland (v. Maori Reps.).—Dempsey, Hall, W. Tittleton. Minclinm, Riley, Kay, Powell, Simpson, Flannagan, Hutt, Anderson. Morgan, Tetley (captain). Auckland (v. Wellington).—Paton. Jones, Haslam, Morrissey, Trevathan, Stockley (captain), Halloran, Telford, Satherley, Donald, Keane, Gault, Peterson. Reserves. —Backs: Cowan, Jonee. Forwards : Quirke, Scott; Sowter, Herring. Auckland Maoris. —Mr. E. K. Asher selected the. following to represent Auckland Maoris v. Auckland:—J. Tawhai (City Rovers), L. Brown (City), captain, Bickerton (Richmond). Mason (Manukau), Rati (City), E. Brimble (Newton), Mahlna (Manukau), A. Nathan (Newton), Johnson( City), L. Kawe (Manukau), F. Pickrang (Manukau), P. Minnix, S. Watene (Manukau). Reserves.—Backs: P. Brlmblo (Newton), Broughton (Manukau). Forward: Proctor (Manukau). EASY FOR ENGLAND. BRISBANE, June 20. The English Rugby League team defeated North Queensland at Townsville to-day by 39 points to 3. The scorers were :— England.—Tries: Brogden (2), Rismaji (2), Field, Morley and Jenkins. Goals: Hodgson (9). North Queensland. —Try : Lang. The spectators numbered 8000, and the gate receipts totalled £800. Hodgson kicked magnificently, and is now nearing his ccntury for the tour. QUEENSLAND LOSES TO N.S.W. BRISBANE, June 21. In a Rugby League Test trial match plaved at . Brisbane yesterday, New South Wales defeated Queensland by 10 points to 14, after leading 11 —6 at half-time.