Flashes From Saturday's Games

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 118, 20 May 1940, Page 11

Flashes From Saturday's Games

After suffering a surprise defeat at the hands of Otahuhu the previous week, Marist. the Rugby champions of last season, downed the promising young Ponsonby fifteen last Saturday in a fast and interesting match. There was not much in it, the margin in the winners' favour being two penalty goals. Each side registered a try. The Ponsonby vanguard gave Marist a lot of trouble in the loose and came away in several strong rushes in which they showed good ball control. Especially in the first gpell, when the Ponsonby rearguard also gave able assistance, Marist had to defend strongly. An appreciable stiffening of the Marist defence in the second half when the forwards kept together and used their weight better had the desired result, while the Ponsonby backs were also not so dangerous, each Marist back moving quickly up to his man. Outstanding Backs.—Outstanding Raines in tin' M.irist Kuirhy back line 011 Saturday vm'lc |il.i\i'il by K. Coney, liali', and K. Nimi.v, second five-eighth. The former got tlif ball away well and showed much cleverness on attack when he dashed away from the serum on occasions to break through the defence in deeply penetrating runs. In thin reepect he was especially nood on the blind side. Neary

was prominent in some incisive runs and linked into the combination to good effect. He also showed up in the defensive role. He was well supported by J. Mnlloy, centre, who played a good allround game ami kicked with judgment when blocked 011 attack, a try just being missed mice t'nuii one of these kicks.

A Fine Forward.— The Marist Rugby team lias a line all-round forward in A. Mollitl. Auckland representative hooker. He lias played consistently good football in all gameis this season, and against Ponlotiliy last Saturday he was always in the thick of llie fray in all phases of play. C. nge, L). Mills and C. Belftrave were other forwards to siiow out in an improving pack, which will take some beating it the season progresses. Rival Full-backs.—Last year's rivals for Wie Auckland representative full-back position, W. Hare and W. Halliwell, •pposed each other before the grandstand at liden Park. Both dJd good all-round work, and Halliwell snowed up in some tlever moves. He hart a lot to do on defence and never taltera.l. Hare, on She other hand, made a bad error in defence when he failed to go down to a strong forward rush. He demonstrated again that his place kicking is a match winner, for lie kicked both the penalties which meant victory. Training College, incidentally, has a very promising player in the full-back position in Kingston, formerly of Mount Albert Grammar School and nephew of C. Kingston, All Black full-back in 1921 aguinst the Springboks. A safe handler, jvith a pood boot ind sound on defence, the Training College player several timea on Saturday extricated his side cleverly from danger•us positions against Suburb*. Speedy Wing.—Snowy-haired, tall and slim, with a fine turn of speed, Day, the Training College Kugby wing threequarter, showed up prominently against Suburbs in the curtain-raiser game at Eden Park. A player who uses his head, he bide fair for higher honours in the near future if he maintains the standard he set on this occasion.

Otahuhu Disappoint.—After a great display against Marist the previous week the lorm shown by the Otahuhu Rugby team a,t Sturge» Park against Grafton was a big disappointment to local follower* of the code. The home side had the advantage in the opening spell, but could only notch six points, a penalty try and a try by D. Hedge. These were the only points •cored by them during the game. Grafton lully deserved their win, being superior on attack and defence.

D. Hedge in Form.—Des. Hedge, brother •f Teddy Hedge, made his first appeurance kv the senior Otahuhu Rugby team and fava a most creditable display at wing three-quarter. His tackling and fielding Were excellent. Clark and I/awry played freat football, always being dangerous and tiakiug many openings

All Black's Form.—The All Black forward, W. N. Carson, captain of the Papakura Artillery side, is playing right up to form this season in all branches of play. On Saturday against Technical Old Boys le kicked two fairly difficult penalty goals and led the pack in great style. On a lumber of occasions, particularly in the second half, he was prominent in open play, handling like a back and putting lis team on attack time and again.

Grammar's Good Win. —Grammar Old Bo.vh, foy superior 'hooking and dash in open forward play, combined with some Jeally sna,ppy concerted work among the wtt'kfl, did something of real merit in defeating the Pa.pak-ura Infantry Rugby team, whose backs and forwards are of Individual quality that should make them * Kreait team when they get t"he right combination. In the tigiht rucks the Infantrymen had the greater shocking power, but their backs were not at all happy in meeting the breakaway dashes G-i I more, Reeder, Lockingfon and com|>any. The Army team ha* many units *rom Bay of Plenty and other provinces and looks like being a tough proposition Jater in the season. Dunn, an ex-Hawke's Bay winp three-quarter, and Jones, from Bay of Plenty, at half-fback, were especially prominent. Grammar's all-round play was excellent, with R. Singleton, at wing three-quarter, exploiting a penchant for fast dribbling that more than once took frim right through the opposition. The "Tiimmar win wss a good one.

Goalie Outstanding.—ln the thrilling disI>I«V of hockey between Somerville and Lniversity the highlight of the game was the brilliant work of Marshall, Somer7"He's goalie. He received a severe testing and no matter the type of attack launched lie turned it aside. His efforts in keeping the net intact were the contributing faetors in hie team's success. Watt«, centre forward, was in the best of form and launched many clever attacks, while Archibald, right wing, using his pace to advantage, was ever a thorn in the opposing defence. Although overshadowed hy hia vis-a-vis Betehaw gave a splendid display in University's goal. Wood was best of the full-backs, while in Rouse, left wing half, the team has a find. Cooper takes forward honour*.

Coldham's Brilliant Effort. —Contrary to expectations, the Training College hockey team defeated United (holders of _ the Dovonport Shield and Kent Cup) in a strenuous but exciting match at Foiwlds Park. With one goal lead and only a few minutes to go United were attacking strongly and were perhaps unfortunate thut tlio linal whistle blew before they could finish taking a penalty corner hit ■which they had gained at the expense of the teachers. Coldham, the Oollege centre-forward, was conspicuous for two brilli nnt solo effort* which were executed at a time when his side wax sorely prefwcd. In one lie collected the ball on the half"Wjiy mark and spectacularly weaving his way through the defence, drew the goalie out of position, then flicked the ball into the net.

Four Hockey Goals.—Frank Wellbourne, tliii ex-Auckland and New Zealand left wing representative, shows great form as centre forward for Papakura Camp. He opened the game up well and proved a great shot by scoring four goals. Dyer (Whangarei) and McKibben (Hamilton) made their first appearance as right and left wing halves. They should prove welcome additions after a couple of games. Clark showed his usual ability at full-back, while Hammond (King Country), as inner left forward, was very thrustful. Kelsey, centre half, was Albertians' outstanding back and performed well when consideration is given of the quality of the opposing centre forward. X. Bennett and McLi skey were the best of a solid line of forwards.

Veterans Dominate. — Outstanding in Mount Eden's defence were the full-backs. A. Horspool and Hughes. The .manner in which the latter covered his partner was disconcerting to the Whippets' vanguard. Camniell did a lot of useful intercepting, while liis passes were well placed. J. Horspool was a source of trouble to the opposition, but unfortunately his inner forwards did not accept the many fiue centres he served them. Moir was the "best of the Whippet full-backs, but X. Broun was the outstanding of the rearguard. He intercepted cleverly and gave Ilia forwards plenty of well-timed and directed passes.

Robertson Plays Again.—Despite the fact that St. Luke's were fielding one man short and suffered the loss of two mora players through injuries they put up a sterling fight against the Grammar Old Boys' team in the hockey match at Fowlds Park. It was their etubborn defence which held the faat-raiding Ryalls and Rougfoton, and in this department S. Robertson, the ex-New Zealand and Auckland representative played no small part. Although he signified his intention of retiring this season he was turning out to fill a vacancy, and his experience and generalship proved a steadying factor for his side.

Advantage Lost.—Ponsonby had a 3 to 1 advantage at half-time, but after aidding another goal they eased up and the Abels' forwards took command and forced a victory in the last minutes of the game. No excuse can be offered for the Ponsonby team and all credit is due to Abels' forwards who followed up their advantage to good effect. The go"' scorers for Abels, Hamilton (2), ti-tz-gerald, E. Kkman and Hale, were always iprominent and were Quick to take advantage of the fine passing from Robinson. The defence, though scrappy in the first spell staged a wonderful recovery, and the sound work of C. Ekman, Waters and J. Grice did much to pave the way for victorv. Cameron, the goalie, had a busy day,"and it was only the good shots that beat him. G. Grice, who scored three goals for Ponaonby. played well up to his previous form and was* well marked in the second spell. Dowlsr, one goal, and Callaghan, the two wingers, were ahv«ys up with the attack and were of great assistance to the centre forward. Shore at Last.—Shore against Suburbs at Devonport scored their first victory of the season with a three goal to one victory. The high wind made ball control difficult, and neither team seemed to be able to adapt themselves to the conditions by keeping the ball low, and the game suffered in consequence. The Suburb® forwards missed many chances in front of goaJ, whereas Shore on the other hand took advantage of their opportunities and, although Suburbs had most of the territorial advantage they failed to press their attacks home. Shore were again well served in goal by Pratt, who was in good form Booth, Chambers and James impressed most in the Shore backs w-ith Clay worth and Danby the best of the forwards. Diamond got through some solid work in the Suburbs backs, with good support from A. Welch and Turner. The former played a first-class game when shifted from right-wing to centre-half in the second spell. R.Welch worked hard in the pivot berth with indifferent support from his colleagues excepting Krause, who played a good game.

League senior championship matches on the No. i ground at Carlaw Park on Saturday were marked by a coincidence. There were identical scores in the main match between Richmond and City and in the earlier match between Mount Albert and Marist. Splendid team play gave Richmond victory over City by 19 points to 8, and, showing a return to their good form of last season, Mount Albert won just as convincingly from Marist. Manukau had a fairly easy win from Ponsonby, and North Shore were far too strong for Papakura. Newton, the leaders in the championship, had the bye.

Donaldson Improves.—Since his transfer from Mount Albert to North Shore, Bruce Donaldson lias not been as much iu the picture as expected. Against Papakura, however, he played soundly throughout. Apart from scoring one of the best tries of the day, he contributed to Shore's big tally with his goal kicking. Another Shore back who gave an excellent exhibition was McArthur, the half-back. McArthur gave splendid service from the base of the scrum, and his ability to keep right up with the play brought him a couple of tries. All of Papakura's points were scored by Mclnnes —four penalty goals. At full-back, Mclnnes had. a busy day, but he got through with credit. The exMarist three-quarter, L. Halsey, was given few opportunities by Shore, but showed up occasionally for strong running.

Ordered Off for "Lifting."—The dismissal of the Ponsonby hooker, M. Flanagan, for "lifting" in the scrums seriously handicapped his team in the match against Manukau on No. 2 ground, Carlaw Park. Flanagan was warned, then shifted to second row, but finally on the outside of the front row. It must have been in assisting the emergency hooker, Gee, that Flanagan again came under the eye of the referee. In spite of being a man short, Ponsonby held their own fairly well. Jack Hemi was not in hie usual consistent goal-kicking form, font when he moved from full-back to second five-eighths in the second spell, he gave the Manukau attack more sharpness. Kay, at centre, ■was seen in an improved display for Ponsonby and evidently is getting over eyesight trouble for which he has been receiving treatment. The new winger, Murphy (ex-Mount Albert junior), showed plenty of speed and resource and other backs to rfiow up were Williams (five-eighth) and the custodian. Shilling. The light forwards, particularly Briggs and Whitby, did well to hold their opponents, of whom Ririnui. McGuire. Rei and Brodrick were conspicuous in a bright contest.

Versatile Solomon. — The Richmond League player, D. Solomon, is noted for his versatility. When he came to the League game last season, Richmond tried him as a half-back, but soon found that his constructive attack and extraordinary covering defence made him the ideal fiveeighth. On Saturday Richmond played him at full-back against City, but it was obvious that he could not give the service there compared with a position further in-field. But Solomon did join in the attack several times, and played quite a big part in a couple of the Richmond scores.

Mataira Hurt. —It was bad luck for City that they lost the services of Hawea Mataira midway through the game. He is one of the great forwards of the game in Auckland. Originally a Hawke's Bay Rugby rep. and All Black, he came to the League game in 1937. He did not play in the following season, but in the 1930 season returned to the City team, and was one of the first forwards chosen to go to England last year with the \ew Zealand League team.

Onehunga's First Win.—Good play by the Onehunga Soccer forwards gave them their first win of the season, though Thistle were unlucky not to make a draw in the closing stages. Thistle lost for the second consecutive time after having two wins. The most noticeable fault in the first quarter-hour's play was Thistle's lack of initiative and waiting for the ball. Their opponents made the most of every opportunity and at half-time were two up. It was not until well into the second period that Thistle opened their scoring account. The Onehunga forward line worked excellently, and Brass and McGillivray in particular accomplished much. Time and again the Onehunga goalie, Lloyd, effected splendid saves and in Ins defensive work he was well supported by Blockley. Woods and Caisley were the pick of the Thistle vanguard.

Old Boys' Walkovor .-—The score of 7 goals to 1 in the main game at Blandford Park left no doubts as -to the superiority of Mount Albert Grammar Old Boys over the Air Force team. Old Boys commanded every department of the game and never at any stage of the game did they seem likely to be defeated. Needham. Hopkinson and Clark were always on the target and completely demoralised the Air Force defence. Ward led the half-back line in both attack and defence, and very little got past them. The Air Force play in general war, very ragged, the combination in particular was very weak. Rodgers. the centre forward, scored the only goal, but G. Fllis shone with many hard snap shots at the goal. Burrows played soundly at centre half, but couid not cope with the speedy Honkineon.