FLASHES FROM SATURDAY'S GAMES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 124, 27 May 1940, Page 12

FLASHES FROM SATURDAY'S GAMES

The announcement of players for training by the sole selector to the Auckland Rugby Union, Mr. F. W. Lucas, with a view to choosing the Auckland toam to play Waikato at Hamilton next Monday, has been received with much interest. There is plenty of talent among the 19 players for a good all round side, in spite of the fact that no military services or University men were available. A very pleasing feature is the consideration given by the selector to the young players who are showing undoubted promise. Hare, Marist, is the only full back chosen; he appears set for the position unless Mr. Lucas has ideas of trying out one of the other backs in this role. Wiles, who is playing good football at centre for Ponsonby, is a type of player who would appear to have tho makings of a good all-round full back. Judged on their displays in club matches the positions for both Colmore Williams are on the wing. Chances Lost.— Although beaten bv six points by Ponsonby in the principal Rugby attraction at Eden Park Papakura Artillery loat many fine chances when its backs could not follow up advantages gained by the forwards. It was only in the final Stages that 'the Artillery rearguard began to function with any precision, and had the backs shown better combination the camp fifteen would have taken the honours. As it was Artillery had some good chances from penalty kicks, and if Bill Carson had had his kicking boots on fie would have turned the tide in favour of his sride. Artillery has a fine set of forwards, a.nd prominent among them on Saturday were Carson, Forbes, Nay lor and Galloway. Coughlan Shines.— Coughlan, the Ponsonby Rugby wing stood out for a good nil round display, and was rewarded with three tries. Tricky and fast, he allowed plenty of determination in his running and is a player who shows possibilities of developing still further. |'i" e service was given to Ponsonby by Wiles at centre. He made some clever openings and his sound-defence was very valuable to the side. Carson's Fine Try.-Playing at the top of his form All Black Bill Carson led the Papakura Artillery forwards in great stvle against Ponsonby. His fine solo try will be remembered for a long time, and showed what can be accomplished by a player using his head. Without detracting from the merit of Carson's try Halliwcll, the Ponsonby full-back, made an error of judgment in leaping at the ball in somewhat similar manner to a springboard diver. The full-back was too far from the leather when he made this effort. Halliwcll fell somewhat from grace on Saturday after some good exhibitions in previous games. His defence was found wanting on occasions due to some measure to faulty positional play. . Good Flve*ighths.—Two first-class fiveeighbhs faced eadi other in the Training College - North Shore game at Devon port. * l Wll,iam8 >. inside back for the teachers, made his first appearance in senior football for Marist about three seasons back. Since tflien he bae been playing in Whangarei. His opponent was Stancich, formerly of Eden and Technical Old Hamilton. Though Williams saw more of the ball and was largely responsible for keeping up the pressure that gave his side a f)—6 win, Stancich scored a try flhat was the highlight of the day. Near the Training College twenty-five he secured from a scrum, sold a perfect dummy and crossed wide out. Stancich is a utility man who has played in almost every position. Over—But Tries Missed.—Two players VJifi 1 °rIHHeT e sot over . the ,ine - but missed lw-fu-o Devon-port in the Rugby game %hnlT"n J !"! l,n '?S College and North H n U,R f,lst R-aines, for Shoie, came across from his right wing r "? for tl,p left-hand >;?2 t ' r n aC 'T"\. the Kne. only to have his tiy disallowed after a scramble involvTi,lining Colleges Williams cut; through right in front of the Shore posts, passed to Del a 111 ore, who sidestepped the fullback. and also ran over. As he was about to torce down the ball shot from his arms and another chance was «one. ° ne Try Was Enough.—A break through at midheld by Baker, inside five-eighth who went on to draw Kmery, (Jranimar'fi full-back, and give a pass to D. Brady for a dash that landed him at the line to score just as he was overtaken by •facombs—such was the highlight and only score of a highly-exciting game staged by ' f ram mar Old Boys and Suburbs. Only r ne try, but it was enough to give Suburbs the win. Grammar later came literally within an inch of pulling the game out nf the fire when Roe brought off a nicelytimed run on the short side of the scrum and gave Jacombs the ball for a dive 'to score at the corner flag, but in that dive his outside foot had cut over the side-line. It was a game of good football in which there was something doing all the time, with excellent forward work on both sides, and some thrilling exchanges by the backs, where the nippiness of the Brady brothers turned the scale in favour of Suburbs. A noticeable precaution taken by Suburbs in the forwards was that of keeping one Constable Gilmore under careful observation and arrest. Bush, the Match Winner. —A feature of the teaum in the Papakura Infantry versus Otahll.hu game was that three lots of brothers were included in the Otahuhu team—R. and C. Bennett, if. and P. Grace, and D. and E. Hedge. Ron Bush's boot has lost none of its strength and it was his kicking power which won the game for Infantry. He scored nine of the 12 points registered by his side. He kicked a penalty, converted a try, and potted a beautiful field goal. c

OPPONENTS' TRIBUTE DILL CARSON, former Ponsonby Rugby playe**, was honoured to the full when he was carried off the field by his club mates at the conclusion of the match against the Papakura Artillery team at Eden Park on Saturday. It was a fitting tribute Co the Artillery team's captain, who played a fine game throughout and scored a splendid solo try. The teams marched on the field to the tune of "Soldiers of the King," played by the Papakura Camp Band, which gained the t pplause of the spectators by playing lively and popular airs .throughout. When a try was rrored by a Ponsonbv plaver the band struck up "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." It was combined Sports Day and t'ie Sports Queen, Miss Joy Asauitti, commenced proceedings Ly kicking off, after being accompanied on the field by Mr. Arthur chr.i-rnan of the Manage-r-ent Committee of the Auckland Rugby Union.

Papakura Infantry's Promise.-Gathered from all parts of the province, and although in camp for only nine days, the form and combination of the Infantry team was surprisingly good, and-, with a little training should develop into a particularly strong side. Three-quarters of the team were Maoris, and some wellknown names were on the programme. Probably the oldest member was Wanoa, former Huwke's Bay representative. Good Goalkeepincj.—When the Auckland hockey "reps." played their first match of the season against the Army team from Papakura, the spectators were quick to show their appreciation of the brilliant display given by the rival goalkeepers. R. Carson (Army) had to withstand a much heavier bombardment than his vis-a-vis, but his sound positional play and the clever use of his pads enabled him to turn aside many dangerous shots. R. Marshall, on the other hand, proved equal to each occasion which arose, and s:>me of hid kicking clearances were most spectacular. Forwards Outstanding.-Wyatt, Roughton and Coldham proved a trio that worthily upheld the tradition of thrustful play which has always been associated with Auckland hockey. Both of the latter were quick to size up the position when in or near their opponent's circle, and their happy knack of snapping up chances proved profitable to their side. Both scored goals which gave the Army custodian absolutely no chance to save, Roughton's hitting the top cross bar at the back of the net. Wyatt, on the other hand,.was responsible for some clever stickwork in mid-field, and he frequently manoeuvred play so that the opposing defence was drawn out of position before he made his pass to his partners.

Captain's Safe Play.—C. Stewart, the fcomeiville unlit-half, who was making his first appearance as cap-tain of the representative hockey siile, gave a sound display. His stopping and clearances were always clean and well directed while his wtiekwork was clever and proved troublesome to the Army's left flank. Another back who was making his debut in big hockey was 11. Hay, of Grammar Old Hoys. I he cool manner in which lie stemmed the onslaughts of the Army vanguard showed that Auckland still possesses a powerful last line of defence. Full-back Tactics.—lt was F. Clark's positional play which often upset the Auckland hockey reps.' vanguard when in the Army's territory. The understanding with i<is partner, E. O'Hara, enabled one or the other to play well upfield, and this caused I the Aticklanclers to fall into the trap, and he caught "offside." His covering tae'ics also saved an almost certain goal when Carson was drawn well out from the goalmouth. Clark covered hm just in time to df fleet the ball round the posrts. At timeft both full-backs indulged in spectacular hack-hand clearances, but O'Hara's usually lacked the necessary power or direction to turn defence into attack.

The Auckland Rugby League shared with the Auckland Football Association in a joint effort at Carlaw Park on Saturday to aid the Sick and Wounded Fund and to assist tho Sports. Queen, Miss Joy Asquith, who made a personal appearance and was cheered by the , spectators. Newton, the leaders in the League championship, defeated Mount Albert, the champions of last season, by 8 points to 6, after a hard-fought game. There was little between the two sides in a match marked by even play without reaching the best in team effort. Goal-kicking Duel.—With defence much superior to attack, the line of neither side uli.s crossed in the League match on Saturday between Newton and Mount Albert. Claud Dempsey. the full-back. Kicked tour penalty goals lor Newton, and K. Ban ham. the ex-Australian player, landed three lor .Mount Albert. Both men showed splendid accuracy in their efforts, their j?oak being from various distances and angles. Auckland Representative Team.—There is no great element of surprise in the Auckland League representative team chosen to meet the Maori team on King's Birthday, but the selectors evidently consider that there is not a good pakeh i halfback in sight when they select R. Bauhain. of the Mount Albert team, for that position. Ba 11 ham is certainly one of the best constructive live-eighths in the League game. and. as he was considered good enough in that position for the New Zealand team last year, it seems rather an absurdity to put "im in a r>cw position South Auckland —In a high scoring game in which fortunes fluctuated the South Auckland representative League team just managed to struggle home ahead of the Auckland Maori representatives in the annual friendly match between the two sides played at Huntly at the weekend. The Maori team fought hard all the way, but in the first spell the South Aucklandeis had their measure, and at the interval held an advantage of 14 points to nil. On the change-over T. Chase replaced Broughton behind the scrum, and the latter returned to the five-eighth line. Thereafter, the Auckland side functioned better and reduced the deficit, 'eventually being narrowly beaten—22 to 20. Mataira and Kirinui were always well in the picture for the losers in the forwards, while the outstanding South Auckland forward was the New Zealand representative Beadle. The ground was on the heavy side after rain,, but the rain held off during the match and both sides threw the ball about in an attractive way. Zeibel Proves Worth.—lt was not the best play that could be seen in the Soccer code, but Auckland and The Lest put on a good show and introduced the game to a wide public in the grand carnival cur-tain-raiser at Carlaw Park. A. Fincham replaced Blackie in the half-line and acquitted himself creditably in a match that had iplenty of excitement but few of the finer points that make the code outstanding. The Rest were unlucky to lose the services of D. Waters through an accident before the first spell finished, but Zeibel proved his worth by taking up the defence and breaking an offensive five minutes after he c-ame on the field. He was a tower of strength to his team. Des Warren, who is now a sergeant in the Ist Training Battalion, was safe in the Auckland goal and saved his side from many threats. Soccer is Publicised.—Yearbury's saves were a feature of the Soccer curtain-raiser that opened the grand sports carnival in aid of the Sports Queen. Had it not been for hie cleverness on four occasions his team would have been on the wrong side of the ledger. The ground was not the best for the code, and the ball ,lacked the necessary bounce, but followers of League were surprised at the agility that was displayed in the favourite British game. Head-work, particularly, drew rounds of applause and the progress of the game was relayed to the crowd through loud-speakers. The differences between the various codes were made clear and the remark that caused the greatest laughter was one from a confirmed League man who said, "I wish our men could use J their heads, too."