Flashes From Saturday's Games

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 142, 17 June 1940, Page 10

Flashes From Saturday's Games

By scoring three tries to their opponent's none Marist, last season's Rugby champions, left no doubt as to their superiority over Suburbs in the principal match at Eden Park. Generally the Marist side combined more effectively than the opposition, and were helped greatly by the marked superiority of Moflitt. the hooker. This kept the ball away from the fleet Suburbs rearguard, who, however, did not impress so much as usual when in possession, particularly after the first half. Good defence stopped any thrusts by the inside men while at times mishandling and poor passing let an alert and quick defence into the breach. The Marist forwards were dangerous when they kept the ball at toe in powerful rushes, and some of the Suburbs backs did not relish their task of stopping them. The Marist backs were more certain as a unit on the whole, and if Curtayne, first five-eighth, had not overdone the cross kick they would probably have done better. The weight of the Marist pack proved very advantageous in the second spell, although the Suburbs vanguard held on well until the closing stages when they were well beaten. It was Suburbs' first defeat in championship matches to date, although they were beaten in the two preliminary encounters by Marist and Technical.

Training College Recruits. — Training College is lucky tlhie year in that this ie the centre for the third-year course in physical education. In the College team this season are some haif-dozen future teachers who hove come from various parts of the Dominion for their training. Among those playing well are D. Beard, from l'alnierKfon Xorth, in the forwards, who can—anil did on Saturday—ewing the game with Ihi.s kicking ability. Others there are from Otngo, Victoria and various other centres. Another tine player taking the course ie Johnny Pile, last year's Auckland representative half-back, but he hae decided Vo retire from the game.

Five-eighth Line.—The Suburbs fivceightha, A. Burke and D. Brady, had to bow to a better all-round pair on the day in L. Curtayne and R. Neary. Burke was too slow off the mark on attack, while Brady did not play up to his usual standard. Curtayne did good work on defence find saved bin forwards well at times, but he kicked too much. A- fine opening by him led to Marist's second try. Neary proved a good connecting link and-gave a sound display.

The Two Half-backs.—Playing behind a winning pack and with plenty of the ball from the ecrume, F. Cooney, the Marist half, did some clever work on attack, his quickness and alertness giving him the opening try when he dashed round the scrum on the Suburbs line. He also carried out effective defensive work. C Brady, the Suburbs half, had a hard day and came through the ordeal weil. He waa easily the outstanding Suburbs back. Getting the ball away well and starting play nicely from the loose, he endeavoured to eet his team in action at every opportunity and it was no fault of his that the eide did not function more smoothly.

Molloy on the Wing.—Last year's representative centre, J. Molloy, played on the Marist wing on Saturday and gave an impressive exhibition. Tricky on attack and quick at seizing an opportunity, he •cored a good try in the second half in a strong run from beyond half way. His tackling, too, was very deadly. Margison, Suburbs' centre, did well with limited chance* and once made 1 a good opening which should have led to a try.

■ Honours to Hare.—Bill Hare, the Marist full-back, overshadowed his vis-a-vis, Ward. The latter who had played well in previous matches was off hie game. He made several errors in handling and bis kicking waa uncertain, while he lacked judgment in waiting for the bounce of the ball. Hare was safe and Holid, while his accurate place-kicking added eight points to hie team's score. It wag' unusual for him to miss a conversion close in when Cooney scored.

Fitter Forwards.—-The Mariet pack is now fit and it will take a good set to wrest the honour* from them. Moflitt, Bond, Barry, Belgrave and Mills were frequently to the fore, while the loose rushes were moetl} carried out with cohesion and took a lot of atopping. The tactics of ■ome of th.e forwards, however, bordered much on obstruction when on over-running the ball they kept on, thus , hindering the covering defending or attacking players. In the Suburbs forwards K. Ladbrook and Nelson again played well and Shadbolt was often prominent.

Forward's Bad Error.—A bad offside very rarely seen in Rugby woe committed by Hogan, the Marist forward. He wae yard* offside and right in the open when the ball came hie way. He immediately turned round and kicked it. ■> This was asking for three points to the opposition, and he was lucky that Ward did not turn the penalty to a<l vantage.

Moyle'j Brilliant Play.-E. Moyle, the Otahuhu half-back, wae the shining star against Grammar at Sturges Park. He gained nine points for his eide by scoring three clever tries. Hie display wae easily the best for this season. N. Campbell, who hae not played for a few seasons since his break with Marist League team, gave a very impressive display at full-back until he received an injury and had to retire at half-time. Gilmour, who played a great game for Grafton, had hard luck in missing a try. He broke away with a clear run in, but wae pulled down juet near the line by Moyle.

Work of the Coaeh.—With a brilliant record of representative Rugby behind him, the coach this year of the Auckland Training College side, Mr. W. R. Laney, is a great aaeet to the game in Auckland. Now a master at King's College, "Bill" Laney was one of Otago's finest forwards for some time. In 1937 he played right through the season as Otago hooker. That year, when he was with the Otago University team, he played against the Springboks. Evidence of his efficient methods to-day was the way in which the-Training College backs passed with perfect precision, and the team as a whole combined so effectively that for the greater part of the game Technical were unable to get anywhere near them.

Ponsonby Backs Slowed.—Ponsouby just failed to make the traditional Ponsonby last-minute scoring dash to win the game against North Shore, and were beaten 11—9. They made the chances, but failed to finish four or five times. Good hooking in the scrum, dashing forward work in the open, and nippy play by Arkle at half laid the foundation for two easy trice by Shore. One of these was converted by a magnificent kick from the side-line by O. Sheohan. An equally fine effort by Goodacre later added a penalty goal. Ponsonby had to bring Wiles to outside fiveeighth in the absence of Barlow, and he wae not nearly so effective here as at centre, where Kay played for the game. The change slowed the Ponsonby rearguard attack. Stanieh and Slyfield, the Shore five-eighths, repeatedly ti"oubled Heffernan and Wiles in attack and defence, and slowed them up. Wiles made some amends by kicking three penalty goals— Ponsonby's only points.

Tries from Full-back.—On consecutive Saturdays the full-back of a Rugby XV. has scored a try; J. Ward on June 8 when Suburbs beat Ponsonby at Eden Park, and R. Proctor for Takapuna Grammar School in the 16-point drawn game against King's College at Lake Road last Saturday. The previous such performance in an important game was by A. Wiles, of cricket fame, who crossed Hawke's Bay line in the 1939 junior representative match at Eden Pork. Although the same player kicked three penalty goals for Ponsonby seniors against North Shore on Saturday, he had the mortification of wind-ing-up on the beaten side.

Three Goals from the Wing.—The game at Waikaraka Park was ruined as a spectacle by the early erdering-off of A. Francis (Comrades' inside left) and R. Kerr (Onehunga'e right half), who had resorted to blows. The lose of Kerr spoilt any chance the West Coasters may have had of extending the leading XI. in the premiership, ua it wa» found impossible to reorganise the defence to cope with the raids of A. Masters, the left winger, who found the net on three occasions. This made the second consecutive Saturday on which the hat-trick was performed at Waikaraka. Local interest was taken in Englishman J. Bury's debut for Onehunga. W'hile he looks certain to strengthen the forward line it might work more smoothly were he transferred from centre to the left.

. Shore Too Good.—Better understanding and good team-work enabled Shore to inflict a 5-goal to 1 defeat on Y.M.C.A. at Devonport. Both fore and aft the local team out-played their opponents. Potts, Chambers and Booth were the mainstay of the Shore backs, with -Clayworth, Blackie and Cooper prominent in the front line. The Y.M.CA backs positional play was bad at times, several gaps in the defence being taken, full advantage of by the opposition. MeMechan and Walbran worked hard in the Y.M. backline to avert defeat. Bennett, Burton and Rollins were responsible for some good individual work in. the front rank, but lacked the support that would have crowned their efforts with success.

Fyvte Outstanding. — Fyvie, %t inside left for Old Boys, wae playing excellent Soccer at Blandford Park, but the team play of this eide and. of Thistle was not good. It waa only because of the good work of the goalies, Crocker and Yeoman, that the score wae not higher. The territorial advantages were fairly evenly divided in the first half and it was only in the second half that the victors established a satisfactory superiority by developing better finishing methods.