Flashes From Saturday's Sport

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 188, 11 August 1941, Page 4

Flashes From Saturday's Sport

RUGBY Grammar's Scrum Superiority.—Flayed in the rain, the game between Grainmar and_ Takapuna was dominated by Grammar's superior scrum work. Greater weight, effectively applied, ensured Grammar the ball eight times out of ten, and the ninth time Grammar was awarded a free-kick for premature lifting by the opposition. Added to this Rogers, Warren and Noble were formidable breakaway men in loose play, using -both hands and feet surely to take advantage of fielding errors by the opposition, while the backs were individually safe. Takapuna's display in the circumstances was creditable, and enough was seen of the handling of both backs and forwards with the slippery ball, notably that of R. Rogan, to indicate that if the team could have got a fair share of the ball in the scrums the result might have been reversed. Kidd, at scrum half for Grammar, played the game for the day in kicking the ball handy to his forwards, so that the attacking combination of the Grammar backs with a dry ball was not revealed. They left the impression of being a steadier lot than Grammar had at the start of the season, and might yet spring a surprise when tested in fine weather conditions. Grammar's victory, 14 —8.

Suburbs Weakened.—Army did not have much trouble in taking the honours from Suburbs in a fast game, considering the conditions. Suburb? fielded several juniors who performed creditably under the circumstances, but the usual thrust and understanding of the loser's rearguard were missing. The Army backs, too. took some time to settle down, Stancich, second five-eighth, being a weak link in the chain. There was a decided improvement in the second spell, when D. Brady shifted from centre to second five-eighth, and lleinuarney, wing, took Brady's place. Stancich going to the wing position. The Army forwards were strong all round, but the Suburbs' vanguard held them well and were troublesome in the loose. The best Army back was Warner, who in the fullback role carried out a lot of hard defensive work with great credit, his rush-stop-ping being excellent. McLean and Masscy were shining lights among the forwards, the former especially being clever at holding up attacks and starting counter moves. Perriam, tho usual Army centre, was unable to play owing to illness.

Grafton Surprises. — Fielding several young players in its backline Grafton showed decided improvement in its form of recent matches and cnused a surprise by downing Technical to the tune of 15 —0. Wetheridge played a bright game at halfback, and attacked and defended with equal ability. His potted goal from a very narrow angle well out in the twenty-five was the highlight of the match, the ball soaring well over the bar in the middle of the posts. Other young players who linked in well were Laking, first five-eighth, Oreathead, centre, and R. Sayers, wing. The lastnamed is a bright and speedy player who scored two good tries. Kinney was very sound as the last line of defence. The Grafton pack was the better in allround work, but the Technical backs gave their forwards poor support and could not strike a combination at any stage.

Otahnhu's Win Deserved.—Otahuhu's win against Marlst was well deserved and credit must be given to the hard and fast pack of young forwards now playing for the suburban team. Outstanding were Neighbour. Christian and Ryan, all young and active, and showing great promise. Sorcnsen at full-back for Mari.-t. gave a sound display and was one of the main factors in keeping the score down to 9—3.

The Ponsonby "Skeleton."—The dryball interlude at Eden Park provided spectators with a highly interesting and enjoyable curtain-raiser in which a mere skeleton of the old Ponsonby team employed traditional Ponsonby technique for the first half of the game to bluff Trainins; College to a 14—12 score. There was food strong sap in the old "skeleton" among the rearguard, but the forward backbone w;.s strung together mostly with lads of the seconds and thirds—good boys, but not yet toughened for top grade. Mere technique was not enough, however, when the College called the bluff in the second spell, and hit up the pace in the backs to ring 011 18 points more. Even at that Ponsonby kept it interesting. Highlights were provided when McLean several times went a-Schuberting down the side-line to be bowled over (except oncc> by Ilalliwell, when Boggs, who had been out of the run of the play, mnde a scoring run through a succession of opponents, and when Kingstone potted a goal, converted a corner try. and came in as eitiu three-quarter to notch a try.

N.Z. Captain Ordered Off. —A sensational turn was given to the return home-and-home match between Buller and West Coast, when in the second spell, R. R. King, the All Black captain against the Springboks, and leader of the West Coast team, was ordered off the ground, at Westport, for disputing the decision of the referee when Buller scored its first try. The game was won by Buller by 6 points (tries by Dalziell and Mosley) to 3 (penalty goal by Monk). The game was played in a very rigorous manner with the Buller forwards slightly shading those of the West Coast.

Hutt Army Beatpn By Marist.—For the second time this season, Marist Old Boys' XV. beat the Hutt Army team, the score on Saturday at Wellington being 14—8. (In the first round on June 16. Marist was victorious 9 —o). The other Wellington championship gvnes resulted:—Athletic 12. v. Petone 3; Wellington 13. v. Johnsonville 9: University 12. v. Hutt 6; College Old Boys. 14. v. Oriental 9: St. Patrick s College Old Boys 19. v. Poneke 3; Eastbourne 31, v. Air Force 12.

College Championship.—After the final (tames In the secondarv schools championship Auckland Grammar and Takapuna Grammar are bracketed for first position, each having won six games, drawn two and lost two. Two points behind comes Sacred Heart College, which was beaten on Saturday by Takapuna. Mount Albert Grammar and King's College are equal ir» fourth place and Technical brings up the rear with two points. The winning teams may play oft lor the championship by mutual conscnt. but as Auckland Grammar h*s fixtures with Hamilton and New Plymouth High Schools the next two week*;, it may be difficult to arrange a date for a match.

Representative Teams.—Players to practice at Ponsonby gvmnp.sium at 7.30 to-morrow in connection with the selection of the Colts XV. to play at Thames on August 23:—Butler (Training College). Brady (Takapuna). Cawkwell. Faire, Johnson (Training College). Kelly. Kurnev. Lipscombe. Marshall, McLean. Montgomery. Noble (G. 0.8.), Peterson. Pike. Rae, Sorenson. Titchener. Vasey. With"ridpo. Juniors: Players selected to t**ain at the Grafton Club's shed at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday. when the team to plTy at Hamilton cn August If will be selected:—Coleman. Stacey, Nt T. W. Tnder. Noakes (University). Shaw. Soper, Stan'.ch, Southwell. Grmming 'Tr~in'ng College), Cole. S. Howe fSvburbs). Delerrosso (Technical), Kinney. Bon-rrd (Grafton). Southernwood. Williams. Hall fOtahuh-i). Lentfrum (Trinitv College), O'Sullivnn. Adams, Hand (Marist), Wallace (Grammar). Noble (Manukau).

POSITION OF TEAMS

FIRST SECTION Points Ch. P. W. L. D. P. a. pts Papakura Army . .. 4 3 1 - 55 28 6 Grammar Old Boys .421 I 42 36 5 Otahuhu 4 2 2 - 32 32 4 Takapuna® 4 2 2 - 40 47 4 M-rist. Old Boys ... 4 1 2 1 20 30 3 Suburbs .4 1 3 - 36 52 2 *1940 champion. SECOND SECTION Points Cr. P. W. L. D. F. A. Pts Manukau 4 4 - - 72 40 8 Training College ... 4 3 1 - 73 43 6 Ponsonby 4 3 1 - 35 44 6 Orafton 4 1 3 - 38 35 6 Technical 4 1 3 - 29 36 2 University ......... 4 - 4 - 25 74

LEAGUE Hemi's Century.—When J. Hemi kicked a penalty goal for Manukau in the match against City, he reached 100 points for the present season. Playing at first fiveeighth, Remi gave a good demonstration of pivotal play and waa very quick to sight the gap. Later when Hemi got great support from Murrpy, at second five-eighth, the sharp play of the pair was a big factor in Manukau winning by 7 points to 2.

Versatile Players.—The arrangement of tlie Manukau backs in the matc-h with City saw* several players in positions unusual to them. R. Martin filled the full-back position and gave a good display, with a defence beyond question. T. Chase had a day at half-back and did reasonably well in a position which did not suit liim. His best effort came later in the game when he forgot that he was a half-back and went off with a side-stepping run which breached the City defence, and, as support came on, led to a Manukau try.

Field Goal by Clarke.—One of the brightest incidents in the match between Manukau and City was the gathering of the only points City got, the result o! a spectacular fieid <roal by W. S. Clarke. Plav at the time was at the Manukau end and close to the sideline. Clarke's shot, from tiie widest of angles, sent the ball high between the post*?.

Poor Standard Shown.—Lnrsrely for the reason that both teams had players absent and had to play others in strange positions. the match between Mount Albert and Newton fell a long way below expectations. Very little in the way of combination was shown and mishandling of the ball was general. Emus, the Newton wing, who rarely saw the ball in attack, made it a good individual day by converting the two tries that Newton got.

North Shore's Fnll-Baok.—Filling the full-back position for North Shore In the game against Marist was R. Smith, brother of J. Smith, who had played full-back for Shore with such distinction for several seasons and who is now in camp with the forces for overseas. In Saturday's game R. Smith played a very sound game, both in defence and attack, and kicked with judgment considering the heavy state of the ground.

Wellington Player For North Shore.—Making his first appearance in Auckland League on Saturday wp3 Scholes, a solid forward from Wellington. ITe is not new to the code, as he played with distinction in the forwards for the Central senior grade team at Wellington. He gave a good account of himself in the North Shore forwards in the game against Marist. and should prove an asset to the Shore side.

Shore's 20-Point Win.—The muddy ground at Carlaw Park No. 2 did not mar the ability of the North Shore combination, which turned on some good football to comfortably defeat Marist. Twenty points of the twenty-three were scored by Shore in the first half. Each try was full of merit and the passing and handling were good under the ground conditions. Marist did better in the second half and actually held the upper hand for most of the spell. However, it was the superior forces of the Shore forwards which won the day. The reappearance of Dick Smith at full-back was a feature of the game. Smith was a high-class player three or four years Pgo. and he has lost little of his former elusiveness. Smith kicked four goals in succession and intends to play for the rest of the season. Clarke and Chatham, at fiveeighths. well served from the scrum base by McArthur. were a formidable trio, and were the attacking force in each movement. The best try of the game came from a clever opening by Mc Arthur and forwards Petersen, Grahim and finally Field gave excellent support. Taripo. on the wing for Marist. rhowed speed and determination on attack. There is no faster forward in the code than C. Petersen, the North Shore Auckland representative. Hs showed a clean pair of heels when being chased by several Marist backs. Petersen is in great condition and was going like a train at the end of a heavy day.

SOCCER Wallace Scores Four Goals.—The main attraction at Blandford Park, when Army defeated Air Force by 7 goals to 3, provided some excellent Soccer. The Airmen put up a splendid fight against the clever Army side, but the latter team proved itself the fitter and had far the better of the exchanges in the second spell. The outstanding feature of the game waa the brilliant combination shown by Wallace, M. Francis and Hatchard, the Army inside forwards. This trio had a perfect understanding and treated the crowd to some very pretty play. Wallace led the line in fine style and distributed the ball with good judgment. He was always in the thick of the fray and scored four goals. M. Francis obtained two and Hatchard netted the other Anny point. Caisley was the pick of the Air Force vanguard and scored twice, with Ellis getting the other goal for the losers.

Air Force Backs Busy.—Latimer and Moore, the Air Force backs, had a very busy time against the Army attack, bur both players were in good form, making some fine clearances when hard pressed and tackling in determined fashion. Although Johnson, the Air Force custodian, was beaten on seven occasions, he played well and saved his side from what might have been a heavier deficit.

Onehunsa's Seven Goals. —The reorganised Onehunga side proved too good for Abels at Walkaraka Park. Heavy rain In the first hall made conditions difficult for both sides, whe crossed over at one goal each. Thomson had scored for Abels and Burnle for Onehunga. In the second half Onehunga monopolised the play. Lindsay <3), Brass (2) and Lefont raising the tally to seven. Abels also netted on three occasions through Claynorth (penalty), Robinson and Thomson. In the Onehunga defence Hitchen. at left half, was outstanding. In the forwards Lindsay. Brass and Rurnie often went through Abels" defcnce. Por Abels Rutherford and Ekir.an worked hard.

Leader Draws.—Feature of the Eastern SuburbsThistle match was the goal-keeping of Cowie, who effected many brilliant saves in the face of strong Thistle opposition. In spite of his good work, four goo Is were registered against his side. A weaker team, Suburbs did well to draw with the team which had the lead in the competition for several weeks. One of the three Suburbs' fourth graders. King, was playing his first match [ for four years and he put up a good performance. Welch was a tower of strength to his side and he notched the flrst two goals. Of the Thistle side. Wiseman, who scored two goals, and Whylie 1 were both prominent in the vanguard. HOCKEY Teachers' Solid Defence.—lf was the solid defence of the Training College backs which repulsed the sharp thrusts of the "United forwards and swung play in it« favour in the big game at Hobson Park on Saturday. The full-backs, K. McEwan and 11. Yorke, proved so safe that the goalkeeper had very little work to do all afternoon while the trio in the half line, K. Clements, J. Birkett and A. Moorhead, not only gave their forwards some nice openings, but were always in position to sustain the effort. This, coupled with a better understanding among its forwards, I enabled Training College Co finish with I two goals fo its opponent's nil.

Butler T s Day On.—The score against United must have mounted much higher had not W. Butler, the goalie, played an outstanding frame. Repeatedly he came out to meet tlie attack and repel the invaders with long-directed kicks and till is was no mean feat when it is considered what a "glue pot" the coal mouth was after the heavy rain in the early stages of play. In the first goal scored by J. Elliott rirainst him the pace fooled him, not that it was fast, but the slowness of it seemed to make him miss-time his kick arid the ball just trickled under his boot and into the net.