THE LAST LAP

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 199, 23 August 1943, Page 5

THE LAST LAP

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP

GARRISON out in front

The-final series of games in the Auckland Rugby Union's Gallaher Shield comtjtion is scheduled for next Saturday, and with a lead of two points over Alanuk'au and Marist Old Boys the Garrison "Artillery XV. needs only a draw to become the senior champion team. The ladder shows the following positions.— . Points Ch. P W L D P A Pts. ,-,rrt.on " •••• 13 10 - 3 — 1,9 91 20. ffonnkail I 3 8 3 2 167 105 18 JSoB ...... 13 9 4 — 212 113 18 Marist u.n 13 5 5 3 115 127 13 JSJwnlf&l'Oß. •• 13 5 5 3 124 H3 13 rratton-Ponsonby . 13 6 6 1". 153 133 13 Gralton to ... 13 4 8 1 126 172 11 MTP. 13 — 13 — 60 242 — v-xt -Saturday's draw is:—Garrison v. "Technical Old Boys, Manukau v. GraftonMarist v., Navy, Army v. UT.P» After last week's Rugby League congests the championship points were:— 28, City Rovers 22, Richmond E Marist- Old Boys 19, Mount Albert IS,. Otaliuhu 10, Ponsonby 8, New6, North Shore 5. Thp Soccer championship now stands:— Collcce 24, Comrades 20, Mount Albert Granmiar Old Boys 19, Air Force aid-Eastern Suburbs IS, Garrison 11.

uttlejqhn brilliant

Garrison has taken the sole lead in the Auckland Rugby Union's senior championship as a'result of its victory over Manukau in the chief contest at Eden Park last ••aturday. Manukau, Which was equal in „ 1o _/t Willi its opponents, went ahead in he efr v stages, but at the interval Gar•:,oii lfe(i bv S points to 3. Garrison, which Scored v two - tries (one converted) vLi -mother try in the second spell. MMiiaul" only points came from a try. The S'ouncl" conditions were good except - T J-innrklv patch-in the centre and at mutton twenty-five, while - the v gather was beautifully-fine. There was ™,v-i it tendance, which. waxed entliusiLrtvu- tho fast-moving exchanges "If Ses' llik Pi'Pved too strong for Army. Tlie matches resulted. rarrison 111 b°3.t. Jlsnukau 3. . n Xavv 0 clrew with Grafton-Ponsonby 9. Technical 0.8. 11, beat_ M.T.P. 3. " "Marist 17, beat Army o. i tt The game between Manukau * rfrrison proved a hard and interesting battle and Garrispn. p early stages the Manukau great guns; the ssii ~ „ did it gradually took command. The then V) 1 ayed bettei as a combination, whi e u wncvifi' iiven' Were much more quickly on their :he Inside, men enloved a least of the bail scrim? but, lor the most part, threw ?*£ possession'when the five-eighths persisted £ kickfric The' Garrison defence was equal .o Hi. Manv times G. D. Littlejohn (fullback) ran uo strongly to take the ball, going at top, and 'made some brilliant saves. "offside Play. — Bottj teams were given latitude V offside-playamong" the forwards. Sometimes, ollowing a line-out, the halt-back was seen fum-b----,iins with the- ball and a forward-was allowed to -ather m front of him and proceed.- On other occasions Jorw?ards .made no. effort to set on side alter overrunning the ball .in the loose, on A-j° in'agairi from an - off-side position. Morpeth played-a-'-flne game" in- the Garrison pack, and he-was well "supported by -Gunning, M. M. Smith, Reidy and Thomas. McCarthy (second flveciahth) proved a good opportunist as well as doing nice v.-ork Both on attack and defence. Dunn, on the wing, was the best of the Manukau backs, with limited opportunities. Just on time he made a brilliant save, when he ran from his own wing to the-other line end lowered Nordgren (wing), who appeared certain to score. Marks, BroVn. Vazcy and Young were prominentamong the forwards, who were unlucky to lose their captain, W. E.-Smith,-who was compelled to retire in the second spell owing to a recurrence of knee trouble. One of the Manukau forwards appeared lucky not to get his marching orders. A.G.S. Wins in .South.—-At .New . Plymouth on Saturday-"the Auckland Grammar School first XV. teat High School. 10—5, in" the annual match. ■ Auckland's scorers were J. Burton (potted goal), Dignan and McCready (tries). ON THE SOCCER FRONT

Comrades and Metro-College A further improved their chances in the Soccer championship at Biandford Park on Saturday, Comrades beating Garrison by a fourgoal margin in the curtain-raiser, and Metro-College winding-up against }n. Albert Grammar A in the main attraction victorious by the odd goal in five. Eastern Suburbs and Ponsonby drew, as did Papakura and North Shore, and the remaining fixture between the Air Force and Mt. Albert Grammar 0.8. B resulted in a victory for the airmen.

The scores were:— Comrades 5, beat Garrison 1. Metro-College A 3, beat Mt. Albert Grammar A 2. tt. ■Ponsonby 1, drew with Eastern Suburbs 1. ~" . „„„ n Papakura 0, drew with North Shore 0. Air Force 3, beat Mt. Albert Gramrnai B 0. - • •-

Walters and Fleet Excel. — In the curtain raiser Comrades' positional play and were superior to that of Garrison, whilst Walters and Fleet were in excellent form in the van miard, Walters scoring three goals and Fleet, two. Richards netted lor Garrison and played a gooa game whilst Morgan at centre-forward was always dangerous in the first spell. He received a nasty knock early in the second half and consequently was not in the picture so much. Other Garrison players to show.up were Smith, Ludgate, xii£gs and Robinson. Comrades played ten men lor the majority "of the "second spell — "Lalra Having to go otl with a wrenched- left ankle. McCamiSh, Risgans. and Firicham. were - prominent .in comrades' -defence. The whole of the vanguard players -■'Were- in excellent form and played pretty football.""*

Wilkinson.,-"Grammar's" Only Scorer. —In the main game Metro College A defeated Mount Albert Grammar A- by the odd goal in Ave after a gcod -exhibition of Soccer. - -Metro always had silghtly the better of exchanges, and had it not been for the sound defence of Sims, B. Woodhall and R. Speed, and the excellent manner. In-.which Ci Ward, Housby and Roberts helped to pack the goal when pressed, the Collegians might have won by a larger margin. R. Woodhall Played a great-"game-at right-back for Grammar, his tackling and kicking being sound. Ray Speed was. also " in form, but still seemed to. be a bit nervous of his injured leg. He headed clear what appeared- to be two certain " goals. War.d was easily tlie pick of the. .halves and Wilkinson (who scored both .points for Grammar) was the-.star of -the front line. Webber. Hope-Ede and M.- Speed scored for Metro, and all - three players were at the top 'of their .form; perhaps Les W.Oods, at' inside right, was .the hardest worker : in the' vanguard — he gave his winger .(Brass) some excellent, passes. Brass .played- a good game, although tie was inclined to have a shot when a cross would have been more beneficial. McLuckie,. Phillips and Hill played well:

Keen Game.—Papakura. although fielding ten men, managed to hold North Shore to a scoreless draw at Devcnport. It was a keen and hardfought "game* ah~d~was more rugged than scientific. The camp defence was solid. Wylie (in goal) and Wiseman and Lythberg in the backs breaking up the Shocp_ attacks in great style. Yates, Valentine and Hi'gnett provided the thrust in the forward hnd. iScottifWas safe in goal for Shore, clearing well underpressure. Holland and Stuart were the best ofvthe Shore backs. The forward line worked hard but had ap off day as far as shooting was concerned. .. Roman, and;" Mason were the most prominent..!# the -.Shore attack.- ,

DEVON-PORT SHIELD

The -victory of Grammar Old Boys over Ow'ai •.R'qvers : (4—l) brings them > level with University iii the Devonport Shield, hockey competition, but as theystill have to have a bye/ University will have -to. be beaten before its position- can. be/.threat* enecl. Training College, fcy its defeat of Air Force. (4—o) ; ,;is -now cinly one-- point behind 'Varsity, and- much -will ".depend on the result of the game when these two teams meet. • Somerville had an easy win over a, much weakened St. Luke's side. B—3. : Wesley United? after running up a. four-goal lead in the .-first spell against Mount Eden,:''failed to improve on it. an the second, but had one goal scored against it-before the final whistle.

C. Morgan's Spectacular Goal. -— Mount Eden's only goal against Wesley United was- the result of a spectacular effort by that consistent back, C. Morgan. From a free hit near the halfway mark, Morgan, raced through; a gap in the Wesley defenceto gain the circle, where he appeared to lose control of the ball and it seemed likely to crtss the goal line. At the critical moment he made a dive at it and, simultaneously sweeping his stick around in . front of him, just managed to steer in between the posts. L. Hccicces and W. Miller took It in turns to score Wesley's goals, the former notching .. his from penalty corner hits . and .Miller from his new position at centre forward. ,

W. Spiccr Five Goals. — Mention of a match between Somerville and St. Luke's always conjures up memories of the dour, struggles these two clubs had some few years ago, but Saturday's game proved disappointing. -A weakened St. Luke's side took the field with two third graders in its ranks, and this, together with the lack of any cohesion between the backs and forwards, enabled Somerville to pile on the goals. W. Spicer (centre-forward) had another day out,scoring no less than, five, of. his side's tally of eight.

Contrast In Methods. — .It was the combined Play of Grammar- Old Boys that gave the team success against the individual efforts of the Owai Rovers. Goalkeeper Brierly made some good eaves for the winning XI. La wry's full-back display left little room for complaint, and he received splendid support from Colby. Bryan (centre-half) Was seen In some splendid work in the mostf difficult position on the field, while the forward trio — Grove. G. Lawry--and Bakerclaim special mention. Burt was not only the niosfc difficult Owai Rovers' back to pass, but his clearing hits were well timed and directed. Funnell (centre half) lost many advantages by advancing too much instead of maintaining position and supporting the forwards. This was best illustrated, by the manner in which the many splendid attacks opened br Hill fizzlec* out so quickly-

BOLD Bit BY MARIST

Playing good football, Manukau, the League champion, resisted a hard challenge by Marist on Saturday, and next Saturday will meet Richmond in a special match. Results of Saturday's matches were:— Manukau - 22, beat Marist 15. City 15, beat Mount Albert 9. Ponsonby 31, beat Newton 10. North Shore 10, drew with Otahuhu 10. Unusual Field Goal.—Two points* gained by Marist against Manukau came in an unusual way. In the midst of hard, open play in front of the Manukau goal. Glover kicked at a rolling ball, and it flew over the cross-bar, much to the surprise of everybody. A field goal off a rolling ball is not without precedent in League football in Auckland, a goal of this kind being got for City in a match several seasons ago. Full-backs In Form.—Play of a high standard was shown by both full-backs in the match between Manukau and Marist. For the former, R. Martin fielded in a faultless way, and playing the running game in a daring manner made some good chances for his supports. Brockless, for Marist.' is a player who has shown consistent improvement during the season. He fielded well, was never bustled into error, and tackled gamely every time he was called upon to defend.

Donovan Scores Double Figures.—The City score of 15 points against Mt. Albert was made up of three- converted tries. Two of the tries were gained by A. Donovan, the City five-eighth, as the result of sharp following up. Donovan converted two tries, the other one being converted by S. W. Clarke, the City full-back _n the absence of the Mataira brothers the City pack included S. Dufty and W. Jackson, who were both making a first appearance this season. Jackson, when he previously played for City, was rated as one of the best forwards in the game.

Ponsonby's Best Game.—Few clubs have been hit harder than Ponsonby in this year's wartime competition, but the side has carried on gamely. Failure to field the same team each week has been a handicap. However, on Saturday, Ponsonby gave easily its best display this season and outclassed Newton in the second half, when team work was a feature of the game, Most of the Ponsonby players rose to the occasion, particularly Kay and Hull. The latter played a splendid game among the forwards, and in his present form he should find a place in the Auckland team which will be chosen next Saturday to play the Maoris. Kay made clever openings, and gave easily his best performance this season. Two young backs, Morrell (three-quarter) and Manley (five-eighth) played a prominent part in the victory. It was Rapana's first game for many weeks, and the Maori full-back revealed his brilliant form of last season. Des Williams made one of his rare appearances, and the halfback gave excellent all-round service. Ponsonby has. possibilities in the Roope Rooster should the same team be available.

The Sccond Pascoe.—There was plenty of even play in the game between Otahuhu and North Shore, which resulted in a ten-point draw. Among the Shore backs Pascoe (a brother of the forward) made a succcssful debut at five-eighth, and paved the way for a try. He was elusive on attack. A feature of the game was the clean hooking of Rutherford, who looks likely to be Auckland's representative hooker when the team to play the Maoris is announced.