LEAGUE GAMES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 137, 12 June 1944, Page 5

LEAGUE GAMES

CITY IN THE LEAD

DEFEAT OF OTAHUHU

On heavy grounds, the Auckland Rugby League's senior championship compe uon was continued on Saturday. Otahuhu, one of the joint leaders, was beaten, and City, which had shared the honour, is now top of the ladder.

Results were: —

Marist 5, Manukau 5. City 18, Point Chevalier 10. Ponsonby 13, Newton 2. Mount Albert 13, Otahuhu 10. Richmond 28, North Shoie 10. Otahuhu Goes Down.—Because Its play lacked flr>icb otahuhu was 11 points behind at naii time in its match with Mount Albert, and in the set»nd half the sap w» too wideu> bridge Forward the teams were well matched, but t Mount Albert backs were superior to the opposing seven Although J. Speedy gave a splendid scrum service for Otahuhu that was \ n k MP'ng wit his reputation of being one of the best halves in the code, the suburban five-eighth line was frail and Wellm was uncertain at handling the ball.' The team also missed Keat at , and it meant that good wing-men of the eahbrcr of Halsev and Simons were starved ior opporturn ties? The Mount Albert five-eighths, Sumich and Jones worked smoothly, and B. Cranch played an outstanding game in the three-quarter line. ' Five Points Each.—"With a converted try late In the game, Manukau managed to makewith Marist, whose score consisted of an uhoon verted try and a penalty goal. Playing with enduring dash, the Marist forwards held their own against the Manukau six, and the fiveeighths, White' and Hughes., with unwavering defence, cramped the attacking play of the Manu kau inside backs. For versatility tho outstanding Marist forward was L. Simons, who occasionally also played tho extra back game. The match showed that Marist was a balanced team, and that Manukau, as a J* 8 " 1 ' has some way to go before it becomes the striking and effective force of last season. Richmond ComMnes.-Richmond high class display of the passing-game against North Shore to score eight tries with constructive football. The play was closer than the scores, 28 10. suggest. North Shore was beaten by a fine team on the day, and the loss of Cave from an injury was unfortunate for the l° s J n ß side. There was no better back on the ground than C Williams, the Richmond half, whose variety of methods from the scrum base paved the way for tries. His judicious use of the stab kick (not overdone) placed the fast Richmond backs quickly on attack. McGregor from the centre, made nice openings, and gave Lowthcr one really good try. The general combination of these two young players should be considered when the representative team comes up for selection. The North Shore forwards more than held their own against the Richmond set, and in the loose Hunt, Graham and Field worked hard to avert defeat. Laing was the pick of the backs, doing excellent work both on attack and in defence.

Leaders Extended.—Under-estimation of the Point Chevalier team almost spelt defeat for City at Walker Park. Although play was rather ragged in the early stages. Point Chevalier forwards, Including Wells and Blincoe, were responsible for a 10 —5 lead at half-time. In the Point backline Pope was the hardest worker on the field. For City. A. Donovan was always in the picture in the back line, while Mataira was to the front in the forward attacks. Point was unable to add to its score in the second half, althsvgh the City line was crosscd on two occasions, tries being disallowed through forward passing. More accurate kicking would have added to the City total.