LEAGUE LADDER

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 160, 9 July 1945, Page 7

LEAGUE LADDER

POSITION UNCHANGED

OTAHUHU IN FRONT

Playing with combination, Otahuhu beat Manukau and kept its position at the top of the ladder, when the Auckland Rugby League's senior championship competition was continued on Saturday. Richmond and Mount Albert also had wins, and jointly share second position. Results were:— Otahuhu 21, Manukau 13. Ponsonby 31, Marist 15. Mount Albert 12, Point Chevalier 3. City 13, v. North Shore 11. .Richmond 30, Newton 10. Manukau Recovery. — The Manukau team staged a remarkable recovery against Otahuhu, although the gap was too wide to bridge. When Otahuhu, which had played an orthodox game marked by smooth team play, led by 21 points to nil, the Manukau outlook appeared to be hopeless at that stage. The Manukau players threw the ball about with abandon, and with continued thrusts and good backing up pinned Otahuhu on the defensive. Two of the Manukau forwards, Opai and Te Tai, were over the Otahuhu try line to score, and a third try was secured by W. Topia, a new three-quarter from the Hokianga district. Two of the tries were converted by Butler. The latter missed several chances from penalties during the match.

v Mount Albert Extended.—Mount Albert h&d to fight hard to keep off strong and determined attacks by Point Chevalier, which was making its first appearance on the main ground at. Carlaw Park. There was plenty of, interest in the game, although the standard of play did not rise to any great heights. Mount Albert did not play like a team out to win the grade honours. A feature of the game was the good football of St. John, centre, and Dias at five-eighth for Point Chevat lier. The former was in every attacking movement and compared favourably with Wiles, the Mount Albert three-quarter. Dias made a few splendid openings and his general play was impressive. The Mount Albert backs were not a happy combination, and there was too much wild passing. Among the Mount Albert forwards, Shadbolt was prominent, and Thomassen and Milliken also played J good games.

Ponsonby Exploits Opportunities. — Unusual feature of (he second half of the Ponsonb.v-Marist game was the fact that though Ponsonby put on 24 points to Marist's 11, the territorial advantage was in Marist'* favour, the Ponsonby scores generally coming after temporary breakI downs in the Marist attack. Nordgren provided an instance of this in sprinting the length of the field down the wing, topping off the effort by converting his try from wide out. He contributed 13 of his side's 31 points. Superior defence and the ability to exploit opportunities, together with a weight advantage in the forwards, were factors in Ponsonby's success, though the difference between the two teams was, perhaps, not as great as the final score suggested.

Superior Richmond . Backs. — Newton maintained its effort well against Richmond, but the difference in the class of the two back lines was too marked to make the game an impressive exhibition of League. The Richmond back movements, however, were good to watch, Lowther and Robertson being particularly prominent. The Newton forwards worked hard, but their infringements of the halfback rule in the first spell were costly. Walker and Hawkes were the best of the side's backs, while Silva, Jamieson and Zimmerman were prominent in the forwards.

I City's Winning Try.—That a game is never won until the final whistle blows was strikingly demonstrated in the match between City and North Shore at Devon-, port on Saturday. Throughout the game City did most of the attacking, but at half-time Shore led B—3, and it was not until well into the second half that the visitors were able to draw level. City made strenuous efforts to run into the lead, but, with barely five minutes to go, Shore came to light with a surprise attack that resulted in Chatham scoring an unconverted try. It was then City's duty to give a sudden twist to the trend of scoring through E. Donovan crossing for Silva to convert Just before the final whistle sounded.