FOTBALL IN THE MIST.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1151, 12 June 1911, Page 6

FOTBALL IN THE MIST.

■ - * PONEKE BEAT PETOME. BRILLIANT GAIE AT THE PARK. OTHER MATCHES DESCRIBED. SUMMARY OF RESULTS. Poneke 6 ■ Petone S Oriental 17 Southern •> Athletic 14 Melrose 3 St. James 17 Victoria College 0 Old Boys 3 Wellington 8

In the mist and chill of the winter's afternoon, four thousand people watched the Ponekc-Petone " battle ?t Athletic Park. Petone. went on the field the unbeaten team of the season; Poneke left, the ground the heroes of a great day. It was a brilliant game, with the excitement intensified by the infectious, well-vented enthusiasm of tho crowd. There was not a dull moment.in the hour and-a half's struggle. What a bang the Petone heavy division went off with! How the Poueke baclcs- iriistratctl them and threw the ball about with dazzling swiftness! But it was not the Pon-eke backs who won the game. Tho . Poneke forwards were tho real victors—forwards working on the best system of attack ever perfected, ami workin? within the system with almost irresistible precision. When the Poneke vanguard got away it swept down the field with a vim anil determination worthy of any men who ever wore the colours. The forward division didn't spread out for an attack. That kind of forward assault is simple waste of energy; as soon as tho man with the oval overruns the ball, the forwards are all off-side and out of action, and the'whole, of tho attacked hurl themselves upon the half of the would-be attackers who are on-side. When the Poneke forwards broke away on Saturday! there would usually be three in front with the ball. If they lost the ball, the second row .carried oil the attack, then the third, then the first again, and so' ou. _ That's how the game was won. That's how Poneke frequently got within striking distance.' If the Petoho backs had had as many chances they would probably have scored more. Poneko won by 6 to 3. All the points were tries. Gardiner scored tho first try, for Poneke, in the first spell, alter a delightful passing rush. In the second spell Judd got over for the Red and Blacks, and Aston scored for Petone. Of the other matches, the closest was that between Old Boys and Wellington. Wellington showed improved form, and Old Boys escaped defeat just on the call of time. On No. 2 ground at the Park, Oriental beat Southern in a dull game by 17 (in whioh there were three tries) to 6 (two tries). Athletic beat Jlelrose by 14 to 3, at Petone,. and at Karori St. James defeated Victoria College by 17 to 0. " ■ THE CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER.. The positions of -the'teams on :the championship ladder are shown', and other interesting details given iii the following table:-' " '"■ ' *j • •3 c_m jo 2 £•;■ £ a ■» % a., "e-g g'S "til &Wl<zh Petone 8 7 1 0 102 .17 U St. James 8 7 1 • 0 81 22 14 Oriental 8 li 2 0 12G 2.') 12 Athletic 8 5 3 0 GO 36 10 Poneke 8 4 3 1 01 4G 0 Southern 8 4 t 0 40 -13 8 Jlelrose 8 3 5 0 47 83 6 Old Boys 8 1 5 2 43 82- 4 AVellington ... .8 0 fi 2 20 110 2 Victoria Coll. 8 0 7 1 23 Hi 1 PONEKE-PETONE. PETONE SURPRISED. From the early days of football in AVelliiigton, whenever they como together Poneke and Petone have caused the greatest enthusiasm, and the 4000 spectators at the Park on Saturday, although not treated to an excellent game, were intensely interested- from start to finish. Ou the day's , play the better team won, l'niieke worked their backs most effectively, and their forwards more than held their own. Pctoiie's . backs were uncertain, and did not inspire confidence, nor did their forwards. From tho kickout- the Blues defended doggedly, and Miller (Petone's full-back) had an anxio;is time, but Aston came to the rescue with a dribble, which gave the suburbans heart. Poneke played their backs and gradually worked down chiefly through the cleverness of Morris, and Gardner. A few sweeping rushes by tho Reds, and Jas. Ryan got touch with a mighty kick. Daley gathered from the line and ran. straight, but lost the ball; Jas. Ryan, who was close up, took the ball and went for the line. He sent it on to his brother Joe, who missed a certain scoro by failing to take. - This move squared Poneke up, and they rushed play along regardless of all defence. Walshe secured, and sent a nice pass to Alitchiuson, who cut in,.and then transferred to Morris, and the ball went to Ryan und then to Gardner, who galloped in amid great cheering. Walshe missed tho goal. 3—o.

Petone essayed a passing bout, but the defence was too good, and Wnlshe, who was playing a brilliant game on the wing, saved his side. Jas. and Joe Ryan tried a hand-to-hand pass, but Prendeville was always ready, and nothing came of the move. Dent and M'Farlane broke away, and gave Ponckc an aniious moment. They could iiot get. past Tilyard, Daley saved an almost certain seoro of the Reds,' and Nunn set the backs going. It was about Petone's best move, yet it availed nothing. A lull in the play was caused by two Petone men having to retire for injuries. They returned within a few-minutes. Miller. ij stopping a rush, received a nasty kick i i the hip, and had to be carried off. Petone, with 14 men and W. Ryan wounded, played with great pluck. Miller/returned. and was just in time (o save a. powerful rush by Poncke. Petono were atlncking at half-time. ;

' The second half opened with Petone defending—their forwards were battling hard to even the score. A passing bout on Petone's side saw Ramsden strtakinj. Tie sent. Iα Daley, who must have scored but for a. beautiful interception by Gardner. Away went Poneke right down.'and from a nick ,Tudd scrambled ow. Mifcbinson missed the kick. 6—fl. Poneke continued to get the better of the Blues. Dent and Lindsay rushed play to Prcndeville, who mulled the take, and from a scrum Aston dribbled over. M'Farlane's kick went wide. 6—3. .Both teams were goin," at top speed, and it was anybody's game for a time. Morris put in a great run, and nearlv got over, but he was brilliantly tackled by Jim Ryan. Potono could not win now. and shortly after "no-side" sounded, with Petono defending, and the game ended:—Poneke, G; Petone, 3. Mr. Laws was referee. ATHLETIC-MELROSE. . MELROSE UNDISMAYED IN ADVERSITY. . Melrose have not hitherto been credited with much cleverness or dash, but they exhibited both on Saturday, and the display was continuous. Pitted against' Athletic at Pet'one the defeat of the somewhat inexperienced Reds was a foregone conclusion, and created no surprise. What did create interest and surprise was the manful way in which they battled through an uphill gamo and asserted themselves in its latter stages.

When play opened—on a damp ground which later was made greasy by a scries of showers—it was at once evident that the tight forward work on which Jlclrose is apt to. rely, would not serve on this occasion. Thi> Athletic forwards set a rapid paco mid bore down in loose rushes that took a deal of stopping. The' Melrose pack rose to the occasion gallantly

end there were some pretty melees in which the Reds held t'heir own tolerably well. At an early stage W. Marshall, the Melrose full-back, sent the ball over the bar with a good kick from a penalty. Melrose, 3; Athletic, 0. Melrose, though hard pressed for a time, broke out now and then. Once their forwards were stopped, none too soon, a dozen yards away from the Athletic .goal. The next event was a successful penalty shot, by Greek?, which made the scores even. Athletic, 3; Molro.sc, 3. Melrose were caught napping about half-way through tho spell. An Athletic rush sent tho ball over the line and OioMir.i; raced over a dozen yards in time to fall upon it, while the Melroic players merely stood around in an undecided way. The kick failed. Athletic, 6; Mulrose, 3. Undismayed, Jlelrose continued vigorously, and nnue thu forwards carried the bull from end to end of the field. A bit of off-side play prevented an otherwise certain score. Before the ."poll ended "Ranji" Wilson broke clear away and scored in a good position. Greeks converted. Athletic, 11; Melrose, 3. Throughout the greater part of the second spell the Melrose forwards dominated the situation. Their supporting backs wore able to break away in attack though they made some promising attempts, but the" forward pack atoned for many deficiencies by tile tireles? way in which it hammered'at the Athletic defence'. Individual Athletic players failed to find openings, and the team as a whole was muzzled. During Ihe last fifteen minutes of play details were almost invisible in the gathering dusk, but Athletic, at this s:age, recovered to an extent and struck hard and repeatedly at the Melrose line. None of these attempts prevailed, but Evensen added three points to the score with a penalty goal. The game ended: Athletic, 14; Melrose, 3. Jlr. L. Simpson was referee. WELLINGTON-OLD BOYS. A DRAWN GAME. In the match between Wellington and Old Boys,'played at Miraraa'r'on'Saturday, neither team had all its'best men in the field. The game, though not very interesting, was sternly contested, and eventually ended in a draw.. In the first spell Old Boys had slightly the best of the p!iy, and were close to scoring on several 'occasions, but at half-time no points; were credited' to cither' "team. .Shortly after resuming, Dawson got the ball in a passing-rush, and bpat all the AVellington backs, but he slipped, and lost the ball when a score seemed certain. Even play followed until the spell was half completed, and then Wellington assumed the upper hand. Pretty passing between Bridge, Christophers, Boddington. and Lambert proved fruitless, but immediately after Gilbert (Wellington) got the ball away from the scrum," and it travelled to Bridge, Christophers, Boddingtori, and Hunt. The last-named was thrown into touch near <tho corner. From tho line-out, M'Nab kicked the ball through, and Sheehan, following up, gained possession, and scored behind the posts. Bridge converted. Wellington, 5; Old Boys,"0. Within a few minutes of the kick-out. Wellington backs got going again, and a nice bout of passing enabled Lambert lo score at the corner. The trv was not converted. Wellington, 8; Old" Boys, 0. There was not a great deal of time for Old Boys to wipe off the deficit, but they set to work in earnest, and earriedplay into their opponents territory. Then sonic nico passing enabled Pool to use his pace, and score after a cood run. Drake missed the kick at goal. AVellington, 8; Old Boys, 3. The score scomwl to instil.new life, into the ex-collegians, and they kept up a strong attack until close on the call of time, when Gilbert. (Old Boys' half) sent the ball out from the scrum. It. pa.-seel through the whole chain of Old Boys back? until it. readied Dawson. luo wine-three-quarter was (hen at top speed, and" ran round, and scored close to the posts. ' It was pretty play, and as Drake managed to.add the major points it pulled the game out of the fire. ."fUingtoii, 8; Old Boys, S. Mr. A\. Bell was referee.