SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 141, 17 June 1922, Page 12

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

POSITION STILL INTERESTING

AN ATTENDANCE RECORD,

(By "Dropkiok.")'

■ The increased interest in clvb1 footBall this season accounted for a record atendance (for a club match) at the [Athletic Park last Saturday. About ,7200 people paid for admission at the gates, and, with the addition of season, ticket holders, ladies, and1 boys, the crowd must have numbered 8000. It is stated by the Wellington Rugby Union secretary (Mr. F. J. M'Comisky) that ■the "gate" was a record for New Zealand', as far as the sixpenny charge is concerned. It was certainly a. record '"sixpenny gats" for Wellington. If the1 leading teams in the senior competition continue to keep so closely associated! on the championship ladder, and! a more liberal supply of ideal weather, such as ■yras experienced last Saturday, is pro!<ri<iedi, the Hugby Union should! have imore big gate. But the type of football will require to be an improvement on that shown.by 'Varsity and Poneke to the record crowd. There were expecta•jfcions of a great game. 'Varsity ha-d obtained the lead, and they bail been playing the most attractive football in the competition. Poneke had steadily improved, and were expected to do their ahare in a fast, open game. Poneke did something entirely different, 'Varsity collapsed', and th» expectations of the ■crowd' were far from realised. The result, however, mads the championship 'table even more interesting than would! have been the case had 'Vaa-sity won. sPoneke and Petone are once again in the lead, with) 'Varsity and Berhampora only a point behind. Poneke's chances of ultimate success have been brightened! toy their defeat of 'Varsity, but the championship ie still very open. Oriental! 'have gone back a 1 good deal, and! Athletic have drawn level with Marist. The last-nanMSi team will still be found a tough, proposition, and Oriental, Athletic, and! Old! Boys may yet prove stumbling blocks to the progress of the teams higher up the ladder. The club matches will be continued until1 the representative programme proper ia taken tip, towards the end of August, and enthusiasts will have plenty to keeip them interested.