RECENT GAMES REVIEWED

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 27, 1 August 1923, Page 13

RECENT GAMES REVIEWED

PLAY AND PLAYERS

(By "Drop-Kick.")

Athletic had their work cut out against Wellington, and but for a

"potte.d" goal their chances of overtaking Petone jn tlje senior championship would have been nil. Wellington %vere making their second appearance op the Park this season,' and, although the conditions on the day were right against proper football, they gaye a nuch better account of themselves than on their previous appearance, when they were lucky to get the verdict against Old Boys. TKe progress which Wellington have made 'is one of the pleasing features of this season's senior competition, and it is good to know that there is still plenty of life in the old club. The team is on the light side, but it has excellent material, and '.f the players stick together for another season or two more will be heard of the Yellow and Blacks. What they are capable of doing was well illustrated by their success in keeping" their :ine intact against the strongest rivals of Petono for championship honours. True, the conditions put the usual mocjes of play out of-the question, but as they affected both teams Wellington can be given credit for a .fine performince, to which all players contributed. Wellington have a good pair of fiveeighths in Johnston and M'Gregor, both of whom have played in Southland.; Johnston 'is just about up to representative standard this season, and may yet find a place in the A' team. M'Gregor has been doing well, and, if anything, he was a little better than Johnston against Athletic. His try ; was a good one.

_ Hughes (half-back) and Hill (fullnack) gave a lot of assistance to their side, and no small amount of the creditdue to Wellington for holding out so tenaciously against the many vigorous drives by Athletic can be given to them. -

A little more driving force in the pack would make Wellington, more troublesome to the leading teams than they have been. There is also a little too much looseness in their play but there can be no doubt that they will be a tough pack next year, if Jervis Herd, Joyce, Ambler, and company arc still with the club.

Athletic could not show their usual form m the last game—the conditions were against them, and Roberts, B. Gibson and Sutton were unavoidable absentees' They had the best of the game such as it was, and, though their points were obtained from goals (one a Hne "pot" by Svenson), they would have been decidedly unlucky to lose. The forwards worked like- Trojans in the heavy going, with Porter always taking a bff hand in matters. It was :no fault of his that Athletic did not cross Wellington's line.

Brook and Hosking _ were the pick of the Athletic backs against Wellington. The fornter is undoubtedly getting back to his best form, and if he can cast aside a couple of slight weaknesses he will be good enough to be recalled to his former place in the representatives. Hosking did not appear to be very much troubled by the state of the ground. Ho is in senior football to stay, judging by the way ho is shaping.

There gie mud-larks in horse-racing, and there is one in football—Wai-wick, the Athletic half. He was the smallest, player on the field in the WellingtonAthletic match at the Park, and yefc he was made the main target for lac- mud that jvas flying aboufc. AjhJ.

he revelled in it, to the amusement of the spectators. Ho played well for most of the game.

'Varsity are recovering from their inglorious position. A win over Old Boys has placed them up a step on the ladder. But they are not the Varsity whom the spectators delighted to see in past seasons.

Hutt s figures in the championship table do not make good reading. They are not a, reliable indication, however, of the (team's performances this season. A little good fortune may have placed a win or two to the credit of Hutt, whom Oriental, in particular, have found no easy thing. "Ories" only got home by 3 points from Hutt in the last game. The suburbanites liave good hopes of being ■ much stronger next year.

Marist must be considered as lucky in receiving a draw as their portion of the game against Poneke. Had it not been for the late arrival of three of the Red and BJack players it is most probable that the first Green score would not have eventuated. In addition to this, Poneke were unfortunate in not scoring a further "try when two "Marist backs were' arguing as "to who should have possession of the ball within ten yards of their own goal-line.'for. whicli tiie referee awarded a free-kick to Poneke, apparently because one of the two Mai'ist backs was off-side. If the advantage rule had been applied a score seemed certain, but to steer the heavy and soddened ball over the posts was almost an impossibility. However^ these are of the genus "might have beens," and were only possibilities^ The most apparent feature of the game was the extremely' muddy condition of the ground, which made anything like decent handling impossible. Poneke backs made several attempts at passing, but gave it up as a bad job quite early in the game and left the final decision to their forwards. Both pack? worked well, but whatever advantage there was rested with Poneke, who made repeated attacks on Marist's goal-line, though' without a. great, deal of success. Both teams were largely comprised of junior players, who did remarkably well under the circumstances. Poneke's absentees were Gibson, Kennedy, and Sid Shearer, while Marist were even worse off Mullins, Crotty, Carmody, O'Callaghan, Brunsell, Hopkins, M'Eae, and Markham being unavailable for various reasons, mostly" as the result of the prevailing sickness.

Poneke's vanguard was well led by Calcinai, J. Shearer, and Booker. Rogers and Walsh were occasionally promipent, but the heavy going affected them and others, especially in the closing stages. Jack Shearer, to whom, by the way, "Drop-kick" offers congratulations on his marriage during last week, was continually in the picture. Fast following up by both Shearer and Booker frequently had Marist in trouble, and only good defence kept the Red and Blacks out. Amongst the backs, Hall, D. Algar, and F. Tilyard were perhaps the best, but it was not a day for backs, and- but little came their way except m the course of defending their own goaUine, which they had to do on many occasions'.

Amongst Marist, players, M'Cleary stood out head and shoulders above his team-mates both' in defence and attack His try in the sepond spell, -which equalised the scores, was the best of the match, and was well deserved, following as it did a fine piece of individual play. Amongst, the forwards, all of wjiom worked well from start to finish ,l'!SAf *■ ->vere--Perine, .Troy, and Hayden. Jn the loose ihe".Marist forwards were at times more than equal to those ot Poneke, but were at a disadvantage in the scrums, where the Red and Black nppkers held supremacy. - Berhampore took the field against Petone in their second match, with no fewer than six juniors in their team In consequence they -had to' expect a bad beating, and, on the whole, were lucky to get out of it with the score 29 to 9 Ihey did very well in scoring three tries against p. full Petoue team, and had quite a lot of the game in the first spell at the end of which the score was only 9-6 against them. " •* - ■•

So far as Berhampore were concerned the game showed that they'have quite a good lot of juniors coming on Lewis on the wing, for instance, scored a really good wmg try/ getting through where many seniors have failed already tins' season, as noted before in these- columns. It all goes to show that the very quality of the wing three-quarters in Wellington this season has had a good deal to do with the comparative failure in this part of the game. At the beginning of the season,_ •Drop-kick" noted O'Callaghan pi Marwti as a good type of winger, but the ex-West Coaster has not lived up to his promise. ' He lacks the driving power of an ideal winger, whose duty it is to score, if he gets the ball within striking distance of the line. Lewis had plenty ot opposition to pass, and he might have been_ easily tempted to get rid of the ball with a centre kick or a punt to touch. Instead he carried on and won through. Lewis is a reinstated player from Auckland..

Mason, at full-back, did very well, and on one occasion came through a most dangerous Petone rush with the coolness of a veteran. Lacking the veteran hooker, Standen, Berhampore none the less with their: juniors in the pack got the ball very neatly in the scrum—only however, to lose it through the inability of the Light Blue backs to clear it quickly< enough behind. It was noteworthy too, especially in the second spell, that the Berhampore backs, handling the ball quite well, made all sorts of tactical mistakes, when they had quite good chances of scoring. They have done so many times_ this season. Petone, with their slashing attacks driven right home, were a lesson by comparison. Taken individually, Petone made a good showing. H. E. Nicholls, at. half played one of his best games, and is quite obviously getting back to the form which gave him his All Black status. Mark was also better than usual, and is probably playing an improved game as the result of his sojourn in Auckland. His potted goal was a delightful bit of Rugby tactics, -reminiscent of au earlier day, when it was quite the thing for an expert "potter" to be waiting close in to goal for a pass that would enable him to let drive,with little chance of failure. Mark did it before against Marist this season, and won the game for Petone. Corner is playing also his best football up to date,-and has got rid of nearly all his old faults, familiar to any close follower of the game. He ought to be considered in any rep. selection, and it is.satisfactory to find him among the players who went to Napier. ' "Doc" Nicholls is still probably the best centre-three-quarter or second ■ five-eighths in Wellington, though he does not get credit for it. No player is showing greater powers of anticipation and cleverness in utilising chances.