SATURDAY'S GAMES

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 124, 30 May 1927, Page 14

SATURDAY'S GAMES

ATHLETIC DRAW WITH

PONEKE

BRIGHT PLAY IN SENIOR B

GRADE

RESULTS AT A GLANCE. Senior A Grade. Poneke ........ 3 Athletic 3 Petone .......; II Oriental ;..».... 3 Old Boys .'....V 13 University .... 8 Berhampore .„. 12 Wellington .... 3 Marist • 16 Hutt H Senior B Grade Kastbourne ..13 Porirua 8 Selwyn 11. Training College 0 JohnsonrlUe ' .. 20 Athletic 9 Oriental' ...... 11 University „..11

Rugby football competitions .ou Saturday, afternoon were favoured by a pleasant break in the weather, and tho playing conditions in some cases were excellent, particularly at Athletic Park, where the bill of fare read very well with a senior B contest preceding the main game, and the largest attendance of the season was recorded. Spectators who attended the Athletic Park early were treated to a splendid game between Eastbourne and Porirua, the play being opened up in d<* lightful manner. Eastbourne excelled in the first spell, and their attractive work, in which M'Kay and E. Foley were prominent figures, accounted for 13 points. The change-over saw the solid Porirua team in more favourable light, and their lively ,bouta also added to the enjoyment of the spectators. Porirua made up 8 points, and a fast and interesting game ended in Eastbourne's favour by a margin of five points. Ihe principal game, Athletic v. Ponekc, did not: produce anything like tho same amount of open play 4 though the proceedings were lively from start to finish, both seta of forwards working in great heart. Poneke succeeded in maintaining their unbeaten record, though in this game they had to be content with a draw, Athletic | being credited with a goal from a mark against Poneke s penalty goal. Petone. ■were strengthened by the reappearance of M. NichoUs and Thomas for their match with Oriental, and they won comfortably under conditions that were not favourable to the best of displays. Miuist scored their Bret win of the season by defeating Hutt by two points in a keenly-contested game at the Hntt Recreation Ground. The games on Newtown Park attracted fair interest. Berhampore proved too solid for Wellington, and Old Boys scored well from University. Saturday's results make the championship points as follow:— Poneke 7, Athletic 7, Petono 7, Old Boys 6,.'Berhampore. 5, University 5, Oriental 4, Wellington. 2, Marist 2, Hutt 1. Poneke, Old Boys, Berhampore, and Wellington have played four games against five played by the other teams. In tne senior B grade the championship points are: 'Eastbourne 10, Johonsonville 8, Porirua 6, Selwyn 4, Training College 4, Oriental 3, University 1, Athletic 0. , . ~ ATHLETIC AND PONEKE. The prospects' of a stirring contest between the two leading teams, Poneke and Athletic, accounted for an assemblage of about seven thousand spectators at Athletic Park. Despite the. recent heavy rains, the ground was in excellent order, and the weather almost ideal for football. As a spectacle-the game, disappointed for its lack of brilliance, but there was nothing wanting:in keenness, and with the issue always in doubt a close interest was sustained. There were stirring encounters between the' two. packs of forwards, but when the call was made to the backs for a, show' of their qualities they rarely gave an impressive attacking performance. Passing bouts were essayed frequently, though they seldom went very far, mishandling or effective spoiling generally, cutting short the movements. An occasional outstanding' individual effort gave a flash of brightness to a somewhat-: drab display so far as the "backs %ere concerned, but the defensive work in the main was commendable. The play of the forwards was hard and keen all the way,, with Poneke appearing to better advantage as a. solid driving force., .The Poneke pack was responsible for several stinging loose rushes, most of which had Athletic hard pressed on their line. Athletic also.made their advances, but they had excellent openings to success in the penalties given against Poneke. Athletics goal kicking, however, was at fault, excepting in the case of a mark which served to' equalise the score, Ponekc having landed a penalty goal early in'the game. ■ . , • ■ -- . ; The teams were as follow:— Athletic: Keenan; Konberg, M'Dougall' Tait; L.Cookson, Whinham; Warwick; Pope;' Osborne, Adam, Edgar, Webber Tyrce, Frascr, Hughes. Poneke: Waterhouse; Corlcison, Edgar, Gibbes; Beubbs, Nicholls; Tilyard: Jessup; Hughes,- Wilson, Shearer; Pope, Petersen Organ, Farnall. Winning the .toss, Poneke took the advantage of wind and sun and quickly rushed play to the opposing twenty-five; During; h scramble.near the goal-line Ponoke were awarded a free kick, from which Nicholls placed a goal. 3-0. Another Poneke rush compelled Athletic to force down soon afterwards. Then a series of free kicks went to Athletic, but to little purpose Working back to the Athletic twenty-five, Poneke pressed solidly near the line., Petersen crossed on one occasion, but a scrum waß ordered, and from this Warwick eased the position. Give-and-take play became the order, each side making determined advances, only to be effectively checked. During this period o£ play MDougaU was injured, and Malmancne filled the vacancy. The struggle continued sternly until halftime, b\it all efforts to score were of no avail. forced matters at the outset of the second spell, but Athletic retaliated, and ior a period they were at Poneko's line. A free kick relieved the situation, although after exchanges in neutral territory Athletic gave: further trouble. Chances to goal from free kicks were lost, and Whinham missed with a "pot." At length Poneke carried all before them in a nnertish, led by Shearer. A forcedown was made, but Poneke were quickly back, and right under the posts ther6 was a vigorous encounter, from which Athletic gained relief in a free kick. Soon afterwards when Athletic were on attack Keenan marked from a relieving kick, and, by landing a goal he made the score 3-3. This stirred Poneke, who made a. succession of stirring rushes without being able to score. Athletic made reply, but'their efforts to break through were well guarded. Attack and counterattack was kept up to the end without any further scoring. Neat the finish Hughes was injured and replaced by J2v? c?- r" o The e&me ended: Poneke 3, Athletic 3. . ' Mr. H. S. Leith was the referee. BERHAMPORE BEAT WELLINGTON. On their showing against Berhampore at Newtown Park on Saturday scarcely anyone would have believed that the preT"?£ s .yeekWellmgton had accounted for Athletic The team played indifferently practically throughout; the forwards were beaten back many times; the wings were crowded, and the .handling and passing of the ball was by no means what it should have been. Berhampore, although they obtained a win by a nine points margin, md not go well either, and pls.y for the most part was patchy. There were few .bright; Incidents, and there was not one really good passing bout among the backs during the game. Both half-backs received a fair fchare of the ball from the scrums and endeavoured to get the backs moving. Invariably something went wrong, howevei^-a knock-on, or faulty handling—and the half-backs' efforts went for nothing; On the day, ;Berhampore, in spite of the fact that there was not much sparkle about their work, were the better team, i . , , * team's were:—Wellington: Eddy Corless, Morgan, Veitcli;- Samson. Cunningham; Kilby; Whyborn, Cleland, Donnelly, Phillipß, M'Lean,-Giles, Voice Matheson. ■ < _Berhampore: Love; Pickering, WooHe, Foley; Brettis, Lang; Ward; Charles, .Mason, Deere, K. Smith. Pickrang, Renner, ; M.'Artney,.-Mouatt. Playing towards the north, Berhampore kicked, off, and in the early stages Wellington were the attackers. "Speculators" proved of use to Berhampore, and Wellington were placed on the defensive For playing the ball on the ground Wellington were penalised, and Pickering gent

1 trr i UZ the -ar f?? m talf-way with hampore forced matters, and the vuiiRuard, keeping on the bal well iS WeFington in check. The handling and pacing were not soynd. and play gl .ucially was. of a ragged order. Berimmpo.o w/ a having the better of matter*, nli d after Home dogged play near the WellinKtou line Charles got over for a try, which Pickering failed to convert. Berlismporft 6, Wellington 0. Before the well erdml bcrnampore adde<3 another tlireg point*. Mason gott pouewion of the bull in front of tho posts and «mt it o» to FeJey, who dropped over the lino fw a tiy, There was no conversion. Beilmmpwti •,), . On resuming Wellington made 8 hia )M to open up their scorimj amount, b»fc their movements lauked the neeewiiiy (jn_ish. From a line-out Kilby, ~ w (m" *'«« doing good work, nent the l)s(! oi)(. Ut Cortess. The winger wan qiiiobly into life stride, but ha. efforts to grt MiVoiifih. Uw defence were in vain. Then Jjg) )>»!.»«<!« were on the attack again, mhi'inm ami Ward essayed "note" at grml, Ijiit tlis? were unsuccessful. A forwttftt FliSli dwve 1 i Berhampore back, »nd from ft ttmm iim the line Kilby whipped the ball (MS. 10 Samson. He passed to Morgan, w))0 MWpore 9, Wellington 3. WellUtmi literal aggressively for a time, bill lowmg '(U« end Berharapore fortied Mie jis(;(f again, After Bomo scrappy play the toll out through the back* to tang and WflferW, who touched down fov R try, Tli.e fejfife at goal failed, and time fieimfl§d, W!(li tfie 1 score reading Berhampore 13, Wtilffigtow Mr. D. Calcinai controlled tlig pidg, FINE PACK OF FORWAB§§, Although Old Boyii IS theif fljsk* against University at NewtOWfl t'ftrfe Md a big territorial advaßtsae ihr'OHfJieiil, they failed, to icoi'o the WifUiifig try until the dying sUgci. of tllg fisiHgr The Old-Boys' forward* wofd iiiuell saeeti* to their opponents, but thelf baoliS uoilM not finish off the numeveus nggmdve movements started hy the VBiigusHi, J>»d passiug and handlmg mve itmiiity fesponsible for this .inability, The weak' ! mom was principally, in lfi 9 «v ß .e/«litJw line, where University wcto tho fetroiiuef. The teams were:—

j Old Boys (white).—Full-buds, M«leelm; three-quarters, R. LumnKoii IMtfck, Rushbrook;. ; five-eightlm, mtnmuvke, M'Donald; half, Chitty; wing-fmwrttd, 3. 1 Lamason; forwards, Claridge, Mray, kmmerson, Meadows, Selwood, JJnvti, Jonai. University (green).—Full-buck, M,inon; three-quarters, Ramson, Irwin, Vodcn: hye-eighths, Ballenger, Macken//ie: lialf, Leys; wing-forward, Scents; forwards, CormacV Blakeney, A. Claiidgc, l'lattsMills, Baldwin, Diedrich. Old Boys won the toss, and decided to play with the wind and the sun on their backs. University found their feet quickly, and their backs swung into action. - However, the defence was equal to the task, and the White forwards went away with the ball at their toes. Play was fast and open, but it lacked finish, tarenfell made a beautiful opening, but he slipped when about to send R. Lamason across, and a try was lost. Malcolm had a pot from a long way out. but the ball flew wide. The Old Boys' forwards screwed the scrum beautifully, and caught the opposition napping, but Ramson raced across and saved the Greens from a tight corner.. The Whites commenced a passing rush, but Sceats intercepted and nipped through the opposing back line. He drew, the full-back, and passed to Ramson, who scored near the corner. Cormack failed with the kick. University 3, Old Boys 0. Old Boys made a big at-' tempt to even up, but the spell came without further scoring. Old Boys attacked from the commencement of the second spell, and were soon hammering hard on the University defence. Their, forwards were getting the ball from the scrum with monotonous regularity, and had the backs stood deeper on attack they would- have been twice ! as effective. ; From a scrum near the Greens' line the backs got going, aud Patrick finished off the movement by scoring under the posts. Malcolm converted. Old Boys 5, University 3.. Good kicking by Malcolm, who was playing a fine game, repeatedly.sent University back. The Old Boys' forwards paved the way.for-a passing rush by the backs, and R. Lamason •raced over under the posts. Malcolm failed with an easy kick. Old Boys 8, University 3. The Greens were not long in evening up the scores. Sceats intercepted a pass, and, after a fine run, passed to Leys, who scored. Cormack converted with a good kick. Old Boys 8, University 8. Play was now fast and strenuous, but faulty handling by b6th sets of backs spoilt chances and made the game ragged. Just before time the White forwards were .again irresistible, and J. Lamason scored. He converted his own try, making the final scores: Old • Boys 13, University 8. Mr. W. J. Carson was, the referee. MARIST v. HUTT. Mutt were again narrowly defeated on Saturday when Marist won by 16 points to 14. Six men were missing from Hutt's usual team owing to injuries, whilst Marist fielded their strongest team. . . ■ ■ The teams were:— . • ■ I Hutt.—Balks; M'Cartby, Hester, Brown; Munro, M'Dougall; Slater; George; Sundgreen, Forayth. Daily, Turee, M'Gill, 1 urieraon, Rca. Marist.—Cuming; G. Barry, Condon, Graham; Johnson, M'Hardy; Smith; Murphy; Dennehy, Flett, Mahoriey, Hall, E. Barry, Butler, Griffin. Hutt won the toss and played with the sun. After the kick-off Smith secured from a line-out, and on the ball reaching Condon he kicked and followed up, scoring a beautiful try_, which was converted by Murphy. Marist 5, Hutt 0. Hutt were awarded two free-kicks within the next few minutes, but neither was successful. George, however, got away, with one of his spectacular rushes, and on his dropping the ball, M'Dougall and M'Carthy followed up well, the latter scoring an obstruction try. Balks failed to convert. Marist 5, Hutt 3. Marist pressed heavily, and" Hutt were forced to retire in face of o strong forward movement, but the Marist backs started to lob their passes, which resulted in Hutt men intercepting until they were in a position to score. M'Gill, who had shifted to wing, got over, but hit the coiner post. From a following irce-kick at half-way Balks put the ball over. Marist 5, Hutt 8. Hutt continued to press, but at half-time the score waß unaltered. The'positions of the backs in the Hutt team were altered, and Munro, In Wiu "]Wed, was replacqd by Smith. After the kick-off Balks tried to take a pot trom inside half-way, but he failed. Marist then came forward and Murphy kicked a penalty goal. Marist 8, Hutt 6 Hutt were soon defending again, and after a good passing rush by the Marist backs Condon scored a try. The kick was not successful. Manst 11, Hutt 6. George again got away in fine style, but was well tackled by G. Barry. Grierson got over and MfGill converted. Marist 11, Hutt 11. The Marist forwards made a combined rush, and Graham got away scoring between the posts. Griffin converted. Marist 16, Hutt U. Soou Hutt were awarded another .free-kick, and Balks was successful. Marist 16, Hutt 14 The score was unaltered at the conclusion of the game. Mr. Pilcher was referee.

PETONE AND ORIENTAL. In a game in which the play seldom rose vin Ve j-« m l «dlocre standard, Petoue had little difficulty in accounting for Oriental at letone^ The ground was very treacherous, and a bright subi proved troublesome in the first spell. With the' sun and wind at their backs, Oriental failed to make any impression, and in the second spell Petone secured a lead of eight points .The teamß were:—Petone: Henwood, Hawkins, Jowatt,? Kearns, Nicholls, Edwards, Coman, Cameron, Warden, Potts, Spence, Dickens, Laws, Can-, Thomas. Oriental: Wyman, Jackman, Allen, Packnate, Cowdel^ M'Nieol, Mills, Lmcoln, R. Smith H Smith,' Murio Marshall Taylor, Pnngle, Hepburn. letone losta scoring chance soon after the start,,when Nicholls punted downfied and. Hawkins failed to gather iv the bell. After a penalty by Nicholls had fallen short the ball came from the ruck out to JWholls, who drew his man aud seat on to Kearns, who crossed wide out. Nicholls missed. Then Can- and Laws followed up^ strongly and a score seemed hkely, but they were beaten by the bounce. Orienta attacked and Jowatt, iv attempting to clear, kicked into the arms of Allen, with 1 the °kiek Unir Bed- M<Nic°' "lißSed

A period of even play in tlie Recond spell succeeded several movements by the Petone backs. These failed to alter the scores. Henwood put his side in an attacking position, with a line-kick, and then Ihoinas picked up from the ruck and tross?ffl r If co™. e' 1- Nicholls goaled from a difficult position.- 8-3. Henhiiin Viv. lor, M'Nicol and Cowdeil wetp eminent in an .Oriental rally. Later tho Wo. latter

wcco atain cqwflUcuoiM. After Nicholls had put his side on the attack with a line-kick from mid-field, Petone heeled from a ocrum, and the ball went through the line of backs to Hawkins, who scored. NicboUs failed. The Petone captain also missed a penalty near the posts, and the t?arae ended soon afterwards: Petone 11, Oriental 3. Mr. 13. Perry was the referee.