LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 August 1934, Page 12

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

PIRATES BEAT AHAURA.

blackball score over marist Favoured with ideal weather. Rugby League matches at. Wingham and' Blackball, yesterday, attracted large attendances. The meeting between Pirates (West Coast) and Ahaura (Inangahua) at .Wmgham Park, resulted in Pirates winning the Thacker Shield. It was interesting football, played by two evenbmatched teams. Pirates won by 1 points to 11, after a hard Blackball, the home team d P Marist by 15 points to 14. In tne junior grade, Brunner defeated Marist rather easily, and Pirates accounted for Marist, in the fourth grade competition. THACKER SHIELD MATCH.

There was a large attendance a Wingham Park yesterday, and an interesting match took place between Pirates and Ahaura, for possession ot the Thacker Shield. Pirates won, but they were fujly extended. Conditions were ideal for, play, the' grounds being in excellent order, and’a light northerly breeze having litt e effect on the play. Ahaura fielded the heavier team, yet Pirates were the faster, and they deserved their victory. The teams were: — Ahaura: Lamberton, Anderson, Ogilvie, Aicken, Kirk, W. Ritchie, T. Savage, Burrows, Becker, H. Ritchie, J. Savage, Tindale and Bailey. Pirates: Hopkins, Devonport, Dowling, Wooster, Martyn, Broome, Preston, Gelardie, Gardyne, Bourke, Hunt, Thomson and Fisher. Ahaura played with the wind during the first spell. Pirates were on attack early, and went up to the Ahaura line, where Martyn had a race for the ball, kicked across by

Broome, hut was beaten to the toiichdown, by an Ahaura player- The drop-out by Ahaura found a player in front, and from the scrum Ahaura conceded a force-dow+n. A scrum near the line followed, and Bowling secured, but lost possession, and Ritchie cleared. Led by Bailey, the Ahaura forwards came away, and were unlucky in not scoring, the ball travelling over the dead line.-Pirates earned a penalty, but Bailey’s shot went wide. Then followed a spell of quiet play, till Devonport secured and ran half the length of the held before being taken. Ahaura returned to the attack, and from a good movement, W. Ritchie went across the line, but he was held up. A penalty to Pirates relieved them from a troublesome position. Ahaura returned, however, and Hopkins had to move smartly in order to stave off likely tries. Pirates then had a turn on attack, but they found the defence solid. The Ahaura backs then showed out in a smart piece of passing, with Ogilvie, Ritchie, Savage, and Kirk prominent. A promising movement broke down when Aicken dropped his pass, and Martyn ran in to save from Bailey.

Pirates, led by Dowling, and Fisher, took place to the Ahaura territory, but were then beaten by Lamberton, who brought off a splendid save. Savage then broke away for Ahaura, and was joined by W. Ritchie, but a knock-on held up the game. Play continued at a fast pace, and eventually Devonport secured, and ran strongly from halfway, to score near the corner. Martyn’s kick at goal failed. Pirates 2, Ahaura 0. It was a fortunate try for Pirates, yet Devonport deserved it, as he was quick to seize the opportunity presented. Ahaura stormed to the Pirates’ line, where H. Ritchie picked up from ten yards out, and ran in to score near the posts. Anderson added the extra points. Ahaura 5, Pirates 3. Fast play followed, with Pirates on attack. Hopkins 'Showed out in a splendid run, during which he beat half the Ahaura team, before sending to Devonport, who was well taken. Then Martyn received, and ran smartly through for a try. Devonport failed to goal. Pirates 6, Ahaura 5. Pirates continued the attack, and Dowling went across the line, but he was recalled for offside play. Then Thompson secured, and, with three' Ahaura players holding on. to him, he went across for a touch-down. Martyn missed with the kick. Pirates 9, Ahaura 5. Then came Ahaura’s turn, and weak tackling by Pirates allowed Anderson to make his way to the line, for a try. He missed with the kick. Ahaura 8, Pirates 9. Just on the call of half-time, Ahaura were awarded a penalty kick, but Bailey failed to turn it to profit.

On resuming, Pirates were first to attack, Fisher being prominent tor good play. Bourke then crossed the line, only to be recalled for offside. Ahaura found relief through a free kick, and the game centred about midfield for a time. Both teams had a turn on attack before Wooster broke clear, and gained much ground; then Lamberton tackled him. Preston, who was playing ably at half-back, ran along the side line, and looked likely to score before being pushed out. Ahaura then moved to the attack, with Bailey and Becker leading the forwards. Bailey shot a long pass to the centre of the field, but it was not accepted, and Pirates ■were awarded a free-kick for an infringement that followed. Play see-sawed for a time, then Pirates gained the advantage. Preston kicked too hard, • howover, and Ahaura forced down. A quick change followed, with Ahaura forcing Pirates to the line. From a scrum, five yards out from the Pirates’ line, Hopkins saved. Ahaura returned almost immediately, and Bailey picked up to throw himself across for a try. Anderson failed with the kick. Ahaura 11, Pirates fl. At this stage, Ahaura appeared to have the measure of Pirates, and compelled the latter to defend for some time. Then Pirates .broke clear, but mis-handling spoiled scoring chances. Thompson and Preston combined in a smart piece of work, Preston being held up on the line. As he played the ball, he snapped it up smartly, and was across for a try before Ahaura players had realised his action. Martyn failed to goal. Pirates 12, Ahaura 11. Both teams worked fast in the concluding stages, but Fisher secured to go across and add a further try for Pirates, Martyn missing with an easy kick. Pirates 15, Ahaura 11. With two minutes left to play, Ahaura fought hard to make up’ the leeway, but the Pirates’ defence stood the test. No further score came, and Pirates were left, as winners, after a fast, clean game, and they will now defend the Thacker Shield against Hornby. Mr C. Currie was referee.

BLACKBALL BEAT MARIST.

Before a large crowd of spectators at the Blackball Domain yesterday, Blackball defeated Marist by a narrow margin, in a. Bradshaw Cup game. The weather was dull, but the ground was in excellent order and the spectators wore treated to the best display of fast, open foot ball seen this season. In the first, spell. Blackball had much the bettor of the play, and continued to have the better of the exchanges until the final twenty minutes, when the Marist backsj of whom Roberts was outstanding, dominated the play. Dodds played splendidly to keep his line out of danger. Marist lost the .game through the very poor goal kicking of Roberts, who missed two simple kicks from under the posts, -whereas Dodds kicked two good goals for Blackball from well out. For Blackball, Calder, Perrin, Bell and Ware, were also prominent, while for Marist, Mathews. O’Brien, Scott and Martini played well. The teams were: — Marist: Mathews, Pollock, Roberts, Blanchfield, O’Connor, O’Brien, Casey Beban, Martini, Sequin, Scott, Williams, Anderson. Blackball: Bell, Clark, Kennedy, Clark, Ware, Dodds, Kells, Neilson, Etheridge, McMahon, Perrin, Smith, Ctildoi’* Blackball won the toss and Dodds received from the kick to set. the backs away, Clark being pushed out at the Marist 25. From the scrum Casey secured, and made a fine opening, but Bell sent Marist back and a force down resulted. Blackball continued to press and Calder went over the line, but lost possession. From a scrum, Kells received and sent McMahon over in a handy position. Calder failed with the kick. Blackball 3, Marist 0. Clark was hurt in a tackle and went off, Neilson replacing him. Mathews attempted to speculate but Ware secured, and made a good run to the Marist line, where Perrin was caught offside, and a penalty relieved Marist. Casey was penalised near the 25, and Dodds kicked a great goal from near the side line. Blackball 5, Marist 0. After an exchange of kicks between the full backs, the ball went out at the Marist 25. From, the scrum the ball travelled to Ware, who ran through the Marist backs to score i under the posts. Dodds converted. Blackball 10, Marist 0. Marist backs broke away but Pollock dropped his i pass. Mathews secured from a long I kick and joined in a good movement, . which ended near the Blackball line, ; where Dodds relieved to midfield. : O’Brien secured and made a good run I before sending Roberts over. He . failed with the kick. Blackball 10, i Marist 3. O’Connor was caught in s possession in midfield, and lost the , ball which McMahon snapped up, but • he was overhauled by O’Brien, and i Mathews relieved to midfield. There ; the Marist backs secured, but O’Con- > nor held on too long, _ and was 1 brought down near the line. Scott > was almost over from loose play near ■ the line, but Calder and Smith came 1 through and carried play to the ' Marist 25. Roberts, O’Brien, and > Blanchfield broke away to the Black- • ball 25, where Dodds stopped the lat--1 ter and half-time sounded.

THE SECOND HALF. On resuming play was confined to midfield, for some time, until Roberts secured and kicked past Bell, but Clark forced down. The Blackball forwards were securing possession of the ball but their backs could not make much impression against the speed of the Marist backs. From a scrum near midfield, the ball came out to Kennedy on the blind side, and he raced up to Mathews, kicked over his head, and Calder touched down. Dodds converted with a. good kick. Blackball 15. Marist 3.

Behan and Scott led the Marist forwards to the Blackball 25, where Dodds came to Blackball’s aid with a brilliant run through the Marist backs but Mathews brought him down. Mathews was called upon to save his side, which he did. He almost scored, when he made a fine run down the touch line, Bell tackling him five yards from the Blackball line. Play went to midfield, where Blackball secured possession from a scrum, and Ware dropped the ball. Roberts picked up and ran down to the full-back, before passing to Pollock who scored near the posts. Roberts converted. Blackball 15, Marist 8. Play was then confined to Blackball territory, and the Marist backs made strenuous efforts to score, Dodds and Bell being prominent in fine defensive work. Eventually O’Connor broke clear, and sent to Casey, the latter evading several attempts to tackle him, and he passed to Pollock, who scored under the posts. Roberts missed an easy kick. Blackball 15, Marist 11. Perrin and Etheridge temporarily put Marist on the defence, but a long, well-judged kick by Mathews went out close to the Blackball line, where Roberts made a good effort to force himself over, but Kells relieved to the 25. The Marist backs were always dangerous when in possession, and they kept Blackball hard pressed. Casey picked up at the 25, and passed to Roberts, who made a fine dodging run through the home backs, and reached the line with two defenders hanging on to him as he forced himself over at the posts. He failed with the easiest of kicks, which would 'have given his side the victory, as the full-time bell sounded with the scores Blackball 15, Marist 14. Mr A. Mason was referee.

BRUNNER DEFEAT MARIST.

At Wingham Park yesterday, the Brunner junior grade team defeated Marist, by 17 points to 7, in the semifinal of the Knock-Out Cup competitino. It was a fast and interestingmatch. For the winners, tries were secured by Mills (2), Moth (2), and Pengally. L. Hunt kicked a penalty goal. Grogan secured a try for Marist, which Greaney converted, and he also kicked a penalty goal. Mr C. Restieaux was referee. FOURTH GRADE. The Marist-Pirates fourth grade match was won by Pirates, the scores being 19 to 11. Prominent for good play were tHe Mulqueen brothers, who did splendid service for Pirates, and contributed 16 of the points scored. NORTHERN UNION CUP. i .... On Saturday next, the West Coast League representatives will meet the Canterbury representatives in the first challenge match of the season for the Northern Union Cup, held by West Coast. The match, which is io be played at Victoria Park, is ex-

pected to provide a fast open game, as both Canterbury and Coast have this season played bright League. Canterbury are expected to provide strong opposition for the Coasters. AT OTHER CENTRES. DUNEDIN, August 11. Christian Brothers 24, Athletic 7; Citv 20, Pacific 5. AUCKLAND, August 11. Auckland 19, beat Northland 12. CHRISTCHURCH, August 11.

In the League trial match, the Probables 23, beat the Possibles 20