FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15625, 3 June 1914, Page 9

FOOTBALL.

THE RUGBY v GAME. ' NOTES AND. COMMENTSThe f Auckland ' Rugby Union should congratulate itself on \ the success of its new ground .at Edan : Park, where two senior matches - art . held : each week. Last week's takings f amourited 'to .nearly £67, raakingi a. total 'of almost £200 . for the three days the, competitions have' been in pro- : gress. If - such an .-average is .maintained during .jthe '.season,,., the union should do extremely well, without taking into , consideration UhoVbig crowds , that are sure : to attend every, Tejpresentative match' played. during the ■ season •:; The - first grade; matches on Saturday provided more: than ; one surprise. . Last •year, Ponsonby ; defeated Marist Brothers for, : the • premiership,; but, as far as thii, season / lias gone,:the ■ popular opinion, was that iMarist.Brothers would win,from last year's champions, judging on the- form shown by the respective teams in » their various matches. As it proved, Ponsbnby again secured the verdict, though they 'must-bo termed lucky to have done so. However, at the end of "the game they' led' by a. single point and consequently Were entitled to a straight out victory. ,

. .. Tho. second • surprise was the victory of College . Rifles. On tho previous Saturday, .University gave a- fine display against : City, and it was then expected by tho majority of Rugby Union supporters that the first grade competition would li.o between City and University, notwithstanding the fact that tho season was -as yet. 1 very: young. As it proved last week, University were too good for City, and taking into consideration tho displays .given by College Rifles on the two .previous:. Saturdays, tho University supporters had clittlo fear that their team would bo beaten. ' However, .the unexpected happened, and "University had to acknowledge defeat. . •It - was confidently anticipated that City would defeat Parnell, and so it proved. Parnell-were, no match for the red and blacks, , and wisely , decided to retire at half-time. '••••

: Owing to the condition of the ground, high-class spectacular play in the Pon-sonby-Marist Brothers game was ' quite > out of tho .question.,' The game was of an dveii nature, though at . times exceptionally fast, and perhaps slightly in favour of Marist Brothers. As they had the .better of'the • tight ' and r loose play in the forwards, and as the backs played tho lino with good judgment Marist brothers had 'Vonsonby ■ hard pressed; at various stages of the - game. Regarding the scrimmages, •it J might be mentioned that Marist Brothers were, somewhat hampered, as Gleeson, one of the front row men, was making his debut in that position. It therefore says much for Casey, the -hooikcr; that • the blues secured the ball in almost nine out of every ten scrums. .' • , -

;* In the Ponsonby back division, McGregor was f easily the best, his handling of the ball §• and '• his nippiness being very noticeable. ■ Candy at halfback gave a pleasing-; display; and his rush-stopping and -passing out were. good. Clarke , and Bater, also assisted •' very, materially in the passing -'rushes, the. latterV handling of the'ball being very ' clean; on the whole, though he was occasionally found wanting. Dance at fullback, was rather weak, and * Stewart" seemed' to have a day. off.. -did. not seem to suit' tho ] blue, and ' black forwards, and 'they failed timo. After : time to stop tho rushes opponents. „ Their,: efforts in the loose, - however, : ( ,v?ero ranch better, and m /this department , they quite .held their own. ; , Avery was; again, the. leader of his pack, , and his', work on tho linoout and in 'the loose was ' first-class. Campbell, with- Avery, bore the brunt of tho work, while Murray, at wing-forward, stopped numerous rashes, and found the line well. = McKenzio again proved to be the mainstay, of" tho slarist Brothers' backs, his consistent endeavours' to make openings being-the dominant- feature of his play. J. ; O'Brien's tfootball was also of a high standard; and his line kicking was particularly noticeable, while his try, the result: of'a clevor cut-in, was an extremely neat piece of 'vork. ' Earlly at halfback for Marist Brothers gave a good 1 display. He showed an improvement on his previous Saturday's play, m his movements with McKenzio indicated. McDonald got through a lot effort, but Vas at times inclined to be rather slow in his actions. Coniaga and White were slightly f.weak, though tho former; was occasionally, responsible for good defensive work. With the exception ol his failure in line kicking towards the end 'of the game F. Sheahan's showing at 'fallback was'good, his tackling,powers again being in evidence. Downing , once mora showed his superiority on the lineout and heavy work, ana he was ably assisted by Peterson who, on his first appearance for tho team, showed that with a few more games he should rank with the best in tho forward _ division. Cagey and Prickett were prominent in the lfose, work, while Ryan, Sullivan, and Gleeson all assisted in making up a formidable pack. ' ; J. O'Leaiy, the 'Auckland, custodian, took the field for Ponsonby on Saturday and played in the thnequarter line,-.but, although he proved .of assistance in defence, lie showed a very apparent lack of condition. However, with a few practices, be may .soon regain his old-time form. A special general meeting of the members of the Marist Brothers' Club will be held on tho Victoria Club Rooms, Rob Roy, Hotel, Freeman's Bay, to-morrow evening. A full, attendance is requested, as. matters of importance are to bo dealt with.

Even the most ardent supporters of the Collogo Rifle 3. Club would not have said with confidence that their team would defeat University,' but such was the result of the. match. . Right from the boginning, College Rifles forced 4ho pace, and,' although their ■ strongest team was not in the field, thoy gave University little peace. Their forwards played up splendidly, and in the loosa work and in tho' scrums they were more than a match for the . blues. The clean > hooking of tho College Rifles forwards was a feature of their play. Collego Rifles. made tho pace particularly fast, and University, who bad played such a fine game against City on the previous Saturday, were undoubtedly outclassed on tho day's play. Tho blues seemed to take matters too easily in the first half, and when they realised that they stood in imminent danger of being beaten, they were too late to avert defeat, for Collego Rifles showed as much determination on defence as on attack, and. play as they would, University could not score.

•" Of the. individual players, little can be said. Mention must be made, however, of' Weston, the College Rifles' captain. He . played a better game than he bis done for a. very long lime, and. made hardly a . single" mistake during the day. His first try was a first-class effort, and his goal and line, kicking wore of inestimable value to his side. Weston was ably supported by Hill, who got through a vast amount of attacking, defensive. work with every credit to himself. He'was well backed iup by Clifford, 'who was particularly good on defence/ and Parkinson who, on the wing, shone ,■ out well on occasions. The . forwards, were a. very even lot, and hardly' one showed out mote than another, though Walker was at times conspicuous.

' University played a very poor,game indeed, aid it was , not .until the . closing stages i that •; they showed ; anything like form. . Howver,\Lainbert, and Gray were always ' conspicuous in the backs, while 'Wilson on ; -the." wing showed .occasional dash. : : Water, At half, had a lot of work

to ' do, buff ho got through it creditably. Geddes was very patchy, at times- showing really fine J form, and at times being very "prior indeed. . V/ " t ■ , 1 ' , The forwards flayed; an extremely . dis- ! appointing ~ game, and 'very few of them were 'at any:time' seen to advantage., McLean : '.was)perhaps" the. best of them, but all ; seemed to be a little off colour. Tho team , will certainly have to do much better in future, if it desires to,'have any chance for premier honours.'i Little need be .said of the Parnell-City fixture at' -the Agricultural Ground. To staict .with, Parnell, .in addition to having a weak team, were three men short, aid the team was. filled by fourth and fifth grade players. " City' Were in good •iorm, and - simply : played with the maroons. Burns dodged over ' the line every few minutes, and though City did not unduly ? exert • themselves, they had soored ,21 points at ■ half-time, when Parnell decided to retire.

UNDER. LEAGUE RULES. NOTES AND COMMENTS. Play under, Northern Union Rules on Saturday was of an interesting nature. North Shore just managed to defeat City on the Domain by 8 points to 6; Newton drew with' Otahuhu, the score being 10 points all; and Ponsonby defeated Grafton by 19 points to 6; It was regrettable that towards the end of the game on the Domain the spectators persistently encroached upon the field and incited'the players to rough pl<t?. The officials present, must be given every credit for having done their best to maintain order; but the crowd was too big for them. Throughout the second half spectators encroached upon the field, bat the more serious trouble occurred within- a few minutes of tho end of the game; that is. after North Shore had assumed the lead. * Play then became very rough, and two players hadjjto bo ordered off the field. The authorities - must be finn in these matters, and would be woll advised to take steps to prevent such incidents occurring again. The result of Saturday's match between North Shore ajjjd City. is looked upon by many as giving a good indication of who will prove to bo the champions for tho •year. Tho game was so close, howover, North Shore winning by only two points, that it is rather rasn to say at this stage that City will not provo - victorious m matches played later in the season. North Shore, tod, were somewhat lucky in snatching a victory a few minutes beforo the cull of time, I'onsonby, too, have to bo reckoned with, for although tho chances are that North Shore will beat them if they meet upon a dry ground, it must not ,be forgotten that, playing in the rain on the opening day of tpe season, the teams drew. North Shore and Ponsonby are now at the top of tho list, both having five points to their credit, while next comes City, with four points, followed by Newton with three, Otahuhu with one, and Grafton with none. . .

If Otahuhu continue to improve as they have been dbihg, it ill surprise no one to mo them among the leading teams at the end of the season.

Since the opening of the season, the play of the North Shore backs has improved by leaps ahd bounds. From a somewhat ineffective <k>llei:tion of units, they have been transformed into a smoothly working combination, with Fox-as the pick. Fox it was who, after working solidly throughout the game t> had the required ounce left to wriggle' his way over City's line not long before the call of time, thereby saving the match for North Shore. Paul and >Wynyard, who ore both developing into good attacking backs, did - much.solid defensive work on Saturday. The elusive Asher was neatly "grassed" by both on more than one occasion. The majority of the members of the North Shore team, however, are . not inclined to tackle their man low. The high tackle may serve to stop some players, but it is a dangerous method to adopt. With cleaner tackling North Shore will be ;an L extremely hard team to beat, this year. - As usual Walters stood out among the North Shore forwards. ' His consistent play appears to stimulate His companions, with the result that the North Shore pack keeps well on the ball and misses few opportunities. Bailey, Griffen, and Weston are other forwards who Have done good work for their team this season. I

Most of City's spectacular play was the result of the efforts of the Ash'er brothers. Both were prominent in meteoric flashes, which seemed, at times, to paralyse some of their opponents, but neither succeeded in actually scoring. Both were remarkably - useful to the team, But their usefulness would bo increased if -they were a little moro unselfish in their play. All City's score, hdwever, was the result of E. Asher's work, for he kicked no less than three goals, two of which were particularly fine shots. The City pack was smarter 1 than the North Shore vanguard in the scrums, with the result that the red and blacks more often heeled the ball than did their opponents. In the loose, however, North Shore had an advantage. The heeling of the City pack, too, was' counterbalanced by the fact that A. Asher did not throw the ball about as much as ho might have done. The Bonsonby combination- had a somewhat easy win over Grafton, but there were times when the new team pressed the winners hard. Grafton were certainly unlucky in not adding to their total of fivo points, for during spells of the game they nad matters very much {heir own way, but were lacking in the necessary finish. Ifwersen did cross the line early in the game, but the referee ruled that the pass be received had gone forward.

Grafton's first score was the result of a very pretty piece of work, in which Austen, at fullback, played the principal part. Austen ran upfield instead of kicking, and ♦Sen set his backs going, with the result chat Ifwersen was enabled to draw the defence towards the toucliline. A long pass to the centre resulted in Austen securing the ball again, and he ran over unopposed. Ifwersen, as usual, played a strenuous and useful game. He did not have many opportunities to display his kicking powers, being mainly occupied in defending his own goal. Although he does not, as a rule, receive much support in his attacking movements, he would do well to remember that there are 12 other mon in the team. He is apt, at times, to forget that fact, to tho disadvantage of his team.

The Ponsonby team played a pood open game, and members Dover hesitated to throw the ball about. Their forwards hooked the ball almost every time it found its way into a scrum, and the result was many good passing rushes among tho blue and black backs. On tho day's play it is hard to pick out individual players for special mention, and it suffices to say that the team played -veil together. Savory, however, was a particularly useful forward, both his tries being the result of tjood play on his part. Webb, at halfback, was also useful. He fed bis backs well, and with Cross, ho was responsible for the goals kicked. Grafton were unfortunate in losing Mitchell early in the came, the representative forward beintr compelled to retire with an injured shoulder.

THE ASSOCIATION GAME. NOTES AND COMMENTS. The condition of the various grounds on Saturday were not favourable for very high-class football, though some of the games proved full of interest. The results, however, did not carry with them any undue surprises. Chief interest centred in the meeting of Brotherhood and Thistle at the Domain. The game was always interesting, and the result, a draw, was perhaps the most satisfactory ending tho match could have had on the day's play. At the outset, Brotherhood kicked high, and indulged in long passes, but after they had'' settled down they adopted the short passing game with better results.' > , Their forwards had more finish than Thistle, who several occasions missed good opportunities. Knaggs and Lee : wore .in fine form on the Brotherhood side, but Ridings, ?*, back, was decidedly off. colour. ; Adult School '.must-be considered of the . most; promising teams in t.h'e • coxa (i-ti-tion,.but' they had. .iot'tiraa, .on Saturday, in that they, wore compelled to play

•too men short in the first spell. Never-,' theleas, _ they were only "one goal behind Corinthian when the' spell ended. They should, moreover, have scored early in the game. - Their forwards iwerq somewhat' erratic, -and.-'the halfbacks did not give?tho front rank . the necessary support. Craig and Rose did much good work in the Corinthian vanguard, and the latter opened the scoring with-a clever shot. In the second half Adult School secured another man, and for some time kept the Corinthian - backs busily defending. Later, however, Corinthian wore their opponents down, and Mason secured three clever goals. The soore hardlv , represented the play, Which was fast throughout, and but for faulty shooting tho School might at least have secured a draw. | A patchy game resulted when. ■' 'irlton ard Everton met at Bayswater. Carlton started well, and for some time held tho upper hand, but Everton broko away twice in a combined rush, and scored on each occasion. Their second goal, however, was largely due to miskicking on the part of tho Carlton backs. Later in the spell Everton had to play a man short, and Carlton took every advantage of this by scoring two goals. In the second half Everton improved considerably, while Carlton showed a sad lack of training. Everton were very unfortunate in losing nj' M 10 c^ever halfsack "as compelled to retire with an injured knee. He will probably not be able to play again for to° " Tee Saturdays. After ho loft the field the Everton combination suffered considerably. There was very little good football in •-r,r smi between North Shore and x.aI.U.A. Wild rushes were tho order" of the day. Both Bets of forwards were over-anxious, and bad combination was tho result. After half-time, however, the players settled down more, and play was for the most, part confined to midfield. Towards the end of the game play became vti. an( * more interesting, but Worth bhore were the more consistent, and won .by 2 goals. i The Adult School team will visit Pukeloca? tea M(1 P^y 4 mat ° h against the

An interesting match is looked for at IS o ** ¥ ayj 171,611 Thistle will meet Hamilton Wanderers.

YfM.C.A. BOYS' CLUB. A six-a-sid© tournament will bo held at X vTn» between teams from tho, Y.M.O.A, Boys Club. Altogether 80 boys will taKe part, and the first match wi 1 commence at 1 p.. The winners will receive tho Freeman °° p and ■ 506 ol medals. Ihe following are the teams selected:— A i earn .- Henderson, Brunton, • Hill, R'- Brown, Reavy, and Norton.. B Team: McKune, Herring, Collins, McLean, Bowllings, and Bond, 0 Team: Cunningham, X' m ?«? , \ SkeUern ' G. Christie, McCamish, Graham. D Team: McLeod, Timewell, Steele, R. Hayman, Wragge, tv ?° yn lv- eam: Skipwith, Ellife, Doiirias, McKinley, H. MMw. and S. Clark. F Team: Trotman, Wilcock, J. Menzies, Kompton, C. Christie, and Doughty. G _ Team : Garrett, Freeman, Gamble, Gome, Henderson, and Cloueh. h Team: Kent, Shovo, G. Bell, Townsend, Lewis, and Hawos. I Team: Exley, Jeffries, L. .Brown, Martin, Adams, and Gregory. Ji m: Clark, Burrow, Allen, Blackman, Elsby, and 0. Bell. K Team: Harley, Edmund, Stewart, FeJton, Wilson, and Cator. L Team: L. Menzies, Wainwright, Meltzer, McCarty, Maxwell and _ Eavestaff. M Team: L. Miller Austin, Entwistlo, Hammond, Basmussen, and V. Hayman. '