SHIELD STAYS IN SOUTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17268, 18 September 1919, Page 9

SHIELD STAYS IN SOUTH.

THE RANFURLY MATCH. HOLDERS' EASY VICTORY. < AUCKLAND TEAM OUTCLASSED. ] [bt telegraph.—r-Rsss association - .] WELLINGTON. Wednesday. The Tlanfurly Shield match between Auckland, arid Wellington, played at 1 Athletic i'ai-k this afternoon, was won by . : the home team by 24 points to 3. Be- I ' tween 8000 and 9000 spectators were pre- j sent. Despite the night's rain the ground ; ' was in good condition. ' I Auckland kicked off with the sun in ' ] their eyes. Wellington were soon com- i polled to force. Auckland were penal- < ised, but Green's kick was a trifle short. The Wellington hookers got the ball from i a scrum iii front of Auckland's goal and a : ruth ensued on the part of Roberts. Cor ' nee, .1. Tilyard. and Algar, who cleverly ' beat his opponents and scored? The kick j. failed. ! Each side attacked in turn and excite- j : merit was caused by Roberta dashing round a scrum and getting to the Auck- ; land line where ho was tackled. He threw j ' the ball to Algar who failed to reach it ! and Auckland saved. Auckland were awarded a free kick and Heath narrowly missed the shot. Two Wellington rushes; were well stopped by Grierson. Shortly j after Heath made a good save. An attempted pot by Algar fell short. From a ' scramble near the Auckland line Decliftou l got over. The kick failed. j Wellington ... 6 j Auckland ... 0 ' Auckland then made repeated attempts' to break through the Wellington defence, j but the efforts were frustrated. Play I went to the visitors' territory. Robert's I made a clever dodgy run and then passed to Corner, who scored. .7. Tilyard failed ! with an easy kick. Wellington 9. I Wellington continued the attack and went! i lose to scoring several times, but Auckland defended well At length Malin potted a fine goal. Wellington • 13 Auckland 0 Wellington had the sun in their eyes when the second spell opened and the visiting forwards immediately got to work. Macarthur saved with a lucky j kick to the line when the visitors were in ■■ dangerous proximity to the Wellington ' line. Green took a fine mark Wellington I then attacked and Tilyard sailed up the field and reached the Auckland line where he lost the. ball. j Auckland lost the services of Gasparich, whose place was filled by Burns. A pass | ing bout by the home backs was stopped j by Heath, 'who kicked to the line. Play moved to half-way where Tilyard secured and passed to Barker, who made a great run and scored. Malin failed to convert : Wellington. 16. The visitors attacked strongly, but Roberts saved with a line kick. Grierson ; made a good run downfield, but Mac Arthur tackled successfully. Auckland continued the pressure, and hard play followed in Wellington's 'twenty-five. Green now had to retire, alnd Calcinai tilled the vacancy. Auckland backs secured the hall, and Grierson had a clear run in. Heath's kick failed : Welling ton. 16 ; Auckland. 3. Shortly after Auckland were in a serious predicament, but managed to extricate themselves. A minute later, however. Tilyard made a great run and scored alongside the posts. Roberts converted. Fast up and down play followed, and Malin saved, when Auckland were attacking. Wellington forwards swept uplield, and Pat on got over. Shearer's kick missed. Wellington did most attacking for the rest of the frame, and Malin made an unsuccessful attempt to pot a goal. Wellington were attacking when the whistle sounded. The game ended : Wellington " 24 Auckland 3 NOTES UN THE GAME. i.BY TKLEGKAFH.—-OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Wednesday. The result of the game came as a great ; surprise to most people, who confidently expected that Auckland would win by at least a five points margin. Wellington, | ; however, had no difficulty in romping ; home to victory by 24 points to 3. When ■ the first spell ended Wellington had scored 13 points. Auckland nil. Wellington easily outclassed the visitors in all departments of the game, which was exceptionally fast. Auckland had the eun in their eyes ■ in the first half, and this, no doubt, ham- I pered their efforts a good deal .In the first spell Wellington had decidedly the i best of the play. The Auckland team worked well to- - gether, and the forwards never failed to , feed their backs. Wnen the backs got i the ball they showed that they possessed ; good sprinting powers, but in passing they were not superior to the Wellington hacks. Heath, the Auckland fullback, played a really good game. He played very coolly and saved his side r.'i many occasions by his ability to kick to touch ;at the right moment. Badeley was prob- : ably the best of the Auckland" backs, and he was always in the thick of the fray. ' He created many openings, and it w* no ; fault of his that scores were not obtained. : Ross also did well at half, and was a I dangerous factor throughout the game. , Grierson and Wool ley played well, especially the first-named, who was instrumental i in staving off several serious attacks. j Among the forwards Thomas (rover). ' ißerrick. Billingtou. and Fletcher were the j i most conspicuous in attacking work. The j i Aucklanders did not field the hall so well ! .as Wellington, whw f backs picked up j ; well. Wellington's tackling also excelled I I that of Auckland, and that was no unimportant factor in contributing to AuckI land's defeat. I On the whole it must be admitted that | the hest team won. after a game which I was fought cleanly from start to finish. I