FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17520, 12 July 1920, Page 7

FOOTBALL.

UNDER LEAGUE RULES. CITY, 37 PONSONBY, 5. i GRAFTON DEFEATS" MARITIME. MARIST TOO GOOD FOR NEWTON. Three first-grade games under League rules were played at the Domain on Saturday.- Two of them provided exceptionally exciting contests, while the third, between the old rivals, Ponsonby and City, resulted ■ in an overwhelming victory for City by 37 J points to 5. Newton were defeated by j Marist, after an eicciting can tost, by 9 j points to 5. while Maritime suffered the first I reverse of the season at the hands of Grafj ton. by 10 points to 5. • _ The results of Saturday's matches leave ; Maritime still in the lead for the senior j competition with seven wins and one loss. City, with six wins and two losoes, are second, while Newton and Marist Old Boys, with four wins and a draw each, are a. tie for third place. Ponsouby and Devon port are together. in fourth place with two wins and a draw each. Grafton being at the bottom of the list with one win. CITY V. PON SON BY. . , The first attack was made by Ponsonby, but nothing came of it, and a free kick to City placed the latter on the offensive. a passing bout by the City backs looked dangerous, but Wetherall was tackled with the ball. Good work by -the Ponsonby forwards removed play to neutral territory. Hero a good opening was made by Wetherall. who passed to Lams, and the latter broke Tight through the opposing backs. He was well supported by B. Davidson, who. taking the pass, raced, behind the posts and scored. W. Davidson converted. Shortly after the kick out Groan, for Ponsonby, had a shot at goal from a penalty, but tho attempt went wide. A long kick, well followed up. by the City forwards, placed Ponsonby on tho defensive, but E. McGregor broke away and made ground to halfway. A good kick by the same player gave the Ponsonby forwards a chance, but good tackling stemmed the attack. A counter City rush, headed by Laing, was well stopped by Hsrgreaves, but the City players again attacked. The ball travelled from Wetherall to Thomas and on to Francis, the" latter cutting in well and scoring behind the posts. W. Davidson converted. A good kick by E. McGregor sent the ball out near the City line, and subsequently Cross had a shot at goal from a penalty, but just missed the posts. Shortly afterwards Ponsonby got moving in a passing -bout. E. McGregor took the ball well along the touch line, and when tackled passed infield, the ball passing through the hands of two or three forwards, adman eventually scoring. Cross converted. The game was remarkably fast considering the state of the ground, and the City players, headed by Laing, again broke away. They were momentarily stopped near the Ponsonby line, but _ the ball was kept moving, and Mitchell in a scramble scored near the corner. W. Davidson failed with the kick. Play hung in midfield for a few minutes, but City worked the ball to the Ponsonby 25. Paki snapped up the. ball in the loose and dashed over the line. W. Davidson added the goal points. Rain then set in, and the play became slower, the spell ending with the score—City 13,5 Ponsonby 5. Early in the second spell Ponsonby at-, tacked, and . keeping the ball on the ground dribbled it over the City line,, a force resulting.. A great deal of scrambling play followed owing to the ball being greasy. A Ponsonby rush took the ball well down the field, and Halliday, following up well, had a chance to score, but was brought down by the fullback, and the ball went into touch in goal. Immediately afterwards the City forwards rushed the ball down'the field and across the Ponsonby line, a force resulting. Ponsonby worked the ball to the City 25, where from a penalty Cross had a fruitless shot at goal. From this stage to the finish City maintained the uppe- hand. Keeping the ball on the ground, they broke away with rush after rush, the bpposing backs being unable to stem the repeated onslaughts. Several tries were scored in quick succession by City, the game finishing with, the scores City 37* Ponsonby 5. GRAFTON V. MARITIME. The steady improvement shown by Graf-t-on since the beginning of the season inspired ■'heir supporters, with the hope that they would give the unbeaten Maritime team a good game, but tew expected the team with an unbroken succession of losses t j triumph over the hitherto undefeated - Maritime- ' combination. Maritime were quickly on the attack from the kick-off, but failed to combine in passing rushes. Grafton eventually broke away, and Woolley relieved by a fine kick. The Maritime forwards again threatened the Grafton line, but Elliott proved; equal to the occasion, and sent the invaders back by good fielding and kicking. The Grafton forwards then, attacked stongly, but a hard kick over the Maritime line resulted! in a force. Another strong attack naa made by the Grafton forwards-, and in loose work near the Maritime line Collins ' intercepted a. pass and scored first blood for Grafton. The kick failed. A strong Maritime offensive was well stopped) by tho Grafton backs, who retaliated with a good rush. This waa stemmed, and Yardley was prominent in a good dash down the line. The respite was of short duration, as the Grafton forwards came back with a rush, and. Maritime being penalised in their own 25, Woolley placed a fine goal for Grafton. Give-and-take play ensued, the ball travelling up and down the field at a great rate, but no further scoring -was done during the spell, which ended: Grafton, 5; Maritime. 0. Upon resuming. Maritime attacked, but the defence proved sound and the invaders were driven back for a time. They returned to the attack determinedly, and finally H. Gray, taking a pass in good style, scored in a good position. Yardley converted. The Maritime players continued to attack, but a good kick by Elliott relieved matters, and Grafton invaded the Maritime territory. Strenuous play followed, with Grafton on the attack, until finally McSweeney broke through the opposition and scored near the corner. Bennett converted with a fine kick. The game continued to be fast and open, but faulty handling of the greasy ball by both sides prevented promising movements being carried to a successful finish. The game was evenly fought in the concluding stages, neither side being able to add to the scores. Grafton eventually winning by 10 points to 5. MARIST V. NEWTON. The game between .Newton and Marist was expected to provide an even contest, and popular opinion was justified by the result. The first attacking movement was initiated by Newton, but the Marist defence was sound, and good work by the backs turned defence into attack. Ghent was prominent in a good dash, but Poison tackled him well. A penalty against Newton, however, gave Marist a chance at goal, and Ghent scored with a nicely-judged kick. A sweeping rush by Newton after the kick-out looked dangerous. and a penalty against Marist gave Newton an opportunity to even the scores, but Poison failed with the kick. Marist retaliated with a strong rush in which ■ Stormont figured prominently. The bail was sent over the line, but Cloke saved by sending it out of play. Marist continued to press, but the attack was held by the defence of the Newton backs, and the spell ended with!the scores: Marist, 2; Newton. 0. The early part of the second spell saw both sides mis-fielding the ball, but Marist broke through the defence, and. a dribbim fa rush resulted in Stormont crossing the Newton line near the corner. The same player converted. Fast play with the; ball on the ground ensued, Newton making desperate efforts to score. Lovett and Somers were prominent in attack, the latter being held up on the Marist line. A penalty gave relief, but Poison initiated another attacking movement, and Newton again threatened the Marist line. A shot at goal by Adams went wide, and Stormont broke away with the ball at toe, but Lovett saved. Newton returned tt> the attack, and Jame3 almost scored, but a force resulted. Give-and-take p'iay followed, and Marist were awarded a penalty in Newton territory., Stormont landed a fine goal. A determined attack by Newton ensued, and after a scramble in the Marist twenty-five Dempsey obtained possession and scored. Adams converted. The game was played at a fast pace from this point to the finish, but no further score resulted. Stormont for Marist had two shot 3 at goal, which failed, and the game ended: Marist 9. Newton 5. THE JUNIOR MATCHES. Seoond Grade.Maritime, 31 points, dedefeated Thames Old Boys. 5. Fourth Grade.— City, :SS points.. oefcated I Kingsiand, 0: Richmond. 17 points, de--1 feated I'onsopby, 0. Sixth Grade.ror.sonby, 9 points, defeated Maritime, 0; City. 5 points, defeated Devoliport, 3. KING COUNTRY MATCH. i The Devonport United first- grade team played the King Country League reprewnta- ! fiver, nt Taumarunui on Saturday. The visitors 5 won after a fairly good game by 15 point? to ' 0. .Tries were scored by Walters i'JI, Godick. Chiver?, and Nicholson.

I ! THE RUGBY GAME.

j THE THIRD GRADE MATCH. Toe Auckland third-grade representative I team played the Ponsonby third-grade team ' at Eden Park on Saturday afternoon as a curtain-raiser to the New Zealand-Auckland i match. The Ponsonbv team won by Ji points ' to 5 Thev had much tho better of the i Tame throughout, and at half-time led by ' l> points to 0. Tries wore scored for Poni wnL.v S- E. Strotton, D'Audncy, L Stretton, j J <' Campbell. J. W. C. Campbell, : and McConnell, while MrManus kicked a I renal coat. For the third-grade reprej ser. tat.i\es Murray scorpd a try, which £ Moresby converted.

TARANAKI V. SOUTH AUCKLAND; _ The Taranaki representative team -will play South - Auckland 'at . Hamilton next Wednesday : and will'play Auckland at Eden Park on Saturday. -The ' following > "will . represent South Auckland.Fullback, Macgill (MorrmsviJle); threequarters, ' Matthews , (Matainata), Thomas (King Country), Thompson (Cambridge); -five-eighths, Moir (Maniapoto). ■ Milliken (Morrinsv;lle)r .half, J. ; Mclntyre (Momnsville); rover, Williams (Maniapoto); forwards, McHardy (Mprrinsville), Sheehan (Matamata), Holmes (Matamata), Hall (Cambridge). Morris (King Country), C. Hird (Raglan) C. Clark (Maniapoto). Emergencies: Backs, Patterson (Cambridge), Arkle (Maniapoto) : forwards, > Cole (Maniapoto), Dow (Morrinsville). ' / ; SECONDARY . SCHOOLS' MATCHES. King's College, 33, defeated Grammar School B, 5. '. • PRIMARY SCHOOLS MATCHES. A Grade.Vermont A; 48, i defeated Eemuera, 0. „ . B —Section I.: Mount Albert, 13, beat Takapuna. 0. Section II.: Mount Eden, 3, defeated Newton East, 0; Grey '■vnn. 37. defeated Richmond West, 0; 'Napier Street. 9, defeated Richmond Road, 0. C Grade. —Vermont B. 8. defeated Parnell, 3; Newton West won from St. Barn-iz-bas' by default; Ponsonby, 12, beat Newton West, 0. TAURANGA UNION. [BY TELEGRAPH. —Off CORRESPONDENT.] TAURANGA. Saturday. The Tauranga. Union's Jordan Cup competition was continued to-day when Tanranga defeated Matakana by 21 points to 11. A. Sorrensdn kicked six penalty goals for the winners and D. Mansell scored a • try which was unconverted. Tau (2) and T." Rolleston scored for Matakana, one try being converted. The Tauranga and To Puke junior representatives played a drawn game—3 points each—at Te Puke to-day. Powo (Tauranga) kicked a penalty goal early in the match and a Te Puke player scored in the last few minutes. . TARANAKI Y. WANGANUI. fßr TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION. HAWERA, Saturday. The football match Wanganui v. Taranaki, played to-day in wet weather, resulted in a win for the latter by 6 points to 0. The state of tho ground and a wet ball prevented anything like a good display. Taranaki's score comprised two penalty goals, kicked by George. In a curtain-raiser Wangamji High School beat New Plymouth High School by 11 points to 3. MATCH AT MORRINSVLLLE. [by TELEGRAPH.—OWN" CORRESPONDENT.] ! MORRINSVLLLE, Saturday. Morrinsville received a second visit from a representative team' to-day -when the Maniapoto-Te Kuiti representatives played the home team. Tho latter won by 9 points ! to 6. CAMBRIDGE , UNION. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] CAMBRIDGE. Saturday. ' Two well-contested games were decided today in. the second round of the second grade. Roto-o-rangi defeated City by 5 points to 3, and Hautapu defeated Maungatautari by 10 points to 0. THAMES COMPETITIONS. '[BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. THAMES. Sunday. The senior Rugby .-competitions were postponed on Saturday owing to several layers being engaged in the Auckland, representative match at Auckland. In the first junior matches High School defeated School of Mines by 16 points to 9. and Hauraki Plains defeated Hikutaria by .9 to 5. In the Beoond juniors the match City v. High School resulted in a draw, 6 points all. South Public School defeated Central IX. THE ASSOCIATION GAME. / " " BROWN SHIELD. MATCH. AUCKLAND .V* .WELLINGTON. ' [by "telegraph.— PRESS ASSOCIATION.] * WELLINGTON, Saturday. The Association's football match for the Brown Shield, between Wellington (holders) i and Auckland, was- played at? the Basin ] Reserve this afternoon in heavy rain, and in the presence' of about 1000 ' spectators, j The game'fended in £ draw, each side J ring one goal.' The ground was very | wet and slippery, and became worse as j the game progressed, thus spoiling a good I exhibition. The game 'was fas* and interesting. Wellington had the better of the first spell. Campbell scoring in the first twenty minutes from a pass by Ballard. The visitors showed more combination in the second half and • equalised the scores from a scramble, the ball going through from a kick by Pealing. Wellington retain the shield. THE JUNIOR GAMES. Second Division.—Everton. 13 (O'Connor 5. Webster 2, Kerr % J. O'Connor 2, Robertson 2). defeated North Shore Methodist. 0. Third Division. — 7, defeated VM T , 1. Fourth Division.Y.M.C.A. Rangers, 3, defeated Y.M.CA. Spurs, 0; Tabernacle, 2, defeated Devonport Presbyterian. 0; Y.M.C.A. Celts defaulted to North Shore. HAMILTON ,V. MORRINSVILLE. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] MORRINSVILLE, Saturday. An Association team representing Hamilton tried conclusions to-day with a Morrinsville eleven. Thp game resulted in a draw, there being no score.