LEAGUE SENIOR GAMES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18724, 2 June 1924, Page 10

LEAGUE SENIOR GAMES.

SEVERAL HIGH SCORES.

DEVONPORT BEATS PONSONBY

LOOSE FORWARD PLAY.

Ths» League football competitions were continued on Saturday. The- heavy state of the grounds, together with the rain and •wind. were not conducive to pood football. About 3000 people attended Carl aw Park, where the two senior matches were between Devonport and Ponsonby, and Marist Old Boys and Richmond. The result of the senior matches are as follows:—

Devonport 6, beat Ponsonby 0. , .Marist Old Boys 20. beat Richmond 2. City £2. beat Eilerslie 0. Athletics 33. beat Newton 2:".. In the Devonport-Ponsonby natch. Ponsonby immediately attacked, and :>.-r tr.e first Quarter of an hour kept Devonport. on the defensive. Not a goal, was kicked, the ball being almost impossible to handle. The only passing bouts were indulged in by the Devoaiport side, Garratt continually setting his backs in action, the mainstay of whom was Laing. who scooped up to make a determined dash across, to score the only points in the first halt. throughout the second half Devonport attacked vigorously. Walsh at hah' for Ponsonby wa> the pillar of defence lor bis side. Sbirlev, tho Ponsonby forward, was To-spon-sib'ie for several good rushes, and was decidedly unlucky in not turning two of his efforts into scores. Loose play, connnud for. the most part to the forward?, was the feature of the last ptrt of the same. \\ lth a few seconds to go Laing secured from an opening made by Webb, and dacbed across to score the second try for his e:de. For the winners B. Laing stood out. He was the thorn in the side of the Ponsonby team, and frustrated many movements that would otherwise have ended in a score. With speed, weight and finesse, he is in the fir'* flight of footballers in New Zealand. Webb is smart and reliable. Garrett, at half, and Taylor, at full, are up to the highest club standard. In the forwards. Douglas was the best. Scott and St. George were prominent. For tho lowers Walsh was the best of ten back". Little-wood had little to do, but did it well. whs deplorably wesk at fullbark. failing to field. and wo* caught *»«*»„ f,,,,'; a r.-,in with the ball. His poor display was in direct contrast with his rival's brilliancy. Marists' Easy Win. Much to the surprise of enthusiasts, the i match between Marist3 and Richmond was : distinctly one-sided. The Richmond side was hardly up to full strength. Marist fielded their strongest team to date, however, and it should not discourage the Richmond side to be beaten by such formidable opponents. The heavy Marist pack, now the best balanced in the competition, kept up a determined attack on the Richmond line. Their onslaught was not to be <V-nied. and the forwards played with enterprise, from time time initiatirg and joining in passing bouts .with the backs. In the loose, they dominated the play. , ~ The Richmond side are to bo complimented on their very fine determined defensive stand against altogether oiirenor opponents. They made herculean efforts to turn defence into attack, and frequently carried the ball into Marist territory. Fo- the- losers, Hanlon at fullback was reliable, and the =ole aeoncy in keeping the icores down. Redwood, McMillan and Tittle w-re prominent, but tho fide, lac-fed the combination that characterised -their previous efforts. For the winners. Lars at half saw a Cor.si«tent display. He has found his place, and his plnv in the next few club fixtures will be carefully watched. Brisbane nt centre is above (he best club standard, and has just claims for repre?e«!ative honours. Th« ro™>>in3tion of Lane. P*ew«.rt. Sweeney and Brisbane is coual to *I>~ best in the c->m-neti(.;on. Grosrory nt fullback gave ano<>-"r brlli.in* di'olay. his handling of * difficult ball bein-r a- Mature. In « good -pack of forwnrdf" T . O'Brien a*«d W. Htormont stood out. The scorers for Msri«t were !>"'< Kirkland, two trims each- ."tormont a"d T»»~s. one each Gregory kicked ♦wo goals O'Brien aid K'-<fln n d one each. Butler kicked a goal for Richmond. Superiority erf City. As was expected, the game between City and Ellerslie resulted in an easy victory for City. City immediately went into tho attack all the team at times handling the ball. The Ellerslie side was no match for the last year's champion*!, who relentlessly attacked, and quickly ran up a high score. The- game takes little describing, the City forwards and backs pressing on the Ellerslie line throughout. On several occasions Ellerslie penetrated into the City zone, but the attack was quickly turned into defence-, a scoring effort on most occasions resultAll the City backs worked well, Crewther being verv prominent. Bass and Mackie clayed their uuual sound forward game. The latter, though light, is eoual to any forward in the code, and has claims for representative honours. Tries were scored by Crewther and Wetherill. two each: B. and G. Davidson. Townsend. and Bass, one each. Crewther kicked three goals, and Townsend one. Athletics Beat Newton.

As was anticipated. Athletics,, proved victorious in this game, which was played at Victoria Park. Athletic have developed into a very strong side, and their match against Marisi to-morrow will bo interesting. Newton failed to field a strong side. They have drawn en their junior grades, anil the side assembled is not quite up to senior .standard. However, the materiel in their ranks should improve next season. The red and whites opened well, and the ecoro board showed 10 to 0 in their favour, but Athletics were too powerful, and their attack could not be frustrated. While Newton held the field they showed willingness to mix it with their opponents._ The latter had combination and condition in their favour. , The Newton side showed good glimpses of individual play. Noticeable among the winning side were Dufty, and Wilson-Hall, and Wool ley in the backs, and Herring and Austin in the forwards. For the losers. Poison. Callaghan. Stack, Waring and Austin were most prominent. Tries we? e- scored for Athletic by Austin, Wilson-Hall. and Dufty, two each: Woclley, one. A. feature of the game was D«fty's splendid kicking. He landed six goals from seven attempts. For the lowers, Callaghan.' Biggs. Stack, Waring, anil Poison scored one try each, find Poison and Waring kicked two goal each. The two matches, between Maris*, and Athletics, and Ponconby and Eller which were postponed from Saturday, May 24, will be played at Carlaw Park to-morrow morning at 9.30.

THE JUNIOR MATCHES. r j ho junior matches resulted tie follows:

SECOND GRADE. United Suburbs 11, defeated Ellenslie 4. Otnhuhu 23. dpfeatetl Newton 0. Richmond 3, defeated Ponsonby 0. Kmgslr.nd 5, defeated Devonport it. Manukau 0. defeated City 0.

:.'■■'.,' : THIRD GRADE. Pamell 20. .defeated Manukan 0. Athletics lb, defeated Man sore 0. Devonport won by default from Point Chevalier. Otahuhu v. Kingsland match postponed.

FOURTH GRADE. Marist Old Boys 9, defeated Ellerslie 5. Devonport won by default from Mangere, Richmond 17. defeated City 0.

FIFTH GRADE. Ellerslie 8. defeated Point Chevalier 0. Newton 82, defeated Athletics 0. Otahuhu 9. defeated Ponsonby 5.

SIXTH A. GRADE. City 2, defeated Ponsonby 0. Manukau 3. drew with Marist Old Boys 3. Richmond A 42, defeated Leys Institute 0. Athletics 11, defeated Parnell 0.

SIXTH E. GRADE. Manukau 3, defeated Marist Old Bovs 0. Parnell C. drew with Richmond C." Ellersho 14. defeated Athletics 10.

AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY TEAM.

AUCKLAND REPRESENTATIVES.

The Auckland selectors, Messrs. McDonald, Fox. and Aahor, Lave chosen the following to represent Auckland against the Australian University players on Wednesday at Carlaw Park:—

Fullback. C. Dufty (Athletics); threequarters, G. Davidson (City), B. Davidson (City), J. Littlewood (Ponsonby); fiveeighths, li, Wetherill (City). B. Lain? (Dovonport): halfback. A. Garratt (Devon" port); forwards. J. O'Brien (M.0.8 ) V Townsend (City). W. Stormont (M O.B.) H. McDonald (City). B. Avery (Athletic?.). N. Bass (City). Reserves: Backs, C. Poison (Newton). W Wilson-Hall (Athletics), E. Delgro-so (Ponsonby); forwards, V. Thomas (City), J. O'Brien (Devonport). W. Somers (Newton).