THE LEAGUE GAME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18790, 18 August 1924, Page 4

THE LEAGUE GAME.

•• PONSONBY DEFEAT CITY. ' ATHLETIC SURPRISE MARIST. j: r . DEVONPORT AND RICHMOND WIN Tha senior grade club competitions of the Auckland Rugby Football League were con- ' i tinned on Saturday, two matches being 1 played at Carlaw Park and two at Victoria Park. The attendances were oul.r fair, the "Soccer" test match between New Zealand j and the Chinese team proving & strong , ; counter-attraction. Following are the «e- j . suits of the games: Ponsonby, 25, boat City. 10. Athletic, 23, beat Marist, 10. Devonport, 7. beat Newton, 9. I Richmond, 10, beat Ellersiic, 3. Poasonby's Decisive Win. The game allotted to No. 1 ground at Cariaw Park—Ponsonby v. City, provided a. rather one-sided contest. City lie.ded _'athor 3, weak team, several players not -ai B s-y -AjnlUL qanojn; Biq-BjioAU Suifaq iiult Ponsoiiby dominated the game, Tbo forwards hooked the ball in nearly all the eurume and Walsh kept the backs well fed from behind the scrum. The City bacKs got few chances to combine ill attack and v.-ore outplayed by their opponents First acoro went to Pousonby. A free kiok placed City on the defence and from a Ecrum Waißh Bent out to Delsrosso. ihe latter transferred to Mormaii. who scored in a good position. Delsrosso converted. | Ponsonby continued to get the ball irom j the scrums and Walsh repeatedly set tiie ; backs go! in attack. Good tacKling by I City repelled the onslaughts. A penalty against City enabled Dolgrosso to land a goal for Ponsonby. _ . • , Ponsonby were again on tee attack, tne forwards obtaining possession m the scrums, but a good rush by the City forwards roaohed the Ponsonby twenty Jive. A coun-ter-rush reached the. City line, -out L. Brown, picking up in the open, reached the L onBonby fullback. He kicked and Bass following fast secured and scored near tne poets. G. Davidson converted. Immediately afterwards City were penalised and Delgrosso kicked ft goal making the scores:—Ponsonby, 9: City. 6. Frequent penalties against vj'»y kept "o®ponby on the attack. From a scrum near the City line the ball was sent out- to Littlewood, who was tackled on the 'P 0 by D. j Brown, but scored. DolgrosiJo railed with , the shot.at goal. , . , , 1 After some play m midfield Delgrosso got the ball in the loose and sent a long pass to Littlewood, who outpaced tho City backs and stored behind the posts. Delgrosbo A strong dash by City saw 0-. Davidson get the ball from Mitchell and kick over the fullback, but the ball was fielded oy -iorman and a good char.co was lost. J.no spell ended with tho scores: onson-y n: Shortly after resuming City were penalised, and Delgrosso had ft fruitless shot et goal. L. Brown fielded well and removed play to midfield. A City rush reached the Ponsonby line, but .the Pon- ' sonbv forwards cleared. G. Davidson had a shot at goal from a penalty, but the bail fell short. Another shot immediately afterwards was successful. Ponsonby rushed' the ball to _ the City 25 and in a hot melee near the line Donovan picked up and dodged through to score. Dclgrosso failed with the kick. Ponsonby, 20: City, 7. _ , ~ Another score went to Ponsonby shortly afterwards. A hot attack in tho corner saw Walsh cross-kick to the centre. Peckham secured in the open and crossed for a try. Littlewood converted. A fine passing ' run by, L. Brown and C'rewthpr saw tho latter iust fail to score, the ball being forced. Ponsonby attacked for a time, but the City forwards, breaking tiHrnuarh. dribbled the ball over the line and Cargill scored. G. Davidson failed to convert. Pons.-mby, 25; Cf.ty, 10. Tho remainder of the game was evenly contested, no further score being registered. Athletic Defeat Marist. The _ game between Marist Old Boys and Athletic, on No. 2 ground at Cariaw Park, proved a most exciting contest. Marist were soon in the lead, a fine passing bout resulting in Johnston scoring a try that was converted by Gardiner. After a period of give and take play Sweeney, who was showing good form, finished up a passing bout by scoring a try that was not converted. Athletic then took a hind and made a hot attack _on the Marist goal. ETadley jacked up in the open and scored between the posts. Dufty failed with an easy kick. After tome play of the give and take order, Marist again set up a hot attack. From a scrum in the Atfoletic 25, the ball •was swept over the line end J. Stormont ' "cored, Gardiner again failing to oonven. X" ? ; e -i a mder of the spell was evenly contested. Dufty kicked a fine goal lust before half-time,, mailing the scores at the interval: Mans .- 11: Athletic, 5. With a 6 points advantage on resuming Marist appeared to'have the same in sa>e Keeping. The unexpected happened, as it is always liable to with a team of such capable players as Athletic. Forward and fcaciT their play improved, their ™° v ? rn j ntslrlE v characterised by much dash. The lorm of the ■ Marist players did not deteriorate but tho run of the am ni, swung in i favour of their opponents. Chances that were missed in the S P?" ,Y e , r , s eagerly accepted and some capital football was provided by both sides. JLhe first score 111 " l second spell went to .Athletio, Dufty crossing- well out after receiving a pass near the line. Athletio were now within 3 points of their opponents' total and the game was full of excitement. Coining away again the Athletio forwards reached the Marist twentyfive 1 ?*? 0 oso Had ley picked up and scored his second try for .Dufty to convert This gave i. points advantage to Athletic and, inspired by success, they kept going in great style. Yardley scored a- try that Dufty converted. Athletic had a firm grip on the game with a lead of 7 points. The Marist players, spurred by the reverse, combined ■in a fine passing bout that reached the Athletio line. Their progress was momenJ? 7. stopped but Short secured and scored. Gardiner added the goal, bringing Marist total _ within 8 points of their opponents. Dashing play m thi> concluding stages saw McGregor register a try for Athletic, which Dufty converted. Devonport's Easy Victory. The game between Devonport and Newton • n.t Viotoria Park provide flashes of good play by both sides. Devonport showed better combination than their opponents and an advantage of 11 points to 4 at half-time was moreased to 27 points against 9 at the finish of the game. . First ecore went to Devonport, Scott, scoring from & forward rush. Shortly afterwards Newton were on the attack, when Devonport were penalised, and Mansell kicked a goal. Another rush by Devonport enabled Scott to cross the Newton line at the corner, but Hand failed to convert Shortly afterwards Maneell landed another •penalty goal for Newton. A fine passing movement by Devonport toward the end of the spell saw J. Laing accept a pass from Voygoy and score a try that was converted, making the half-time scores: Devonport, 11 • Newton, 4. ' Tho second spell saw Devonporfc combine to _ good effect. They ran the score to 18 points against an opposition that appeared to lag somewhat. Newton then livened up and Moran by a good run scored near the uprights for Idar.soll to convert. The concluding stages of the game were in favour of Devonport. Trios were added by Butland. Harper and Smith, and Devonport omened victorious by the comfortable margin of IS points. . -. ' Richmond's Good Win., The game between Richmond vnd Ellerslie, at Victoria Park, was keenly contested, but the Richmond players always had .slightly the better of matters. Shortly after the kick-off a fine passing bout by the forwards saw Swift score a try that was converted by McDonald. Ellerslie quickly retaliated. Harrison, gaining possession from a scrum, made a fino dash arid crossed for a try that Shand failed to convert. Hard play followed, neither side being able to improve their position before half-time, when the scores were: Richmond, 5; Ellerslie, 3. On resuming,' play was of an even nature for some time. Then Ellerslie were penalised and McDonald added a goal to Richmond's score. Ellerslie then attacked, but a couple of shots at goal failed. After a period of strenuous play, with littlo advantage to either side. Campney intercepted an Ellerslie pass and scored an easy try. The The subsequent play was very even, and the scores had not been increased when time ■was called.