SATURDAY'S FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19963, 4 June 1928, Page 12

SATURDAY'S FOOTBALL.

THE LEAGUE CODE. DEVONPORT BACKS BRILLIANT PONSONBY'S FINE FORWARDS. MARIST SCORES HEAVILY. Tho match between Devonport and Ponsonby 011 Saturday was easily the best exhibition of the code so far this season. Throughout the game tho play fairly sparkled with brilliant movements by ■•either side and the closeness of the scores always held the enthusiasm of the spectators at high tension. Right- up to the final whistle it was anybody's game but the marked superiority of the Devonport bncks in the last twenty minutes carried the team to victory. It was only splendid defence ort the part of the Ponsonby team which held the Devonport attack so much in check. ' The absence of St. George from the Devonport scrum 'made a vast difference to the team in securing the ball. Ponsonby held tho advantage in this respect until half-way through the second spell. Then opportunities were afforded the Devonport rearguard, which was seen at its best and narrowly missed scoring on several occasions. Had Saxon dived for the line once when bought down inches from his objective, he must have scored. Although the Devonport backs all played well, honours for the day went to Seagar •jit. first, five-eighths. He made several ripenings foi his outside men in brilliant style, while on defence he was very sound and made no mistake about getting his man. His keen anticipation of tho play saved his side well while lie often joined in attacking movements a second time and on one occasion was rewarded with a try. Strong Running. Beattie, at centre, played up to his best form, his strong running being a feature. L. Scott was as dashing as usual when opportunity came his way, his strong, straight running improving many attacking movements. Cleaver, at half, cut through splendidly at times but was inclined to go a little too far. Webb turned out at fullback again and performed very creditably after he settled down. Early in the game his grubber kicking nearly proved costly to his side but when he refrained frrom this be gave a good exhibition.' He was always looking for opportunities to set his backs moving and he commenced several attacks in a finished manner. The Devonport forwards had a strenuous time against a. fine opposing vanguard and they came through the ordeal well. A. Scott proved a capable leader, his allround play making him stand out as a fine forward. Ruby played his best game of the season, being in pi-actically everything. As far as Ponsonby was concerned the fine play of its forwards deserved to carry the team to victory. The manner they kept together and assisted their backs by fine tackling was an object lesson. Had the Ponsonby rearguard been able to combine more effectively the result may have been reversed. This defect, in a large measure, was due to Cole, at first fiveeighths, who was right off colour and failed to handle the ball at all cleanly. He passed wildly many times, one bad transfer costing his side a try. Delgrosso was always in the picture and did some great work. His fine place kicking—he kicked five goals out. of five attempts—was one of the features of the game. Scjiofield and Litton stood out for some splendid tackling while they were always dangerous on attack. Usher was much too inclined to tackle high and give away possession by kicking. Thompson was not impressive at fullback, his kicking often being badly placed. His tackling was weak and he should have easily stepped L. Scott from scoring the first try. Scrum Penalties. Of a great forward division Payne, Hutt, Fagan and Ford did great work. Gardiner worked in spasms and often spoiled back movements by mishandling. There were too many scrum penalties and the referee is to be commended on tho firm attitude he took up in this respect. diarist had possession of the ball from almost every scrum in its game against City and both backs and forwards gave a good display of clever handling and backing up City's weak tackling aided Marist to run up a big score. Some of the City backs' attempts to hold up the attack wero very feeble, and in this department they have a lot to learn. The Marist backs gave their best display to date. Earier in the competition Marist's weakness lay in the combination of the five-eighths, but both Hassan and Brady, although good individually, showed cleverness on Saturday in getting the ball speedily from the scrum. The pair were also good in supporting the centre after he had obtained possession. The Marist forwards used their weight to advantage in the scrums, and were too strong for the opposition. Moisley's return to the forward division worked wonders in the scrum formation. Moisley was always prominent in leading attacks, but ran a little too far before passing. Noble showed a lot of pace in the loose, but he was given plenty of latitude in offside play. Graham and Johnson worked, hard, doing some solid tackling. The former did fine work assisting Campbell, the hooker. Gregory's Clever Display, Gregory gave a clever display in running his threcquatiers into position. Time and again the Marist fullback started passing bouts, several of which resulted in tries being scored. His kicking, which has improved m strength, could, however, be better directed toward his forwards, who would be saved unnecessary running. Brisbane was the pick of the threequarters His strong running repeatedly beat the City backs, who found some difficulty in grassing him. Bad passing was Brisbane's weakness. Sweeney and Batchelor* did some good work on the wings, tho former using his pace to advantage. Hassan and Brady were a happy combination in the live-eighths line and they overshadowed the opposing pair, Wetherili and Perry. Hassan held on a little too long at times, paying unnecessary attention to a solid fend in beating an opponent. Brady scored two very nice tries, the result of splendid individualism. Cronin save an improved display behind •a winning pack. His opening try was a good effort. City Disappoints. The absence of Pascoe, who has given his side a big share of the ball this season, considerably weakened City, who got few changes on attack. Its display was nevertheless disappointing, especially after the excellent promise it showed in the two preceding matches. Barchard showed -weakness in' defence and his handling was uncertain. Wade gave a disappointing display and on numerous (occasions dropped simple transfers. Everson and Wetherili were tho pick of the City backs, but the pair were hampered by Perry's indifferent display. Perry tackled too high and Hassan had little difficulty in fending tho City fiveeighths off. Hines was too slow behind the scrum. , In the loose the City forwards did some work, particularly % the Hadley erS ' who were always in tho lirnev, ' Hamilton followed up wall and 'fa J' su PPorted he might have scored ono try^