THE LEAGUE CODE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20295, 1 July 1929, Page 12

THE LEAGUE CODE.

MAR IST AND PONSONBY. A SPLENDID EXHIBITION. DEVONPORT BACKS TOO GOOD. A splendid game resulted between Marist and Ponsonby en a heavy ground. Play was uot coufin ;d to the forwards, and both divisions excelled in clean, f snappy passing, which made the football good to watch. T1 ere was not a dull moment throughout the game and with the honours equal at the end Marist was a little unlucky. Pjnsonby was first to I assume the advantage and looked like j registering a comfortable win, seven points being added before Marist scored. At half-time Ponsonby had had a little : the better of the gam;, although only four e points then separated the teams. On t resuming the Marist backs showed surprisingly good forn, only the greasy ground holding up promising movements. 3 Gregory and Brisbane repeatedly beat the t opposition with splendid combination. p Marist took the lead 12 minutes after the kick-off. From then on Marist attacked, r but there was no finish to the good play 1 of the inside backs. Ponsonby, howevei, was by no means outclassed, and the backs did good work to reduce the margii. Several promising movements were frustrated by Brist bane's splendid tackling. Right up until time Marist had bee i successful in keepe ing Ponsonby out, nut a brilliant individual effort by Riley, started by Winters, ? resulted in Ponsonby scoring. y The form shown by Marist was a great e improvement on that in previous matches and the Roope Rooster holders should V have good prospects against Devonport, b Ponsonby was without trio services of s Del rrosso. For Ma-ist Campbell gave a t good display at fullback, although he hesitated at times. Batchelor gave a !•' dashing display on the wing, his pace being used to good advantage. McDon- . aid did not get so many chances, but played well. Brisbane Flays Well. s With the excepticn of being a little . uncertain in his handling, Brisbane played 1 a fine game. His jowerful running was • responsible for many openings, while on defence he was outstanding. Gregory proved successful on attack, and made sorno clever openings. Ifis solo efforts in the second half woie brilliant. Brady , was again prominent. Hassan got through a lot of useful work behind the scrum. The Marist forwards were superior in scrum work, and were successful in getting a gocd share of the ball. 3 Moisley and O'Brier; "were most prornin- > ent, while Johnson, Graham and Duane i played well. s Moore did some splendid work at fullback for Ponsonby. He fielded well and " kicked with good judgment. Moore only , has to pass more frequently to his three- | quarters to be a successful fullback. J Riley again gave a clever display. His try was a fine effort, and one of the best 3 seen at headquarters this season. Winters 1 also played splendid football on the wing. 4 Schofield did well with limited opportuni--3 j ties, but Meehan ane Thompson were not a happy combination with Delgrosso ab- ♦ sent. Mclntyre shewed excellent anticir pation, and was nhv.ys handy to support . each attack. Ho vas rewarded with a trv through following up. "Hutt played his la: t game for Ponsonby , prior to his departure for England. He ' ably led the forwards, but was inclined * to get in front of th: ball. Skelton was J easily the best forv ard on the ground. He possesses much more pace than most ' forwards. Gardiner md Fagan were also prominent. Kingslaad's Itiproved Form. Kingsland showed improved form in its game against Newtor , and, although only four points separated the teams, Kings- : land had all the better of the game. The 1 backs combined v.e'l and outgeneralled 1 Newton. In forward play Newton had : the advantage, and some dashing move- ! merits were witnessed. Kingsland's inside backs were hugely responsible for ! fho team's success. The combination be- ' tv'eoti the half and five-cigliths proved too ! good for the opposition. Newton made a great effort to reduce Kingsland's lead, ' but, the advantage gained early provsd ■ too big a handicap. In fact Newton did well to get so close to its opponents. _ List was perhaps tie best of the Kingsland backs, his powerful running paving the way for two tries. Nasey made some really clever openings at five-eighths and played well with A igeUo. Lucas was a j tower of strength behind the scrum. Cart tcr impressed with dashing runs down . the . side-lino, while Longvillc was reliable at fullback. Although against a heavier set the ! Kingsland forwards did well in the loose. .Simms was particularly good in giving support to the backs. McCloughlen, Railey and Wilcox also played well. The Newton backs showed very little combination and the passing was badly directed when chances were offered. Peckham was perhaps the best of the inside backs, while Cainrnick did sorno good work behind the scrurn. Little got few chances to use his pace. Newton's forwards gave a good display. Rhodes and Francis were outstanding, while Ferguson was prominent iri the loose. Devonport's Superiority. The Devonport backs soon demonstrated their superiority oyer Ellerslie, which played well in the first half. It was really a baitlo against a well-trained thirteen, for some of Devonport's movements were perfectly executed. For Devonport Simons at fullback played his usual reliable game. Rhodes played a fine game at five-eighths and made sorno great openings. Rule and Ruby played good games among the forwdids. Oliff was easily Ellerslie's best back, while F. Chapman and R. Crewthcr elid good work In the forwards A. Chapman and Gr.ogan were tireless workers. The heavy state of the No 2 ground prevented a bright exhibition in the match between City and Richmond, and for the greater part of the time play was dull, being relieved, hov.c-ver, by some brilliant individual efforts on the part of City's backs. The Richmond elefence on occasions was very weak, and its play during the second half deteriorated. Although C'itj ran up a total of 13 points to 0 during the first spell the game was even, and cure or twice Richmond came near to scoring, but its efforts were mostly j nullified by mistakes iri handling. Among the* City backs G. Perry and McLaughlin were always conspicuous, both figuring in fine solo runs. Perry .-especially was at times brilliant in this •respect. Watene, at fullback, was sound, although he did not have as much work to perform as his vis-a-vis. He was erratic at times and got into difficulties through waiting for tlie bounce. Iveson and Reynolds, although never outstand- | ing, were responsible for good play. Of | the two wingers L. Bare-hard was the pick, his f.wo tries being well deserved. Backs Lack Cohesion. The City forwards were superior to the .Richmonel pack anei used their weight to advantage in the scrams and in the loose. All worked well, Hamilton, Wcbbcrlcy and Pnscoe being the pick. The Richmond back division lacked the cohesion and understanding of the opposing rearguard, and to this in a large measure they owe fhoir defeat. Minchani was outstanding in the threequarters arid gave a clever display. McKinnon and Coote we're; seldom reliable on attack, although both played good defensive games. Harilon, at fullback, was weak at times, but on the whole came through , a hard day well. Richmond owed much of the resistance offered to the forwards, who, throughout , the game, kept up the pressure. They ] were handicapped by lack of weight, but proved very fast in the loose.' Jenkinson t was outstanding, and of the others Colo- ] brook, Jones and Jennie were pro-' | rninent, f