LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20929, 20 July 1931, Page 12

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

THE SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP. MARIS!. TEAM DEFEATS CITY. EASY WIN FOR RICHMOND. Tlio senior championship of the -Auckland Rugby League was continued on Saturday under fine weather conditions, although the'grounds were heavy after rain. Considerable interest was taken in the meeting of 'Marisfc and City at Cnrlaw Park,- as in the first round City defeated the grade leaders by a comfortable margin. There was little between the teams on Saturday. Although Marisfc won by 18 points to 10, the score did not indicate the difference between the teams as on the play the result should have been much closer.

On the No. 2 ground Richmond outclassed Ellerslie, running up ' the biggest score of the day. At Northcote Ponsonby and Newton played an interesting game, the farmer winning by five points!

The results of Saturday's matches -were as follows: : • Marist, 18; City, 10. Richmond, 32; Ellerslie, 3. Ponsonby, 12; Newton, 7. The following tablo shows the present positions of the teams in the senior championship:— * Pts. Ch. P. \V. L. D. F. A. Pts. Marist .. 10 9 1 Devonport . » 9 8 ,1 Richmond i 10 5 4 1 121 8S 11 Pomsonby , 9 5 3 1 129 109 11 City . 9 2 6 1 105 124 o Newton 10' 1 7 2' 60 127 4 Ellerslie . * 9 8 1 G2 194 1

THREE 'TRIES TO MEEHAN. INTERCEPTED PASSES. Three tries by Meehan, two from intercepted passes, gave Marist the advantage over City. Early in the game Hassan made a beautiful opening on the blind Bide, but Davidson saved., Marist was unlucky "whan P. Young missed a pass from List and lost a try. Watene missed a, penalty goal for City, but a few minutes later was successful with a splendid kick. A nice kick byj P. Young placed Marist on attack. Davidson, however, made a brilliant run and passed to Iveson, who just missed scoring. Batchelor set off in a run of 40 yards before being stopped. Pierce made a breakaway from near naifway, and in an exciting race just missed & try. Marist was just as unlucky a ininute later when the ball rolled dead. From a scrum, Hassan sent the Marist backs away and Meehan outpaced the opposition to score near the corner. Clarke failed t<£ convert. Then Meehan intercepted a wild pass to score a nice try which Clarke converted. The City backs came nway in nice passing and Davidson burst through and S. "VTaterie scored. S xvatene converted and half-time came 'With the score:—Marist, 8: City. 7. ' . "Marist held the territorial advantage in the early stages., of the second half, but City defended well. Twice the Marist forwards got over City's line and a force resulted. From a scrum near halfway City's backa attacked and looked, like ecoring. A sensational interception by Meehan saw the position changed. lhe Marist win? kicked past Reynolds and scored between the posts. Clarke c 51 1" verted. Davidson was outstanding on defence- and a, minute later made a 'nice on en ins and Iveson was held up on the Marist line. From a scrum which followed Alderton scored. S Watene failed nt goal. Just on time Hassan made-a good run' and Campbell got over near the posts. • Clarke converted and the pime ended with the scoreMarist, 18; City,

10. , Mr. V. Simpson was referee,

FAST GAME AT NORTHCOTE. NEWTON HOLDS PONSONBY. A large crowd assembled at the Northcote 'Municipal Reserve 'to see a fast and interesting game between Ponsonby and Newton, the former winning by twelve points to seven. There was no score m the second spell. Ponsonby soon bad Newton on defence and a race_ for the ball behind the lipe saw Goodwin beat, Dempsey to open Ponsonby's account. Delgrosso converted. Then from an infringement Deleroeiso a penalty goal. Tsewton replied with a strong effort but clever reverse passing improved Ponsonbys position and finally Riley scored, under the posts. ' DelgTosso made no mistake with the kick. Offside play gave Porteous the opportunity to open Newton s score with a, penalty goal. Newton broke away and a rush by St. George. Porteous and Pope eent Hill over,beneath the posts. .Porteous converted. Half-time came with the score:—Ponsonby, 12: Newton, 7.. i Ponsonby gained ground by Judicious line-kicking by Delgtosso but Newton countered this with fine back movements •which kept Ponsonby on defence. Hill dribbled the ball to the line and Emanuel was forced out within inches of a try. Middleton left the field with a broken collar-bone. Play was most, exciting until the end. but there was no further sconng. the game ending:—Ponsonby, 12; Ivewton. 7 Mr. L. Bull was referee. RICHMOND SUPERIOR. BIG SCORE AGAINST ELLERSLIE. Richmond proved itself easily the superior team in its match against filerslie. The victors opened up play with ,a brisk forward movement which resulted in Dunn crossing near the corner. Mincham failed to convert. Shortly afjer Ellerslie was awarded a penalty, but \Vebb failed to turn it to account. Another forward rush carried Richmond up the field a nd Ritchie intercepted and pushed his way over the line. Mincham failed to eonvert. The • game continued without incident until Stehr opened up a movement from which Mincham scored. .Tones did not convert. Dunn and Prentice each gained an unconverted try for Richmond before half-time, the score then being:— Richmond, 15; Ellerslie. 0. Shortly after the resumption Prentice scored and Dunn converted. Ellerslie's defence was not up to its usual standard. Stehr was quick to take advantage of opportunities and sent Prentice over again. W. Jones failed with the kick. Ellerslie s only score was a try by Oliff, the halfback who went river from a scrum on the line Prentice and Pell added unconverted tries before the end, the final score being:—Richmond, 32; Ellerslie, 3. Mr. E. McCall was referee.

"LOWER GRADE RESULTS. Reserve <Jrade. —Richmond, 10, Ellerslio, 2: Ponsonby, 6, Newton, 0. ■ Second Grade.—-Northcote. 3. Point Chevalier 3: Mount Albert, 24, Papakura, 5; Citv, 5, Hnntly. 3. ' Third Grade Intermediate.—Richmond, 8, Akarana, 0; Ponsonby. 6, Mount Albert, 3. Fourth Grade—North cote. 3. Newmarket, 3; Akarana, 5, Point Chevalier, 3; Richmond. 5, Marist, 3. , Fifth Grade.—Newton, 5, Poneonby, 2. Marist, 20, Richmond. 0; Devonport, 8, Grey Lynn, 3. Sixth Grade.—Newton 3. Akarana, 2; Newmarket, 24, Devonport, 0. Seventh Grade.—Glen Lynn, 11, Papa,toetoe, 5: Ellerslie. 28, Richmond B, 0: City, 13, Newmarket, 2. Schoolboys.—Richmond, 14, City, 5. WIN FOR DEVONPORT. [from our own correspondent.] HAMILTON, Sunday. Playing at Huntly yesterday. Devonport defeated Ngaruawahia by 19 points fo fi. 'Huntly (jolts defeated Ngaruawahia colts by (5 points fo 3. At Taiipiri, Taupiri defeated Hamilton, by 28. points to 3. WHANGAREI GAMES. [by telegraph.—own correspondent.] WHANGAREI, Sunday. The senior trial rngtch resulted Possibles, 27,: Probables,- 14. Mr. A, McClymont, North Island selector, was present •with a view to including suitable Northland players in the next North y. South Island trials. Junior: Whnkapara. S. To Warp, 0. All the gate takings will be landed over to the St. John Ambulance Brig ado.