LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20983, 21 September 1931, Page 12

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

ROOPE ROOSTER COMPETITION DEVONPORT WINS THE FINAL. PONSONBY TEAM OUTCLASSED. Devonport : ou(clnssed Ponsonby by 31 .points 1o 17 in tho final Pf the Auckland' Rugby League s Roope Rooster competition played at' Carl aw Tark 011 Saturday. The camo was . disappointing and at times the I play was not taken seriously by either .side. Devonport's splendid combination resulted in a high-scoring match. Lack of kicking was a feature of Devonport's success, the backs attacking from almost every position. Ponsonby's' form for a team so well balanced ■was decidedly disappointing. At tho. conclusion of the game Mrs. Ivan Culpan, oij behalf of the Auckland Rugby League, presented the Roope Rooster to L. Seagar, captain of the Devonport team. Ponsonby was quick In attack and Delcrosso made ;i nice opening, but. a forward rass cheeked the movement. A minute later Devonport rushed play to Waerea. ■whose return was charged down. Masefield snapped up and passed to Casey, who scored. Seagar failed to convert. "Winters made ii nice run round the blind side and passed to McLcay, who raced 30 yards before beiiig stopped. Seagar found a weak ppot in Ponsonby's defence, but lie received litUo support. The Devonport caplain was again prominent and gathered a dropped pass, ran 1o Ponsonby's twentyfive and passed to Leatherbarrow, who ecored between the posts. Seagar failed to convert. Goodwin and Stevens headed a sweeping Ponsonby offensive. Smith saving. Ponsonby lost a try when Winters had the defence bcafen, but he passed wildly to Goodwin, who had a fclear run in. The Devonport backs caught Ponsonby hopelessly out of position and Ruby easily scored betv.'een the posts. Smith converted. Fast play followed a sti'ong Ponsonby offensive and Fagan caught Simons in possession, the Devonport fullback being lucky to get out of a position. Then Delgrosso kicked a nice penalty goal. Devonport forwards attacked strongly and Leatherbarrow appeared to score. A scrum was awarded on Ponsonby's lino. E. Scott sent a long pass to Laing and Seagar evaded several defenders to score near the posts. Smith converted and lialf-timo came with the. score:—Devonport, 10; Ponsonby, 2. On resuming. Smith was prominent and cleverly beat the opposition, but a forward pass to Casey held up the movement. The Ponsonby backs had numerous opportunities, but their passing was slow and ineffective. Ponsonby was penalised and Smith kicked a magnificent goal. Delgrosso made a good opening, a try being lost through lack of support. The Devonport backs always had the upper hand. Drew, made a fine solo effort to stem the offensive and short-punted" past. Simons, racing on to score a good try. Delgrosso converted. E. Scott made a beautiful opening and Adams just missed a try. From the resultant scrum Masefield forced his •way over. Smith converted. White cleverly worked the blind side and passed to Gardiner. who was forced into touch. Seagar completely beat Waerea with a clever "dummy" and raced between the posts. Smith converted. Then Smith was equally, clever and scored a beautiful try between the posts. / Ruby failed to convert. Smith repeated the feat and raced from half-way. E. Scott made a poor attempt at goal. Devonport did not take matters too seriously and Riley scored. Delgrosso converted. From the sideline. 40 yards out, Delgrosso kicked a fine goal. White passed to Delgrosso, who worked the blind side, and Gardiner scored. in the corner. Delgrosso failed to convert and the game ended:— Devonport, 34; Ponsonby. 17. Mr. P. Rogers was referee. LOWER GRADE RESULTS. Reserve Grade.—Knock-out final: Richmond, IS, Newton, 8. - Third Grade Open.— Marist, 5, Ponsonby. 6. Fourth Grade.—Richmond. 14. Akarnna, 5. House Matches.—Ellerslie Town Board Rovers, 18, Clark and Matheson. !o._ Primary Schools. —Richmond, 14, Northcote, 0; Papatoetoe, 8, City, 3. r HAMILTON BEATS TAUPIRI. [from our own correspondent.] HAMILTON, Sunday. In the final game for the Innes Memorial Shield played at Hamilton yesterdny. Hamilton defeated Taupiri by 17 points to 9. SOUTHERN FINALS. [by telegraph.—press association.] League football finals in Wellington and Dunedin on Saturday resulted: — Wellington.—Championship final: Petone. 20, beat Newtown, G. Dunedin. —Maxwell Cup final: City, 9, Christian Brothers, G. REPRESENTATIVE FIXTURE. PLAYERS FOR PRACTICE. The Auckland Rugby League representatives will meet Northland at Carlaw Park nest Saturday. This decision was arrived at on Saturday, when the management committee met and slightly altered the fixtures for the next two weeks The players chosen to practice are as follows:—Backs: Campbell, Meehan. List. Brisbane, Hassan (Marist), L. Scott, Seagar (Devonport), Davidson (City). Dunn (Richmond), Oliff (Ellerslie). Forwards: Campbell, Clarke, Carter (Marist), St. George (Newton), Clarke, Iverson (City), Lunn (Ponsonby), Ruby, Simpson (Devonport), Hobbs (Ellerslie). Players are requested to attend Carlaw Park to-morrow and Thursday evening.