THE LEAGUE CODE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21545, 17 July 1933, Page 12

THE LEAGUE CODE

CHALLENGE CUP MATCH AUCKLAND TEAM DEFEATED HOLDERS RETAIN TROPHY Tho first challenge match of tho season for tho Northern Union Cup was played at Carlaw Park on Saturday when South Auckland, holders, defeated Auckland by 14 points to 0. Conditions Were most unfavourable, rain having made the ground very heavy, and players found difficulty in gaining a foothold and handling the ball. South Auckland was always the superior side, and scored four tries, one of which was converted. The heavy rain had a detrimental effect on the attendance, but the spectators were treated to some thrilling play by the visiting forwards. South Auckland adapted itself better to the conditions than the homo team, and played with far more understanding. The forwards followed up fast, tackled splendidly and hunted as a pack, while their rushes took a lot of stopping and gained yards of ground. When Auckland hooked the ball from the scrum the visiting forwards were quick to break up and smothered the majority of attacking moves. The whole pack played so well that it would be unfair to individualise.

The South Auckland backs gave the vanguard good Bupport, and) often kicked to the gaps instead of attempting to handle the ball, this policy proving highly successful under the conditions. The rearguard also covered up well and there were generally two or three players handy to assist a player in difficulty. Outstanding Players

The two five-eighths, K. Peckham and It. Garry, were outstanding for fine all-round work, their tackling and rush stopping being first-class. They both 'also made the best of their opportunities on attack, and frequently shone in clover individual play. All the other backs displayed dash and played up to the conditions. G. Tittleton, fullback, gave a very sound exhibition. Of powerful build, a strong kick and good tackier, he handled well and never let his side down. His try was the result of clever anticipation and was welldeserved. The Auckland forwards were completely overshadowed. They failed to keep together and often only one was seen following up. This allowed the visiting players a great deal of latitude in getting out of trouble. It is hard to understand why the Auckland forwards persisted in their efforts to handle the ball under the conditions.' It proved very costly, and the team would have fared much better had they adopted similar tactics to the visitors. With the Auckland forwards overshadowed, the backs had a trying afternoon on defence. Hassan played a fine game at halfback, and made several splendid openings from the scrum, which were lost through mishandling by the backs. Ho and Brisbane did great work on defence. Dnnn was obviously unsuited to the conditions, while the threequarters received few opportunities. Display of Lalng Laing was very sound at fullback, his defence, kicking and tackling being of a high standard. On occasions he was tackled in possession, but in the majority of instances the heavy ground gave him little opportunity of recovering in the faco of a fine forward line. One particular save of his was brilliant. He gathered a rolling ball from six forwards, broke through their defence and found the line with a great kick. He was unlucky to lose the ball in a smothering tackle, when South Auckland scored its second try. On a dry day the result may have been closer. However, judging on the form shown it seemed South Auckland would have been successful under any conditions. The teams were as follows: — Auckland. —Laing, Turei, List, L. Schultz, Brisbane, Dunn, Hassan, Telford, Leatherbarrow, S. Clark, Laird, Sathcrley, McLaughlin. South Auckland. —G. Tittleton, B. Paki, W. Tittleton, H. Hill, K. Peckham, P. Garry, D. Pitt, It. Stephenson, .7. Siddoll, H. Mason, J. Fleming, P. Mcßuiney, T. Tiiiims. Miss Shirley "Watkins", the Sports Queen, kicked off. Auckland won the first scrum, but the visiting forwards came round quickly and broke through, Brisbane saving well. Offside by the visitors enabled Auckland to press, but Peckham drove it back with a good kick. Players found difficulty in gaining a foothold and play was confined chiefly to the forwards. A bad offside by Siddell lost a lot of ground for South Auckland. First Hassan and then Brisbano made good >openings in passing bouts, but Turei and Dunn dropped thoir passes. Paki gained possession and kicked through. Following on ho gathered nicely and sent infield to Pitt, who scored wide out. The anglo was too difficult for G. Tittleton. South Auckland, 3; Auckland, 0. Opportunity Lost • Hassan made a beautiful opening on the blind side from a scrum, which Scnultz improved upon. The last-named cut in cleverly, but McLaughlin dropped his pass and lost a try. Auckland pressed hard, but mishandling by tlio backs lost good ground. Laing retrieved the situation with two fine hue kicks. Over eagerness on the part of South Auckland" cost it penalties. The visitors wero using tlio short kick to advantage. Peckham kick through and Laing lost possession on being tackled. Hill picked up and passed to Pitt who scored a nice try wide out. K. Peckham failed with the kick. South Auckland, G; Auckland, 0. Good play by Laing and Turei placed Auckland on attack and Turei failed from a penalty in a handy position. Fast play followed a series of kicks which favoured Auckland. A breakaway by Peckham brought play to halfwav, but his pass to Hill was dropped. Half-time came with the score: — South Auckland .. . . 6 Auckland 0 A Good Try On resuming the South Auckland forwards were seen in a fine loose forward rush, from which Fleming scored. G. Tittleton converted from a good position. South Auckland, 11; Auckland, 0. South Auckland was now continually on attack and G. Tittleton failed at goal from a penalty. Then from a high kick by List, Garry knocked on, recovered and ran strongly before passing to Hill, who sent on to G. Tittleton. The fullback had realised his opportunity, raced up and took tho final pass to score well out. Siddell failed with tho kick. South Auckland, 14; Auckland, 0. South Auckland maintained the pressure, the local team failing to penetrate past halfway. Fast breaking by the visiting forwards nullified any attempt by Auckland to attack. The local forwards failed to keep together, while South Auckland covered up well and stemmed any advance. The visitors had the better of the remaining exchanges, but thero was no further scoring, the game ending:— South Auckland . . .. 14 Auckland . . .... 0 Mr. P. Eogers was referee.

FAST TRIAL MATCH B TEAM SUCCESSFUL Contrary to expectations, tlio A and B trial game played us a curtain-raiser to the representative fixture was a fast display of the code. Both teams threw the greasy ball about in good style, although tli? playing field was heavy. Tho A backs opened with a nice passing bout, from which B. Schultz gained useful ground. Then Axeman broke away, and good passing between Riley and O'Donnell resulted in Bright -scoring a fine try. The kick failed. Lawless was prominent for the A team, and ho passed to Flanagan, who scored. The kick was unsuccessful. Good play by Abbott resulted in B. Smith scoring an unconverted try for the .A team. Riley and Pope were associated in a nice passing bout, from which Pope scored. The kick failed. Just before time, Hall scored an unconverted try for tiie A team, and made the score:—A team, 9; B team, 6. On resuming the B team rushed play to opposition territory, where Lee made n good save. Marshall broke away and Abbott outpaced the opposition to score ft good try. Porteous converted. A few minutes later, Porteous dribbled over to score near tho posts. Ho also converted. The ground became very heavy and conditions were unpleasant. Good play by Pope just missed n try. The B team had all the better of the last few minutes, but failed to score. Tho gamo ended:—B team, 16; A team, 9. Mr. L. Bull was referee. LOWER GRADE RESULTS Second Grade.—Mangere, 98, Manukau. 0; Ellerslie, 5, Point Chevalier, 3; Papakura, 0, Otahuhu, 0. Third Grade Open.—Glenora, 25. Papakura, 2; Richmond, 3, Ponsonby, 3; Mariet, 15, Mangere, 0; Mount Albert won from New Lynn by default. Third Grade Intermediate.—City, 3, Richmond, 6; Marist, 0, Northcote, 0; Papakura, 6, Manukau, 0. Fourth Grade.—Akarana, 0, Newton B, 0: Newton A. 11, Manukau, 2: Richmond, 6, Ponsonby, 0: City, 11, Point Chevalier, 8; Marist A, 23, Marist B, fi. Fiftli Grade.—Point Chevalier, 6, Northcote, 2; Richmond A, 8, City, 0; Richmond B won from New Lynn by default; Ellerslie. 8. Papakura, 3. Sixth Grade.—Devonport, 0, Richmond, 0. Seventh Grade.—Richmond A, 18, EllersHe, 2; Newton, 6, Devonport, 0; Otahuhu, 6. Eden, 0. Schoolboys' Games.—Avondale, 13, Northcote, 0; City, 3, Ellerslie, 0. NORTHLAND LEAGUE [from our own correspondent] WHANGAREI, Saturday Following are the results of matches played to-day under the jurisdiction of the Northland League:—Seniors: Whaka Waro, G. Kamo, 5; Hikurangi, 6, City, 3. Junior championship final: Whaka Waro, 5, Kamo, 0: Onerahi, 12. Portland, 8. MATCHES IN CHRISTCHURCH [by telegraph—press association] CHRISTCHURCH. Sunday League football matches "yesterday were played on heavy grounds. Results:—Addington, 5, Sydenham, 3; Hornby, 16, Pirates, 7; Riccarton, 8, New Brighton, 7.