THE LEAGUE CODE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22433, 1 June 1936, Page 14

THE LEAGUE CODE

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP RICHMOND DEFEATS NEWTON PONSONBY TEAM BEATEN !:'{•' The fifth series of matches in the senior championship of the Auckland Rugby League was played on Saturday under splendid conditions. In the principal content Eichmond defeated Newton, after a close match but the standard, especially in the first spell, was a little disappointing. There were several thrilling stages in the second spell during which Bright, tho Newton centre-threequsirter, scored two brilliant tries. Both teams lost opportunities, but Newton should have scored more points. After leading by 16 points to five at half-time Manukau fell away and was beaten by Mount Albert by five points. The teams made the play fast and open, but several promising movements failed through lack of team uork. Marist caused a surprise by defeating Ponsonby in the chief match on the No. 2 ground, twhile Devonport took the honours in the match against City. .Devonport is now leading for championship honours. Three members of Parliament, Messrs. J. A. Lee (Grey Lynn), W. J. Jordan XManukafti) and J. 6. Barclay (Marsden), were interested spectators and were entertained at afternoon tea by the Auckland Rugby League. Results of Saturday's senior matches were as follows: — Richmond, 19; Newton, 14. Mount Albeit, 23; Manukau, 18. Marist, 16; Ponsonby, 11. v Devonport, 29; City, 15. FAULTY HANDLING T\yO BRILLIANT TRIES The first spell of the match between Newton and 'Eichmond was disappointing, the only scores being three penalty goals and Newton led at the interval by four points to two. Both sides indulged in too much kicking, some ol: which was rather aimless. Newton gfained possession from most of the scrums, but faulty passing and handling at critical moments cost the team several tries. Richmond also lost chances, the backs in the first half being inclined to crowd in passing bouts. . Soon after the commencement of the second spell Bickeron scored a nice try for Richmond from a blind fide movement. Then followed two sensational triea by Bright, the Newton centre.. On both occasions he completely beat the defence with speed, change of direction and a clever sideBtep. He received a fine ovation from the spectators, especially at the conclusion of his run of about. 60 yards, when ho touched down behind the posta for hiß second try. Richmond, however, was not to be denied and the backs showed better understanding and combination than in the first spell. Aa a result four more tries were added. There'was an unusual incident at the end of the game. The timekeeper rang the bell while the ball was in play and several of the Newton players stopped, Brady, the wing-threequartfir, actually being; on the sideline. At theie was no breach tho referee had no Option but to let the play go on and Richmond scored a simple try. The points, however, made no difference to the result of,the match. G. Titlleton played a useful all-round game at fullback for Richmond and had a hard afternoon'« work. On many occasions he set his backs in motion by strong running. "Wilkie whs the better of the wirags, but was too well watched to be dangerous. Bickerton again rlayed a good game and is a very promising pjayer. W. Tittleton cut through cleverly on occasions, only to see his good work nullified through poor handling. Mincham did a lot of defensive work, but does not appear Buited to the first five-eighths position. Powell got the ball away smartly and also did well era defence, saving- his aide many times by effectively checking the Newton forwards.

Tetley was in his best form as breakaway and he did a lot of fine work. He often joined in? witH thl» backs', and was responsible for atartiag several attacking movements. His keen fier.sa of antidipation rewarded him wi.th two tries. Telford. J.' Satherley, Broadhead and Shepherd also played well. • ~;'V Dempsey made few mistakes at fullback for Newton, but on two occasions was fortu- > nate to avoid trouble through waiting for the bounce. Hin kicking and tackling were very sound. Smith, formerly of Devonport. who playfed on the wing, did not have many chances. Brady* on the Other wing, -ran strongly in going for the line. The outstanding back was Ijright, who was brilliant on attack when an;jr opportunity cams his way. Siseons is another promising player and he did some effective work in the fiVe-eighths

line. 13. Brimble and W. Brimble, halfback, combined well, a feature being their accurate passing and handling. The former ■was always able to have speed on when accepting a transfer and he made some good openings from which tries should have been ■cored. Ginders, back row forward, played a good game and was very prominent in the loose He received good support from Hutt. Nathtn and Qliirke. For Richmond Bickerton (2h Tetley (2), and Shepherd scored tries. Mincham converted one try, and G. Tittletott kicked a penalty goal. For Newton Bright BCored two tries. Brady and Sissons each converted a •try and kicked a penalty goal. Mr. M. Weth'Brill. was referee.

AN EASY VICTORY

DEVONPORT BEATS CITY

The game between Devonport and City resulted in an easy win for the former, which again le.ids m the senior championship, Play was ragged and after City made a good impression in the first half Devonpott dominated the game to run out easy 'winners. Soon after the kick-off ■the City backs attacked strongly and scored two good tries as the result of excellent combination. It was only a shortlived ascendency, however, for the Devonport forwards took charge and paved the way for several tries. , Favoured by a good share of the ball tne Devonport backs did good work and had it not been for the fine play of L. Brown Devcriport's score would have been larcer. Brown was everywhere and often stopped promising movements. City was _ beaten fcadly in the forwards, who were lifeless in the loose.' Fast following up by the Devonport forwards was a feature of the game. Kerr played a sound game at fullback for Devonport, and got his team out of a lot of difficulties with excellent linekicking. Seagair made a reappearance and played a heady, game at ccntre-threequarter. j3oth the winits, Scott and Ball, played with plenty of dash. Rhodes showed im proved form at five-eighths and with Cowan got through a lot of useful work. Crooks gave good support in the loose. All the Devonport vanguard played well. Hunt. Hollows and El. Scott were prominent. L. Brown. City, was easily the best back on the ground, and made many thrilling runs. "With more support Brown's play would have shown better results. Both Bata and Iverf.on did good work with limited opportunities. Clark. Herring and Spiro were the best City forwards.

For Devonport Cowan (2). Hollows (2), Bhodes, Seagar and Sowter scored tries. Milicich converted four- tries. For City Brown, McCarthy and Rata scored tries. Wiberg converted two and kicked a penality goal. Mr. T. Evans was referee.

AN EVEN CONTEST

MARIST TEAM IMPROVES

A good game was witnessed on No. S! ground where Marist defeated Ponsonby after play was evenly contested. Marist showed greatly improved form, particularly the backs, wha did well against, the Ponsonby rear division. There waR a lack of finish to movements by the Ponsonby backs, who had a dny ofT. The Ponsonby backs did not show the same combination as that against Mount Albert the previous week. Marist started with confidence, and the hacks handled cleanly in a passing bout £-ont which Bakalich scored a good try. "J|h9 Ponsonby backs had a good shure of the . nail, but their handling wa» uncertain ana many mistakes were made. The Marist were , smart in the loose and Riley t2L j a 7 i r j re , y K , ot a chance to attack. ftve joints to nil at halflarner ♦i 1 *? #core * hou J d ha™ been missed Pm.,l e , aßy , Penalty goals were «wu?ii onß "nby s backs played better football on reiuming and for a time threat-

cried the Marist lino. Riley first penetrated deeply and Kny by excellent anticipation scored a nice try. Eventually the Bcores were equal and Ponsonby failed to make the most of a penalty kick in front of tho posts. The Marist forwards were frequently dangerous and dominated play in the last five minutes. Bakalich scored a nice try at thi) corner and a Rood kick from tho sideline by Anderson Have Marist a welldeserved victory. Marist's forwards played with great dash and Anderson was outstanding. The former West Coaßt forward showed surprising speed in the loose and twice outpaced Putoii at.fullback. Clarke was also prominent in passing bouts, and lieane and Breed did a lot of useful work. Glover, at fullback, spoiled a Rood display by taking u "dummy" from Kay. Matson and Bakalich were prominent among the backs, especially the latter,_ who showed Rood anticipation on occasions. Haslazn was a towoi of strength on defence. ' but Aro kickod too much.

Palon, ut fullback for Ponaonby, got hie team into difficulties through uncertain hand ing. Kay was the best of the backs, while Riley was not so prominent as usual. Hallcran played a good gamo at halfback. Morgan and Davia wore outstanding among the Ponaonby forwards, and Middlcton also played well. For Marist Bakalich ■ and Anderson scored two tries each. Anderson converted one try and kicked a penalty goal. For PonsDnbj' Jones. Kay and Davis scored tries, W. Stockley converting one. Mr. P. Rogers was referee. SECOND SPELL- RECOVERY MOUNT ALBERT'S SUCCESS Thsre was a lot of individual play in the natch between Mount Albert and Manukau, which was played as a curtain-raiser to the principal fixture. At halftime Manukau -was leading by 16 points to five and appeared certain to take the honours. Manukau had the better of the exchanges and the forwards kept together better than usual. The pace told its tale in the second half, however, and toward the finish Manukau fade<l away. The team' added only two poinls in the second half, Hemi potting n goal from about 30 yards out. ® Mcunt Albert wag handicapped in the eecor.d spell by losing Halsey, who retired injured. Nevertheless, in epite of changing its hack lino at times the team developed better combination and some good movements were carried out. Petersen, back row forward, when shifted to the wing seemed to relish the position and he was frequently in tlie picture for clever play, scoring two good tries. Helliwell, who started at fullback for Mount Albert, was none too certain and when in the five-eighths line kicked too much. Morrissey was again the outstanding back and he did good work both on attack and defence. Watkins played a solid game* at halfback. Petersen while in the forwards stood out and he was ably supported by Guhning, Constable and Flanagan. Hemi was not in such good kicking form as usual, although he kicked one fine goal from the touchliue. He scored a clever try in.which he completely fooled the defence. Pretending to take a drop-kick he caught the opposition napping by chanuing direction quickly and scoring at the corner. Trev»rthan was the best of the other backs. He :aiade several fine openings which deiserved a better fate, while he did sound work on defence. Pickrang w«b the outstanding forward and played a fine all-round gamo. "VVatene, Gault and Kawe were also prominent. For Mount AJbett tries were scored by Herring. Gunning. Morrisey and Petersen <2). Morrissey converted three tries and kickod a penalty goal. Hemi, Kawe and Watone (2) scored tries for Manukau. Hemi converted two and potted a froal. Mr. F. Thompson was referee.

LOWER GRADE RESULTS Seuior Reserve Grade.—Devon port, 24. City, 10: Marist, 19, Ponsonby, 4; Richmond. 15, Newton, 5; Mount Albert, 31. Manukau. 3. Senior B Grade.—Otaliuhu, 32, Waiuku, 8; Papikura, 16, Point Chevalier, 9. Second Grade.—Richmond, 18, Glenora, 3; R.V. won from Manukau by default. Third Grade.—Manukau, 6, Devonport, 4: Otaliuhu, 16, Point Chevalier B, 5: Papakura, 8, Point Chevalier A, 5; Ellerslie. 48, Mount Albert, 0; Marist, 8, Glenora, 5; Richmond, 26, Newton B, 0; City, 15, North cote. 0; R.V., 7, Green Lane, 3. Fourth Grade.—Devonport, 6, Point Chevalier, 0: City, 65, Ellerslie, 0. Fifth Grade.—Glenora, 37, Devonport, C: Richmond,' 3, Northcote, 2; Papftkura, 3, Newton, 0. Sixth Grade.—Green Lane, 24, Papakura, 5; Papakura. 12, Avondale, 0. Seventh Grade.—Richmond, <lO, Marist, 0; Glenora, 14, Point Chevalier, 0; Otahuhu, 6, Northcote, 3. Schoolboys' Games.—Senior grade: Mount Albdrl;. 16, Ponsonby, 3; Richmond, 16, Devonport, 11.

Intermediate Grade.—Ellerslie, 16, Green Lane, 9; Mount Albert, 6. Northcote, 3; Newton, 3, Marist, 0; Richmond, 6, Avon dale, 2; Otahiihu, 19, Manukau, 3. Junior Grade.—Northcote, 6, Marist, 0; Newton A, 3, Devonport, 0; Ellerslie, 0. Mount Albert, 0.

GAMES IN THE PROVINCE [from herald correspondents]

Papakura.—Senior B: Papakura, 16, Point Chevalier, 9. Third grade: Papakura, 8, Point Chevalier, 5, Fifth grade: Papakura. ,3, Newton, 0. Sixth grade: Papakura, 12, Avondale, 0. Huntly.—Seniors: Huntly, 2, v. Huntly South. 0; Ngaruawahia, 34, v. Taupiri.' 14. Juniors: Huntly, 5, v. Huntly South. 0: Ngaruawahia, 14. v. Taupiri. 0. Third grade: Huntly, 8. V. NEaruawahia, 8.

Lower WalkatO.—A junior match conducted by the Lower Waikato Rugby League resulted as follows:—Waiuku, 9, Tuakau, 3. Whangarel.—The following are the results of matches played in championship competitions under the jurisdiction of the Northland Rugby League:—Senior: Hikuran?i, 24, Takahiwai, 2; Kamo, 17, City, 0; Kensington, 32, Whakapara, 0. Junior: Hikuirangi, 8, City, 6; One Tree Point, 8. Kamo, 6. Fourth grade: Kamo, 11, Hikuransri, 7; Portland, 11, City, 7. MATCHES IN CHRISTCHURCH [bt telegraph—toess association] CHRIBTCHURCH, Sunday League football matches played yesterday resulted:—Hornby, 81, Lin wood, 3; Sydenham, 14, Waimairi, 5. ENGLISH TOUR OPENS WIN AGAINST SYDNEY MARGIN OF TWO POINTS (Received May 81, 6.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, May 81 j IJie English Rugby League team opened its Australian tour yesterday with a match agasnat Sydney, the tourists winning by 15 poiiitu to 18. Although the margin was small England showed great promise considering it played against the majority of test match probables. There was an attendance of 52,489 spectators and the gate takings amounted to £4541 lis 6d. T.bo match was mainly a keen struggle between the forwards and the outside backs had few opportunities owing to excellent covering on defence. The exchanges were often hectic. Hodgson was cautioned three times and Atkinson once, England's weakdbsh was in the halfback. McCue's breaks from the scrum were generally across field. Down at half-time by 5 points to 4 after securing possession in 80 per cent of the scrums, England rallied and dominated most of the second spell until the players' condition faded. Hodgson was the outntanding forward and initiated the best move from the loose, Brogden, Ellerington, Risman and Morley handling in succession, the winger, a former British Rugby international, scoring. Sydney missed the resource of Thicknesße, McKinnon and Brown xvere well watched, while Ridley was often out of position. Silcock and Armitt were the hardest forwards in the rucks and Ellerington was speudy in the loose. McCue was subdued and failed to give Brogden the necessary service. Morley and Smith had few chances to be impressive wingers. Brough was enterpricing at fullback and outranged Beaton in punting. The exciting finish was due to the des per.ite efforts of the Englishmen, who persisted in playing the Australian type of open football. Hodgson missed a field goal by inches a few minutes before the bell.

Morley scored a try for England and Hodgßon and Risman each kicked three goals. For Sydney, Hurley, Brown and McKinnon scored tries, Brown and McKinnon each kicked a goal.

The English team will play its next match against Southern Division at Seeton on Wednesday. The first of the three test matches will be played at Sydney on June 29.