THE LEAGUE CODE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23424, 14 August 1939, Page 14

THE LEAGUE CODE

CHAMPIONSHIP SEEIES I GROUNDS in muddy state NORTH SHORE AND CITY DRAW Th& senior grade championship of the Auckland Rugby League, already ■won by Mount Albert, -was advanced a further stage, but as the result of the matches played at Carlaw Park on Saturday, no finality was reached with regard to the position of runner-up. One more series will probably be played, as Shore is only two points nhesa of Newton, which is in third place. In the principal fixture, North Shore and £ity played a drawn game, each eecuring a penalty goal. The ground conditions were the worst seen thip season, and good football was out of the question. The play in all matches was dominated by tho forwards, and there were few combined movements. In the curtain-raiser, 011 No. 1 ground Newton proved too strong for Richmond and* Scored. three unconverted tries. On No, 2 ground, which was a sea of mud, Mount- Albert had to struggles hard to beat Ponsonby, which had territorially tho better of the play. Marist put on a big pcore considering the conditions and easily defeated Manukau. The results were as follows:—'

North Shore, 2; City, 2. Newton, 9; Richmond, 0. Mount Albert, S; Ponsonby, 0. Marist, 28; Manukau, 6. The following table shows tho positions of the teams:— Points Ch. * P. W. L. D. F. A. Pts. Mt. Albert . 15 12 2 1 266 156 25 North Shore 15 P 5 1 IS9 147 10 Newton .. 15 S G 1 173 124 17 Ponsonby .• J5 7 7 1 176 204 15 Manukau .15 7 7 1 238 220 15 Richmond . 15 7 8 City ~ 15 5 7 3 12S 170 14 Marist .. 19 v 6 10 ISO 203 12 Papakura .15 2 11 2 12G 240 6 NORTH SHORE LUCKY CITY'S MISSED CHANCES North Shore was a little lucky to play a drawn game against City, .which had much the .better of the game territorially. City had several good scoring chances, but tho greasy ball was difficult to handle, and possession was lost twice when the City players had the defence beaten. On one occasion Raesbeck. the City halfback, actually dribbled the ball over the North Shore goal-line, but knocked it forward in an attempt to place his hand on the ball. City had the better of the first half, and its forwards were continually on the offensive. In the set lorumi. North Shore* forwards won the ball, but the backs failed to take advantage of several scoring chances. The/ game was confined to hard forward Play and there was. almost an entire absence or passing movements. Once Raesbeck started a good passing bout, and Madisan made a nice opening. The ball travelled Quickly to. Gould, who looked certain to score, but G. Brown tackled the City wing inches from the goalline. It was not until late in the second halt that- the North Shore forwards asserted them-selver,-but the ground was churned up and this, checked several dangerous rushe?. Among the City backs. Whittle, at fullback, made few mistakes, and bis kicking was usually well directed. Behind tho scrum, Baesbeck, probably the smallest fall-back.in-the. senior. grade v made a good impression. He sent out nice passes and put in a lot of solid work on defence. Smith and Gould; «th« winjts. played well, as did Suva at /five,eighths. Madigan, the centre-tbree-quarter, performed well on attack, and is a promising player. -Jackson, Thompson and Giilgren were the pick of the forwards. G; Brown, fullback for North Shore, did a lot of useful work; and his tackling yas a feature of the game. Cheater was prominent on the wing, and Axman, was Hound bo n 11m the 7 scrum, although a Ijttle alow on attack; - Fields was the pick of the forwards, while Hapeta, Condon and Macintosh also played City attacked early, and Silva opened the score with a penalty Koal. City had wuch the better of the game, and from a dribbling rush Baesbeck appeared-to . score, but the referee ruled that tho bail was not touched f down. From a set scrum Axmnn made a nice • openinir,. but his transfer to L. Brown was Worked. Baesbeck was sending out splendid r»wcs,' and once Madicran made a nice openmc,and passed to Gould, who raced to wthm a few feet of the North Shore goal-line. North Shore's forwards raided City s territory for .the first time siß.co the kick-off, and from a penalty awarded in the twenty-five G. Brown just failed to kick a goaj. Jackson and Thompson headed a promising forward rush, and Kindley went close to scoring. A freekick gave North Shore relief. Smith made a gooa • dash Just before ha f-time. at «hich Btaga the. scores were.-—City, 2; North boore. Froin * penalty, G. Brown kicked a goal and equalised the scores. City _ had a splendid chance of taking the lead; but turneddropped the grewy ball and missed an easy try. "" , »• ■ lit. J. Donovan was referee. •;/}. '>• 1 . '

GOOD HANDLING 7 ... N£WTON FORWARDS DOMINANT Newton's (orvtrdi wore, too strong for the Bichmood pack and deserved their win after having.. much the better of the first half. Both iwm • hapdled the greasy ball well, ani early in the first half the combination of both teams was surprisingly good. A featuro.of the game was the splendid play of W. Brimble, the Newton halfback, who gave his. backs plenty of chances on attack. Bripible was always a thorn in the side of the opposition. His brother, E. Brimble. also played » B ne name at five-citrhths, and wjj well supporte4 by W. Mchcnzie.Sander, tho' centre, ran straight and was 'the best of the threequarters. Stephens, on the wing, showed some of his best form and was valway# hard to stop. Kendall, on the other wing, »lso played well. played a resourceful game at fullback, and his ground fielding was very sure. Taylor ant Blacklaws were the best of a hard-working vanguard, and were ably supported by Proctor and Quirke. , , „ ' , For Richmond, Grahanrnnd Bramley wsre -the J»str Of ,th« backs, Webb, at halfback, alsoVplaye/i a good game, whilo kronfeld did well on the wing with limited opportunities, Devinv McLcod and Broadhcad w«B the pick of the forwards, and Davis pliy«d a fine game in tho loose. Newton was first to show np ami E. Brimble made a nlco run before passing to McKenrle, who gained good ground before passing to Sander, and Stephens raced over to score a splendid try. Graham broko away and passed to Sathcrlcy, but a forward pass checked a likely movement. A nice run by Sander was tho only other incident in tho play before half-time. Soon after tho resumption Webb sent tho Richmond backs away and Bramley did good, work on attack. Tho ball was now more difficult to handle, and on one occasion Graham lost possession after Broadhcad had- raced the five-eighths into a scoring position. Good play- by W. Brimble paved the way for E. Brimble, who broko clean through the defence and passed to Stephens, for the' Ustrnamed to score hi* .second try. Just, before time, Proctor and Quirke headed the Newton forwards, and Taylor scored. For Newton tries were scored by Stephens (2) and Taylor. Air. n. otto was referee.

MOUNT ALBERT EXTENDED GOOD EFFORT BY FONSONBY Nd. 2 ground woa in a very bad state for the gam# between Mount Albert and Ponsonby, being: churned to a riuagmiro by tho earlier game and made worse by a heavy rainstorm. The winner of fho championship was fully extended to hold off the virile attacks of the young Ponsonby team, which wrs somewhat unlucky to suffer defeat, It wns only through two mistaken by tha -Ponsonby backs thal Mount Albert wan able'to gain the winning ..advantage. The Ponsonby forwards held their own ag/tinst the opposing park nnd showed to 'advantage in the loose rushes which the ground conditions favoured. Mount Albert backs, however, were the more reliable nnd nrrnrntc and their complete understanding stood them in/Koort stead Ponsonby held a very definite territorial advantage throughout the first spell, in ■which neither side was able to score, but had some of the Ponsonby players dived on the ball instead of waiting till it crossed the goal Jinn the result of tho match might have, been very different. The necond iipcll waa - well advanced, with Mount Albort, formore dash, but the team atiil confined mostly on defence, when Hardv. K r *•■"#*s made. a vety lucky Interception of a pwby Riley to Bunnell, Running stronglv . 'o*o' IweMy-IWe, Hnrdgrave outv tl > «core. The iot«w4« suck*. hard r and kept thaj ball -

at their feet in the mud and slush and were finally rewarded when Gunnmg and Tristram dribbled across and dived for the ball together, tho former beinir awarded the trj. Donaldson kicked a good goal with tho sodden hall, and tho'frame ended.—Mount Al t"!' ridirSV™. Ponionbv', nnl winc-thrcequarter, contributed more than any. thing else to his side's defeat. Tho Mount Albert backs were thus enabled to turn defence into attack, and the capcmess Vth which they awaited Youngs kicks for the opportunity to brenk away was obvious to nil but the kicker. Walker. Donaldson and Schultz. Mount Albert's inside backs, bore the brunt of the strenuous defensive work and handled tho heaw ball accurately. Gunning, Tristram and Shadbolt were .most prominent in the forwards. Morgan was the outstanding forward for Ponsonby. and Peterson, Bell and Dunning gave valuable support Williams and Young played solid games bthind the scrum and Riley snowed his usual P!,ce at centre. ■ , . Hardgravß and Gunning scored tries'for Mount Albert, Donaldson converting tno tatter's try. Mr. S. Billman was referee. EASY WIN FOR MARIST WEAK MANUKAU SIDE BEATEN A feature of the early game on No. 2 ground was the accurate goal kicking, under adverse conditions, of Anderson (Marist) and Wiberp (Manukau), in the first spell, the score at half-time of 12 points to 0 in favour of Marist - including only one try. Marist was much too (rood all round for the weakened Mnnukali side, and the winning backs handled the ball with remarkable accuracy considering the state of tho around. Tlif.v were given plenty of opportunities by their forwards, who dominated the set scrums and loose rucks and combined effectively with the fast-moving rear division on attack. Marist impressed as n much Improved team, which will bo a strong contender for premier honours in tho Roopc Rooster knock-out competition. A penalty goal by V, Ibers opened the scoring, and Anderson retaliated with two similar efforts. Then Hughes .hroke through the defence to send. W. Grotte over under the posts, Anderson converting. Wiberg registered two penalty goals in quick succession, and just before half-time Nicholson worked the blind side with Chalmers and Halsey, who scored wide out. Marist backs continued to make P'ay, in the second spell, and passing between Nicholson. Chalmers and Hughes ended In the last-named cutting-in neatly for a try. Nicholson again opened up play to enable Matthews to score a try. which Anderson converted. Marist forwards finished oft a loose rush with Finla.vson battling his way across for a try, and thft fliwil movement saw Hudson bre-ik through before transferring to Matthews, who registered his second try. Anderson converted, and tho game ended: Marist. 2S; !Mnnukau. , „ The inside backs for Marist, Nicholson, half, and Hushes and Chalmers.. five-eighths; were most prominent, of tho winning rearguard. Nicholson playing a line game under the conditions and feeding.his supports well, Hudson, centre, and Matthews showed up in the threennarter line. Of the forwards, \V. Grotte. Finlayson and Anderson were always to the fore in tho loose ami the pack dominated the tight plny.W lherg, fullback, was outstanding In the Manukau rearguard, his accurate kicking being a valuable asset to his side. Walker showed determination on the right wing, and Mahima and Brimble were prominent for solid work behind the scrum. Shilton, Ratu and wisnesky were the pick of the forwards, who were outclassed by the opposition. For Marist, fries were scored by \\. Grotte. Halsey. Hughes. Matthews (2) and Finlayson. Anderson converted three tries and also kicked two penalty goals For Manukau, Wiberg kicked three .penalty goals. Mr. G. Kelly was referee.

OTHER GRADE RESULTS Senior IJcßerve Grade. —Mount Albert, 14, Ponsonby. 0. ' „ Senior B Grade. —Ellerslie won from B.V. by default; Point Chevalier, 10, Northcote, 6 "Third Grade—City B, 5, Ponsonby, 0; Mount Albert, 0, City A, 0, Fourth Grade.— City, 10, Richmond, 0; North Shore, 6, Newmarket, 3. Fifth Grade. —Marist, S2, Glenora, 0; Richmond beat Point- Chevalier by default; Newmarket, 10, Papakura, 0. " Sixth Grade.—Richmond, o,"North Shore, 0. SCHOOLBOY GAMES Intermediate Grade. —Bichmond, 17, Avondale, 0; Ponsonby, 6, Newton, 0. Junior Grade.™— Newmarket, 9, Glenora, 3. SOUTH AUCKLAND WINS VICTORY OVER TARANAKI [BY TELEGRAPH—OWX COIURK.srOJfUBNT] ' • NEW PLYMOUTH, Sunday There was little the South Auckland and Taranaki representative HURby i Lcasrue teams, which met at New Plymouth 1 yesterday. South Auckland won by 11 points ; to 0, the margin beim? represented by the conversion of a try. Heavy showers of rain I fell during the game and the ground was sodden after several days' rain. Among the visitors, who provided good football, in spite of the grensy nature of both ground and ball, J. Brooks and N. Gunn were outstanding in the forwards, and Haywood, at wingthreequarter, was tho most prominent back. L. Lewis played a good game in the rarivnaki pack, ably supported by Mitchell.- Of the backs T. Villers and D. Keenan gave the best displays, while G. Cronin, at fullback, was up to form and did much good work. For South Auckland tries were scored by Brooks, L. Tukere and Haywood, one being converted by Crosb.r, T. Fenton, L. Lewis and Villers each scored a try for Taranaki.

MAORI REPRESENTATIVES The Auckland Maori Rttsrby League team to play against Bay of Plenty in defence Of the Wnitnngi Challenge Shield at Carlaw Park naxt Thursday will be chosen from the following players:— Nepia, Kendall, Mahima, Awhitu, Marsh, Hapeta, J McLeod, Tristram, Ratu, Wilson, Proctor, Donaldson, Hapi, BrlffKS. Just, Shilton, Housham, Taylor, Walker, Watene. - Any player who is not avpilablo is requested to notify Mr. E. Asher immediately. MATCHES IN THE SOUTH . [ill' TKLEGItArH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] ! Wellington Petone. 31, Central, 14; Band-' i wick, '22, St. George, 12; Newtown, 25, Miramar/S'l. Christ church. —Lin wood. 24, Hornby, 18; Waimairi, 8, Biccarton, 3.