THE LEAGUE CODE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 24004, 30 June 1941, Page 5

THE LEAGUE CODE

LEADERSHIP CHANGE NORTH SHORE OUT IN FRONT VICTORY OVER NEWTON Staging a good recovery in the second spell, North ishore had a comfortable victory ovor Newton at Cariaw Park on Saturday and now leads by two points in the Auckland Kugb.v League championship. In the principal attraction Manukau exploited its usual open methods to triumph over strong opposition from Mount Albert. The game was fast throughout and held the interest 'if a large attendance of spectators, Ponsonby proved too strong fur Papakura in the early game on No. ground, while t. ity won narrowly against Marist in the main fixture. Following were the results: -Manukau, 14, Mount Albert. City, 14. Marist, 11; Ponsonby. Papakura. 11; North Shore, Newton 1 Manukau v. Mount Albert. —Although outweighted both forward and back, Mount Albert. principally through the sterling efforts of its forwards, held Manukau for two-thirds of the time, but the losers were a very tired combination toward the finish. Possession of the ball was fairly equally divided, but the Manukau backs hit harder, faster and with more method than the Mount Albert rearguard, which was slow to get the bail away from the scrum and ran across field too much. Th" Mount Albert forwards held their own it the scrum in the first half and showed slightly superior form to the Manukau set as opportunists and spoilers. They carried too heavy a burden, however, and could not maintain their dash in the second spell, except spasmodically. In addition to a strenuous forward battle, the game featured many bright hack movements, with Mauukau varying its play neatly. Fine anticipation, clean handling and an eagerness to chime in with hU backs whenever opportunity presented made Chase, fullback, a powerful force in the Manukau rearguard." In a free-handling line, Butler, a strong-running wing, Murray and Henii were most prominent, although the last-named spoiled several brilliant openings bv weak finishing. Thew, Kirinui, Wnlene ano Shilton combined well in the Manukau pack, putting in the weight when necessary and at other times fanning out in suppitft of their backs. Clements was a tireless worker behind the Mount Albert scrum, although continually harassed by fast-breaking forwards. Anions his supports. B. ('ranch and Cowley showed the most initiative, but did not make much progress in the face of stern tackling. Leatherbarrow was in great heart in the forwards, receiving splendid support from Pinches. C. List and E. ('ranch. Tries were scored for the winners by Awhitu, Murray, Butler and Ririniii. Hemi converted one. thicker scored for Mount Albert. J?. Cranc.il converting. Mr. J. Donovan was referee. North Shore v. Newton.—With the forwards packing better in the second half and the backs handling more cleanly, North Shore, which was six points down at the interval, showed a clear superiority in the closing stages to win easily. Newton looked every bit a winning combination in the early s 1 akcs but once North Shore settled down the issue was not in doubt. Clarke was in dai gerons form at five-eighths for North Short' frequently cutting in sharply to make openings either for fiis supporting backs or trie fast-breaking forwards, who were continually on the look out for chances. Smith, at centre. McArtlmr, halfback, and Scott, fullback, also played fine games. Chatham. Brown and Wilkie, although slightly weak in their handling, were dangerous when within scoring distance. Peterson. Rutherford and Kit id were outstanding workers in a very even pack. Tretires played a sturdy game at fullback for Newton. Kendall, Emus and Green also attacking stubbornly against htavy odds. Cinders. Quirke and Zimmerman were the best forwards. Tries were scored for N'ortb Shore bv Field. Brown. Peterson. C.arke and Wilkey (2). Smith converted four and kicked a penalty goal, while Scott kicked two penalty goals, i-'iiva and B.mus scored tries for Newton. Tredrea converted one and F.mus kicked two penalty goals. Mr. O. Chalmers was referee. City v. Marist. —In a well-contested game, City, mainly through the efforts of its forwards, narrowly defeated Marist, but there w.is not a great deal between the teams. City had a territorial advantage, particularly in the concluding stages, when Marist was sorely pressed. The game was spoiled by toft much comment among the players, and on many occasions players of both teams disputed the decisions of the referee. Outstanding among the City backs was Clarke, at fullback. He made many remarkable saves, and was a thorn in the side of the opposition. McManns, cent re-threequarter. was prominent on attack, while Brassey and Gould, the wing-three-quarters, played well. At halfback, Grotte played a good game, although he was caught too frequently in possession. His defence was very sound. Among the City forwards, Jackson. Morris and Mataira played good games. For Marist, Donovan, at centre threequarter, Mi Williams, who played well in the first "■a!i. and Smith were the best of the backs. Dai chard and Breed were prominent among the forwards, and McLeod also played well, '''.-its were scored for City by Gould and Brassey. Clarke converted one and kicked iiiree penalty goals. For Marist, Dickson, Crocke r and Donovan scored a try each. Wibert converted one. Mr E Pope was rtfert e Ponsonby v. Papakura,—Superior speed and better combination by the Ponsonby backs were features of its game with Papakura, which put up strong opposition at times. The Papakura forwards were actually superior in the loose, but its backs were no match for the Ponsonby set. The passing and splendid handling of the I'onsonby backs grave added superiority in the second half, when Papakura was outclassed. Outstanding among the Ponsonby backs was Williams, at halfback. He was responsible for two tries and his own was a very fine effort. Williams coinpares favourably with the best halfbacks in the code. Both Kay and Rilev showed excellent form on attack, and the pair were in every effective movement. Kay was particularly good in opening tip tho play. Brings was the best of the forwards, while Dunning and Blucher gave excellent support. The Papakura backs suffered in comparison with the Ponsonby set, but Keats, in the threequarters, and Aukett, halfback, played fine games. Keats was always prominent on attack. At fullback Seymour made several mistakes in tackling and should watch his position more closely. Among the Papakura forwards, T. Hogan and Tate played good games. For Ponsonby, tries were scored by Briggs (12), Williams, C'arr and Hughes. Kay converted three tries and kicked two penalty goals. For Papakura, tries were scored by 'I. Hogan, IT. Hogan and Keats. Seymour converted one. Mr. A. Pearson was referee. LOWER GRADE RESULTS Senior B Grade. — Ellerslie, 10, Northcote, 0; Otaliiihn, it, Richmond. 5; North Shore. (>, Ponsonby. ,'J. Third Grade. —Glenora, l'J. Richmond, 3; City. !14, Papakura, 9; Otahiihu, 21, Point Chevalier, ft; Ponsonby, 7, Green Lane, 7. Fourth Grade. —Otahuhft, 21. Northcote, 7. Fifth Grade. —Ellerslie. 0. Point Chevalier B. :i. Sixth Grade.—Newton. 38. Northcote, 0; Richmond, 11, Otahiihu, 0. Seventh Grade.—Richmond, 41, Ponsonby, 0; Ellerslie, S, Green Lane, 4. REPRESENTATIVE TEAM Tho following Auckland representative Rugby League team has been chosen to play South Auckland at Car Jaw Park on Saturday week — Fullback, Hemi (Manukau); threequarters, Butler (Manukau), Titfleton (Richmond), Riley (Ponsonby); five-eighths, Kay (Ponsonby), Solomon (Richmond); halfback, McArtlmr (North Shore); forwards, Petersen (North Shore), Mitchell. Davis (Richmond), Ririnui (Manukau), N. Mataira (City), Leatherbarrow (Mount Albert). Emergencies: Forwards, Shadbolt (Mount Albert), Graham (N'ortb Stiore); backs. Smith, Scott (North Shore). Mcl'inarney (Mount Albert). The team is requested to report at Cariaw Park at five o'clock on Thursday.