MARIST V. PETONE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11252, 3 July 1922, Page 10

MARIST V. PETONE

LATTER’S SECOND DEFEAT COMFORTABLE WIN FOR MARISTS. Tho weather on Saturday was of the .usual variety this winter. There was no rain during the actual progress of the game, but tho ground was wet and slippery, and the ball for the most part was difficult to handle. Petone were handicapped through having to take the field without the brothers Nicholls, playing for the North Island against the (South. Island in Auckland, but the suburban team was so much lighter in tho forwards than their opponents that even the presence of these fellows on the field on such an afternoon as last Saturday would not have made much difference. There was not the usual big crowd at the Athletic Park, although it was laTge enough to satisfy the powers that be. The weather may have had a lot to do with the diminished attendance, but another factor to this end was the number of club enthusiasts who spent the afternoon watching their own particular teams on the other grounds in and around i;he city. NOT MUCH ENTHUSIASM. The play did not raise mubh enthusiasm, for the simple reason .that those features of Rugby—the passingrush amongst the backs—that excite the feelings of the spectators, were not possible by the difficulty exjierienced in handling the wet and greasy ball. The result of tho match, however, was a surprise to most people, which is hard to account for. The Marist team have been improving steadily jveek by week, and have a pack of forwards who revel in conditions such as those that prevailed on Saturday afternoon. These forwards, however, allowed a tendency to break away from the scrummage too soon, and got off-side a lot of times. If they do not curb this tendency they will find themselves much discounted as a matchwinning factor. The backs are safe without being brilliant, but they are' a much better combination than they were earlier in the season. They are getting ] more confidence through playing together, and altogether the team tnat defeats Marist on their present form will havo to go all the way and will havo nothing * to spare at the finish. The Petone team are not nearly so strong a side os they were last season, primarily because they are too light forward. The back division is clever and resourceful, and will hold their own with any in the competition, although the wing three-quarters did not ingress on Saturday. One thing that was pleasing in connection with the play in this match was tho fact that the forwards kept the ball well within their compass in their rushes up and down the field, and in oon- 1 sequence the hacks were presented with many problems in trying to stop their progress. The Marist men were the more expert in this connection and on tlie ran of tho play thoroughly deserved their win by 11 points to nil—rthey were much the stronger team on the day. THE TEAMS. Marist.—Pull-back, M. Griffin; threequarters, Tancred, Mahoney, and Creed; five-eighths, Murphy and Markham; half, McCleary; wing forward, Cbnnop; forwards, Crotty, B. Sullivan, Troy (ca-p----tain), Hopkins, P. Sullivan, Mcßae and Boyce. Petone.—Full-back, Cowie; three-qar-ters, Hamilton, Corner and Thomas; five-eighths. E. Ryan and Udy; half-hack, Harold Nicholls; wing-forward, Fitzferald; forwards, Pole;, Wylie, Price. ’nest, Ashton (captain) Griffin, and Parker. In the second spell Udy had to re* tire with a sprained ankle and Gardiner took his place THE PLAY. >iarists won the toss and elected to play against a moderate northerly wind that was blowing. The trround, because of much rain that had fallen during the ive-ek-end, was in an awful state of mud and slush, and anything in the nature of finished Rugby football was out of the question. Tho return from the kick-off was well marked by Ryan, and the Petono forw u-ds ran right through , the Marist team. J 3. Ryan tried to pot a goal, but the ball did not rise, and the Marist forwards, led by Troy and Hopkins, carried tho clay right down to Cowie. tho Petone full-back. Just when a promising opening was developing for Marists, Tancred knocked on, EL Ryan slipped in trying to clear, but a neat pass to Cowie removed the trouble, tho full-back making a powerful kick. The Marist forwards were eetting auickly on to the Petone backs, their little bit of off-side being of great advantage to them 'and escaping the notice of the referee. PETONE ATTACK. Aided bv the wind Petono set up n strong attack. Following a fine piece of work by E. Ryan, Corner <mjd Hamilton (tarried on to the danger zone, where Griffin «rot well out of trouble with a business - like kick Nicholls worked a dummy pass cleverly, the hall shooting past Griffin and going into touch five yards from the Marist line. From tho following throw-out a too vigorous Petonelte qave Griffin plenty of time to force the ball. A lot of fun from the spectators' standpoint followed for a while without anything happening to make a special note pf. Then E. Ryan

made a sweet feint to pass the hall, which fairly nonplussed the opposition, but the following tick —a really cond one —trickled over the goat-line, lust by tbs corner flag. Tho referee (T. A Fletcher) was keepins: a good control of the game, but for & wet day the whistle was too much in evidence. There were occasions, also, on wlAieh the advantage rule could have been given an airing. McCleary dribbled the ball past Thomas, the Petone wing three-quarter, and following the throwout Makrkham missed a quick pass from his hail'-back, but regaining possession’ of tbe baN the penalty went against him for holding' too long. Marist were now up in the Petone twenty-five, and gradually they got nearer as the result of a combined dribble by Troy, Connop, and Sullivan. Nicholls and Hamilton sent them gack, and. then tho Petono backs tried some passing, but the greasy ball was too big a proposition. A slip let Hopkins down the'•field, and 'he carried the play to Cowie, but - a free-kick against an over-eager Marist’ forward 6aved Petone. Ashton broke away, and down the field went Petone, Fitzgerald pushing an opponent out of the way in Bis eagerness to get at the ball. Petone gvtvre awarded a free-kick, but they migssd \Mark Nicholls and his Ryan made a good attempt to kick tf\e gohl, fcllt the ball fell short. Murphy cLspring. Crotty and Sullivan headed a rush up field, which Cowie stopped with a m'ark. Markham, Tancred, and Mahoney went well in company in the only real passi.qg rush of the match, tho whistle going! with the ball five wards from the Petone line. A big’ struggle ended in a penalty for Marists through Parker getting round the scrummage before the ball Murphy made a good shot, but it fell short, and Ryan cleared to neutral territory with a line-kick. Udy caught Murphy with the ball, and a Petone attack ended with a kick a little bit too hard by Ryan. The spell ended with the bat) at the Petone end of tho field as a result of a fine line-kick by Murphy. PETONE’S CHANCE GONE.

Petone’s chances of winning seemed very remote, as they went out for the second half of the game, as the wind had increased if anything, and the conditions favoured the heavier Marist forwards rather than Petone. The suburban players 'had a bit of bad luck in. losing Udy’s services just after the resumption. The five-eighth went down to stop a rush, and got a nasty kick on the ankle, which caused his retirement. Connop and Troy headed a rush over the Petone line whila Udv was on the ground, the former falling on the ball. The referee, however, gave his decision in favour of Petone, as a Marist man had knocked the ball on in tho scoring area. Another determined rush of Marist forwards was resultless through -Ttoy getting off-side, and then the selectors—Messrs Roberts, Wallace, and Wilson—went out to watch tbe play. A lot of playing the man in preference to tho ball followed here, and two or three blows were exchanged between the players. McCleary made a good dash, but his pass was forward. And then from a loose ruck, in which several Petone backs failed to handle the ball, the play went over the line, where tie erer-roady Troy pounced on it and scored the try. Murphy’s shot was narrow. Marist 9 Petono 0 A good centre-kick by Tancred was fit lowed by a bright piece of play by Corner and Fitzgerald in company. Nicholls charged down Griffin’s kick and gave lbs v dummy" in approved fashion. Petone’s attack had a bit of life in it, and Fitzgerald, Ryan, and Wylie- in turn kept UP The fight on the Marist base. Connop got off-side, and Corner mode a fine kick. Troy caught E. Ryan with tho ball, nnd then a sensation happened. Tancred made a brilliant, run down tho centre of the field, sending his pass on at the-right time to Mahoney, who easily eluded Cowie and ran round behind the goalposts to score the try. Murphy made no mistake with the kick, and'tlie game was over as far as Petone were concerned. Marist 3 Petone 0 P. Sullivan made a lot *of ground for Marists after the kick-off, but threw a good, chance away with a reckless pass Wylie headed a return rush, Griffin's kick sending Petone all the way back again. And in a scramble round the Pgtone goal tbe Marist forwards got possession and Boyce was the first to get the ball as it got to the Petone in-goal, scoring the third try for his .team. Tho final bell rang shortly afterwards with the score:— Marist H Petoiio d INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS. Troy is the captain of tbe Marists’ team,' nnd shows his fellow forwards a good example with the persistency bo keeps, on the ball. B Sullivan—tbe old-time Melrose player, is a long way from finished with yet, and Hopkins and Boyce are in the first flight. McCleary nnd Markham a.re the strong men in the Marist back division, but tho others—Mahoney more particularly—are improving. B. Ryan did a tremendous lot of good work for Petone, 'handling and kicking tho ball well. Udy was always in the limelight while he was on tho field, nnd Cowie was safe at full-back. Fitzgerald, Wylie, and Price were the most noticeable among the forwards.