Senior Championship Competitions.

NZ Truth, Issue 216, 14 August 1909, Page 3

Senior Championship Competitions.

Satur day's Results.

Grounds were again m a very bad state when local kickists entered the arena. The termination of proceedings at the Park saw Petone and PoneKe bracketed together for pride of place m the competition by their defeat of Athletic and Oriental respectively. This result necessitates another match between them before the question of actual supremacy is Anally settled. St. James easily vanquished Melrose and Southern deieated Victoria College- The ' Wellington-Old Boys name had to be postponed owing to the flooded state of the playing area. As the grounds were veritable quagmires, anything approaching ,a scientific exposition of Rugby was out of the question m all the contests. PETONE 9 v. ATHLETIC 0. This game was played on No. 1 Park ground, which was a lake of mud. At the northern end, the half nearest the stand was over the players' bpottops m thick soil that had been put on the suriace to hide the water. Athletic won the toss, and played towards the stand, with the sun at their backs and the dry land • to defend on. From the start' the play was confined to the forwards, the backs confining themselves to kicking. The suburban pack did not get going at once, and during the early part of the game the Athletic vanguard had slightly the better of it, but as the game progressed the Blues improved, and m the sacond spell controlled the situation. Only once during the game was any real attempt made at the back game, and this resulted m a score for the Blues. Miller, who has filled tne position of three-quarter for Petone throughout the season,, displaced Smyrke at full, and played a i^ood game. He handled and kicked the greasy ball m great style. Towards the close of the game he put m a hxeat run and gained a lot of ground. Jim Ryan was the best back on the ground. His kicking and fielding were a treat to witness, and to iiis play the Blues are greatly indebted for their victory. Daly, a promoted junior, made a very successful debut, and ■ though slightly nervous at the start, he improved as' the game went on, and played like a veteran. Joe Ryan played his usual game, and was very safe, though he was overshadowed by his I rother's performance.. Mackenzie, a.x fhe-eight, handled the ball and .licked well, but owing to the state of the bail no attacking movements were indulged m. Green was at home m the mud, and stopped rushes m great style. His kicking into touch was very useful, and saved his forwards a lot of running about. Hardharo, un the -wing, besides putting m a good performance himself, handled his team with judgment. The forwards played well together and though Ik-liter than their opponents, held their own ,m the tight play and m the hpose had slightly the better of it. Price, EteJit, Shac'low and Drummond were perhaps the i pick. c?unuina;haru, the Blue full-back, had a Irtiivy afternoon's work. He was not perhaps as good as on the previous Saturday, but considering the state of the ground he performed cieditably. Macdeaald, wing three-quarter, was nervous and did not do himself justice. Mackenzie, at centre, was not, at home to. the mud, and could not manage the greasy ball. In "the second spell he was placed m the pack and. an extra wing forward was played. "" " . ' " Sim Wilson was the. best of the 'threequarters. Evenson played a .good defense* game, but his kicking, especially m titw second spell, lacked judgment. Instead of finding; the line, as the state of the ground and game demanded, he was placing the leather directly into Ryan's bands for that player to gain yards for its. side. lieuhEm's defence was good, but he has a lot to learn before he will be a success as an attacking man. He made a couoie of nice . openings, but hesitated wtipn. m a good position and lost the opportunity. /' Or«iu is a good attacking half , but m ihe mud was greatly handicapped, being unable- to get the ball away. The forwards were a very even lot, and m One scrums generally got possession. ' «t on the day it was of very little rse to them. In the open they met men j>.s (vood as themselves and is better condition, Wjlsnu Irvine, Rapson, and Oshor^e were the pick. FONEKE 9 v. ORIENTAL 3. Play ad oil No. 2 ground, under- conditions" which made it next to impossible for the rival rearguards to> handle or kick the sphere with sureness. or accurac>. Both forward brigades were well supplied with oxygen, and battled it out m strenuous style right up to no-side. Oriental piayers wisely ( elected to use their feet on the treacherous turf. Poueie, on the other hand, came to grief often m the first half by attempting to handle the greasy leather. After lemontime the Reds discarded their former taciics, ;ind the "boot" was applied with profitable results. , ■ Oj-b's vanguard made the pace a cracker from the jump, and swarmed all over the R;ds, whose cohesiveness was at fault m checking the onslaughts. So persis, teritiy did tjhe Blacic rushers harass the T?cti "r ri.'rade that the latter was compelled to seek relief m a succession of force-fl-;WHS. A . i.,orous assault by the Blacks evenlaialiy penetrated the Reds' defence, and Ferry notched a try, which Roberts did not improve upon." Thereafter Oriental always held the u;jper hand, Poneke seldom -jetting within striking distance of the r lacks' ebalkmark. In the second bout the Red forwards thrived out of their frozen state, and m the mud rushing operations sparkled hiuh'v, and attae'e was their motto, and favored with a chunk of good luck they . successfully worried the Ories to the extent of registering a couple of tries and bv.iding a penalty jroal. Walsh, with a "free,'' made no mistake m piloting the soddened leather over the cross-bar m nice «tvle, while his pirouetting methods secured for him a try, m which his weight had a big say. A fine dribble and weli.-jiideed 'footwork at the crucial moment by O'Brien enabled Flanagan to secure his name on the list of try-get-ters.

Freddy Roberts put m one or two Pro-vocation-like runs m the first half that threatened danger to the Red line, and on one occasion he made a lovely opening for McLeod, but that player failed to grasp the slippery sphere, and bang went three points. Oriental scrummagers used their weight well m the tight, but did not always work the ball into good position m the loose. Poneke, after breathing space, crashed through m effective style, and held command of the leather sufficiently well to turD the advantage to good account when driving home the attack. Both forward divisions were m fine fettle, and executed some excellent loose rushes m the mud. The pick of the scrummaging basket were O'Brien and Tannahill. O'Brien was m great form, and beaded most of the I'oneke forward rushes, and Tannahill was scarcely inferior. Gardner, on the edge of the scrum, brought off some fine footwork. Of the backs, Tilyard, Walsh, and Mitchinson glimmered highest. Tilyard was a "whale" at getting down to the rough stuff, and there was plenty of it. Mitchinson was always watchful, and fluttered across the track of the advancing Blacks m a disconcerting way, seemingly sizing up their intentions. Walsh defended grandly, and any wrong-doing on the part of his colleagues was often retrieved by his agility m meeting the attack. Ryan's penchant for getting, out of position m dangerous situations put his side m a very queer hole on more than one occasion, Mitchinson being responsible for the saving clause. The work of other members of the Red division calls for no particular comment. . Ryan, at full for Ories, was safe, his scooping up of the leather being always marked by certainty. McLeod, behind the scrum, shaped well ' m the first half, but fell away from grace on the* teams crossing over. Roberts, who took up the role of wing three-quarter, manoeuvred two or three clever pieces of play, which bamboozled his opponents. He dribbled beautifully on occasions, his Soccer experience standing him m good stead m this respect. Once his expert toework goalwards just missed for him a chance of snaring a try. The All Black champion stood off the "hard tack"." He wasn't at all keen alter it. In the Black forward brigade, Perry, Tyrell, and' Murray singled themselves out for. consistent graft. West, who incurred the referee's displeasure tor offending against the canons of legitimate Rugby, got a nasty crack on the jaw during the progress of' hostilities m the first half, but pluckily stuck to his task through the piece! At rush-stopping and tackling Jimmy Tilyard has filled all requirements since the first meeting with Geartown's • men this season. His nimbleness and deftness with the leather is much more pronounced than it was last year. Oriental vanguard gave one of its solidest showings ol the season. There was a good admixture of ginger m its work, but little real cleverness. Perry was top-sawyer of the Black rushers- A good scrummager and sound m the open, he claims attention for rep. honors. He is withal, heavy. Poneke backs have not acquired the art of using their feet m slushy going. A division, clever with its hands as Poneke is, rarely effects a combination of the two qualities. Tom Quinn handled the game splendidly. Tom has some consideration for the feelings of players and spectators /by dropping a lot of the faddish and nonsensical displays which we are unfortunately treated to by some of Wellington's reputed whistle experts. That "foot up m the scrum" business, for example. Walsh made a lovely opening for Ryan m the second spell, after badly beating four men, but a high transfer to tne fleet-footed Red three-quarter lost what would have been a bonsor try. The billy-goat efforts of a Black scrummager were comical but ineffective. Oriental forwards worried the Reds much, but did not worry them strenuously and persistently enough to avert defeat. ST. JAMES 16 v. MELROSE 0. Jimmies vanquished last year's champions on the Petone ground, showing su- ' periority m all departments. • Melrose forwards displayed occasional glimpses of the form expected of them, but were not a match- for the younger pack. Losers' backs defended well, but did not attempt any passing. Jimmies handled the greasy leather nicely m some effective passing rushes. Fraser, Melrose full-back, had me misfortune to hurt his nasal organ within five minutes of the commencement! He pluckily played on for a time. Marshall, wing-three-quarter, was the best of the back division. His defensive work was splendid. The otner wing traterson) also did well. i 0. Murphy (five-eighth) was very solid, his tackling and kicking being ol a nigh order. The sheets ol water about maue rush-stopping anything but a pleasant job. In the forwards Sullivan played well, and King shone on the line-out. Mclnnes on the wing played his usual hard game, and rather got the best of Wright, his vis-a-vis. Baumgart, wing-three-quarter, had a tiay out and used bris undoubted pace, the result being that • he scored three tries. Harry Roberts and Urewes had a hand m the play which led up to the scores, the former particularly displaying plenty of dash. Llobson (wing-three-quarter) , a promoted third-class player, was pressed into service, and showed promise. Thomas at full was sale. Bruce was again the shining light' m the pack. Donaldson and McKay m the loose and Reid m the ( tight work were the best of the others. . Bob Fordyce carried the whistle, and gave general satisfaction. SOUTHERN 3 v. VICTORIA COLLEGE 0. This was played on the Polo Grounds, where there were pools of water everywhere. College made the game very open and had the best of both spells. ooutherns showed superiority m the tight work, but the condition of V.C. allowed them to go at top from start to finish. V.C. is a much-improved team, and its forwards are well led by De La Mare. O'Leary had two shots at goal from m front of the posts, but could not get them over. One kick hit the bar and bounced back into play. Duncan, on the wing, played, a grand game and quite upheld the reputation he had maie this season. South%n forwards piays well, and io them belongs the victory, although the V.C. had the best of' the game. Houli-

han, Richards, and Leahy were the best. Leahy especially grafted hard. Harris, Mitchell and Burns were the best of the backs.