FOOTBALL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LI, Issue 16768, 29 June 1925, Page 9

FOOTBALL.

NEW ZEALANDERS’ YICTOItY

MATCH AT NEWCASTLE,

{Efec. Tel Copyright— United Press Assn SYDNEY, Juno 28.

After the lapse of many years, the New Zealand Rugby All Black team was again seen in action at Newcastle, when they played a New South Wales fifteen, which contained several local stars. The game was witnessed byJscvcn thousand enthusiasts, and resulted in a win for the All Blacks by 20 points to 13. Generally, the play of the New Zealanders showed u decided improvement over their previous matches. They were cjuite up to New Zealand’s best standards. Doubtless the beautiful weather had much to do with this, though the ground was bumpy and rough in .places,' with slush in some parts.

New Zealand, for the greater part, had the better of the game, but they were at times sorely pressed. Thanks, however, to the fine play of Wise, Harris, \Vright, Johnson, and Blake in the back division, and Walters, Findlaysou, Knight, Dickson, and Lomas in the vanguard, New Zealand managed to maintain the lead. Donald was not up to his usual form. Watson replaced Elvey in the New Zealand team.

Towards the close of the second spell, Donald received a kick on the leg and had to leave the field. He was replaced by Thomas. . Shortly afterwards Nothling took Smith’s place in the New South Wales team.

'The first half was mainly in - favor of the visitors, who gained the majority of the scrums and line-outs. Tlicir backs also combined in some splendid passing movements.-' Tlio New South Wales attack lacked finish. Play was mostly iii tlicir half and their backs showed a marked disinclination to go down to tho ball before the All Black forward rushes. <

A pleasiitg feature of tho spell was the absence of penalties against the All Blacks. Their play was scrupulously fair and the off-side proclivities which were so prominent a feature in the earlier matches wero entirely absent. Walters was the best player on the ground. The score at half-time was .17 to 5,

The game in the second spell was more even, though it was marked by more illegalities on both sides than in the first half. New South Wales worked several good passing movements by their forwards gaining the ball from line-outs and passing to their backs, but Anderson proved a weak spot. Tile full-backs, Harris and- Itoss, wire again towers ol strength to 'their respective sides. Their, sure handling and excellent line lacking several times extricated their sides from difficulties. In. the final stages New South Wales, playing with great dash and determination, somewhat disorganised the New Zealand back cohesion. T game also was very willing. The most sensational try of the day was one scored by fluid. Smith intercepted a slack pas* in his own 2o and transferred to Reid, who' ran fifty yards, closely pursued by Lomas, and scored under the posts. The tries for New Zealand were gained by Knight (two), Walters, Blake, Wright and Wise, of which one was converted by Dickson. For New. South Wales Erby and Reid scored tries, and both were converted by Ross, while Morrissey kicked, a goal from a penalty.

SATU lip AY’S LOCAL GAMES. Senior llb’pvosentativcs: Poverty. Bay beat East Coast, 14 —12, at Riiiitorea. Junior Grade: IMb Juniors beat Murhvai, 46-12.

Thirds: CeUiu beat Old Boys, 3-0; High School beat H. 5.0.8., 24-0; Rovers beat Kaiti-City, 21-9.

P.B. JUNIORS ROUT MURIWAI CLUB. A BRILLIANT EXHIBITION. The Murhvai Club team, having made a very fine impression in the country* competition, eanie to town on Saturday to p'av the P.B. junior representatives; they "were accompanied by an earnest following of ban-ackers, who whispered of a fortnight’s strenuous training put in by the country visitors. In tlio matter of weight, the Muriwai side had a substantial advantage, and when the teams filed oil to the field, everyone expected to see a very close game. From the start, however, the junior representatives displayed a. degree of skill and compination tli’ab quite, outclassed the visitors, and the score mounted steadily in their favor. Towards the fiiTish their position was so secure that they were able to let up a little, and the Muriwai men wore making a better showing in the Just quarter of a.u hour than at any previous stage of the game. Against a more powerful opposition, the junior reps, might not have appeared to such advantage, hut their piny was marked by an elan and precision that was almost entirely lacking from their last appearance against Wairoa. They were a certainly a better side than that which opposed \Vairoa, and the improve-

meat was mainly due to the re-arrange meat of the connecting links between scrum and three-quarter line. Murray, at half, Maukuy and Blank, at liveeighths, and Caution, at centre, co-opera-ted so’ well that time after time the wing men on cither side, were led entirely un- : narked bv the visitors. Mackay was just a little inclined to finesse too much, and if the visiting forwards had been a tulle more clever, he would have shuck a good deal of trouble. fa the serums aim line-outs, the junior forwards usually got the ball, and the outsides were able lo indulge in passing runs as pretty as any seen in senior competition games. If the Muriwai side dal break through, they were faced by a line of rush-stop-pers who never hesitated about going down, and whose tackling laiiked nothing of 'decision. Only twice was the junior lino crossed, once by Murray ami again by Pure, but apart from these occasions, the visitors hardly looked like Srcor.Hig at all.* Muriwai lia-tl nothing to reproach themselves with. The junior reps, would, apart from the consideration of weight, have been a match for any of the town senior teams, drawing upon their experience in the Wairoa match and upon the coaching given them to excellent effect. Amongst the visitors were a few really useful men, notably Te Hau (half), l’ere (live-eighth), and Chrisp (a hooker). If these men laid had the backing their efforts deserved, the final store would not have Haltered the home side to the .sumo extent. The country team had little defence against tlm darting attacks launched against them, bul that is hardly surprising. Not many teams could duplLatc the tlnee-quarter line of (he juniors. The opening score for the juniors (red) typified their work throughout. From bebifncl the* serum, Murray sent the bail through Blank to l’roudfoot and Caulton, the latter touching down, and converting his own score with a fine kick. s—o. Following on a run by Tanranga (Muriwai). Mackay secured, cut through the centre, and the ball travelled the same route again to Proud foot, who gol tho second try. B—o. Another try was secured by Green, who should have been• called back near midfield, for he knocked on, the ball touching the ground before he iccovered it. 11—0. The Muriwai (green) backs were put in motion by Te Hau, but between Muir and Gray tho ball was dropped, and Fisher, got a dear run in. Ihe try was converted, and the score stood 16—0. lhe green forwards now began to liven up. and pushed the reds back almost to their own line, a penalty kick opening their s' jo re. Gray goalee! the kick. 16—3. Wallis having broken up a promising onslaught, the red backs wore seen in a beautifully-executed attack, finalised by Smith. 10—3. The greens again retaliated, Fere and O’Shea being prominent, and Muir went over, but was ordered Lack for a serum outside. Gray took full advantage of another penalty at the red 25, and brought the score to .19 —6. McDonald got another try for the juniors from the kick-off, the referee not observing that the kick had hardly -carried tho ball two yards forward. 22—6. Murray brought off Muriwai’s first try by good following of a forward rush, and at half-time the score was 22-9.

The second half was of the same general character, tile juniors being in a position to score frequently. Caul ton. Berry, Smith (2|, Pioudi'ooL, and Christie

scored tries for the, juniors, and McDonald tonverlcd one and Caulton two. .Pen: got an unconverted try for the visi. tors, the final score being 46—12. x Mr. R Corbett was referee.

THIRD-GRADE MATCHES. ' Some very good play was seen in the three •third-grade- matches. High School had a runaway win from 1L5.0.8., by 24 points to nil. Fraser scored four tries, and Carson converted three and goaded two penalty kicks. Rovers, playing ten men against fourteen. won well from Kaiti-City, I‘, McKinley scoring two tries and converting one, S. McKinley scoring twice and Gotdon once, and Hamilton converting two. For tire losers, K. Muir got one try, ana O’Neill kicked two penalty goes’. The best game, in the, grade was that between Celtic and Old. Boys, Celtic win-,, liing.by virtue of the superiority of their backs. The Old Boys’ forwards played better than the opposing pack, and spoiled a lot of the winning side’s best chances. McLachlau got. the winning try for Collie.

MOASC’AB CUP MATCH. (Per Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, lose night. The Moascar Cup changed hands yesterday when- Te Ante College (Hawke's Bay) defeated New Plymouth Boys’ High School by three points to nil in a gruelling match played in the rain on a sodden ground. Since gaining the Cun from Auckland Grammar School in 1923, Now Plymouth had successfully defended it on five occasions. on two of which Te Ante were tlio unsuccessful dialhmgom ~.,Te Aiitc averaged well oyer, a - sfonc heavier than New Plymouth, but tile game was very even and the football good under the conditions. Five minutes before time O. Chesley kicked a penalty goal for the Maoris. The next three challengers for the Clip, in order of application, are:—Wanganui Too 1 1 - nieal College, Whangarei High School and Mount Albert (Auckland) Grammar school.

RUGBY LEAGUE:

(Per Press Association.)

AUCKLAND, last night

The North and South Island Rugby Longue match, played with a view to selecting a team to tour Australia, was won by North Island by 27 points to 9. . The game was played in pouring rain. There were ,'i00l) spectators. The northern backs proved too speedy for the southerners, especially m the first spell. North opened ils account by a try by Herring, in which Avery and Brown figured. Delgrosso failed to convert. Then Dixon side-stepped his opponents and scored. Delgrosso goaled. South was next to score, Mioualt landing a beautiful penalty goal. A little later Mouatt scored a try from a dribbling rush, but failed to convert a difficult kick. The visitors next scored from a penalty goal, kicked by Mouatt. making the score—North 8 points, South 7. North, however, forged ahead again, Brown scoring a great try. Duffy's kick missed. Soon after the opening of the second spell, Mouatt, who was the sole scorer for South Island, landed another penalty goal. Then Davidson outpaced the southern backs and scored, Duftv’s kick failing. Carroll broke through the southern defence, Avery scoring. Delgrosso failed lo convert, WctheroU then my do a nice run and transferred lo Herring, who scored under the posts. Delgrosso goaled. Brown made another spectacular run and kicked over Brosuahan’s head. Bass was handy and scut on to Herring, who scored. Del

grosso goaled.. The whistlo went, with

the score: North 27; South 9. Townsend, the well-known City player, sustained a broken rib.

SOCCER CODE

ENGLAND DEFEATS AUSTRALIA

(Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn i BRISBANE, June 27.

In the Association football mutch England boat Australia by 5 goals to 1. The weather was tine and tin: attendance .25,000. The ground was good though slippery in places. England scored in the first half, the Australians being outplayed. Baiter got the lirst goal live minutes after the start. Seven minutes later the winger (Hannnford), playing superbly, sent the ball to Simms, who headed it into the net. Simms goaled again ten minutes later, having received the ball from the deft winger. The Australians now attacked • strongly, but the right back, Charlton, was stalwart in defence and the Australians were repulsed. Just before half-time, Australia again invaded the visitors’ territory, only to bo beaten oIT. The second spoil saw a rattling pace. When play had only been going four minutes, Leonard, getting the ball from the left wing, goaled for. Australia.- The speed was weakening the English combination. Play went backwards and forwards, but, finally, the . English cleverness told anil their persistency ended in Seymour, the left winger, centring the ball for Simms to push into the not. Within, two minutes, IJammford sent a long, pass: to Batten, who goaled, the game ending England 5, Australia L

AUCKLAND BEATS -WIIANGAREI,

(Per Press Association.) - AUCKLAND, last night

The first Soccer match of 'ho season between Auckland and Whangarei for the Brown Shield was played m continuous, heavy fain, the ground being under water in places. In the opening stages, Whangarei showed great, dash and attacked strongly. The local backs were hard pressed. The visitors missed several good chances by inaccurate shooting in the difficult deep mud in front of the goal. Auckland assorted its superiority later, the forwards combining better. Humphries scored after a shot by Tunes had hit an upright and rebounded. At halftime Whangarei was one down. In the second spell there was much better football on both sides, Auckland dominating most of the time, but the visitors lighting a • splendid uphill battle. Da ere and, Humphries scored for the locals and Booth for the visitors, the latter after an excellent f.olo cll'orl, beating the defence badly. The standard of play was very good, considering tlfe conditions. Dacrc was forced to retire twenty minutes before the end. He injured a leg, but was not seriously hurt. The Visitors were much stronger than anticipated. The attendance was very small, on account of the Weather. The final result was: Auckland 3, Whangarei 1.

SENIOR REPS. AT RUATOREA

P.B. DEFEAT STRONG COAST SIDE.

Tlie .Poverty Day senior rep. team, at Ruatorea on Saturday, defeated a strong Coast team by 14 points to 12, after the CoastAeps. had, for the greater part of the game, held a substantial lead. The visitors put up a splendid game, and despite the excellence of the home side brought off a worthy victory. The attendance was very good. The. . Poverty Day men were very agreeably surprised at the condition of the ground, which, they declared, was like a bowling green for surface, and very firm, for all the rain that has fallen recently. “There is not a better ground in New Zealand,’’ declared one of the officials who accompanied the team. Th# tw6 teams appeared fairly evenly matched for weight all through, but three big men in the pack gaye'the home side an' advantage there. The Coast forwards excelled In the tight work, and their dribbling was splendid, Wallace Waihi on one occasion taking the ball at his toe through the opposition in a dribbling run that amazed the visitors, and scoring the first try of the game. The score was evened by means of a penalty kick, successfully taken by. Matthews, making the half-time score 3 all. A series of attacks were launched by the East Coast men -after the resumption, and within a short time their score was raised to 12—3, by, means of a clever try by R. Tulioe (a. brilliant back), converted by Hindmarsh, and a field goal potted by Tuhoe. The visitors closed the gaps in their defence, and fought the Coast back at every succeeding onslaught. Then they turned, the tables, and with the forwards working splendidly, forced their way downlield, and . pierced the home defence, Waipara getting in to finalise the attack. The general play was most spectacular at times, and Matthews, playing splendidly at wingforward, dummied his way through the opposition and scored a pretty try. The,, conversion brought the score to only one point less than that of the Coast, and Waipara secured the deciding, try when Panckhurst, having cleared the opposition, put 'the ball into Lis hands a few minutes before time. The closing stages of the game were interesting, the Coast rallying strongly in an effort to regain their lost lead. The score was, however, unchanged at the close of play, and a Poverty Bay /team which lacked the services of several of the best players in the Bay walked off the field the conquerors of a strong Coast side.

The cleverness of many of the visiting side who had not made outstanding reputations in club games, or were playirig in unfamiliar positions, was a surprising feature. Matthews, Waipara, and 1 Lewis were three big successes in the scrum, and Piki Smith, at first fiveeighth, played, as though bom to that strategically paramount post. Panckhurst, having been included in the pack, though selected as a back emergency, surprised everybody by his dash and/ all-round usefulness. The Poverty Bay hookers had full ’command in their departme&t, and most Efficient of all was Woods at full-back. He is declared by the Coast Rugby men to have played the best full-bkck game seen on the Coast for a long time. For the Coast side, J. Lockwood and Tulioe were always useful, and at times brilliant, and W. Waihi, Hongaora, and Green, in the pack, were, fast and clever, their dribbling having an element of genius about it. Mr Ngarimu was referee. t

SOCCER. / GOOD SATURDAY GAMES

Thistle beat Mercantile, 3—o. United beat Gisgasco, 3—2. Juniors: Essex House beat Kaitr, 3-I.'

THTSTLE v. MERCANTILE

The game was fast and interesting, and had 3lereantile had’ more finish, they would have made a very close scoring game of it. As it was, they extended the Thistle team, and made scoring difficult for them. The opening stages saw Mercantile pressing hard, but they wore driven back, and Wallace, on Thistle’s left, centred prettily to Armstrong, _who beat Woods, the Meracntile goalie, with a fast shot. James, Patterson, and Monk were prominent in a Mercantile attack, and Downie mode a good save. Woodrow failed to score by reason of the judgment and skill of Easton, and Thistle, kept the Mercantile busy for the balance of the' half. Resuming, (Mercantile again opened with a strong offensive, but were checked, and put on the defensive by McEwen and Niblock. Thistle’s next attack was nicely finished off by Wallace. Sharp and James combined well- in a Mercantile movement, which was spoilt when a good pass was missed by Roberts. Once again the mistake gave Thistle a scoring chance, and Wallace was again the scoring member. Mercantile retaliated, but' Easton’s fine work kept the Thistle goal intact, and tho game ended with the score 3—o in favor of Thistle. ,Mr W. Craven was referee.

UNITED v. GISGASCO. United showed great improvement with Shears, Mac Kay, and Clarke, and fhroughout the game were aggressive, but Roots was the pillar of the Gisgasco defence, and Baker led the attacks in a counter-rush down the centre. The game travelled back and forth in a most; interesting manner, and either goal was frequently, endangered, Clarke (United) found the net with a pretty shot towards the end of the first half, and Gisgasco ‘equalised through Marlow, who beat Shears, the United goalie. Fast exchanges* opened the second half, and there : wa« no advantage to either team. United took the lead, TTanna stopping; a Gisgasco attack and sending his forwards in, for Clarke to score. Again Gisgasco equalised, from a penalty taken by Roots, who made no mistake as to direction and speed. Up and d!own the field the' hall travelled, and at last a deciding goal was shot for United by Clarke, whose scaring value earned him the warm congratulations of tlie spectators. Mr Millar refereed. V; ■, JUNIOR MATCH. In a junior match, Essex House showed the value of coaching, and defeated Haiti by three goals to one.

COMPETITION 'SCORES.

ESSEX HOUSE DEFEAT KUITL An interesting junior Soccer match took place on Saturday afternoon, when Estex House met and defeated Haiti by three goals to one. For Haiti, McLean scored the only goal in the first five minutes of play, find Essex House scored their first'goal about 10 minutes before half-time. In the second half the game was rather slow, until Essex House woke up an’tl scored two goals. These were given to them through- 1 the Kaiti goalkeeper runnipp out too far, Essex House receiving penalty kicks in consequence. McFadyen, the Haiti goalkeeper,, made a number of good save’s,

(To the Editor of the Herald.)

Sir, —What is Rugby in Poverty Ray coming to? I visited Makaraka on the 27th inst., wishing to see the game between the country teams. At the finish of the game I saw an old footballer grossly insulted by one who wanted to light him, because it pleased him to barrack the visiting team. Not a good example Sir, for the young footballers present.— I am, etc.,

SPECTATOR,

, ;1 / i p: W. L. D. Ps. Thistle" i.. ... 7 4 1 2 10 Gihgasco ... 7 3 2 2 8 Mercantile ... ':! ... 8 3 2 2 8 United ... ■ ... 6 1 5 0 2