WEIGHT TOLD ITS TALE AGAINST MARIST TEAM

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 661, 13 May 1929, Page 6

WEIGHT TOLD ITS TALE AGAINST MARIST TEAM

DELGROSSO OUTSTANDING Marist was a shade unlucky in its match against Ponsonby, the Tykes scoring the same number of points in converted tries as did the winners, but it was Delgrosso’s two penalty goals which gave Ponsonby a comfortable win. Apart from that, with the score at 12—10 in the second half, there were prospects of the greens putting up a great fight in the last 20 minutes, but the loss of McDonald and another goal by Delgrosso settled their chances. At the same time, the better team on the day’s play won, and deserved its win. The Ponsonby forwards were too heavy and too strong for Marist. Delgrosso’s clever generalship and kicking further assisted to keep the ball away from the Marist fliers, and except for occasional flashes of dashing open-field work, the Marist backs were kept on the defensive for the greater part of the game. Footballers come and go, but Delgrosso seems to go on for ever. On Saturday “Delly” showed all his old and brilliant form, moving up crisply to take his passes and running strongly and passing out nicely on attack. His kicking was splendidly directed. Altogether it was as fine an exhibition of fiveeighth pi ay as one could wish to see. It was good to see Ponsonby coming back to its old form. It was Marist’s turn last year when Ponsonby showed signs of drifting back, and Delgrosso knows what a disheartening job it is to be leading a side which never seemed to be able to find its feet. All the more credit to him for sticking to the old club as he has done. GARDNER IN FORM Hefty Gardner, the “Big Bertha” of the. Ponsonby bombardment on Saturday, was footing it out like a two-year-old and was a constant source of trouble to Marist. It was pleasing to see the big fellow showing a return to his best form. Another forward who caught the eye was Skelton, who proved a regular terror for his size. He was everywhere in the first spell and although lie took things easy in the second session, his work in this match stamps him as a forward worth watching later on. Stevens had every reason to feel pleased with the way he got the ball out to his backs, and the rest of the pack worked well together. The Ponsonby backs, too, went well together. Moore fed the ball out nicely and Winters and Riley and Thompson were as busy as bees on attack, showing both dash and determination with the ball in their hands. CLARKE AT HIS BEST Although he had a tendency to get off-side, Clarke played a great game In the Marist pack. His quickness to see an opening led to Marist’s first try and lie kicked two goals. Moisley was always in the thick of tilings (even at second five-eighth) and this splendid forward fully maintained his reputation as one of the best in the game in Auckland at present. Both Clarke and Moisley were well supported by the rest of a plucky pack, but weight told its tale, and it was apparent that Marist is badly in need of a couple of forwards of the Jim O’Brien type and weight. The Marist backs got few chances to open out with the run on, and in centre field work Ponsonby had a strong backing of forwards to assist its backs, thus making its inside defences well nigh impossible to pass. Hassan and Cronin did quite well, and McDonald had given a splendid display until he had to go off in the second spell, his face streaming with blood. Brady gave a good account of himself on the wing, but Brisbane has not yet reproduced his old form. It was a good game to watch and it was played in the best of spirit. There may be some room for argument in the number of penalties that were handed out. but at the same time Mr. Rogers was crisp and decisive in his rulings, and he kept the game moving along in fine style. Match summary—Ponsonby (tries by Payne and Thompson, two conversions and two penalty goals by Delgrosso), 14 points: Marist (tries by McDonald and Brady, and two conversions by Clarke). 10 points. HARD-FOUGHT TUSSLE ELLERSLIE GOES UNDER TO DEVONPORT SIDE Saturday afternoon saw the Ellerslie j Leaguers receive at the hands of! Devonport their third successive de- j feat of the season by 16—12. Playing on their own ground, the Ellerslie men were kept hard on the defensive during the first half. They were playing in the face of a blinding sun, and the trans-harbour men found this a big factor in their favour. Masefield, Seagar, McCarthy and Beattie contributed to Devonport’s half-time score of 13 —0. The Shore side's chief fault seemed to be an inability to get possession of the ball out of the scrums. Had their scrum work been up to standard, they must have compiled a much higher score than they did. Ellerslie got possession time and again, but the superior tackling of the Devonport men kept the home side at bay. ELLERSLIE LIVENS UP It was some time after the interval before Ellerslie opened its account. A penalty against Shore gave Hemingway the opportunity to put over a. beautiful kick. This, and the fact that they had the sun at their backs, seemed to hearten the Ellerslie players j and they went ahead in fine style to keep the visitors on the defensive. The j home side's “streak of lightning,” |

COMPETITION TABLE The positions of the teams in the senior League competition are as follow:

NEWTON LUCKY KINGSLAND DEFEATED The new combined thirteen, Kings--1 and -Athletic, was not smiled on verj* kindly by Dame Fortune, when it met Newton on the Domain on Saturday afternoon, for after leading practically throughout the match it had victory snatched from its grasp in the dying stages. It was Newton’s lucky day. Kingsland was the only team in the picture in the first half, and, even in the second, Newton’s opponents did by far the greater part of the attacking. Newton’s principal trouble was that it saw little of the ball from the scrums, but this was no reason for the aimless displays of the back line. Hardgrave, Little and Brimble all played brilliantly at times, but most of it was waste effort. The division never swung into action as the Kingsland’s hacks did when Longville raced over for his try. A similar sorry state of affairs existed among the forwards, where little cohesion was in evidence. Rhodes and Hall are both tigers for work, as is Francis, too, but until the pack learns to hunt together on occasions the hacks cannot hope to see a great deal of the ball. KINGSLAND’S THIRD LOSS The Kingsland thirteen, in suffering its third and narrowest defeat this season, certainly took the honours of the game. In combined work a vast improvement on the form of the opening day of the season was noticeable, both back and forward. List, Longville and Angelo were as good a trio of backs as any on the ground, and to them must go part of the credit, for Kingsland’s splendid

showing. List ran as strongly as ever, and lived up to his reputation as one of the hardest Leaguers in Auckland to fell-. Longvine and Angelo played very heady games, waiting for opportunities and taking them. R. Carter, although somewhat inclined to funk

taking the ball, generally turned his chances to good purpose when it did come his way. It would be hard to individualise among a sterling pack, although McLaughen probablv outshone his confreres in the loose.

P W L Pts Pts Ch. D F Agr. Pts Devonport . . . . 3 3 - fio 27 6 City .. .. .. 3 3 - 47 26 6 Richmond . . . . 3 2 1 - 43 31 4 Ponsonby .. 2 1 - 30 4 Newton . . .. . . 3 2 1 - 36 38 4 Marists .. .. 3 - 38 44 0 TOllerslie 3 - 28 40 0 Kingsland .. .. 3 - 3 - 23 52 0