BETTER COMBINATION WINS FOR DEVONPORT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 673, 27 May 1929, Page 6

BETTER COMBINATION WINS FOR DEVONPORT

A FIRST SPELL GAME The pace was on from the word go in the Devonport-Richmond game on Saturday. Richmond had evidently been looking up some old chapters in its book of tactics. Right from the jump, the men from the western suburb flew into the g/.ne with a sort of tigerish intensity. it was the old story of trying to get the other side rattled before it had time to settle down. It didn’t come off with Devonport. Alf Scott and his merry men have a bit of a reputation themselves as a first spell team. They gave back as good as they received. It was soon apparent that Devonport had a better-balanced side. Its forwards were holding their own, but where the difference lay was in the ability of the Devonport backs to open up the game. They were quicker into action than their markers, passed better and with more snap, and backed each other up in great style. The two tries scored by T. O’Leary in the first spell were masterpieces of team-work and clever backing up. The forwards gave Reynolds another, as a reward for his industrious work behind the scrum, and ' Simons’s three , fine goals put Shore well ahead at the interval. To that stage, Richmond had failed to cross its opponents’ line, its

four points being two penalty goals by Mincham. DEVONPORT’S DOUR DEFENCE There was only about a quarter of an hour of the second spell that really mattered. Richmond did rise to it cnce when the passing chain worked nicely to give Hanlon a try. It made the score 15 —7, and that was really the end to it all. There was no further score. The rest of the match only served to show up the weaknesses in the Richmond backs, the magnificent but unavailing fight of its forwards, and the strength and solidity of the Devonport defence. The North Shore side is a 50 per cent, stronger defensive team than it was last season. In this connection it was impossible to lose sight of the magnificent work of A. Scott on Saturday. His tackling was deadly. He got his man every time he got within striking distance. His kicking was very well directed, and he always seemed to be ready to fill up breaks in the Devonport defence. SHOULD CUT IT OUT The two men who were concerned in a foolish scuffle in front of the stand in the first spell, Rule and Telford, were probably the two hardest- working forwards on the paddock. Both should learn to control their tempers.

Lennie and Dixon, too, were scrapping in the second spell, until they were stopped by McCarthney. The whole four might well take a lesson from the heavy-weight champion. He is always in the thick of it, but he knows how to keep his temper. It looked a dead certainty that Rule and Telford would be ordered off in the first spell. They had to be dragged apart. It was Alf Scott who saved a serious-looking situation by making them shake hands and getting them back into their places as quickly as possible. Rule, Ruby and McCarthney were always prominent in the Shore forwards. “Snowy” Dixon needs a few more games to get him into form. St. George’s reappearance was welcome. He is too good a player to be lost to the game just yet. Trevor O’Leary and little Rhodes were the heroes of the back division. Both played great games. Simons played one of his best games to date at fullback. A little more speed, and he will be a champion. The rest of the backs can afford to let these three colts get all the kudos this week. The whole lot of them went well together. Richmond put up a wonderful fight in the forwards. Even although the side was able to bring two fresh men on in their places, the loss of Hamilton and McDonald must have been felt. Telford was the leader of a great pack of workers. Stewart, Jenkinson, Lennie and Jones Avere always in the thick of it, and Colebrook played well, too. WHERE THE WEAKNESS LAY Richmond’s inside backs did not go well together. They were slow and uncertain, and lacked that touch of brilliance on attack which made so much difference to Devonport’s score. Mincham looked in vain for opportunities on his Aving. Coote certainly got •a feA\' more chances, and it Avas a clever in-pass of his which led to Richmond’s only try, but taken as a whole, the backs badly want a bit more pace and dash inside, and also more accurate passing. Referee Churnside had a hard game to control. Rule, Telford and Co. can thank their stars that he Avas in a lenient mood. Apart from that, Mr. Churnside deserves credit for his handling of a difficult game. It was ertainly nothing to do with his rulings that led to one or two occasional outbreaks of feeling. Match summary.—Devonport (tries by T. O’Leary, 2, and Rhodes, three goals by Simons), 15 points; Richmond (try by Hanlon, two goals by Mincham), 7 points.