Technical in Front

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 993, 9 June 1930, Page 6

Technical in Front

GRAMMAR DROPS TWO POINTS Ponsonby a Bit Lucky AFTER all evenly contested game with Manukau on Saturday afternoon Technical Old Boys went on their unbeaten way. Although only winning by D points to 6, Technical showed just that superiority in finish necessary to success. The side showed more enterprise in its back play and a more effective threequarter line succeeded in giving the Greens territorial advantage. Surprises of the day were the defeat of Grammar at the hands of University and the last-minute victory by Ponsonby over City.

Two good penalty kicks by. Turei save Manukau a lead at half time. For Technical Commons had socred a pood try, but, despite the dash with which Technical had started off, scoring movements had been scarce. In the third Quarter Hogg equalised with a good penalty goal and in the final quarter the same player added to the score with a try, making the final total 9-6 in Technical’s favour. BETTER THREEQUARTERS On the day’s play Technical Old Boys proved to be the better side. Although the Manukau forwards kept play moving briskly along it was in the back division, and particularly in the possession of a fast threequarter line, that Technical held the advantage. It was this that enabled Technical to attack to the extent it did and thus eventually gain two tries and a penalty to Manukau’s two penalty goals. Although the game was fairly fast it was not particularly exciting until the concluding stages, when Manukau made strenuous efforts to score. Twice near the end Turei endeavoured to equalise the score with penalty kicks, but on each occasion he missed. In the Technical ranks Harris (half), Hogg (second five-eighth) and the threequarter line, Couper, Haslam and rommons, were the most outstanding. Couper, who was once easily overhauled by Turei, did not show up as well as usual, but Haslam, although inclined to hang on a fraction too long, gave a promising display. He is a good straight runner and is built on useful lines. In the forwards Nelson, Blow and C.>Keane were well to the front. Turei played another good game for Manukau and enhanced the already tine impression created during the past few weeks. His fielding and kicking was of a high order and he made few mistakes. Although on the sick list with a bad cold. Jones was the star man of the Manukau back division. His ground fielding was particularly good. E. Brimble got through a good deal of work and the halfback, Bryers, worked well behind the scrum. Hack of finish on the part of the threequarter lino robbed Manukau of much of its thrust. In the forwards Satherley. Kahu and McGuire were the leading spirits. Mr. C. F. Paul was the referee. SPEEDY VARSITY BACKS OUTPLAY GRAMMAR STUDENTS’ SURPRISE VICTORY Racing away in spectacular passing rushes from alnnfst every scrum in the second spell, Varsity backs outpaced and outplayed Grammar to win a. bright game at Eden Park on Saturday by 17 points to !). The students produced, their best form this season, the backs in the latter stages speeding up to exhilaratingly open football, which taught Grammar an expensive lesson for taking the opposition too cheaply. In the first spell, which ended 6-3 in Grammar’s favour, the all white forwards worked spasmodically, their loose rushes lacking the combination and characteristic driving power, added to which the Varsity backs offered stubborn ground defence. Eric Batty perhaps was the most consistent worker both in the tight and loose, though W. Batty, L. Knight and Potter shone out occasionally in the loose. Despite the fact the Grammar pack over-weighted them substantially. The Varsity forwards, led by Stacey and Anderson, stood up very well in the heavy scrummaging in the first spell and secured possession from Ihe majority of scrums. The Varsity hookers, however, excelled themselves in the second term. The ball was heeled with exceptional quickness, and Rae swung the speedy rearguard into their stride with precision, varying the movements nicely on the blind side. The Varsity half was very sound * throughout, and showed up prominently on defence facing a heavy, fast * pack. The second five-eighths, McKay, was in splendid form and was the pivot of the Varsity back attack. Running dashingly, with a strong thrusting movement, he figured in many of the scoring movements. Minns on the wing displayed splendid dash the few times the ball came his way. The Grammar backs were completely nonplussed by the speed of the opposition’s attack in the second spell, and could not cope with the delightful way the Varsity rearguard threw the ball about. Weir was off colour and inclined to attempt to hold on too long. Wilson at centre showed up toward the end with some spectacular dashes, but throughout the game he had little opportunity of using his speed. Grammar put on six points in the first spell—a penalty goal by Landrum and a try from a loose forward rush by E. Batty. Varsity replied with an unconverted try by Minns, as a result of a passing rush. In the second spell Varsity backs who scored tries were: Milliken (2), N. Jenkin (2), Stacey converting one. A belated effort by Grammar just on time saw Weir win a race for touchdown, the trv being unconverted. CUT RUNS PONSONBY CLOSE STIRRING STRUGGLE Spectators at the Showgrounds on Saturday were given mo~-e than their share of thrills when Ponsonby beat City by 15 points to 9 in a game that was anyone's up to the last minute. Ponsonby made a determined attack at the start, but Berridge, Whiteand Taylor broke through for Whitehead to score, leaving City three points up after a few minutes' play. Toward the end of the first quarter Lucas set off, but lost possession when trying to centre. Cammick cut in and sent to Hook, who scored. Lucas had an easy penalty kick. McKay passed to Carter to Holt. ITolt kicked and Pitcaithley, following up f.ist. flopped over just too to prevent a force. City pressed hard as the spell came to an end. f 'ity kept it up in the third quarter jjK and Berridge got across, but failed to

convert. The bull went the length of the Ponsonby line, and Hook was pulled down. From a scrum that followed the bail travelled out to the other Pong wing, McLeod, who just failed in the corner. Another scrum, on the City goal-line this time, and Solomon nipped round, notching an upconverted try. McKay gained half a field-length for City with a wonderful line-kick, and the teams changed over for the last time. Linden put in a run that gained 40yds, and Berridge carried on kicked over Cammick’s head, adroitly caught the ball again, but was hedged in and could not get anywhere. Carter put over a great penalty from the sideline, and the scores were equal. City now faded, the Ponies beginning a series of attacks. Fraser nipped through and sent to Solomon, who was forced out. Pope started a passing movement which was continued by Cammick and McLeod, but came to nothing. McManus accepted a pass and scored. Lucas sent to Cammick who beat two men before giving the ball to Solomon. Solomon was forced out. In the last minute Lucas succeeded with a free-kick. If City had won it would have owed its victory to its forwards’ great play ir. the loose. Whitehead was in particularly fine form and when it comes to spoiling Holt has no equal. Of the backs Berridge and Carter played well. Kerr-Taylor was responsible for one or two runs, and Blakey held the fort soundly. Ponsonby owed a lot to its hookers, Palmer and Hey wood. The Ponies* pack was effective in most of the scrums. McWilliams and Gallaher were brightest at the open game. McManus gave the back division lots of chances, but the passing of both sides might have discouraged any halfback. Individual flashes among the Ponsonby backs were frequent, however. Captain J. G. C. Wales was the referee. BUSH HAS DAY OUT TRAINING COLLEGE BEATS COLLEGE RIFLES Thanks to the cunning boot of Bush, Training College skipper and fullback, the Teachers finished with a 12 points’ lead over College Rifles. Of the 2 1 points scored by the winner, 15 were the result of Bush's kicking, and his tally included three penalties, a field goal and a conversion. Two tries were scored by each side but the Teachers had the territorial advantage in all but the last quarter. The backs were fairly evenly matched but, until it was too late for the game to be pulled out of the fire, the Rifles backs were rather outclassed by their opponents. The Rifles’ backs were fairly well supplied with the ball, but passing movements broke down easily and the game was, on the whole, uninteresting. Training College put on 15 points in the first quarter, and of that total 13 came from Bush’s boot. Not only in securing points was Busli on his game. He worked the line with wonderful judgment and his tackling robbed Rifles of some good chances Training College had a good threequarter line in Gower, Tilly and Connolly, but the insides were bad. McFarland, as second five-eighth, took his passes flat-footed and turned right round on several occasions as he got rid of the ball. 1-Ie did much better in the second half, when, as the result of an injury to Tilly, he went out to the wing. Morrison played an enterprising game as a wing forward and paid close attention to the Rifles fiveeighths. Herbert and Dodds were the best of a hard-working pack that was feeling the strain in the last spell. Next to Bush, the outstanding back on the field was Pickering, the Rifles centre. He handled and kicked well and made good use of as much ball as the fiveeighths gave him. Twice he showed the defence a. clean pair of heels and he scored both of Rifles’ tries. Johnston was safe as full-back. He kicked one penalty but, though line-kicking well, lie missed one or two other fairly easy shots from penalties. Donald and Denize were fair on the wings, but there was not a great deal of action so far along the line of backs. Kirk the best of the insides and bis defensive work was excellent. He went down gamely to rushes and kicked for the line with snap and judgment when things looked black. He has yet to conquer an unfortunate habit of slinging out passes from the scrum without worrying much about the position of the man outside him. Souter and Hurst led the pack. The referee was Mr. W. Thompson. He kept excellent control over the game but a little less whistle would have been an improvement. “TYKES” TOO TOUGH GRAFTON HAS HARD LUCK “On a soggy ground which was not conducive to any brilliant play, Marist proved.too tough for Grafton, defeating it by 9 points to 5. Although the Tykes took the field with a few of their usual players missing, they had more combination in the backs than had Grafton, though the latter's pack was every bit as good as M,arist. The first quarter of the game was marked by hard forward play and bad handling by the backs. Marist attacked hard, and its labours bore fruit when Conway, from a loose scrum on Grafton’s line, secured the ball and dodged his way over for a try. Cornthwaite failed. Half-time arrived with no further score.

There was no score in the third quarter, though Grafton was twice unfortunate in not scoring. In the final quarter, however. Conway worked the blind, to pass to Smith, to Evans, who scored in the corner. Cornthwaite did not convert. Marist 6, Grafton 0. The hopes of Grafton’s supporters were raised when Wiberg intercepted on the Marist line, to dive across for Stevenson to goal beautifully from wide out. The brightest feature of the game was provided by Cornthwaite right on the call of time. He intercepted a pass just outside his own twentyfive, and tore up the field, to swerve past Stevenson and. chased by three Grafton men. he dived across for a

really good try. Walsh failed with the kick. The play on both sides was not very brilliant. It was a hard forward game with few attempts by the backs, at genuine passing rushes. The finest forward on The ground undoubtedly was Angus Finlayson, who led Grafton in many a raking forward rush. He is one of the finest forwards in Auckland at the present time, and completely overshadowed Swin Hadley, whose display was disappointing. The latter was too much inclined to wait round the back of the scrum, although he improved as the game wore on. Stevenson, Grafton’s skipper, played a very safe game at fullback. He kicked and tackled very well, and he converted Grafton’s one and only try with a great kick. Larsen, bull: for Grafton, was safe, and several times saved the side with line kicks. Keary, as breakaway, was not afraid to mix it. and shone in the line-outs. Conway was a good connecting link between the Marist backs and forwards. He scored the first try for his side and engineered the second. lie was ably supported by M. Smith at first five-eighths, who played a sound game, although out of his usual place. Cornthwaite, who scored Marist’s last try, was not otherwise in the picture. Stowell, who had played a junior match before the senior game, and who played owing to the absence of the regular fullback, showed promise. His defence was a little weak, but that was due to a bad knock he received .in the first spell. He is a powerful kick and should do well. Scoring register:—Marist: Conway, Evans, Cornthwaite, one try each, 9 points. Grafton: Wiberg, one try; Stevenson, one conversion, 5 points. Mr. A. E. Austin was referee. STEEPLECHASE WEATHER ATHLETICS AT DOMAIN Real cross-country conditions prevailed for the 3 £ miles steeplechase in the Domain on Saturday. The event was won by G. Hall, with Cooper second and Thomas third. C. Sontgen, off six yards, won the final of the sprint. i Hall drew up to the limit men, Clark and Eyre with half the journey covered. Thomas was closing up, and Cooper was the only back-maker to show promise at this stage. Cooper and Hall were leading when the straight was reached, but the former lacked the'sprint effort of the winner. Results are as follow: 75 Yards Hand icap.— First heat: 11. McNeil, 17yds;- 'l'; C. Scmtgen, 6yds, 2; ,1. Dowle, 15yds, Won by a foot. Time, 7 4-ss. Second heat: R. Willey, '6yds, 1; If. Roper, 4yds 2; J. Turnbull, 10yds, 3. Won by inches after a good race. Time, 7 4-ss. Final: C. Sontgen, 6yds, 1; IT. Roper, 4yds, 2; R. Willey, 6yds, 5. Won by inches from a closely-bihiched field. Time, 7 3-ss. One and a-half Allies Steeplechase.—G. Hall (58s), 8m 495, 3; N. F. Cooper (6s), 7m 595, 2; S. Thomas (395), 8m 38s, 3. Time, 9m 265. Fastest time: N. F. Cooper, 7m 595. Putting The Shot.—E. ( \ Wooller (Bft), 35ft Sin. 1; IT. Hogg (3ft 9in), 35ft Sin, 2; R. B. Whitten (9ft 3in), 33ft 11 in 3. Throwing Ihe Discus.—K. J. Wheeler (20ft), 122 ft 4in, 3; A. Clark (60ft), 121 ft Sin, 2; R. Whitten (40ft), 119 ft Tin, 2. BASKETBALL INTER-CLUB CHAMPS. Another round in the Auckland Basketball Association’s inter-club championships was played on Saturday afternoon. In the Senior A grade Varsity Blues were too good for Killarua, downing the latter team by 27 grads to seven. Killarua, however, played a willing game, but were at a disadvantage on account of their opponents’ size, and through the absence of Miss C. Turner in the defence. For Varsity Mis-s J. Mclntosh was promising in the goal and Miss N. Jacombs showed good form in defensive work. In the Waratah —Kai Toa game players had to be warned for bunching. Grammar-had a hard tussle with Edendale, being one player short, and playing three emergencies. Edendale won 16. to 4. Results: Senior A Grade.—Varsity Blue 27, Killarua 7: Training College 12, Varsity White 11; Waratah 16, Kai Toa 3; Edendale 36, Grammar 4. Senior B Grade. —Rovers 11, Victoria 9; Grammar 12, Training College A 6; Seddon 15, Kai Toa 2; Training College B 15, Killarua 3; George Court’s 4. Lynndale 2: Greer's 14, Varsity 5. Second Grade. —Training College B beat Grammar by default: Technical College 7. Greer’s 3: Training College A 9, Kai Toa, 2: Rata 11, Manukau 5; Rovers 7, Y.W.C.A. 5; J.C.L. 12, George Court’s 4. Third Grade. —Parisian 6. Woolwnrth’s 1; Seddon 4, “New Zealand Herald’’ 1; Rovers 5, Berlei 2: Edendale 8, Training College 7: Y.W.C.A. beat Killarua by default; Suburbs 10, Technical College 2; Third A Grade. —Surrey Hills 7, McKenzies, Ltd., 2: Technical College 4. J.C.L. 3: Otahuhu lx. Turners and Growers 1. Fourth Grade. —Papatoetoe 24. Whitcombe and Tombs 5: Suburbs ID, Technical College 2; McKenzie's, Ltd. beat Bycrofts by default. Fourth B Grade. —Smith and Caughey 4. Edendale 4: Arohanui S, Citizens 1; Technical College 4, Turners and Growers 3: Ashley’s 9, Rendell’s 1: Lynndaie 13, Woolworth’s 4; Otahuhu 13, Brown Bros, and Geddes 3. Fifth Grade. —Y.W.C.A. 20, Bvcroft’s 3; Woolworth’s 3, Citizens 2: Osborne’s 6, Stedman’s 4: Seddon 11, Bridgen’s 4; Aloha 11, Arohanui 2.