Richmond Wins Again

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1077, 15 September 1930, Page 6

Richmond Wins Again

ROOPE ROOSTER LEAGUE Ponsonby’s Easy Day WITH tlic defeat of City and Devonport on Saturday, the stage is now set for the final contest for the Roope Rooster between Ponsonby and Richmond at Carlaw Park this coming week-end. So far, the feature of the knockouts has hcen the remarkable form of Richmond, which put Marist out of the competition in the first round, and beat City on Saturday by 13 points to 0.

Ponsonby’s five-point victory over Devonport provided little in the way of football fireworks. Devonport was not strong enough to draw the Ponies out to produce their best form, and tho match might be described as a useful working gallop for the champions. It was evident early in the game that the Ponsonby forwards were taking things easy, and although Delgrosso made strenuous efforts to infuse more dash and vigour into the play of his team, he was only partially successful. Ponsonby produced one or two excellent bits of play at rare intervals. This, taken in conjunction with the weakness of the Shore rearguard defence, enabled it to keep ahead most of the game, and finally win by a small margin.

DELGROSSO IN FORM Delgrosso was the best back on the | ground. He was a tower of strength to Ponsonby on defence, and took a lot j of holding on attack. Mclntyre was missed behind the i scrum, but even so some of «• other , backs were not up to their L> . t form. Herewini was not the Herewini of old. Riley was scarcely up to his usual i form, but P. Skelton frequently looked dangerous, and scored one line try, j which, however, was not a tribute to j the defence of Seagar or Edwards. Stevens, Moore and Fagan seemed to | be playing as well as anybody in the ' forwards. Shore started off fairly well, but its j backs were too erratic, and when Dei- j grosso ripped open its inside defences | in the second spell, it was soon clear I that Devonport was going to be beaten. ! Trevor O’Leary played a useful game ! in tho backs, and Seagar and Rhodes j also showed up occasionally. Ruby was always in the picture in j tho forwards. while Rule and St. I George also did well. Scoring Register.—Ponsonby (tries; by P. Skelton and Delgrosso, two goals j by Gardiner), 10 points: Devonport (a| try and a goal by L. O'Leary), 5 points. RICHMOND KNOCKS CITY OUT OF ROOSTER ROUND BIG MARGIN WAS SURPRISE Richmond carried on on the even tenor of its way on Saturday when it knocked City out of the Roope Rooster semi-finals by the surprisingly large margin of 13 points. Tho week before, the Maroons upset the calculations of many when they put the formidable Marist thir- i teen out of the running, and there was ; a mild surprise about the nature of j ►ho side’s win again on Saturday. Although it was realised that City I would have to be at its top to down j tho virile Richmond men, it was not i expected that the Red and Blacks would be vanquished by a full 13 points, and without putting a single point up against its own name. The game, played on No. 2 ground at Carlaw Park, was over a quarter of an hour late in starting, and this appeared to be chiefly Richmoml’s fault. The Red and Blacks really began most promisingly, and for the first few minutes Richmond was not in the picture. However, the Rovers did not take long to demonstrate that they were The best men, and in the first half ran up the 13 points, which carried them through the game comfortably. WHY RICHMOND WON The Richmond team, on paper, and man for man, dould not come up to the calibre of City players. City had no less than five New Zealand or cxNew Zealand representatives in its ranks, as against an ex-AlI Black

among the. Richmond men. Thus the secret of the Maroon success lies behind any individual brilliance which it could muster. It came down to this. The whole Richmond team played 'as though it was really playing football, with plenty of dash, combination, and rugged defence right from the first whistle t<» the last. City, on the other hand, had too many men in its ranks who rested on their reputations, and were really of little use on the field. The others lacked dash, and the team as a whole had little semb lance of combination. Whatever form he may have been in three months ago, Shortland on Saturday showed that he is hardly worth consideration as a club halfback. He is as slippery as an eel, and loves to play all sorts of tricks with tho ball, but this sort of thing is not football. It is no wonder that the authorities, driven to desperation by his antics, played him at fullback in the second half of Saturday’s game. R- S. AVatene. Kiwi winger, played first at fullback, and on his showing on Saturday it was certainly hard to say: “Hero is an international player in action.’’ In the first place, he cannot be depended on to handle tho ball with any degree of accuracy PRENTICE’S FINE GAME Iveson, one of City’s wings, is certainly a sturdy runner when in his stride, but he takes a terrible long time to get off the mark. W. Hadley was again the pick of the City pack. The Richmond back line was the vital factor in Saturday's match. From B. Davis to Prentice to Ci. Davis, to Stallworthy, to Mincham. to Thomas and Lee, it worked with peneration all day. B. Davis overshadowed Shortland completely, although it must be

said in fairnes- to City that it did not see overmuch of the bail, and ha<= j not since it lost its regular hooker/” Prentice seems to Have got back to the great form he was in two years ago, when he starred as a rock of Gibraltar for the New Zealand team, and in addition has attacking power which he did not then possess. The Richmond throequarter line is | a classy piece of machinery. , Mincham, and Stallworthy all rose to ; it on The Maroon pack played with plentv of dash in the open, and more than j held its own in the tight work. AV | Jones, Rotter, and Ritc hie were pe*i haps the best of the bunch. SENIOR B REP. TEAM SIDE TO PLAY MARfST Xext Saturday at Otahuhu a League j match will be played as a benefit fO- - A\\ McManus, a well-known supl porter of the code who has been ill for some time. The following players have been selected from which the final representative team from the Senior B grade j will be chosen to meet the Marist Club: Backs: Robertson CXorthcote), L. Wilson (Mangere). L. Mattson, Eustace, Farrell (Otahuhu*. Monoghan. Dane, - (Point Chevalier), Martin (Mount Albert). Forwards: Lawlass (Richmond), Slorcan (Parnell), Roberts (Alangere), Simpson (Xorthcote), Conway. Jury (Otahuhu), Macl’herson, Kindly (Point Chevalier). Any player unable to play is asked to notify Mr. E. K. Asher immediately. } The players will practice at Carlaw i Park on Thursday evening.