CENTRAL DIVISION RUGBY

Taranaki Daily News, 4 July 1931, Page 8

CENTRAL DIVISION RUGBY

COMPLETION OF FIRST ROUND.

POSITIONS OF TEAMS REVIEWED.

After Thursday’s games the first round of the central division first junior Rugby competition was concluded except that Stratford and Pukengahu may have to play the game that was postponed owing ot the unsuitable condition of the ground in Victoria Park. It is provable that no move will be made to play the game until the end of the competition, when it will be seen whether the playing of it will affect the position. Toko and Cardiff will commence the second round on level terms in the leading position, as they have eight points each, with Inglewood next on seven points. Pukengahu and Celtic, especially the former, are also in the running but Stratford and Midhirst with only three points each have little chance of raising themselves to a prominent position in the points table, though either of them is liable to turn the tables on the leaders in individual games.

The competition has been full of interest this year by reason of the rapid fluctuations in the fortunes of the teams, Toko being the only club to have enjoyed a* stable place throughout the round. They established a lead on their second game and though they have shared it with other teams they have not played second fiddle.' The two Stratford teams, Celtic and Stratford, have not shown to advantage this season and the chief issues have been fought among the other clubs except for Inglewood, which are in a challenging position. The renewed activity on the part of the country teams is a matter for congratulation as some of them experienced difficulty during the previous two seasons in retaining their teams in the competition. The shortage of players seems more acute in Stratford this season. The thirds have already played two lots of games in their second round. Inglewood lead the grade with Eltham and School hard on their heels, each with two' points fewer. It must be remembered, however, that School did not play during the term holidays and while they have played only four games, Inglewood have contested six and Eltham seven.

The positions of the teams are:—

STRATFORD COURT WORK. figures for the quarter. -■ — V Decreases of £56 Is in fines and £466 12s Id in the amount sued for, with increases of three in the civil cases heard and 31 in the civil summonses issued are features of the Strafford Couit returns for the quarter ended June 30 as compared with those of the corresponding period last year. Details, with the figures for the 1930 quarter in parentheses, are . —Magistrate’s sittings, 7 (6); under justices of the peace, 10 (17); civil defended cases heard, 10 (7); civil summonses issued, 163 (132); amounts sued for, £2059 4s 9d (£2525 16s JOd); judgment summonses issued, 22 (36); summonses served by baliff, 145 (174); civil fees £195 18s (£132 Ils); criminal cases against males, 65 ( 92); females, 3 (0); and amount paid in fines £os las (£9l 16s). FIFTY MORE ENTRIES. SUCCESSFUL SHOW ASSURED. The committee of the Stratford winter show has every reason to feel gratified at the response of the general public towards the competitive sections of the forthcoming show. The show will open on Wednesday with fifty more entries than it had last year, the figures being: Poultry, 539; rabbits, 29 pigeons, 80; cage-birds, 14; warden produce, 155; farm produce, 526 home industries, 378; fancywork, 381; art, 33; photography, 33; schools, 103; Scouts, 8; total, 2279. Work has been commenced on the erection of the pens for the poultry in Kleeman and Bishop’s garage. ELTHAM THEATRE. “COMMON CLAY.” Can an unmarried mother hope for justice from our “best people”? Who are our best people? Can a girl who has made a mistake ever rehabilitate herself? These are some of the absorbing questions that are fearlessly answered in “Common Clay,” Victor Flemming’s remarkable production featuring Constance Bennett and Lewis Ayres, showing at Eltham to-night.-Closely following Cleves Kinhead’s noted Harvard prize play in its theme and story, the screen version is said to be even more gripping and dramatic than the original. Miss Bennett enacts the role that carried Jane Cowl to fame before the footlights. The story enacts around a pleasure-loving girl who takes a job in a speakeasy because of the gaiety and music she craves. When the establishment is raided she secs the dangers of the path she is following and abandons the bright lights for a position as a maid in a fashionable home. Here, however, she finds herself subject to the same unwelcome attention, and eventually falls in love with the young heir of the house, played by Lewis Ayres, who betrays her. Her subsequent efforts to secure justice for herself and her child, with the unexpected turn of events at the climax, form a basis for one of the most interesting screen offerings of recent months. Miss Bennett’s work as the girl is acclaimed by critics as a triumph of audible films.

First fi o Bs Jill lior. a * . cS Q £ £ 5 Cardiff • • • .3 1 2 fl s Toko 3 ■1 6 8 Inglewood . • a a a 2 • 1 0 7 Pukengahu 3 — if fl Celtic .... .... a 1 •o 3 6 5 Midhirst . —• 3 3 0 3 Stratford . . . a . D— 2 3 5 3 Third Grade. Inglewood 5 1 ——’ fl 10 Eltham 1. . . a a a 4 3 — 7 8 School .... ..... 4 — — 4 8 Midhirst .. 2 4 — ■4 4 Stratford ...» a 1 5 — 5 2