League

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18468, 21 May 1928, Page 12

League

MARIST TAKE LEAD IN SENIOR GRADE. In a bright game at Monica Park on Saturday Marist defeated Sydenham by 19 points to 14. The two teams were leaders of the senior grade competition at the end of the first round, and Marist have now established themselves for the time being as leaders in points, as the result of Saturday’s match, which, along with games between Addington and Waimairi and Woolston and Hornby, marked the commencement of the second round. At the conclusion of this round, the four teams then leading will play off to decide the championship for the M’Keon Cup, at present held by Hornby. After that it is probable that the knock-out competition for the Thacker Shield, of which Marist were winners last year, will be staged. There were no surprise wins in the matches on Saturday. Sydenham’s defeat by Marist can be attributed tq a great extent to chances which wefe mulled. Outstanding players were E. Bond, on the Marist wing, and W. Le Warne. the tireless and versatile Sydenham forward. Waimairi prevailed against Addington to the extent of 26 points to 5 at St James’s Park. Papanui, and Hornby showed 41-18 superiority over Woolston at Hornby. • Points gained by teams in the senior competition to date are as follow: Points Oh.

A GOOD EVEN GAME. The prospects of a close game between the two leading teams, Marist and Sydenham, drew a good crowd to Monica Park on Saturday, and spectators were treated to fast and interesting play in which Marist emerged the victors by 19 —14. In the early stages of the match play was not of a particularly spectacular nature, the spoiling tactics of the Sydenham team disorganising the Marist rearguard. There was a long period of up and down play. In the latter half of the first spell the Marist backs were seen in some fine concerted movements, and a lead of 11 to 3 was established. Both teams set a hot pace in the second spell, which was marked by some spectacular scoring. Sydenham did most of the attacking and time after time they assailed the Marist goal line. The closing stages were most exciting. Marist hooked the ball more often than their opponents, and in consequence their rearguard was often seen in action. Marist also showed superiority in handling the ball, and in backing up. Sydenham occasionally brought off a concerted back movement, but the combination was not very successful. A rearrangement of the rearguard was made in the second spell. Falgar went from the forwards to ITeuchan’s place at first five-eighths, and Hamburger changed with Tonkin on the' right wing, while Le Warne had a roving position. A pleasing feature of the match was the fine tackling on both sides. The Marist three-quarter line gave an excellent display and scored all the points for their side. R. Bond was the best of the backs, his dashes greatly delighting the crowd. One of the two tries that he scored was an excellent solo effort. Securing the ball in mid-field, he left the opposition standing to score under the

posts. Bond has played very consistently this season, and when the time comes to select the representatives this speedy winger cannot be overlooked. G. H. Brittenden at centre was the general of the team. He showed fine anticipation of the play and when in possession of the ball his speed and cutting-in made him dangerous at all times. lie scored a try after a nice piece of concerted play. R. Rich, who filled Pearce's place on the left wing, showed himself as a good scoring man. He has plenty of speed and when near the goal line is a very hard man to stop. The five-eighths. N. Gillespie and 11. Sexton, both showed up well at times, but they were well looked after by their opponents. P. Clarkson gave a solid exhibition. lie showed initiative and kept well up with the play. The Marist custodian, T. M’Kendry, was called tipon to do some solid defending, and he acquitted himself well. At times, however, he was caught out of position. T. Carroll was the best of the pack. He was a tower of strength in the tight and led any loose rushes. P. Burns excelled in the loose, and he initiated many passing movements. P. Ilanrahan gave a convincing display. The Sydenham three-quarters all showed patchy form. Davidson made a few of his determined runs, but his handling and tackling could have been improved. F. Tonkin was not a success on the wing. P. O’Connor was quite off colour. A cross-kick by Le Warne practically presented him with a try, but he fumbled badly and lost the opportunity. S. Clegg was the best of the backs. He made some heady openings and more than once figured in some spectacular movements. . B. Heuchan did not fit in well as first five-eighth. In the vanguard in the second spell he showed something of his best form. Just before time he scored a spectacular try after a run from half-way. W. Le Warne was the best forward on the ground. He scored two grand tries and was always in the thick of it. He showed a rare turn of speed, outpacing the opposition to score under the posts. W. Drury and J. Southam were the best of the others. HORNBY BACKS SHINE. A hard, gruelling game, without a great deal of concerted work, was played at Hornby on Saturday between the home team and Woolston, wherein Hornby won by 41 points to 18. The game largely was a ragged one of indi viduals, each of whom carried on on his own after someone else had fought his way as far as he could go. What combination there was was among the Hornby backs, who opened up brilliantly towards the end of the game, and piled on the points. The second half was more open than the first, and, consequently, more interesting. Woolston are a team of individuals, most of them ycry willing workers,

but they will never show up to any effect without combination. They made hard work of attacking, and did not get very far; had they made the attacks concerted ones, Hornby would have been faced by a team instead of by thirteen plyers. As it was, Murray. J- Mundy, ad A. Mundv, three of the best scoring men on the side, were starved, each member of the team going doggedly on his own until he was grassed. There was little suggestion of passing. This was not always the fault of the man in possession, as he was otten not supported. If he were, the supporters were sometihies off-side, due mainly to the three-quarter line not playing deep enough. The fault lay in the players lacking a sense of anticipation. Woolston have had a wonderful opportunity this season of developing into a really formidable thirteen. A former New Zealand representative and two of last year’s Canterbury representatives have joined up with the club, but in spite of this the team, as a team, is not remarkably improved. Combination and versatility is sadly lacking, faults which will be remedied only when players realise that rising the head is more important than using only the legs. Hornby could have done better, also. The forwards, in the first half, played a hard game in the tight, and starved the backs. The result was that they were only ten points ahead of Woolston

at half-time. The backs received more leather in the second half; consequently Hornby finished 23 points to the good. Woodgate -was the only forward to score in the match.

Goal-kicking had much to do with Hornby’s big scqre, and Davis was in rare kicking form. lie put over five great shots, all from long range, and from difficult angles. P. Smith notched the other four goals from close at hand. Eighteen points were put on in this way.

Cliff Woods was the outstanding back on the ground. His dazzling runs turned defence into attack on more than one occasion, and left half the Woolston team, and some of his own, standing. Woods was badly shaken at one stage, and then went to full-back. Wilkie took over the half-back position when Woods dropped back to full. Wilkie was one of the best of the backs, and has shown steady improvement this season. P. Smith was much in evidence at certain stages of the game, and was rather lucky in the bounce of the ball. He was a goqd connecting link among the backs, and played a game more valuable than his rather shaky form usually provides. Two solid backs were seen in Mackie and Peart. The latter played at second five-eighths. • Woodgate was leader of the forwards, while hard but somewhat unavailing work was done by A. Vivian and W. Vivian. Cameron, usually in the pack, played wing three-quarter. Murray, J. Mundy, A. Mundy, and C. Main were the pick of the Woolston backs. Blacklock was valuable, but appeared to be somewhat off colour. C. Glynan, who played at full-back, ran well, but persisted in holding on to the ball too long. In. this way he stopped many possibly good movements. Like many of the rest of the team, he was weak, on defence. Carpinter, who was at half-back in the first half, saw very little of the leather from the tunnel. Hornby secured possession almost invariably. One of the hardest workers in the forwards was R. Lee, a veteran player who stood up to the pace well. Newton was the best man in the open work, with J. Wakefield a close second. The pack was rather slow at breaking up after a scrum. WAIMAIRI DEFEATS ADDINGTON By virtue of superior speed and better combination, combined with solid defence, Waimairi was able to rout Addington, a side not quite so well equipped, by 26 points to 5, at St James Park, Papanui, on Saturday afternoon. There* was an excellent attendance, considering the distance the ground is away from the city, and the spectators were treated to a very fine exhibition of the thirteen-a-side game. In the early stages Waimairi adopted bustling tactics. The pack bored through the Addington defence, and frequently caught the backs out of position with well-placed cross-kicking. A fairly even first spell closed with Addington leading by two points. Barnard, who struggled through the first spell on the wing for Waimairi, with an injured knee, changed to fullback in the second half. Kelly went in to centre, and Blazey played on the wing. This alteration caused the Waimairi backs to play Smoothly, and the team ran tip twenty-three points to nil. Addington simply did not see the way the opposition was going, though on the actual play they were not such an inferior team as the scores would indicate. The secret of Waimairi’s success can be attributed to combination and confidence. The forwards opened up the game all the time, and often joined in the passing rushes among the backs. Addington also kept the game open, and attempted to beat Waimairi at their own tactics, but they lacked one essential—two speedy wing three-quar-ters.

James Kelly was the real pivot of the Waimairi attack. In the first spell he acted as full-back, and did his fair share of defensive work. In the second half his jinky running and positional play made him shine, and it was through his clever drawing of the opposition that Smith, who simply burns up a track when he has the ball in the open, was able to score so frequently for Waimairi. Fonce O’Connor played his first game behind the Waimairi pack. He got the ball away well, and that was all that was really required of him. The five-eighths. Hartley and F. Lynskey, were always on the alert. Hartley made two beautiful openings, which stamped him as a player of keen perception. Both tackled soundly. In many teams Smith would be an average back only, but Hartley, Lvnskey and Kelly appreciated his speed, and they always angled for clean openings before sending their speed merchant away with the ball. On the day Smith’s star was on the ascendant, and, though his defence could not be termed sound, the judicious marshalling of Kelly always gave the winger a clear field for a thirty or fifty yards run. Barnard was not over-sound at either.

wing three-quarter or full-back, even though he was suffering from a painful leg injury which would have put most players off the field.

Gordon Blazey was the self-same Gordon of last year. /He Will be sadly missed both for |generalship and' goalkicking when he leaves this week for Dunedin. The forwards played the typical League game. Open play was their motto, and Addington played up to them in thus respect. It- was an even break right through, with the balance of speed in favour of Waimairi. Spencer Sisson. Lennie and Lynskey shone out, but the others were very sound. J. Stapley, who played at centre, was the shining star of the Addington backs. He played a fine game against odds both on defence and attack, and he carried the honours. He has the reputation of being one of the fastest men in the competition, but he had to bow to Smith on the day. B. O’Connell was not up to his best in the first spell when he received a nasty knock on the head. His tackling, however, was brilliant in the second spell. J. Amos was unable to show his usual brilliance, through the ball coming to him slowly. The Addington forwards bore the brunt of the attack throughout the game. Time after time Collie, Adams and Mavne broke through in nice combined movements, but they lacked the necesifery support. Addington missed W. Mavne badly when he was compelled to retire through injuries. IN OTHER PLACES. Per Prena Association. AUOTKLAND. May 20. Newton 13, Ellersiie 6; Devonport 12, Richmond 7; Marist 18, Ponsonby 14. Devonport and Richmond were two unbeaten teams up till Saturday. DUNEDIN, May 20. Christian Brothers 43, Pacific S; City; 2ik Athletic S. . _ _ ‘

W. I,. E>. For. Agst. Pts. ft 1 — 114 68 5 Sydenham ..4 2 63 61 4 Waimairi .... 4 2 — 10S 80 4 Hornby 3 3 — 113 66 3 Addington ..2 4 — SO 106 2 Woolston .... 0 6 — 28 157 0