RUGBY FOOTBALL

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 276, 18 August 1919, Page 9

RUGBY FOOTBALL

GREAT GAME AT THE PARK

PONEKE DEFEAT ATHLETIC

Patrons of the. Athletic Park.on Saturday wcro treated to a fine display of football, when Athletic, who are leading for tho championship, were defeated J>y .lonoko by U points to 3. The latter are now only ono point behind Athletic in the running for the championBiup. From beginning to end the match was full of interest,. but Poneke were lar and away the superior team of the .two.. Their forwards did effective.work oil through, nud their offensive tactics ■contributed in very large measure to the ;Kod and Black victory. Again, the Po■aieko tackling was almost perfeot, and • this fact alone epolt serious trouble for 'the Blues. M'Arthur, at', wing threequarter, had Ckostennau, , the spsedy lAthletio three-quarter, beautifully rnark- . cd, and on practically every occasion that the latter player attempted to break 'away M'Arthur brought him down ia ifldmirable stylo. . M'Arthur's tackliug ,yms very fine. to. watch. He was in groat 'form, and was evidently revelling in the iganie from the jump to tho sounding of (time. Poneke seemed to U6e their, heads 'lietter than Athletiq, and their taotica iwe muoh more sound' thaH those of itheir oppononts. E. Rolwrts played an (excellont gamo for the Blues, but as he j,vas very closely watched ho did not get 'a chance of putting a decisive touch ;to his efforts. Holey and M'Cabe were ft>lqcked ateolutely, and it was onty on one or two occasions that they appeared !to have possibilities of scoring. Poneke 'got the ball from the scrummages nearly .every .time, and their backs, outclassed ithe other Side. Altogether,' Poneke were (undoubtedly .the better' team of the two, B.nd although Athletic have still a hope of winning tho championship they will have to take no chances in future inatchea.

The game was -witnessed by between •tflOO and 5000 spectators, it the outaefc 'rain began to tall, and ; it. looked as if !tho aftonioon would bo bad, but early iiu the. first spell the sky cleared, enebling the match to be played out under •fair conditions. There' was. an absence lof wind, but the rain had the effeot of Ixnaking the bill greasy- and'the ground !somewhat slippery.' Athletic kicked-off, and their territory was soon invaded by khe Eed and Blacks. Athletic forwards took momentary ohargo and Poneke had !.to retire, but play waa eoon removed 'to Imidfield. where a' very determined struggle took place, until Athletic secured i±he ball, from a syrum and forced Po.jneke back a little. Suddenly, Chrietopherso'n headed a rush-into the Athleno [twenty-five, and Griffin, the Blue..f-all-lack, kicked the ball into touch just in •tim'o to avert trouble; A few tussles on the lino, and M< Arthur tried ,to_ get clear,- but ho-was : collared,- and Heley picked up the j>all. Before he had. gone toore than-a few yards, however, he was brought down, and shortly af towards J. frilyard took a good mark. Maun,had Is. shot at goal, but made a poor at'•tempt. In.the succeeding:play-near.the '■Uhletic goal Poneke obtained pose.esBion of the ball from'the sorum, : and U Tilyard, , 'tho Poneke half, transferred to .Ibis brother Fred, who, in turn, sent the leather on to Jim Tilyard. .The last 'named'passed the ball to Christopherson, ■■who touched down. Christophereon took ' tho kick, but 'his judgment erred. Pov'aieke, 3; Athletic, 0. The Poneke backs liad possession of the ball in the succeeding play, until a scrum was ordered. .The Blue hookers secured the ball, .but ■ir. Hall, the, half-back, let it £0 past ijiim and the Poneke forwards swarmed ever it. ■ For a time Athletic managed 'to hold them, but at length Christopher. :eon initiated an offensive movement, and down came the Beds in a- great rush, -i the ■ Blue line, where J. Calcanai" tea on tho ball. Christopherson had no sue cess with the kick. Poneke, 6; Atnletio, 0 Both sides fought hard to get the advantage in the-following play, and at len°ih Chesterman sprinted for the loneke line. He was soon intercepted, and J Tilyard, Algar, and Christopherson ■■participated in a "rush which (mined a good deal of ground for the Beds. No;thin» very marked happened for a while, 'witif Algar found-the line near the corner- with, a splendid long kick. Athlolio cot the-better, of the throw-in; and .Cun:nin"ham sot the Blue forwards in motion. For the first time, after * long interval, Poneko found themselves defendini? H- Hall made a. somewhat wild pass, and J. Tilyard got the.ball away from E. Roberts', thus relieving the pressuTe. The Athletic.passing, was not by any means good, and , several likely chances of breaking through were con; eequontly lost. Heley essayed to get clear on the wing, but ho was closely .watched. Once:.more Poneke assumed tho offensive and IV Tilyard. J. Tilyard, and Algar. broke . away. When ■within striking distance, Algar , passed the ball to it-Arthur, , who missed it, and-B. Roberts forced down. F. Tilrard aftei-wards.did'some good following \ip, and J. Tilyard dribbled tho ball for Pome distance, when Chesterman picked ■it up. He. soon lost it. howorer, and Halin found the line. The play was changed to mid-field, when suddenly the Poneke rearguard made a . great nigh down field, a sorum being"ordered near tho line. Athletic were awarded a freekick for an infringement of the rules, but it <lid - not avail them very much. When Poneke obtained the ball from a eonun C. Tilyard whipped ,it on to F. Tilyard, who passed to Christopherson, tho latter getting in near the corner. ■Baker was entrusted with the kick, but he had no luck. Poneke, 9; Athletic, 0, Half-time was sounded..

Second Spell. After resumption, Athletic made a great bid for supremacy. Cunningham nnd Paton wero conspicuous in a strong msh, and Chostenrian was getting away nicely when M'Arthur intervened... Pojieko then got tho upper hand, J. Cal-. canai and Troy leading the attack, which only failed as the Reds reached the Blue line. Shortly after this, .T. Tilyard received an injury which it was feared would cause him to leave the field, but he determined to play on, his decision evoking warm applause from the crow<i. A good lino kick by Griffin enabled Ath~ • lotic to penetrate the led territory, but Poneko soon turned the tables and Heley just found tho line in the nick of time. A hot attack -wos made by Poneke, which E. Roberts tried to stem. Baker picked up tho ball, however, and it.passed in succession to J. Caloanai. F. lilyard, andAlgar, who touched down., Christophorson converted. Poneke^ 14; 'Athletic, 0. Tt wns now apparent that tho Blues had little hope of winning, but they, continued tho struggle and a pass■inf'rnsh by E. Rnbe-rts. L. Roberts and M'Cabo very nearly ended in the latter getting over, but he was collided in front on the Poneke posts. The Poneke tavkling was very effective, and the team was playing with absolute confidence and finish. A free-kick ngemsi .Poneke was given to -Qifiin, but .the ball went just outside the uprights. Alter the dron-ont. M'Arthur tried to clear, but U. Roberts tackled him- nnd carried the ball down field from half-way himeelf. Poneke had tho better of a scrum, and V. Tilyard made-for the line, but he was nicely collared-by Heley. M Cabs picked up tho ball, "ami the Blues coun-ter-attacked, but Holey's failure to break away nullified their efforts. Griffin again missed the posts ■ with another free kick which was given to Athletic. Poneke then found themselves on the defensive, and a fierce struggle enused on their lino. There were several hard ' melees, but at last Cunningham forced his wav across, scoring a well-deserved trv I). Roberts failed to convert. Ponek'o, U; Athletic, 3. Tho fact of Athletic having scored made the gamo more interesting, and they continued ,tp keep p e .«ri n g away. Eventually, Christopherson had to force down. The Blues continued to attack and Chosterman tried hard to score. His luok was out, though, and it was quite apparent that the Po< neko defence was too sound to be broken down. L. Roberts' also made an unsuccessful individual effort to get through, and a subsequent chance was lost owing to Heley missing a pass from M'Cabe. Within a few minutes of tho conolueion of play Poneke charged down field. Troy ' bein" prominent in the attack, but Athletic managed to hold them -until tho whistle sounded "No side. Mr. A. C. Kitto was referee. 'Varsity (U)'v. Wellington (8). -/Varsity met Wellington at Duppa Street before a few speototore. It was easily seen feat tho ohampionehip was not at stake fit tbie jne,tph. Both teams &nrtfaiQfl Wt fiood footbolL In -wife M Bobsfcj (tries

by Aitken (2), Tracey and Lowe, one of .which was converted by Soott) to Wellington's 8 (a try by Packer, converted by Cunlilfe, and n penalty goal kicked by Cunlift'e). Mr. K. T. Bailey was referee.

SELW?N (12)-PETONE(9). Potonc suffered another defeat on their own ground on Saturday—this time- at the hands of Selwyn. The exhibition of football was most disappointing, and it is not to be wondered at that Selwyn did not .secure a win by a veil , much kirgor number of points. Tho game was marred —especially during the first sprili— by showers of rain, and consequently the ground was in none too goo 4 a condition. Towards the close of the second spell. the refereo bad to stop tho game to order a large number of Stjlwyn barraekera oIV the field, in consequence of thejn encroaching over the loueiiline and causing trouble. The second spell was interrupted several times, thus causing a long drawn out spell, and this fact evidently rankled in the minds of the Selwyn yupport-ars, who wanted the game to finish. i

Potono drew first blood, Poole scoring a good try soon after the commencement. The attempt at converting failed. Petone, 8: Selwyn, nil. Soon after, from n freekick awarded to Petune,'Ambler piloted t{ie ball between the poete Petone, C; Selwyn, (I. Before half-time Solwyn evened-up the scores—Wcgan and Brian scoring tries, neither of which was converted. The scores at half-time thug etooil; Petone, G; S-olwyn, G. The placekicking during the afternoon was very disappointing. Both teinis livened up during the second spall, and Petone pressed vigorously. After some scmmiuasing near tho Selwyn lino, the Seluyu back Hived with a good kick, and Petone's opportunity was again lost. Am'blev essayed an attempt at goal, but the ball just went wide. Up and down the field play con- . tinufd for some time, and then from a scrum , near tho Petone line M'lCny secured fc leather, and scored a good try between the pests. Shearer attempted to convert, but failed miserably. Selwyn, 9; Petone, C. Petone could not play their ugusil giuno with the backs, and the Sshvyn forwards were too good for their opponents. Time after time Petono backs ■received- the baf.l a-ncl lookcdlike getting fi.wny, but each time the sure tackling of-the-Selwyn forwards brought them down. Petono were awarded a free kick, and Ambler agaiu attempted to kick a goal, but strain- failed. Son after there was a scrummage- on the Relwyu line, and Nichollfl carried ■ the iKither over.' Ambler again failed to convert. Selwyn, 9: Petone, 9. After this evening up of ■scores Selwyn pres?«d very vigorously, put a force down yas t'he only resnlt. Scon after, 'from a lino out near the PritcM fine, Penrt secured ilhe- ball for fidwyn, a.nd scored. Marshall failed with the kiok. -Sfel'wyn, 12; Petone. !). This was tilife final 1 score. Pfltoho tried very hard to even up. b'ifc without result. Mr. Tregear was referee.

HUTT (13) ORfENTAL(B): At the Hutt Recreation Ground on Saturday,'the Hutt team, which has been raised to senior grade, met awl defeated Oriental. The play throughout was of quite good orde-r, despite the occasional ; rain showers which fell and tended to mako things niipleaeaiit for the players. Triee were obtained for Oriental' by Green.and Fitzgerald (one each), and one. try .was converted by Green. For 'Hutt Sullivan scored two- tries andHnzelwood one, while Grierson converted two of the tries. Te Hutt forwards beat their opponents," easily, and the'local'baeks played the best game they have played this, Boaraon. Wripfht, the Hutt ..full-back, is. very eafe indeed. . Some of the Oriental forwards played .well, and , amongst them Nad .Perry shone out particularly. Mr. Mlain controlled the game. PETONE (12) V. SELWYN: (0). NEW ZEALAND TEAM IN SOUTH ...... , ~,. AFRICA. . (Rec. August 17,- 5.5 p.m.) Johannesburg, August 15. The New Zealand Rugby football team beat a mind's' team by 24 points to 3.— Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ■ ' ■ WAIRARAPA MATCHES. 'By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent. ■■:■'■ -.:■-.. -Y .■.'.• .-'Masterion, August 11, The , football matches-played in the Wairarapa on Saturday resulted as i'ol-. low :—■■':: Senior—Dalefiokl defeated Camp. Junior—Dalefidd. defeated Martinborough by 16 to 6;Grey town defeated Bed Star by 12 to 3. Gladstone v. 'Carterton.— This game was drawn, neither team scoring;. At tho Rugby Union meeting at Carterton on Saturday evening, several challenges were received to , play the Gladstone senior team for the Redmond Cup, and one from MartinbDrongh Juniors to play Red Star -for the Pearson Cup. The Appeal Committee decided that the junior match between Do'.eficld and Pukio would be roplayed, and regretted that' ■the former team had not shown th« spirit-.which should characterise Rugby football. THE SEDDON SHIELD, DRAWN GAME AT WESTPORT. By T?leErap!i.— Prcwi Anoclatfnn. Westport, .August 17. . The first match for.the Seddon Shield since pre-war days took place at Westport to-day, when the and Buller Rugby. Unions' representative teams played a drawn match, each sido scoring a try.. For the Buller team P. Ryan soored a try, and for Nelson. Bennett scored.- The game was very strenuous, but the ground was greasy from heavy overnight rains. Buller retains the shield. AUCKLAND V. THAMES. Sy TeleKraDh—Preca Ansociatlon. Auckland, August 17. The Auckland Rugby : representatives defeated Thames by 20 points to. 11 on , Saturday. The result was in doubt right up to the closing stages, and the visiting team played a tine gnnie. At half-timo the score was ll_to 8 in favour of Auckland. ' PALMERSTON FIXTURES. .By TcloKrapli—Special Correspondent.' ' Palmerston North, August 17. All the football matches on Saturday were ■ played in a drizzling, ruin and sloppy ground. The playera could not keep their feet at the close and were almost unrecognisable owing to tho mud. Senior Matches.—Pirates ■ A defeated I'eilding 8 to 6; Awahuri defaulted to Huia; High School beat Pirates B, 33 to 3. . Junior M.atch. —Huia defeated Linton by 9 to nil. The match, which practically decides the third-class honours, between Feilding Technical School and Pnlmorsron North High School, was won by (ho former by 5 to nil. In the primary schools' peven-a-sido tournament for the I'irani Shield, senior final, between -Foxton and Terrace End, the former won by 1 point, a force down. The jiiiiiior scren-a-side mutch, Ashhtirst v. Terrace End, was won by the latter.'