DOPED ALL BLACKS.

Shannon News, 14 October 1924, Page 3

DOPED ALL BLACKS.

BEAT CHESHIRE EASILY/ (Received Sunday, 6.18 p.m.) LONDON, Oct 11. \ At Birkenhead the All BJack footballers defeated Cheshire by 18 points to 5. in the presence of 12,000 spectators. It was reported 15 members of the visiting.team were suffering from ptomaine poisoning last night, but the trouble was not serious enough to require medical.attention, though some changes were necessary in the team. N.Z.'s Weakest Team to Date. The side which turned c it of:— ■"-■'■■ <& Full-back. —G. I^epia. Three-quarters. —A. H. Hart, H. W. Brown, J. Steel. Five-eighths.—N. P. McGregor (2). L. Paewai (1). Half.—J. Mill. Winger.—C. G. Porter (captain). : Back row.—A. H„ West, R. L. Stewart. Supports. —J. Richardson, C. J. Brownlie.

Lock.—R. R. Masters. Hookers.—W. R. Irvine, B. V. McCleary. .':.

The New Zealanders opened with an attack, which pushed through till '* Gracie saved on Cheshire's line. Cheshire Shakes Things Up. The county backs then initiated some fine passing bouts, Hobday running well in and transferring to Richardson, who almost .dropped a goal. Hard rucking by, Cheshire forwards carried play to the New Zealand line, where the game became very close and of a scrambling character, both sides obtaining about the same amount of possession from the scrums. Paewai and McGregor Give Gracie Chances. L'oth McGregor and Paewai. playing five-eighths, were knocking-on repeatedly, while the county men were playing a hard, spoiling game, and Gracie intercepted several New Zealand passes. *H ; s[@Bß Hart Hurdles Only Try in First Half. For thirty minutes play continued of a nondescript character on both sides, then Mill initiated a passing , rush, the. ball going to Hart who hurdled over the opposing full-back's head and registered the first try; Nepia's kick at goal failed, and the spell ended without further score. New Zealand .... 3 • Cheshire 0 All Blacks Right After It. The New Zealanders began :the second half brilliantly, the . men ■ handling the ball with more certainty, and within three minutes three tries were added (scorers names omitted). ' ~ New Zealand .... 9 Cheshire ........ 0 Porter then crossed at the corner, but Nepia was again unsuccessful with the kick for the third time. Steel;was the next to score a try, which was also unconverted. New Zealand .... 15 , Cheshire ........ 0 - Six All Blacks Miss Locke. The Cheshire forwards again livened up, and made rushes on the New Zealand line, but their attempts lacked finality till Locke got through the , defence owing to weak tackling (at least six New Zealanders should have tackled him) and crossed the line. Richardson added the major points. New Zealand .... 15 Cheshire 5 Hart on His Own.

On resuming, the New .Zealanders indulged in some fine: passing, from which Hart secured the ball, and* after a brilliant run scored in the corner. Steel's kick at goal failed. New Zealand .... 18 Cheshire 5 The :New Zealanders' superiority was most pronounced in the back division. The game generally was the poorest exhibition the AH Black? have yet given. Cheshire's loose single-handed, !passing offered innumerable opportunities to intercept The New Zealand backs were continually using the line, even when they had a big lead. Hart alone deserves special mention for his determined running and wonderful pace. DEAN THE DOPE DOCTOR. "CHEESE" EXONERATED: FISH BLAMED. . LONDON, Oct. 12. It appears from later information, that the team's indisposition, which was at first, alarmingly reported as ptomaine poisoning, proved nothing more serious than a mere passing in-. disposition. The New Zealanders arlived at Liverpool apparently all well. The attack.was first felt by several men on Friday morning. A few more became unwell in the afternoon. Mr Dean treated them with physic, the victims regarding medical aid as enantirely unnecessary, in proof of which several who complained actually played in the afternoon. The cause of the indisposition has not been located, but fish is suspected. GRACIE AND LOCKE. A. L. Gracie is the Scottish International skipper, and a fine, centre three-quarter. He got a knock last season and could not play in some of the big,games. George Aitken got his cap against-Wales because Gracie dropped out of the Scottish team at the last minute. H. M. Locke fully justified his selection for England two seasons ago, and has played with confidence and consistency. It was anticipated he would develop into a classic centre. The backbone of Cheshire is *ho. Birkenhead . Park , Club, the second , best club to Bradford of Yorkshire) in the North, and it exercises a great and powerful influence in North Country football. The famous McLeod Brothers (L. M. and K. G.) who played for Scotland against the All Blacks in 1905 were Birkenhead Parkers. They did not. however, play in the Cheshire match.

as they conserved their energies tot the 'Varsity macen to follow. (Thty played for Cambridge, and Oxford was duly beaten. 15 —13.) THE HONOURS BOARD. CABLE MAN GIVES IT A CRACK. The failure of the cablegrammer to notify the whole of the names of the six scorers of the New Zealand tries (the goal-kicking boots were left at Newport) makes it impossible to accurately record the points scored to date, viz.,189. The following shows the position after including two tries to the credit of "Mr X": — Player Points Tries Goals

Nicholls, M. F., . ... 28 — ♦12 Parker, J. H., . ... 24 8 __ Cooke, A. E. .... 18 6 "~ — Nepia, G., ... 16 —• S Steel., J., ,... 16 5 «MM Brown, W. H., . 13 3 2 ,...'■■■■» 3 — Donald, Q., 9 3 •*■—* Svenson, K. S., . 9 8 "■*" Brbwnlie, M. J. 6 2 — Hart, A. N., 6 2 — Irvine, W. R. 6 2 — Lucas, F. W., .;.. 6 2 —- Brownlie, C. J., .... 3 1 — Cupples, Li. F., .... 2 1 — Porter, C. G., 3 1 ~T" Richardson, J. .... 3 1 — Stewart, R. L., .... 8, 1 —- White, A., '..... 3 1 Unaccounted for Cheshire .. .... 6 2 - "™" ist 47 •as