PONSONBY BEATEN IN GRIM TUSSLE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 69, 13 June 1927, Page 10

PONSONBY BEATEN IN GRIM TUSSLE

DEVONPORT REVELS IN THE MUD In THE! SUN’S review of Saturday's League matches published on Friday night occurred the line: "Ponsonby ought to win, but ” The genesis of that thought, expressed in perhaps a dozen other different ways, must have been in the minds of hundreds of hard-and-fast followers of the 13-a-side game at Carlaw Park on Saturday. All through, there was a feeling that »he redoubtable "Ponies" would pull the game out of the fire. The blue-and-blacks were obviously far from happy under playing conditions, in which the men from across the harbour seemed to fairly revel. At

half-time Devonport held a lead of sixpoints to nil, but in the first 10 minutes of the second spell Ponsonby reproduced all its old brilliance, and dash, equalising the scores with two quick-lire movements, which seemed to catch the Devonport forwards off their guard. Then the übiquitous Webb took charge. Flinging a long pass from the ruck to L. Scott, the Devonport skipper had the satisfaction of seeing Shore's reliable centre top off the opening he had made with the most brilliant try of the day. Ponsonby's luck was right out. Following on an accident to Riley, the most dangerous attacking five-eighth on the ground, which left him a sick man for the remainder of the spell, Delgrosso, the captain, had words with the referee, which ended in “Delly" getting his marching orders from Mr. Mincham. A CAST EFFORT In the closing stages of the game the lli- Ponsonby side made desperate efforts to turn the tide. In a final flutter, the bulky Gardiner roused the crowd to a perfect frenzy of excitement by his furious assaults on the Devonport line, but the defence held good, and last year’s champions had sustained their first defeat for 1927. On the run of play, Devonport fully deserved its win. The transharbour men adapted themselves better to the conditions ruling, and that is all there is to be said. The North Shore forwards packed well in the tight, although “Sam" Lowry had a shade the better of the argument between the rival hookers. In the loose, the Devonport triangle dominated the game. St. George, Dixon. Rule, and Ruby showing out in many fine rushes, the two latter missing an almost certain try in the first few minutes of the game through being unable to link up on the Ponsonby line with the greasy ball. Webb was in great form. He ran. kicked, and fielded the ball with almost faultless precision, and led his side with fine judgment from start to finish.

Perry, at fullback, played a game out of the box. Cool and unruffled throughout, Devonport’s last line of defence saved his side times without number, tackling well, and fielding and kicking in great style in the face of the hottest attack. L. Scott, at centre, and Beattie and Seagar, were frequently in the picture. Back to the game after a spell due to injuries, “Dooley" Moore did not get much chance to get going again, an injury in the first spell sending him to the side-line, almost at the same time as Preston, the Shore inside back. The substitutes were Allen and Hemmingway respectively. In the pack, Hutt, Lowry, Fagan, and Ward fought a fine losing battle against heavier metal to the bitter end. In the second spell, when the Ponsonby triangle was getting its full share of the ball, there was a chance that the backs might save the day, but the great defensive work of Perry and L. Scott made it a forlorn hope. NEARLY A MATCH-WINNER

Gardiner, who changed his position frequently in the match —even to packing in the second row of the scrum—was bothered by the heavy going. A big man generally is in either code of Rugby, unless he is a "Morrie" Brownlie or a "Bert" Avery. Gardiner, however, gave Devonport some anxious moments in the closing stages, with his battering-ram attack

on the Shore defences. With a little more luck he might have been acclaimed a match -winner.

"Tim" Peckham played a rattling good game behind the pack, although not quite up to Webb’s standard, but Peckham had fewer chances, and was severely harassed by the fast-breaking Shore forwards. Usher, on the wing, did not get a great many opportunities, but showed out in some bright flashes of play. DETAILS OF THE PLAY

Ponsonby jumped into its stride right from the kick-off with a sweeping forward rush, which had Shore in difficulties in it;* own twenty-five. Usher had a chance to get across in the opening sortie, but fumbling lost the chance. A few minutes later Webb had given Rule and Ruby an even better chance on the Ponsonby line, but again the ball went spinning on to muddy turf. The first try was scored a quarter of an hour after the start, Webb making play with a lofty kick, which had Ponsonby in trov.ble, A. Scott, Seagar, and L. Scott claiming equal

credit ior roe .-tv- i m a. the centre topped off with an unconverted try. Devonport 3, Ponsonby

Hard-slogging forward play, with the Shore pack slowly but surely gaining the upper hand, dominated the game until close on half-time, when Webb, Rule, and Dixon cut loose in a fast dash fr om the scrum, which St. George topped off with a try. Halftime scores:— Devonport 6

Ponsonby 0 Flinging the ball about in fine style, Ponsonby got its backs away right from the jump after half-time. Grey sent the "Ponies" racing after a high punt into the far corner, where, after a temporary check by Perry, Peckham dived through a tangle of legs and scored a try, which Gardiner was unable to convert. Devonport 6, Ponsonby 3. Five minutes; later Ponsonby had drawn level, Usher getting across, after a good effort by Peckham and Hutt had only just failed to materialise.

Devonport retaliated with a fast forward attack, Webb making the opening for L. Scott to score brilliantly, after Langley had made a good but unsuccessful effort to stop the flying Shore centre. Once again no goal was kicked. Devonport 9, Ponsonby 6. There the score stayed till the end. but Shore had plenty of room for anxiety in the closing stages, when Ponsonby made a great rally, with Gardiner leading the attack, but the blue-and-bracks could not finish off. and the game ended: Devonport 9 Ponsonby ® The referee Mr. W. Mincham, did not have an easy match to control, but he did his work well. Without knowing exactly what led up to Delgrosso being sent off, it can be said that, on the run of play the man with the whistle kept the game under control in admirable style, and there was a gratifying absence of the trouble in the scrum which marred the previous meeting between these two teams. CITY OVERWHELMED MARIST SCORE HEAVILY Forwards consider a sodden field their own particular wallowing-ground and they usually expect the backs to keep out of the business of scoring on a day like Saturday. . It is the acid test of a rearguard to put it ankledeep in slush and ask it to sparkle in passing rushes and handle a slippery, laden ball prettily. Marist came through the test very well, the backs showing up consistently and throwing the leather about in a way which painfully surprised City. The degree of astonishment of the red and blacks was 33 points to B—admittedly a fairly big shock. The greens were up to strength, Turner being called on in the first half because Iving was late. The winger got a game after the spell, when Kirwan retired with a twisted knee. Against this strong side City fielded a weakened one. The two Browns, fullback and winger, and the heady Wetherill, were absent. The result was never in doubt. The Tykes got a runaway lead of 14 points to nil, and it was only near the end of the first half that they lost supremacy. In this period City forced the play and scored from scrambles near the line. Two

tries came in rapid succession just before the bell went for the spell. Hamilton and Lewis both forcing their way across. CLEAN-FOOTED KNOTT The game was for the most part uninspired, and it would have been a miracle, considering the conditions, if it had been otherwise. Fumbling and speculation were rife, and heavy-footed backs could rarely show their heels to ponderous packs. The most cleanfooted back on the ground was Knott,

the racy winger for Marists, who came over from the association game this year. His Soccer training has given him a marvellous control of the ball and in the mud this accomplishment was in great demand. Time after time he dribbled delightfully up field and twice he was stiff in just missing the force, though Sweeney made sure of one of the tries. However, Knott, who by the way, is the tennis doubles champion, did get two tries, and he also made sure of the only goal—the last one—he was asked to kick. Possibly he may develop into a muchneeded goaler for his side. At present there does not seem to be an expert in this department, for only two of the nine tries were converted. Husky O’Brien was a tower of strength, and he notched ten points of Marist's total, including two dashing tries. The half. Sweeney, did his job well; he was always handy when something was doing, and he sent his backs away nicely. Keenan deserted the forwards for the day and played well, first on the wing and later as five-eighth. The most spectacular try was that of Moisley’s, who side-stepped through half the City team. There was no doubt about City’s willingness, whose players at times were penalised for anxiousness. Ghent, when he did get the ball from the scrum, rarely did anything but get rid of it as quickly as possible as if he had a decided aversion to handling the mussy thing. His backs were seldom given a good start. Wade did his best on the wing, but he got few chances. Davidson and Lewis were solid in defence and bright in th€: few offensives, but Perry did not give a dazzling display of football brain, though he has pluck to cover the ball when things are dangerous. The forwards, as a pack, did not take as much of the game on their shoulders as they should have done. One man who deserved promotion from the juniors was Leydon, the fullback. He played a safe, cool-headed game, never looking for trouble and often bringing off a good line-kick. A little more confidence was all that he needed. WELL DONE, ATHLETIC! NEWTON FULLY EXTENDED On a wet and slushy ground at the Domain on Saturday afternoon Newton defeated Grafton Athletic by 19 to 14 in a game which, under the playing conditions, was hard to follow and lacked finish. Although Athletic was defeated, its performance in running such a score up against a team like Newton was very creditable, and shows an improvement in the team. Newton certainly missed the services of the “invincible" Dufty, but Athletic in the past has suffered defeat with big scores against it, and its performance on Saturday, especially in the early part of the game, when Athletic ran 11 points up against Newton before the latter had time to realise the position, was certainly unexpected. Herewini proved himself to be Newton’s Nepia. As fullback he played a clever game throughout, handling the greasy ball with great ease and i making some great saves. Time and again he relieved difficult situations by good field kicking and sprints, which put the rearguard into ;;ction. Little, at wing-threequarter, was very slippery, but was handicapped a great deal by the failure of the inside backs to feed him in the rearguard rushes. Henry, in the forwards, was always on the ball. Avery, for'Athletic, played his usual sound and consistent game, although he did not come out into the limelight as on other days. THE GAME With the kick-off Athletic commenced to pass the ball round, but Henry soon stopped this by a good dribble down the field. For a short time Newton pressed hard and matters looked very bright when a penalty was given against Athletic right, under the posts, but Herewini missed the kick. The position was relieved when Christmas broke through and assisted by Hudson and Angelo, quickly took play to the other end of the field in a forward rush. Angelo scored; not converted. The game continued with some good passing bouts by Newton, but owing to the slushy nature of the ground their well-formed rushes were easily broken by the Athletic forwards. Herring, taking the ball from the loose, passed out to Watkins, who after a good run got jammed, and was forced to deliver to Longville. Longville immediately passed to Courtney, who scored. Not converted. Athletic were only moments before they had play moving again in their favour. Bryer, taking up, passed to Avery, who in turn delivered to Courtney to scoi'e. Longville converted.

From a forward rush by Newton, Hall succeeded in taking the ball up. and scrambling over the line. Herewini converted. Newton immediately commenced another forward rush and from this Little succeeded in scoring. Herewini again converted.

For about seven minutes now play remained more even. Then Newton commenced another passing rush from a scrum in mid-field. Little secured and made a great run, but lost the ball. Later he recovered and passed to Morman, who, after a tricky run down the line, scored. Not converted. Athletic 11 Newton 13 SECOND HALF The second spell opened with Athletic pressing hard and combining well, but Herewini making good saves, soon relieved the position for Newton. Little, securing from the ruck, made a clever run and scored. Not converted. Athletic was again pushing hard and while close to the line Lucas picked up and passed to Avery, who scrambled over and scored. Not converted. For over 15 minutes now the game remained in centre-field, with play mostly in Athletic’s favour. Then Little making a great opening went within inches of scoring when collared, but Hales succeeded in securing and crossed the line. The play continued to be fast p.nd exciting, but the game ended: Newton 19 Athletic 14 Senior B Grade Nortlicote beat Parnell by eight points to three at the Domain in what was largely a hard-slogging forward game. For Nortlicote, Nathan and Thompson scored a try, and Nathan also kicked a goal. Richie scored an unconverted try for Parnell. WELTER CHAMPION McKNIGHT WINS TITLE By Cable. —Press Association. —Copyright BRISBANE. Sunday. In a boxing contest last evening McKnight, 10.5, knocked out Les Robson, 10.10. in the third round. The match was for the Queensland welter-weight championship. McKnight was given an ovation when he won. Robson exchanged punches and had to pay the penalty in a line fight.—A. and N.Z.