Roope Rooster Surprises

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 147, 12 September 1927, Page 10

Roope Rooster Surprises

PONSONBY AND MARIST CRASH Devonport and Richmond for Final Tm chase for thal elusive bird, the League Roope Rooster, aas produced a rare crop of surprises this year. iFio'fit, Ne», ton fell by the wayside, being' quite unable to foot it with the speedy Marist thirteen. A double surprise was sprung on Saturday when Ponsonby and Marist both tripped and fell, leaving Devonport and Richmond to see out the final tussle for the silver chanticleer next Saturday.

DEVONPORT UP-ENDS PONSONBY BRILLIANT SHORE BACKS 1 1 The dominating action among both 1 i.iie Devonport pack and rearguard in 1 the first half and the aggressiveness ( of the Ponsonby thirteen in a dogged \ fight under shocking weather condi- * tions in the second half, proved to be j the two features irt the big game at j ( < *arlaw Park on Saturday, when £ Shore gave the Ponies a great surprise by defeating them by 21 points to 5. Had the weather been fine and the j 1 ground dry, and Ponsonby had suffered j this defeat by such a big margin, then \ it would be quite safe to say that it : bad once again contracted that in- 1 sidious football disease which “Scotty” ( McClymont, their coach, cured them of * earlier in the season. But the Ponies ] never have she ne out on a wet day, * ;<nd no doubt that was the main cause f of their downfji.il on Saturday, yet it 1 was hard to realise them as the l/onies of a few weeks ago who had run so close to the Auckland League , championship. I It seemed tluit only a few moments hail passed before Devonport had commenced their deadly attacks, and L. Scott, on the wing, made the best of every opportunity given him. Short kicks he followed up quickly, and on various occasions made the Ponies force down while Ruby, in the forwards, playing perhaps a little too much in the open for his place in the team, followed up well, proving himself one of those shining lights who kept Ponsonby well hemmed in on the defensive. € Devonport’s first score was by no ‘ means an ur ex- 1

RICHMOND'S GOOD WIN MAR IST HEAVILY BEATEN

It came as a big surprise to most when Marist Old Boys suffered defeat by Richmond on Saturday by 15 points to nil There was no doubt, however, that from the start the Richmond pack had the better of the game. The sodden nature of the ground made it impossible for good football, and on the whole, the two teams gave a remarkably fine exhibition of the code.

Jenkinson scored two tries, Turley one, and Taylor was in good kicking form, converting two tries and getting a penalty kick. For Richmond, Swift, Taylor, Turley, Jenkinson, Jones and Lennie were most prominent, the latter being especially good. The forward division did a deal of good work, but the backs were well to the; front in a lot of scrummages. Kirwan showed out prominently for the Old Boys and was unfortunate in not getting through. Brisbane, Drew, Keenan and King were associated in a deal of good work. The Richmond pack fully deserved its win and played a fast, open game.

nivaiia uii ui - _y pected one. They ■ had been pushing I hard for some ■ time, and, secur- ■ ing the ball from I a scrum, it was ■ shot out to the I b a c k s, who* handled the greasy ball neatly. Sea- ■ gar and Beattie ■ handled and then ■ delivered on to Holmes, who crossed the line to

register his first score in Rugby League. irhore were again on the attack, but this time the forwards were more predominant. A. Scott, playing forward, was using plenty of grit in his work, but later on in the game, having played centre threeejuarter in previous games this year, he appeared to be tiring and lagged a bit behind the pack. Most of Ponsonby's backs were inclined to be solo artists and therefore, lacking the combination produced by the opposing rearguard, they failed to make much headway by throwing the bail about. Moving Gardiner into tlio pack for the day was a wise move on their pait. "Chilla” Grey was absolutely one of the finest backs Ponsonby had op the day. for at his position as wing threequarter he took the ball well and on one occasion brought relief to the Ponies when they were wanting it most. From the defensive ho broke through, and dashed up the line, diving and jumping, until he was unite clear. For over 40 yards he tra v \ d along, but speedy Ruby caug*.. him up and grassed him. If t lie Ponies are going to hand any bouquets at any of their players, • Cbilla" should get the pick of the bunch. Shore obtained its second score by a movement similar to that in which it had got its first. On this occasion, however, Alf Scott had managed to get mingled up with the rearguard rush, and receiving the pass, made the best of Iris powerful form and weight and dashed over to score almost under the posts. Cleaver secured the next score, and then, during the last seven minutes of this half, Ponsonby worked their wav to a more favourable position in the field. This action proved to be the earlier stages of their aggressiveness, which gave Shore considerable trouble. PONSONBY’S DESPERATE EFFORT Commencing the second half. Ponsonby went to a strong attack, but

j spoilt when Beattie broke away, and dummying two or three men had a great run up the line before passing in to Holmes, who had no trouble in scoring near the posts. Throughout the game Beattie made himself quite a serious menace to the Ponies. Holm?s

also played won considering it was his first game of League. He scored two tries, but on both occasions the openings were made for him, find in the loose play it could not be said that he was altogether up to the mark. However, he is a fast runner, and is well suited to his position. From now on until the last minute of the game, when L. Scott: scored for Shore?, the Ponies had the better of the game, and Devonport were finding them a far harder problem than they had found them in the first half, and on the attack most of the time both Usher and Delgrosso were s lining out more. In fact, the whole of the team were combining better now, and it looked quite possible at the time that it might yet come away to win. Gardiner scored Ponscnby’s only try when he secured from i scrum near the line and rushed over. Both fullbacks, Langley and Simmonds, were given a difficult task to handle such a greasy ball, but they both played well. Simmonds made perhaps the bettor showing, owing to his harder kicking. Nuggety T:m Peckham is a regular mud-lark, and the more mud there is «*n the ground, tii - better he seems to like it. Rhodes, on the other hand, who filled this position for Shore, managed to hand the ball from the scrum out to the backs well enough, but he lucked the clash In the loose ns produced by Tim. Still, Rhodes is only a youngster, and lie is a very promising player.

Winter ailments Boon attack those rundown in health. Build lip on rich, nutritious KJ*. Extract of Malt. 1.