RUGBY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 119, 20 May 1912, Page 2

RUGBY.

SATURDAY'S GAMES Oriental (16) v. Molrose (8). Athletic (13) v. Southern (3). SL James (20) v. College (3). ORIENTAL BEATS MELROSE. Oriental defeated Melrose at the Athletic Park on Saturday after a great game considering the spongy nature of the ground. The -combatants were equal at the head, of the list prior to this game, and the Orientals put themselves at the top of the tree with a. clear-cut victory by 16 points to 8. Athletic boat Southern in the last fifteen minutes, after a dull contest, and College had absolutely no winning, chance against St. James. Young, St. 1 James's three-quarter, was kicked on the head in the last few minutes, and' had to be removed from the field. ORIENTAL (16) v. MELROSE (8). This contest had many spectacular phases, and was at all times a stirring battle of punishing forwards, and, later, swooping backs — mainly thß Oriental, it must be said. A great number of people considered that the heavy conditions suited better the plugging Melrose forwards, who began in great style. Fierce rushes with the ball ab toe saw Melrose open the score with a well-earned try by Gilchrist, which | W. Marshall converted. The crowd on j the bank cheered the blues on to greater «fforts. Oriental, who looked like be-, fug buried deep in the first quarter of an hour, woke up, and the argument became more equal, and after some solid give-and-take play, King crossed at the corner. Manning got the next, scoring behind the posts, Kinvig converting an oasy one— Oriental 8, Melrose 5. The Melro6e forward* had slowed up somewhat at this, and as a consequence their light backs suffered pretty confciderably. Several Melroae dashes made no alteration to the score, which was B—s8 — 5 in Orientals' favour at halftime. The Orientals doubled their score in the second spell. A snappy passing rush from Roberts e»ded in King drop- I ping the ball when he had a clear run i in. Manning threw away another certain try by "foozling" a pass while in i a good position. Townsend forced hie j way over the line to score the next try with two Melroee backs attached. Some tew questioned the try, which was nevertheless a try. The last score, (for j Oriental) came when Manning gave the ball to Patterson, the latter running over. Roberts goaled. Oriental *16, I Melrose 5. In the last ten minutes I Melroso pressed hard, and B. 'Sullivan forced his way over — Oriental 16, Melrose 8. Mr. A. Neilflon refereed. ST. JAMES (20) v. VICTORIA COLLEGE (3). This match was played on No. 2, Athletic Park, and attracted comparatively little interest. St. James always held the upper hand, both forward and back. St. James forced the pace from the outset, and after a prolonged attack Young succeeded in scoring from a scrambling rush. Leggatt converted. (5 — 0). A few moments later Young scored again for St. James in almost exactly the same place. This time Leggatt failed to convert.. (8—0). ' Play wa« very even for a time, but decidedly unattractive. College got a look-in when Ryan marked, and Beard kicked a pretty goal. (B—3). tit. James again attacked, and a series of uninteresting scrambles amongst the forwards ended in Cook scoring- from a pass by Leggatt. No goal: (11—3). Ten minutes afterwards Young made a fine opening, paeeed to Cook, and the latter scored after a dashing rush. No goal. (M — 3). At the interval St. James were attacking strongly. Early in the second half Leggatt scored again for St. James, but the try was not converted. (17—3). The last score for the winners" came from a penalty gbal kicked by Cook. (20—3). Mr. Fordyce was referee. ATHLETIC (13) v. SOUTHERN (3). A moist atmosphere and a bitterly cold wind made matters extremely unpleasant for the 300 or so spectators at the Athletic-Southern game at Petone. With the playing area surprisingly dry, a fact open gam© WK6 looked for, but expectations were not realised. Both teams played the forward game for all it was worth, and the game in consequence was dull. Southern, who were without MacGuire, Houlihan, and Gallagher, had the best of the opening exchanges, the forwards playing with great dash. Faulty back play, however, spoiled many good openings, and thirty-five minutes elapsed before thei'e was any scoring. A kick by Evenson was well taken, on the line by Bradley, who beat Paton, and made a fine opening for Campbell. The Southern winger by clever footwork paseed H. Roberts and Gosling, and crossed at the corner. He took the kick himself, but failed to make the ball rise. Athletic were not long in equalising, Evenson kicking a fine penalty goal from near the half-way line. The only outstanding incident in the second spell was a brilliant run by Evenson, who, gathering the ball neatly, ran clean through the maroon ranks and scored near the posts. He converted easily. Luoni scored again before no side, Evenson again converting, making the scores 13 — 3 in Athletic"* favour. The Athletic pack men took things easy for a long time, but when they exerted themselves they carried all before them. Power, late of Oriental, and H. Roberts, formerly of St. James, played for Athletic. Mr. Larway was referee.