FOOTBALL.

NZ Truth, Issue 59, 4 August 1906, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

(By "Pakeha.")

Saturday was a perfect day lor the popular winter pastime, and the prospects of seeing a keen contest between Old Boys and Petone drew another large crowd to the Park, hardly so numerous, however, as on the previous week when Poneke and Petone met m rugby fray, The turf was fairly, firm and its condition spoke volumes for the care and attention paid it by. caretaker Murphy, who was called upon to counteract the effects of the heavy rain which had fallen during the week. On their showing against Orientals the Old Boys were expected by their supporters to stretch the champions, but to the bulk of followers of form the suburban team was the popular fancy. The issue demonstrated clearly that, back and forward, Petone was the smartest combination. 1 Luck consistently sticks to Petone, and m this case its skipper was again fortunate m winning the choice which meant that the opposing players had to fight out the first spell v with the strong sun m their eyes, as' Poneke had to -dp. on the previous Saturday. ' ;', Petone played a much harder and mpre robust game,,; and sharpened its pace "to'Tfit m with" circumstances.Granted, the Old Bpvs. did not have jby any means the best of "the luck, 6ne cannot claim that they displayed the form expected of 'them m either division. : : . • The Petone packmen were quicker and faster, than the forwards brigade of Old Boys. They fairly and squarely heat the white vanguard m all phases of forward play m fact, and the. turning and wheeling was smartly and cleanly executed. A weak spot was the tendency of one of the back-rankers : to break away as soon as Old Boys obtained possession, the result being that m a few instances the latter put orf a sufficient head of steam to push the suburban crowd back. The Petone men moved about very smartly m the open, not so the Old Boys, whose sluggishness was remarkable. ' . There was an utter lack of variety m the white's scrummaging, no screwing being attempted, or systematic efforts made to, hold the ball. There was no solidness m the .tight —the packing being indifferent, and the pushing • powers of the division were not stretched to adequate length Their combination m the loose was degrees below what it should have been against a set of- Petone's calibre. There was not nearly sufficient weight behind the centre row. The Petone backs, as a body, showed far more allround form than the white rearguard. They were smart, handled the hall deftly and acutately, -kicked surely and with effect and quickly seized on the mistakes of their opponents to turn the occasion to advantage. Tactical errors were as plentiful as blackberries m. the Old Boys' rear? guard. 1$ had several scorinf chances which were .thrown away by the weak disposition of its forces. When, on the attack the half made the mistake of keeping too close up to the scruitt, m consequence of which he was smothered by the opposing packmen before the hall was whipped put to his five-eighth. The defence was weak m the extreme, and the halfhearted attempts to block the headway of the suburban men made one wonder whether their opponents were really on the job or not. The tackling was simply damnable all through the piece./ To be candid the writer saw, on at least fourteen occasions, where the man ' with the ball was mildly grappled and then allowed to pursue the even tenor of his way. He admits, however, that the tackling of some of the Petone's backs was miles below first-class. The Petone forwards played right up to the handle from start to finish, and were evidently m great "nick." Not so three or four of the white scrummagers, who tired perceptibly midway through the game and were troubled very much with the : 'slows" when it came to the "now or never" issues of the struggle. Two of the three tries scored by Petone within the space of eleven minutes were directly due u> goali keeper Buddie, • whose ■ exhibition during the afternoon was simply execrable. The writer never did go into ecstacies over Buddies oast performances, and Saturday's feats should consign him to a back seat for ever afterwards. • The first try scored by J . Rj an was. a very soft one, although the Petoneite is entitled to credit for his pacy following-up. Once m his possession he had only to walk over the opposing chalkmark, there being no opposition whatever to, r,hwart his progress., Had the wing three-cuiar-ters been slippier and. used their toppieces to better advantage there was just the possibility of averting either score. '. . There was absolutely no excuse for Buddies first .mislaVe which landed his side m disaster; a, stupid miscalculation did the damage. The bounce beat him, as it has beaten hundreds .better than he, but m this inst.-i cc ; the error was most flag-ran*.. A' few minutes after another bouncing ball proved his side's undoing, a weakreturn giving Dunk • McGregor 'the chance to elude a diving tackle by Mona Thomson and make a clear opening for Ramsden, who received a nice pass at the opportune moment, and had only to canter over the goalline to put further points to his team's credit. Reedy 's try would have been easily blocked had the five-eighth come m

closer to ■ Thomson's assistance. The latter had three or four men to watch and m the general confusion the Petone man got across. The last try scored by Petone was the outcome of quick and perfect combination by its backs. All the participants got moving quickly and passing neatly and accurately and with .judgment completely beat the other division by their pace and enabled Barber to run m at the corner. McGregor was the strong link m the chain of combination, he breaking through, running straight and drawing the centre and wing threenjiarters into such a position that hamsden's task of making an opening for Barber was not a burdensome one. It was a superb Trit of play, ball and players going at a great bat m the open and along the touchline to the corner. Jacobsen lost a cert try for Old Boys by not making greater use of his. weight and pace. Woods "sold" the Petone wing three-quarter and ran right up to the full, where he transferred wisely to the scrummer following m his wake (Jacobsen) who, however, proved unequal to ,the task, being . grassed on the line and the ball found its way in,to a pair of Petone maulers, a force down eventuating. When Jacobsen got the pass from Woods ht hcud not v more than a half-dozen' yards to bridge over. , ' ' , Gardner's consistent fbllowing-up had its -good results. The Old Boys* representative following-jjp ;a- skick hustled full-back Ryan : pu^s<|if.vpp^session of the ball which rolled over the chalk-mark. J. Ryan strea.i<i;d down with the object of saving the situation but Gardner was on the alert and touched down. Mona Thomson.; senb the ball fairly over the centre .bar, to 1 the huge delight of the Old Boys' supporters., . j. The passing of the Old. Boys, Y-arr often wild, particularly between, ti^e five-eighth and centre thtoe-quari;er. Mona Thomson made several tactical mistakes. Instead of centering more he kept to fc'ie touciuine much to the, liking of McGregor and..Company, who walked rings round him m this parfeicuUr point of the came. The crowd whooped wif.h delight when "Cocky" Dawsdn, following up a high kick, rae?d down the field at "Spearmint" speed, beat J. Ryan m the sprint and grabbed tie ball before M: Ryan could get his hands on it. "Cocky" freed- himself from the embrace of a couple of opponents who attempted to check his progress and then made a. herculean attempt to cover the distance < between himself and the goal-line, quite forgetful of the poMcy of passing out to a fteaii comrade, which . must have produced -. three points easily had it been put into execution. .'■ " : .. The spectators evidently thought this was brilliant play .on the part of " Cocky, " but the writer makes bold to say that such gallery '.business should be set down as a crime m our rugby code. One would have : thought that Dawson was bereft;... -pf, hands and feet judging from his performance on Saturday. ■' He neither kicked nor passed,' but .essayed the almost impossible 'task of breaking through the Petone stonewall, .'.:': Byrne is not a clever forward', m any sense of the word. When the ; rough corners are chisselled off his play there will be few better m Wellington. He goes at it like a steam engine, from start to. finish, and being endowed with strength and a fair amount of pace makes a nasty snag for opponents to bump tip against. A tireless grafter of this nature is invariably a back spoiler of the first, water and the Old Boys "found this so. m Byrne's case. ■•' Green played brilliantlf behind the Petone scrum, and this writer lopks np further for the scrum half of Wei- j lington rep. teams. He made some beautiful openings and always finished a fast, dodgy run by passing cor-, rectly at .the right ; moment. . The little fellow gets the ball 'away with clock-work regularity, and his judgment for so young a , player is remarkable. • McGregor always winces before a rush and is never having any of- it. His quickness and ' sufehess m transferring the ball when collared by an opponent is an object lesson, to" other players, however, on Saturday he executed some of the spiciest tit-bits m this direction that one could hope for. For neatness and "smartness ; -he could not be excelled. Wi> . Barber's catching and ■■•takfowr - '■ of passes, and his line kicking was sound all through. He was always after the ball very quickly. Barber -is playing very. solidly this season. ;

J. Ryan assisted greatly to his | division's quick, bright and open exj position. He understands the method lof forcing attack. Ranasden's exhibited plenty of nimbleness and fed his wings splendidly. He worked m perfect union with McGregor, the ssquence, being some taking concerted passing. M. Ryan, bar the one mis-, take which led to Old Boys' score, was sound. His fielding and catching was sure, but his touch-line kicking was? not always productive of sweeping results. Mick has a tendency to drop too deep when his side is attacking. Kelly (five-eighth) is another littl* player unearthed by the Petone team. His defensive work was beyond criticism and he never failed at the critical moment. He met hard tackles unflinchingly, and save the other side an equally good gruelling m the same department: On more than one occasion when the Old Boys', wing three quarter did centre and their forwards came down the middle to near the goal-line, Kellv was the obstacle m their path of progress. Hardbam was again conspicuous m. the open, and played hard and fast on the ball during hostilities. The forwards played better together than m the Poneke match., and no one. with perhaps the .exception of Byrne, could be singled out for special mention a quarter of an hour to no side.. Pat McGiil's services were lost to his side owing to a strained sinew or something of that sort.: The injury, Wjas a painful -one for the time bein&,, r>> and the Petone man squealed uwhenT the disabled member? ;was beiug examined.,, •■•..•;■" ..■ '''.There was no effective rallying o! the Old Boys' rearguard when placed qh the defensive. The backs were not 'whipped quickly or systematically enough into positions to meet tha /pose charges of the Petpue forward^,, or !the sultry manipulation of ttia leather, by. the surbifrban backs. Buddie could well have been spared, Dawson appeared not to realise the situation, . Mona Thomson had apparently no conception of the tactical) advantages to be derived from keeping the ball more m the open, though at times he put m useful work and Blacklock was. sound on defence, but had not the remotest conception; of the line to be adopted lor scorings purposes. His marking and kicking were excellent. A. D. Thomson- showed nothing like his usual dash, arid his passing from the scrum lacked accuracy and cleanness. His defence was indifferent, and the Petone' forward rushes were often left unchecked. Wood was-the brightest and soundest, back on* -Jtis side..; ■•■.•■ ■" :":•• •"••"-■.'•-■ Of the forwards Avery and Watkjtfs caurfit the eve ofteher. though Ernie Dodd did excellent -w.orlc :on the. lineout. Somehow there" was no adequate concentration ill Tthe,_ vanguard and more than one member- . ; -"ey meed a disposition io keep .put on the border ci We; ; ;ppen^ .■■■ Alic .Campbell T^ag.^ncp what ; ,- eoc would call a howlinl stvecess "with the whistle ; not that „b,is dScis4oais could be set' down as unfair /though a """ section of. the crowd .got the notion into their skull-boxes, that his sympathies were wiifch the ,suburbati-.men., but he was too'slow |o follow play, and m consequence a few, cisions given iii' favor .',s. the....qhsgni pions might . have gohe.7t.he ' otl% wav ; if he had been on the spot to observe the actual circumstances. . , A good number of the spectators m, a position to witness the, incident were distinctly under the 'impressipa that Jacobsen grounded '^he .ball inches over the Petphe chalk4nark ( f and their surprise at a force-dowa being the referee's decision was greati. Personally, - 1 must concede that Alic had hardly sufficient sprinting left m him to get to the spot m time to give a correct verdict. In the circumstances a scrum five yards out would have been the fair thing. Tom , Cross was bailed up hy titf referee for not shaping m gentlier fashion. The writer does not question the justice of the admonition but believes a clubmate of the burly,, forward should have been summattwi dealt with for vicipus booting m tsjaS» very early stages of the game, life got off scot free, however. If the occurrence is repeated by this plfty^B , the writer will give him "rats'*" -inf "Truth" columns. ■ ' t :/ The Oriental-Wellington match, wab perhaps not- so uneven as the scptefl indicated. The yellows had several chances of scoring but failed to dtiVfs their attack' right home. The Oriental backs, minus Roberts, are very moderate, there being a lack of decision m most of their attacking

movements. Collerton, at full, however, gained a great deal of ground for his side by good kicking and running, most of the Wellington forwards seeming to be afraid to collar him. Cteary and Madden did good work at times, but the play of the backs as a wholn was marred by, inability, Ho run straight. • . Wills, at half, performed about as well as a forward could be- expected " to m that position. Barkviile is a much improved forward and played with great dash, •throughout, his try was a particular,}j good effort. Brenchley, Gillespie and Manning were the best of a solid 1 lot of forwards. Smyrk, ,the Wellington full-back, is" decidedly • weak, particularly m tackling. Hill and Riley are both greatly improved players, the former making a great run, m the first spell which landed him over the line, buthe was pulled back into play before' the referee came up, consequently the try was not allowed. . Abercrombie, an ex-hockey player, <who. played five-eighth, certainly justified his inclusion, though at the of the game he seem- . Ed, somewhat at sea. •McKellor and Mansford did best work among the Wellington forwards, who were perhaps over-weighted by 'the heavy Oriental pack. The Wellington forward? are particularly weak m following-up, though this may be due to some, extent to lack •of : Condition. - ■■ i> "Cocky?' <Roberts .made 1 -' -his firstappearance as "a senior referee on Athletic- Park- and seemed td' : giveSatisfaction to; -both teams, though 'her was, haiMlidapped with a very in'idiffertfnt'iwhistle^ -.*■"■ • -i.f'The 'Melrose-Athletic game at' Pcwas, feom' a spectatpr's"point of •asiew, dull and- uninteresting/ The former team' scored .% try and converted ■■■ft- a few minutes after the' kick pfi ttnd loir the rest of the afternoon we're 'content to waste' time and keep the game 'close land tight. Although ■ se-curing/-the': bail from ■ scruiijf after • scrum, no 'attempt was made to set the backs going and the oval was ■consistently: kicked into touch. The Athletics, on the other, hand, : attempted to open the game up, but were hampered by the forwards failing to secure possession. Some nice passing. was indulged m at times, but r came tip nothing owing, to the tackling of their opponents, who were yrary sHre. s i a : Aiiis ,- department : < of the n,O-eQi.,.Sp^ncer had- one of his 1 best days and his line finding kicks gained crplmd . f or- his team time after time, t In" the absence of Mackay, King was ■Rlayed at threequarter, an( i proV ed a very good substitute, no fault bein^ found with 1 his exhibition. . Groube, at five-eighth, played thel»st game he-has yet done m Wellington and will probably be heard more of next season. •• ■ . < *-, ..madams, at half, also gave a good disptay of defensive work. This j<-.d ■put a good one if Melrose would try and use their baclfs for scoring, purposes. ' >• Murphy, Afjains and Gilchrist were most ; ; c6n^plf: ; aous among the for■■iraLrd^;'-" ' Sullivan, winger, ;was,cpiispici{aiis at times. ■/Sales, ,»|j full/ for the hlues, is playinti better as thp season. closes, and his pxhibition on Saturday was very fair. ■.', Etcpjsen, at centre threeqtuajrter, was jfcbe ! best r of the backs and played a:■.-■•.■:■ ■:■.-■•.■:■ •.. . . •■ ■ . "'OV^uilivan. 'played a heady game at' .five-eighth, making all >, is own irame, This back is probably the best attacking man m his position m the town . pext to McGregor, but like the latter iiis defence is not too good. O'Meara played a line defensive -game, but had no opportunities to attack. Wilson arid Osborne were the JSest of an even set of forwards. Many spectators at the Park were -wondering why Freddy Roberts was •not playing for his team against Wellington. The explanation given of his 'absence is that, m the contest against. *Petone « a fortnight previous, Roberts 'got dealt with by the suburban reprec {jentatives, who bashed the "All '^lack" to such an extent that his. 'body from head to foot was a mass jti bruises. ...... . .■ ;! The Wairarajpa Rugby Union has.;a£feed to play, the junior representative tiiatch with Wellington on, August li at Wellington. The country Union, has decided to pay the travelling and hotel expenses of its representatives. .' . . ,/^he programme of the South African team m England for next winter iSe^fery much on the lines of that of : the New Zealanders, though as far as England ,is concerned, counties, ' and not clubs, will be met. Lancashire and Kent have both secured Hx|k«fes this time, and it is said that the Scottish Rugby Union will not part with the net proceeds .of the game of, November 17. The Auckland; City Club had not been beaten for seven years until the Sydney University representatives lowered their colors. A Wanganui writer says that through the loss of such sterling players aw Elmslie, Gordon Thompson, C. Butter, Holland, P. Murray, A. Pownall, Robinson, and the inability ' of Gwscs-tt and Anderson to play,regularly, the Wanganui R.U. Selection Committee have during the present seaccn been hard put to it ,to procure a sufficiently strong? combination ! of players to maintain the high, standard Wanganui has earned amtfng the provinces during, the past - few seasons. Nothing daunted by the tide of adversity, however, the Committee has r - played its part conscientiously and 'well, and despite several disappointments, there is every reason to hope that they will presently evolve i\ team ihat will do honor to the disA disgraceful occurrence is alleged by a Palmerston paper to have taken place during the progress of the Peil-ding-Old Boys match on Saturday. The incident was witnessed unfortunately not by the referee but by % the assembled four, or five hundred spectators, who made a justifiable demonstration' against the . offenders. An Old /Boy forward came into possession of the ball and ran into field, -where he was collared by Rob-, inson, the Feildin.g team's wing for-" ■ward.. The man m question, however, had transferred the leather, but, the writer firmly believes, unknown to Robinson, who, pi course, "grassed" the man he tackled. . Robinson also ■ fell to the ground. Both arose together, and to the utter astonishment and amazement of the crowd, #ie. Old

Boy player- was observed to strike Robinson a heavy blow m the face. The crowd, who viewed the proceeding, entreated the referee to "put ;him (the offender) off," but unfortunately that official, who was many yards away, did not witness the occunrence, and was, consequently, powerless to act. Robinson was severely; dazed by the Wow and staggered about the field m a semi-fainting condition, inclining his head m his handSj the blood flowing profusely from awound over the left eye and also-from-his nasal organ. Although the play was proceeded, with, it was fully ten •minutes before -Robinson recovered suffficiently to allow his taking- further »part. Shortly after this "incident," another Old Boy forward "downed" a Feilding player with undue and unnecessary roughness, his action eliciting a derisive demonstration from the spectators. The referee witnessed this occurrence and promptly, warned .theoffending players. ■ Both these performances ot ro^gh; play occurred openly and m full view -■ of a large number of spectators and^ some members .-of the Rugby Union. After the match Robinson wa3> taken to a local, surgery, where, in* addition to the wound near his eye, which necessitated three or four, stitches, . examination also proved" that his nose was broken.