ATHLETIC NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 149, 23 June 1894, Page 10

ATHLETIC NOTES.

(By Actjuon.)

FOOTBALL FZ2CTU3ES. FIRST FIFTEENS. June 20—Suburbs v. .Parnell.' City v. North Shore, Pousoaby v. Grafton. July 7—Suburbs v. City, Ponsonby V. .orth Shore. Nowton v. Graftou. SECOND FIFTEENS. I Same as first. THIRD FIFTEENS. June 30—Para ell v. Grafton A.. City T. Grafton 1 8., Ponsonby v. Newton. July 7—Parnell ▼. Ponsonby, City T. Grafton I A, Grafton B. v. Newton. FOURTH JUNIOR ASSOCIATION. June 30—Beachcombers v. Britomart (Domain), Rosebery v. Terrace (Surrey Hills). July 7—Terrace v. Britomart (Glenmore), Kosebery v. Beachcombers (Arch Hill),

FOOTBALL.

Evekyone was greatly disappointed with the play of the Graftonites on Saturday last; it was generally expected thab they would make a good show against Parnell, and when the latter lost the services of Jervia in the first few minutes of the game, and their crack half-back, Elliotb, washandicapped with an injured foo'i, the lookere-on were coniidenb thab Parnell were aboub to suffer their first defeat. The Parnellitea, however, roae to the occasion, and inspired more than the usual amount of dash into their play, whereas, Grafton were devoid of all combination. Their forwards packed badly, and the work of their backs was characterised by their fumbling. During the firab fifteen minutes of the game, the play was very fast and interesting;, Parnell making some clevar attacks with their passing tactics, and Grafton retaliating with some fine forward rushes, Buu when Parnell gained their first try, and Edmonds added the major points, Graffcon fell to pieces, and their play was the poorest tfy=y have shown thia season. On the other hand, Parnell played with renewed vigour, and had hard luck in nob scoring oftener. Ido not wish to disparage Parnell's victory, for we must not overlook tho fact thab it was the dash of their forwards which was the principal cause of the disorganisation of the Graftonites. The first try that Parnell gained waa by an exceptionally smart piece of play. A ecrum waa formed about ton yards from Urafton's goal, and tho ball was^ nob two seconds in the scrum bofore the forwards heeled out to Edtnonde, who passed to Ronayne, and the laat-named was across the line without an opponenb attempting to stop him. There was a look of bewilderment on bhe faces of the Grafton backs as they saw Ronayne ground the ball, and by their surprised looks I fancy some of them thought he must have dropped from the clouds. On the display of the Grafton forwards laab week, after their previous exhibitions, it was plainly apparent that some of them were doing a greab ' loaf' in the scrums. In the open, too, their wonted dash waa conspicuous by its absence. Of the grafters, C. Brady and Hancock were much superior to their comrades. Oliphanb, on tko wing, played a. clever game, and was chiefly responsible for the few attacks that Grafton made. Of the backs, C. Hay waa again un,doubtedly the beat. His defence was sound, while ho passed oub neatly. Esera, behind the scrum, did some clever pieces of play, bub the ahowa he gob from hia forwarda were few and far between. Taylor, ab full-back, waa on the whole patchy, lie stopped several rushes very cleanly, and bis returns were always good. J. Bra:ly was ino«t disappointing, fumbling repeatedly the chances made by Evera and Hay. Young, too, baa played better games. Ib was rather unfortunate that Seagar, who catno with a reputation from Wanganui, should have met with an accidont in tbo first game he played in Auckland. Seagar dislocated his collar-bone early in tho game, bub pluckiiy kepb his position till the end of the firat spell. When Jervis went off the tield of play shortly after the commencement of the munch last week, R. Oliphaot, the Grafton skipper, called oub to the Parnell captain thab ho could bring on a substitute. The spectators on bhe pavilion heard Oliphant'a sportsmanlike ofler and greeted it with deserving applause. His generous action has been freely commented on and, needleas to say, Oliphant'a action has been highly praised; It is bhe first time in my recollection thab such an offer has been made on an' Auckland football field, and I truat other captains will accept Oliphant'a action as a precedent. One of tho features of the game was certainly the dash and combination exhibited by the Parneilibes. We often hear that) 4 Parnell ia a fcwo-borso show, take Elliotb and Jems away, and where would they bo !' Well, Jervis was away last week, and Elliott hobbled about in che position of a bhreo-quarfcar, yob Parnell won, and beat tho team which was expected to bring aboub the maroon's downfall. The disablemenb of their two big guns appeared to inspire fresh energy among che Parnelliteß. All the Parnell forwards played well, there couldn't have been a lazy bone among them, for they beat tho Grafton vanguard at every point of the game. Parnell had their opponents so much at their mercy in scrum work, thah at timea when the ball was in touch, the Parnellites preferred a scrummage instead of the usual throw cub. IS. Anderson played a dashing game, and waa the best forward on the ground. Beamish and C. Speight also distinguished themselves. Clark tao was always prominent, bub he bad a tendency, bo kick boo hard. 11. Wright and Geard on the wings were always noticeable^ and participated in all Fiirnell's passing and dribbling attacks. Wright showed some very clever dribbling. Geard was a greab ollender in playing in front of tho ball while is was in the scrum, and being iamall and on tho blind side of the ecrum fco tho referee, escaped notice on many occasions. All tho Parnell bucks played up to their usual standard, and some of their passingl runs were cleverly carried out. Edmonds was patchy in the first- spell, but was sure and quick in the second half of the game. K-->nayne:played at five-eighths in place of E iotb, and I doubt whether he ever played a better game. He ran like a deer and handled tho ball accurately. P.onayne secured the three tries ; Edmonds gave him one, Moore worked the second, while ib was Rouayne's fast following up which gained the third. Moore played a sterling gamo at threequarter, although performing in that position for tho lirac time. Kiseling was as safe as ever, never making a mistake. Elliott, on the other wing, proved'useful in stopping several rushes. Ho waa very fortunate in being so lucky with his kicking of rolling balls, bufc handicapped a3 ha wa3, ib was bis only loop hole. The moat improved man in the Parnell team this season in Hedges, the. full-back. He shaped poorly at tho commencemeub of the season, and appeared to have no confidence in himself. Since Parnell mac Ponsonby, however. Hedges has boen improving each Saturday, and last week he played without a blemish. The Newton-City contest was an interesbing one, and the play throughout was fairly fast, the former winning by ten points to six. In the early part of the game the Newfeon forwards- did some fine work in dribbling rushes, while they also followed up consistently. After they had gained an advantage of six points, however, the Newtonifces appeared to think they had a sofb thing oh, and several of them were iuclined bo take matters too easy. Towarda

the close of the game, however, Newton bad to play their bardesb to averb defeat, for the City forwarda made bhe pjay very willing. Each side secured two tries, none being converted ; bub Webber potted a fine goal for .Newton, and this score won them the game. The Newtonites accomplished some very fair passing, and their first try waa gained, through some quick transferring. Their passing was certainly the besb they have shown this season. None of the Newton backs bad much tackling to perform, their duties being principally confined iti stopping the forward rushes of the City vanguard. Beamish, Warnock, and1 C. Freeman each rendered signal service in thia work. C, Freeman waa again inclined to play in fronb of bhe ball while is was in the scrum. Thia is a I fault which some day perhaps will loss Newbon a match. T. Roberts played another fine game, He j exhibited his usual dash, while his kicking was judiciously accomplished. Roberts always followed up his own kicks, and gen.- j erally managed to get under the ball. This ia a point other backs would dp well to follow. Webber made his debut aa a senior player, and created a most favourable impression. He ia an excellent drop-kick, in fact one of the besb in Auckland, as waa shown by hia kicking throughout the game,and the grand kick he made when be potted bhe goal. Webber would find ib more judicious to punt oftener. A. Freeman, ab full-back, again proved bis usefulness. I. Mills waa brilliant on the wing, tollowing up with his noted consiatency, and he never forgob bo pass. Donald, too, waa always in the van, bub in my opinion, apoilb a good display by bis selfishness. On bwo opcasions, Donald reached Ciby'a full-back, bub refused to pass bo his comrades, and golden opportunities to score were thus thrown away. lam sorry Donald js returning to his old habits, for it may spoil bis chance for the reps. Of the Newton forwards, Williamson waa aboub the beat. As usual, he always gained ground by his line-out work, while be performed well in the open. Heifernan and Clarke both played good, solid games, and '• grafted" like Trojans in the scrijm; while Hobeon was responsible for some clever play in the loose. City again made play through their forwards, and made several fine rusbeß. All the vanguard diviaion worked well, bub Mac Donald, Stone, Cole» and Hallamore were the most conspicuous in the open. The lasb-named gained a clever try from the line-out. The City backa were kepfc busy during bhe game in stopping the many rushes of the Newtoti vanguard, while they also had a lob of kicking to perform. Hales waa the most useful man in this work ; while F. Poland, who made his first appearance for this season, also rendered good service, Willis and Corles were the best of the otbera. The victory of Suburbs on Saturday last, their first this season, by tbe way, came aa a bit of a surprise to many people, including the Shoreites. Suburbs' triumph was no fluke; ib was a decisive victory, for North Shore placed their strongeab team of the season in the field. In the firsb spell, Suburbs bad the advantage of the wind and the incline of the ground, and only scored three poinba by a penalty goal, bub they certainly had hard luck in nob scoring a couple of tries. Ib was generally expected thab North Shore would make amends when enda were changed, bub Suburbs played with a combination thab even aurprised themselves, with tbe result thab four tries were gained, one being converted into a goal by Moncur. Suburbs had scored 17 points when the whistle sounded no side. Everyone was pleased to see Suburbs register a win, for they have been singularly unfortunate this season in losing through accidents the services of their two best players, Peace and MacKenzie. Peace took hia plane on Saturday, and, no doubt, ib waa the brilliant game he played which infused fresh life and enthusiasm among hia comrades. Ib was only natural, too, with a centre three-quarter of the abilities of Peace, thab Riahworbh, on bhe wing, should distinguish himself. The latter played a sterling game, and it was pleasing to notice the dasb in following up thia coming player displayed. Moncur and Sutherland also performed creditably. Suburbs' forwarda heeled oub in a much improved manner, and Mac Donald waa thereby seen to better advantage, for ib must bo said he showed great cleverness in getting the ball oub bo Rhodes. The lasbnamed was very pabchy in bbc firsb spell, and loeb some good chances by failing bo take the ball cleanly, bub in bhe second half, of bhe game he played up bo his besb form. t All the forwards grafbed willingly, and I waa ploased bo notice their improvement in heeling oub. Laurie and Major followed up gallaubly, and by so doing, the first named was rewarded with two tries. A few weeka back. I mentioned in my nobes that Jack Lamberb had said ' there's a good time coming' for Suburbs, and, udless our ' foreign' engagements prevent a second round of bhe cup matches, I believe Suburbs will see the good time, and beat more than beat them in the second round. One of the greab faulfcs of the North Shore vanguard is thab they are too slow in following up. The bulk of thia work ia left to a few, and consequently many chances are lost. Valentine, Marshall, H. Speight and Chamberlain were the only ones who were deserving of praise for, their attentions in following the oval, a(id the quartette mentioned were the bea-j of the Shoreites on Saturday. Of the I>ack3, Breen, jyfccPhail, Bullock and Harvey, were the most useful. Carson, a new'man, fulfilled bhe duties of full-back, and played fairly, his kicking being his strong point. The gate at Epsom lasb Saturday was £42, or only £3 lsaa than the record for inter-club contests. I hear thac Jervia and Elliott arc nob likely to don a jersey for a few weeks. Jervis h suffering from* a wrenched shoulder, and Elliott has a bruised ankle. Last Saturday week, the Molrose and Poneke Clubs (Wellington), played a drawn game, each side scoring 6 points, The firsb round is now completed. Wellington leads with 3 wins and 1 loae, Poneko next with 2 wins, 1 draw, 1 losa, bub if bheir protest against, the Athletics is upheld, and the game given a draw, then the two clubs will bo equal in regard to points for the Senior Shield, viz., 6 each, On June 9th, at Dunedin, Kaikorai defeated Albambra by two goals and bis tries (28 points), to nil. The anbiquity of football in England is demonstrated by the following proclamation which was issued in 1314 by order of Edward ll.—'For aa much aa there is great' noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls, from which many evils may arise, which God forbid.! We command and forbid on behalf of bhe King, on pain of imprisonment, such gamo to be used in the city in future.' Similar edicts were issued in succeeding reigns, but P.ugby braved the storms of its early career, and is still as popular aa ever. The Wellington ' Post' haa bhe following remarks on bhe recent action of the Southland Union in seceding from the New Zealand Union:—The secession of the Southland Union will save the officers'of the New Zealand Union a% considerable amount of trouble in arranging the programme for bhe forthcoming New Sooth Walea tour. Ib waa intended to send thab team from Timaru to Invercargill, but to do this would mean a considerable loss' of time and much travelling, which will now be saved for games elsewhere. The team, to reach lnvercargill would have had to come back over the same ground ao aa to get back to Wellington en route for Sydney.

Now, if the team is sent down the West Coast and then across to Canterbury and South Canterbury, ib will be breaking new groand all the time. Southland is so peculiarly situated and. so completely cut off by Obago that its secession is not aur- i prising, though it is very short-sighted policy. The Xew Zealand Union did not seek the allegiance of ib or any other Union, and will not be affected by the secession. There \a every indication that; next year the players of Otago will sweep the board for affiliation, when Southland will find itself once more in a position of isolation, and will have to again apply for admission. * Owing; Co the position of Southland, ib was difficult to send teams to it while Obago still stood out, though this would, of course, have been, done as a matter of policy and principle. The * Hokibika Guardian' says :—A lad six years of age, a resident of the Rimu district, came to the hospital some three months since with a broken arm caused in a football tussle. Dr. Kendall informs ua the young athlete is again under treatment] now for a. similar fracture caused in the. same way. If he survives the next ten years he should make a seasoned foobballer. The Secretary of the Taranaki Rugby Union has telegraphed to the Auckland Union that they intend paying us a visit) towards the end of next month, Playing for the Pirates against Glebe in Sydney on June 9th, George Lusk scored two tries and kicked four out of five attempts at goal from tries. Mr C. E. MacCormick, the Secretary of the Parnell Football Club, has written to Mr R, Oliphant, the Graf ton captain, thanking him on behalf of the Parnell Club for the courtesy show by him in allowing a substitute to take Jsrvis' place on Saturday last. Mr MacCormick also expressed the opinion that his (Oliphant's) action would tend to greatly strengthen the good feeling which exists between the Clubs. The competition for the second fifteen premiership this season ia an unusually interesting one, as will be seen from the table published. Up to lasb Saturday Grafton, North Shore, Ponsonby and Parnell were equal, but the latter's defeat has left the iirsc three mentioned teams even. As a second round will be played, the competition for the premiership in this grade bears a very open aspectGreat interest was taken in the meeting of the Newton 111. and Grafton A. 111. teams on Saturday lasb, and after an exciting game Newton won by 11 points to 5. This victory gives Newton a clear lead for the premiership. These two teams met on the first Saturday of the season, when Grafton won, but Newton protested, and the A.R.U. ordered the game to be replayed, so that the teams will meet again. The subjoined tables show the positions of the various district clubs in the competitions for the premiership in the three grades :—

Points District Pld. Won. Lost Dr, For Agat Newton.. ..5 5 0 0 59 7 GraftouA. ..5 4 1 0 24 18 Parnell .. ..6 3 3 - 0 32 54 Grattonß. „ 5 2 5 0 26 33 Ponsonby ..5 2 3 0 22 38 City .... 6 0 6 0 16 49

Note.—The matches played on May 12th. between Grafton B. and Pqnsonby, and Newton and Grafton A., were declared void, and have to be re-played. Association Football. . A large numhsr of spectators assemble ab the Cricket Ground to watch the gst^e between United and North Shore and W6B^ End and Grafton. Mast interest was attached to the former match, North Shore doing their utmost to lower the colours ci the Club leading for the championship ; but in this they were unsuccessful, United coming out ahead by three goals to two. The game was a very fast and exciting one, and in the opinion of many, should have ended in a draw. For United, R. Speight, in goal, played his usual safe game, and improves every Saturday. The shots which beat him on Saturday were good ones. Grigg and Roberts, as full-backs, both played safe though nob by any means brilliant games. The forwards opposed to them were very fast, and kept them on the go. Shaw wan the best; of the half-backs, his play being marked by good judgment and coolness. It will take a good man to keep him out of the representative team for Auckland at the forthcoming tournament. Todd and Holmes, tha other half-backs, also played fairly well, and the former is on the improve, taking to the game very readily. Holmes had a great deal of luck in tackling the opposing forwards. Among the forwards, Austen Smith stood oub prominently, his pretty dribbling and. accurate passing and shooting being much admired. Heather Brothers played one of their beßt games, and Rice bids fair to become one of the beat men for the left •Wing. For "North Shore, Dr. Roberts, in goal, gave the spectators a treac by the way in which he defended his stronghold. Time after time his brilliant play prevented almost certain scores, and on present torm be is safe for the place of goat-keeper in the picked eleven. Among the backs, the elder Chamberlin shone, his cool, tricky play and grand tackling making it the best exhibition of back-play this season. Ho was ably supported by his younger brother. Dacre played a splendid game, and proved a stumbling block in Smith's way, time after time having the best of the latter. Dacra plays with great dash, and with good coaching should gain representative honours. Allan played his best game, and was a source of great annoyance to the Heather Bros; The Cave Bros, played .their usual hard game, and among the forwards, the popular skipper Burgess was ths best of a speedy lot, being always on the ball, and working like a Trojan. Waters and Brown are making good progress in the points of the game. In tho West End-Grafton match Borne really good play was shown, though the former team were over matched, Grafton having all the best of the play, but only succeeding in scoring one goal. During the game there was a great deal of unnecessary talking, West End being the principal offenders in this respect. For Grafton, Smith had very little to do in goal, but that little was done well. Manton was the bettor of the two backs, his determined play nob being relished by his opponents. Holland also played a good game, and is improving every Saturday. Tho three half-halves, Cowan Bros, and Totman, each played well, and are settling down bo their play, with which they are now thoroughly conversant. Among the forward?, Cantley played his usual game, initiating all the passing rushes, and his display was his beet of the season. Thomas and Blair, on the left, both did good work, but the tendency of the former to stick to the ball militates against the success of his team. The new hands at the game have a bebter idea as to how the game should be played than the members of tho team who havo been ab ib for years. Laird is likely bo develop into a really good exponent of the game, but a kick early in tho second spell rendered him useless to his team. t Jones, who played bis second $jame, played

excellently, and bis plucky enaWßa»i^. greatly commended. tRI • For West End, William p|«i* v . lt) goal, saving many ehote, and tbe ■ajQl-' of the score must be attributed WWMI cellenfc defence. Joe Whelan ißßft:.: played his usual safe game, andlfJlPA supported by Osmond. W. Whe^Pl^ fche best of the halves, and he d&Uilß' amount of work paying special «£5to Cantley. Fricker also showodnnwi ■' his head work being good, while owb2 nob far behind him. Amopg the faSittP there was little of no combination. E&T was the best of the lot, but was nobZ! perly supporbed, although Harris at t&I did his best to initiate some good ntaiiZv-i The • Athletic News' publWwTSSi. turns in connection with the match bSfcSf Scotland and England, at Glmmt^S* April 7. Those who paid for a||sLw numbered?4l,3s7; dead-heads vnpwSß 3,750, making the total present aftlwT The sum of £2,017 16s 6d was takwigffi gates, the charges being a shilling-»Jf|!l pence, whiio the stand receipts amoCßl*l to £623 17a, which went to theCelMsC&T and out of which the expenses of the mittenbad to be paid. . frWtfc CRICKET, The Secretary of the Auckland CmJMt Association received a letter this w^eteS^, the Hon. J. S. Udal, Attorney-Ge^^p Fiji, stating fchab the team of $■}«£ cricketers would visit: New Zealand eSS next season, and may be expected in Annf land in November. . ' The first first-class match ab tarijtfjff the present season's cricket ead^§;jj2|j rather remarkable manner. The QOwnm/ was between Marylebone C.,C. and Bmuj The country in its two innings scor^i 101 (42 and 59), while the club pub m UK (Stoddart 44). Instead of runnin^|n^ four days' fixture, ib was all over jg {gnjv hours and ten minufaas. The total receipts of the Surrey Comqtfy Club for the year ending January Is, vm ware £23,578 9s lid including a baj^S brought forward from the previous, ysy?Qf £9,537 2s 6d. The match receipts f,Q|jJmJ season's cricket amounted to £8,274 1 ATHLETICS. ' A. Hall announcas, through the • Wjbganui Herald,' that he is willing to JWjjjkeV match with any man in the colon? f^ra1 mile for the championship and £20 al^^ or as much moro as anyone requjres/jiW match to be run within ijwo mouthy thq winner to take half the gate money. At the Royal College of Science SpqrU held a.b Stamford Bridge, London, oni^WJ 21st, E. C. Bredin won the Half|ate Handicap from scratch in lmin 39^ There were twenty-three competifcoraj '■'ss,■ the sbarbs ran out to 118 yds. Owen Cow ley, who was one of the pg& bers of the New South Wales teai|: trf cricketers which visited this colom!|§|j summer, recently won a 100 yds handto, ; with 7 yards starts, ab Lillie Brjijg(L Sydney. Ab the Nobts Foresb Sports on Apitl 28th, E. C. Brodin won a 440 yards %$, cap from scratch in 49 3-sbh sec Astik same gathering Godfrey Sh«W| owFi)^j[g yards, won the 120 yards hurdlea in 11 2-sthsec. Ab the Essex Beagles Sports on. Stamford Bridge Grounds (cinder), Londpq, the noted sprinter, C A, Bradley. Bawaway long starts in the 120 yards handieia and jusb gob home in the final in 11 f|j|l Bee. Bradley did oven time in his heou I:i the 100 yards scratch race the Bm||A crack won in 10 l-sth sec, aIthoUCTM dwelbon his mark. At the Weft of Scotland sports on $0--21 sb, J. Bartleman, junr., with 75 jyfßujf and George Graham 35yds, were tirat usi second within a yard of each other, in \h mile handicap, which was run in iijl^jji 2-sth sec. : The ten miles amateur ch»mpionßl{lp'p{ England was decided on the Huddi ground-this year, when Bix comoeted. Sid Thomas again won, beating H. WQJii by 15yds in olmin 37soc. Sid Tbpn|^§l now won this event four times r^m^ (three successively), second twice, qp<S''jJK4! third in the eight years. Trqty a gr§ftj ' parforrnance 1

Points District Pld. Won. Lost. Pr. ForAgat. Paruell.. ..5 4 0 1 61 5 Newton.. ..5 3 1 1 31 20 Grafton.. ..5 '3 2 0 43 23 Ponsonby ..5 3 2 0 35 37 City .... 5 2 3 0 23 38. North Shore ..5 1 4 0 19 68 Suburbs.. ..6 1 5 0 28 47

FmsT Fifteens.

District Pld. Won. Loat. Dr. For Agat. Jrafton.. ..5 4 1 0 47 36 s rorth Shore ..5 4 . 1 0 73 25 'onsonby ..5 4 1 0 58 23 >arnell ..5 3 2 0 72 36 Xty .. ..5 1 4 0 6 38 Jewton ..5 1 4 0 14 78 Suburbs ..6 1 5 0 37 71

Second Fifteens!

Third Fifteens