OUR FOOTBALLERS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVI, Issue 191, 12 August 1895, Page 3

OUR FOOTBALLERS.

,||j(KLAND V, WANGANUI,

flrjjj TsPR THE . LOCAL TEAM

if h% Auckland v. Wanganui interprovincial HUb*ll^ 3"511 played ab fi PBoin on Saturay>*as favoured from the players' point fe | view particularly, with fine weather and 1; jjood,ground, from the Rugby IR(jDibn'B point of view particularly, with an | xc jetliiigly good attendance, fully 3,000 I jgopia being; present. Despite the two | | ornJ er 'conditions, however, the" game I u r ai'y proved as interesting and sabisfac--Ift lory w the spectators generally must have (": apected. The local beam played in a "Ipsnner that is not likely to..create very I I r ' o& t' hopes for the success of the tour Slblcli c^tnuiencea bo -morrow, and tho iiiiitofs,' although playing on the whole a », e ally.good game, everyt,hiug considered, 1 Weiibteqnai to making the giimeasclbae as* Hlheir reputation justified our expecting. In HL fi r gtspell the play waa iusbeven enough |§L[§aii Soß'tb suppose thab a close interestff(,^,,fime would result, bhe visitors giving II Lj.. Ideal .taan. a severe time of ib, bub in I (be 'niii spell, when bhe latter obtained j )be advahtago of the wind and the former Ibfrdiaativantage °* b^e sun > the issue was sever in doubb, the only fear, in fact, then being that Auckland would increase their ! jdvaiitaiie three points (6 poinbs to 3) j uitb which'■, the first spell ended. Thab ! ihev.did 'not niay be ascribed both to hard ]nek Sod to the stubborn defence made by VVdii^aiiui. More than once in this spell Auckland wero as elbße a3 possible to mating scores ; bub when the bell rang Bvenbttaliy the score was still Auckland t pbinta Wanganui 3. Regarding the plaY of the visitors, we should say they proved themselves to be worthy fepressntatiyes of their district. Their passing.waa very fair, their forward play Sicellbiit. and kicking good, but the backs fomowhat lacked pace, otherwise the play of tb*bteam on the whole, would certainly hate bßbn favoured with better resulbs. Ibe forward team especially were reipOaslble* fdr some excellent play during the game. Of these Riddell, J. Blair and EmerSOn were'aboub the most conspicuous, rbile'E. McLean and Craig showed great jhmarfcneSs as wings, but unfortunately both i]d their eagerness to smother Edmonds' m passing oub, showed a peraiatenb disposition Hto play otfaide, for which their aide was wry frequenbly penalised. Of bhe backs W, McLean was .bhe most prominenb. In jar opinion ho played probably bhe best tack game of any on the ground. Beamish (half), Thompson (five-eighths), wd. Tilly (full), . also, did great isrvice for their side. With respect Ito tbe Auck laud men wo must ; confer we were very much disappointed. Even taking into consideration the absence E™ tfSiirman and Wynyard, one could hardly ay their play gives much promise of a very lOccessful tour, lb is more like the reverse. Vindication proves incorrect then the ab-

fence bf these two players must have made

iSTßater difference to tbe strength of bhe 'team than we are ab present disposed to tredit it. The chief fault is to be found vriflithe backs. Such a lob of mulling in soy one match by any one team baa not bees seen on No. 1 ground at Epsom this season. Nearly all the local backs were offenders in thab rospect, bub Clayton itemed to be responsible for bhe nuoflfc. Tiie visitors' try was, obtaioed a moment liter this player, by mulling the ball (the strong sun may have had something to do

nib it), allowed the game to be con-

teted tome few yards from his own gbat Mi-' Bub the back play, altogether, waa _i.appointing. Edmonds, as half - back,

ns too alow in passing out, and didn't pass

I i!ten enough, and his confederate Ronayne, ia live-eighths, on several occasions when ■pifoei were made, never thoughb there nil any other back besides himM in the beam until either he taa tackled or he waa surrounded by opponents, when, of course, passing was tat.. As a result of "this kind of play by Esmonds and Ronayne, the passing of tbe Auckland bacsks was most discreditable. The combination of the two will have to improve considerably if the team is to hold its own against Such teams (well-known for their splendid passing tactica) as Canterbury, Of the backs, Absalom played the most serviceable game, bis playing being really good. He Obtained one of Auckland's tries, and was responsible in no small measure for the other, obtained by Whitley. Bis reckless passing, however, was again the subject of considerable adverse comment. The play of the other backs, except probably Riley, ia nob worth speaking about. With regard to tbe forward*, Clatkih, Brown and Whitley deserve to be mentioned first, while dittos, Martin, Wrray and Brady also rendered excellent Sri-ice. But as a whole they did well; in truth a gfeab deal bebter bhan had been expected of them. The beam waa thought to ta weaker in bhe forward division, bub the liafceh proved the weaker portion was the back. The local were captained by Riley and. tbe visibors by Creswell, while Mr Oitliori acted as referee, and Messrs M. Keefe and G. Franklin as line umpire...

- ' The play. .Tho visitors winning the toss, elected to play with tbe sun at their backs and the advantage of the wind. Both advantages, i| oay be menbioriedj were very serviceable »tte. After kick off, Mills spoilt D. Blart's ijtarn md ball wenb oub in visitors* 25. Several packed scrums followed bhe thrown fy and Edmonds, Ronayne and Absalom ifidblged in some passing play, but bhe last mentioned spoilt hia pass. Ultimately, after some further scrummaging, W. Mc--I^o ran rohnd and kicked up to centre, Maaefield kicking oub of touch. Some uninteresting play ensued ab centre. Edmonds | jsl\s,Bome ground by smart kicking, bub J "-McLean, Beamish, Thompson, and W. I McLean effected an excellent passing rush, I »nicbmight have ended seriously for Auckj M, bub for the lasb pass attempted being Ptttic. Riley followed up smartly, secured^ "a reached his opponents' 25, where he fassed^o Mill?, who was collared two yards •fomjus destination. In the ensuing play, P'Cfl proved somewhat exciting, the 'Mi was rushed acros* the field, but Wron picking up ia front of the Wte, put an end to all excitement by wing an unsuccessful pot ab goal. After J 0»c kicks were exchanged, Masefield* by •Poor kick, sent the ball oub of touch in hia ??n territory. Shortly after throw in, the moiis were awarded a free kick for offside IMm Gibbos, and Tilly had a shot at W),?]s tJie former made amends by spoil■■■{\*A\ .kick. Ronayne then inibiabed a ™-which carried the ball well within |«Bgibui side of the half distance. ...r uPla- of free kicks were here Mm by Auckland. The second, 11*1" *as Siven for obstruction of boat * v y R.* McLean, waa taken ab the rats by Murray bub was unsuccessful tie a. iina out, Murray and Brown fc°!^ iQ a passing rush, to within a few j ae j! B oj-.the visitors' line A scrum enj tiW v c^ Wanganui carried. Passing -between Clayton and Absalom, in tho rUStrated by VV' McLeah» and Atafll 6"?uinS p!ay Creswell marked and thrnw— r>fcurned out of touch. From the Wav U larkih and McMillan got under • iwsm \ forward rush, but Thompson ■ fcfl M 9an obtaihed marks, the second ■"at cflni ' » resmlted in fche ball g°ing oub turnßHu r • OWD and Cittos, however, reft Im :t0 a8 far a8 the 25 fla&« where f r l bi , B >n (wiu X forward) getting offside, a ball « uWa? awarded to Auckland. The icrll !_?roush,J back- From the ensuing *!i6 aft 10dt' d8. paa8ed neftbly t0 Abaalom« feu r run"ing along the line several Utfer t paß?6dto.Whitley, and enabled bhe .»{ t ]j e ?.]*? , hia vvay over' M urray failed

Wanganui. .. ; . ; ~ ~ j£? ce wmy a*fcer >i<*-<X the play enof leveraTm„ir fl n h l-l errifc6^ '** aa * ™** land ™n £ £*& PerP<#ated by Auckland men, Clayton particular y, play waa transferred to Auckland &»■■ v p y in frnnf nt A i i "rsr . 5- From a SCrum L/^ Auckland's posts. Beamish initiated a rush which ended in Morton getaEln°d V?H'£- BJalr aQd Bmerßon alsohavlni b^r^-if- Tb^ick atgoal was easy, but Creswell made it a failure.

i ?!s*# • 3 points Auckland... ... ... 3 points froWTh"^' Lm a^pted a pass from Thompaon a^d, feigning to paae, gob & Ti &l ? fche A"<*land men in great style, bub D. Blair 4 to Whom he eventually ..transferred, was brought down before becoming, dangerous. A scrum and a line out ensued a few yards from Auckland ahn Qi and Auckland were forced. On resuming play again .took place in Auckland a 25, , bub Ronayne ulbimately secured, and by a nice kick sent the ball °"t» b, centre. From throw-in, Mills* Whitley, Brown and McMillan figured in a rush to the 25. Wanganui forced the blue and whites back 00 centre, where, a free kick arid a mark having been taken oy Auckland, the visitors returned with a greab rush, which carried everything before ib, D. Blair finally kicking down to Maaefield, who returned to midfield. From here Mills, Murray, Gittoa and Brady forced play back to the 25, and Gray kicked out. Several of the visitors'forwards retaliated by a sweeping rush to the Auckland 25, , but Ronayne pluckily stopped further progreaa by falling oh the ball. By dinb of Borne fine passing play bobween Edmonds, Ronayne, and Abaalom, play again centred. From a throw-in McMillan passed to Clayton, and enabled .the labter to get within a few yards of the line, bub Clayton's failure to pass before being tackled prevented a certain score. In the ensuing play, hbweiver, Absalom picked up, and running along the line ran completely round the opposing backs and scored, nearly behind the posts. Ib was a fine bit of play, bub Abaalom should certainly have tried to geb further bohing the poats than he did. Murray failing to convert, the score afcbod ab halftime. Which waa then called, Auckland... ... .„ 6 points Wanganui ... .„ 3 pointa SECOND SPELL. Emeraon kicked off, Maßefield's return being replied to by D_ Blair,, who kicked out' near by Auckland's 25. After uninteresting play ab midfield, Wanganui forwards worked the ball to Auckland's 25, when Brown (Auckland forward) retired hurt from the field. Wanganui forwards made a fine rush, which Was stopped in tbe nick of titnq, by Riley, and Brady and Murray succeeded in removing play to outside Auckland's 25. Some give and take play followed, Tilly and Maaefield, the two full-backs, indulging iv long kicks. By smart paaß--ihg between Edmonda and Abaalom, bha Wanganui 25 was again invaded, Absalom kicking out of touch. In the ensuing play several free kicks were awarded to Auckland. During the rest of the game the play was confined chiefly to VVanganui's 25; abd was of a very uninteresting character. Ronayne, Abaalom and Clarkin were each very nearly instrumental in effecting scores, whilst Murray had two place kicks, and Absalom one. Brown, who retired early in the spell, was absent only aboub ten minutes. No further score being effected, the game ended.

Auckland. Wanganui