ROTORUA V. WAIKATO.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 207, 6 September 1897, Page 2

ROTORUA V. WAIKATO.

(By Telegraph—Own Correspondent)

Hamilton, this clay.

The football match Rotorua v. Waikato was played here on Saturday in teeming rain, 'to begin with the team ohosen was nothing like a fair sample of Waikato strength, and to make matters worse live men (4 Huntly, 1 Whatawhata) failed to put in an appearance at the last moment, and their places had to be filled from among the onlookers. After about ha t an hour's delay, the game was started, It was exceedingly fast and furious, although the dreadful stateof theground made it hard to obtain a foothold, and handling of the ball was next to impossible, lhe forwards were pretty evenly matched, but the local backs made a wretched display. The Maoris played with great combination, and the way 'they took and passed t.ie greasy ball was little short of marvellous About half way through the first spell Kirk mulled badly, and Dansey, taking the ball well, ran' from the goal line to midiield, where Burt took a nice pass, and, streaking along in brilliant fashion, outdistance., his opponents and scored behind the posts, afterwards converting the try. In the second portion of the game, Dansey put in sonic sterling play and scored a second try, although collared on the line line by Roberts. The kick at goal was a failure. Johnston obtained the only score for Waikato, and the try remained unconverted, Rotorua thus winning by 8 to 3.