FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 196, 19 August 1919, Page 9

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. TARANAKI V. AUCKLAND. The rep. match Auckland v. Taranaki is down for Saturday's Rugby attraction in Auckland, and this should provide enthusiasts with the rep. match of the season. There has always been the keenest of rivalry between Taranaki and Auckland on the football Held, and the former sent up a team which, in 191.1, was successful in wresting the Ranfurly Shield fri©! Auckland. Since the conclusion of the war Taranaki has experienced a strong football revival, and though narrowly beaten by Wellington a few weeks ago, the butter province has since been materially strengthened by returning soldiers, and has now a team which is considered the equal of any fifteen that cither Wellington or | Auckland can put in the field. So far ijas Auckland is concerned, the argument is to be settled on Saturday, and enthusiasts may rest assured that it will ,be an argument well worth being in 11 attendance at. M THAMES V. AUCKLAND. . j I The Auckland Thames match on Stuijurday saw the city team win by 20 I points to 11, chielly by reason of its ' superiority in the rearguard. In front '■ the teams were well matched, the 1 visitors showing to advantage ill foots work, while iv the. scrums and in liaiul--1 ling the city pack were the better lot. They wore two very lino pucks, however, .' and tbe display of the visitors justified , the reports from the goldlields that Thames bad conic back in tho Rugby world. Had the visiting forwards varied t their dribbling rushes witli more frof iiueut handling work they would pro,j bublv have boon more elVtvtive on the 1 attack. hi defence they proved to be ,! fast and determined tacklcrs. an.l one of the features of the game was tho j number of times that the Auckland _ hacks, having got through tbe Thames i- backs, were baulked of success by the .-. appearance on the scone of the opposing ,f forwards. Johnson, tho Smith brothers n llayward. and Alexander '.vere tho pick i- oi" a fine pack.

The Auckland forwards beat their opponents in the scrum, but iv the close ruck play they met their match. However, when the game opened up the city players had the advantage of being more confident in their handling work. Sutherland and Thomas being conspicuous in this respect, while Berrick. Turner, and Fletcher, by fast following and deadly j tackling, had the visiting backs fro- . quently in difficulties. ! | Combination was absent from tho work of the Thames rearguard. Moonoy j played a nice half-back game, and gave his outside men plenty of opportunity, but the tiv. eighths failed to rise to the! occasion, and tho three-quarter line was starved. Individually O'Doniicil. on the wing, and l'russing, at centre, .lid a lot of strong, clever work. Heath proved a full-back much above the ordinary, strong kicking and tackling, and sure fielding being feature, of his game: a little more pan' would put him in the class of the brilliant players. His place kicking is good, and with a little luck ho might by this means have brought tit.' scores level. As a combination, the Auckland backs wore tar ahead of their opponents, despite the fact that Ross was soinoIwhat ..IT colour at half-back. ('. P.ade!oy, 'Orierson, Woolley, and Wilson were I mostly in tlie limelight, and their exhibiI tinn, both of individual speed and I cleverness, and of team play, was eminently satisfactory. Laxou was not quite" up 'to the form he has shown recently. THE COLLEGE GAME. The game between King's College and Sacred Heart College on Saturday provided an interesting exhibition, the former eventually winding up the winj iters by li points to nil, the winning i score being the result of four tries, one ;of which was converted. The two blui-B wore weakened by tho absence of j O'Connor, while King's were minus the ! _ervi<-<_ of Griffin, one of the heavy for- , (wards. In tho first half Sacred TTonrt ; fully extended their opponents, who made

! the mistake of playing too much to their backs, who did not handle the greasy ball j with any degree of certainty, and, as a ( result, numbers of chances wore lost. In ( I the second half, King's math, it much ] • more of a forward game, and had all the ( j bettor of the exchanges. They added 11 , (points, which, with the throe roistered . hi the first half, left them winners by '; 14 points to nil. and puts them at the j top of the list of the Secondary schools' championship.. .1 rammar School, who are also unbeaten, still have to moot , Sacred Heart. . The maroons' forwards won the game t for their side, gradually wearing down j ,! the opposition, until in the second half .! they had them well beaten. Sacred ;! Heart's scrum was weakened by the with- ! drawal of O'Sbea and Hart, who were ■ played in the back division. This, to the [ writer, duos not seem sound judgment, for the pair fentione dwoiild have made a big difference to the blues' pack. It is bettor to have weak backs and a useful forward side than to weaken the vanguard with the idea of strengthening tho rear division. Heard, as usual, was the mains!ay of King's backs, getting in a lot of useful work. Philips showed brilliancy, but " threw away a. certain score by trying to \' side-step Reid instead of passing out to i Vosper, who was in support, well clear. * Vosper was weak, while Allen, on tho | other wing, got few chance.. Both Murray l " ! and Eddowes seemed a bit uncertain with .the greasy ball. Buekland, at half, was! ?,: inclined to try to do too much before " I giving the. leather out, and would do well .to curb this fault. Simmonds played . ".much further back than usual, and as a I r ' consequence was not so prominent. Tlie IG i forwards as a body gave the best show-! '"line, they have attained this season, and j ' *•. were going just as strong at the finish as j r " |at the start. '«: tin Sacred Heart's side, Reid. who took v the place of O'Connor at. full back, i i" although not such a powerful kick, made lan excellent substitute, getting through ibis work in really good stylo. Both ia O'Sbea and Hart did a lot of stopping, 111 but the weakness of the Sacred Heart J - backs was their inability to put on the , finishing touches to tin' chances that I came their way. They did not got any--0 thing like a fair share of the ball, and 3- as a consequence got few opportunities. ;r The forwards worked hard, but failed to ■n see it out, and were outplayed at the finish.

ASSOCIATION.

MEETING OF MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE. The weekly meeting of the Management Committee of the Auckland Football Association was held last night at the Sports Club, Mr- E. Ritson presiding over a full attendance of members of the committee and club delegates. Permission was granted the National Bank. Queen Street, to play its Synionds Street branch on Thursday, 28th instant. The V.M.C.A. Club was granted permission (subject to the matches not interfering with the championship games) to play matches between their senior and junior teams on the .Oth instant, aud Second Division and Boys' League on September (i. Mr. J. Uouskill was heartily thanked for his donation of a cup for the fourth division knock-out. It was decided to call same the "Uouskill Victory Cup." Messrs. Smithy man and Haycock were elected to the Management Committee. A donation of 10/ li from an anonymous donor was thankfully received. It was decided to hold an evening to I present the trophies and cups won during the season not later than a fortnight after the conclusion of championship matches. The principal business of the evening was the arrangements for Saturday s ' carnival at the Domain. The following 1 programme submitted by the Match Committee was adopted: Falcon Cup Final. North Shore v.! Northcote, No. 1, :> p.m.; referee, Mr. H. j . Ritson. Representative Match.—Minesweepers v. Auckland. No. 11, _ p.m.: referee, Mr. s It. Richardson. t Challenge Match.- Everton v. Queens ; I'ark. No. '-'. :i p.m.; referee. Mr. 11. . Cribble. , , I Second Division Cup Final. ..M.t.A. ] v. Ponsonby. No. I. :i p.m.; referee. Mr. • Parker. Fourth Division Semi -final, "Rou.kill 1 Victory Cup." Presbyterian v. V.M.C.A. t Domain. No. 1. 2 p.m.; rcterco, Mr. 1-. . Marsh. 1 Fifth Division, O'Leary Shield linal.- - North Shore v. V.M.C.A., No. 3, _ p.m.; ,- referee. Mr. K. Richardson. 0 Representative Matches.-Fifth Divie sion: V.M.C.A. Boys' League v. A...A.. c No. 4, _ p.m.; referee. -Mr. .lueobs. ~ Fourth' Division Representatives v. i V _ I C.A., No. 'J, 2 p.m.; Mr. TurnbuH. a Sixth Division Representative Game— * YM.C.A. Boys' League v. A.F.A. Sixth \ No 1, 1 p.m.; referee, Mr. Fairgrny. S Sixth 1! Division Finals. North Shore [I v. Tabernacle. Domain, No. _, 1 p.m.; referee -Mr. -I. Stewart, Belmont v. Mt. Eden, Domain, No. 11, 1 p.m.; reieree, Mr.

1.. Skipwith. The honorary treasurer reported mat he had distributed 1250 tickets amongst the clubs, and these wore being taken | up cnthusiustic.illv, and the allocation of the gatekeepers was: Main entrance I Messrs Campbell, Bannister, and Sko.,tes: No. 1 gate Messrs. R. lUrri | 15,,,, and Reason; No. 3. Messrs hyrL d . ,„,.hy„,u„: NV'. Sv'-i wood and Iturtiett; N". ■'• Me*«*. " ,l > Look and Hentiett; _lund, Messrs. 1-.. . Harrison and Longley. M,._» r s Turiiluill and Hi»wno woie ap- , Mointed "linesmen for th" ''*'<•»» ''"P \?™l] „„., Me,.-.. Jack and Harlow lor the representative unite!, ; I \ sub-committee ol Messrs. Kit-,... Richardson, and Mabin was appointi-d to 1,,....,. ti,c necessary arrangements to! entertain the Minesweepers v- a dinner t, He followed by a social evenmg. Nt tho Y3I.C.A. rooms, at the coneluston of the match on Saturday^ The oiler ut the \.M. -A--1,..„-,„• to entertain the Presbyterian fourth Division to fa wa. accepted **,* of Meeting the bej « '«-k U wiU VI.W.. 1 St at Victoria Park on Wednesday I afternoon. j HOKTHTiKN UNION. j tour I twa.':rt i unty.a.nilU'fo,othe ...rJcntativ,. from over the water can i .mc. between Now Zealand and All.trail, -hould be huTd and oven. He vis..' ,os for New Zealand in tho lir. give, a right gi'oil .u't-ount of th.-j.iselves. The back* are, not a . low lot -is Aucklanders will well know, hut it is more than d.ub.ful whether ' they are anything like as fa*t as then opponents will bo. Perhaps the de«b"C ■ j,,',,,,- in the game will not bo this, but ' rather the work of the I'U'k. '<"' U "'

.ustraliiu, forward., in their play g» ! > KSVOiid the ordinary ruck-work and de- < ....[„,,. more or hiss, into the temper , ,f hacks as occasion demands. If the , natch is open enough for this style of ]- biiig tho Now Zealandors will probably j ,o at 0 disadvantage because tho. gei.ei- , ilit v- of their forwards are not paiiicti- f arlv smart at tiie luoii. ss commonly , eft'to the backs to carry through. MARIST AnTTmAKITIME. , The semi-final match for the Roope ( lloostcr tournament on Saturday puts ( Maritime up with Newton into the torn J, , mt everybody who saw tlie game, raiut ( •omrratul.ite" Marist Did Hoys on tic , -plcKlid. plucky fight Uiey put up. In ■ (act. tiie spirited team that made a , r-.thor pour showing earlier iv the sea- ; son ha. advanced out of all recognition during the last of it, ami although m , ccciirdance with tlie old Roman saying, the spoils of Saturday's em . unt_r go to Maritime, vet Marist robbed them of all the c'lorv of the encounter by their line dm" ..." Many there wore who said it wa.Till over when the wut.rs_.rs doubletl their opponents' points in the. middle of the second spell, but if those ha.-tv critics wont awiay then they missed a grand tussle, with Marist lighting every inch of xheir way till there was only a point before them, and it was the popular verdict that Marist were rather unfortunate, in their loss. Ami so they were. Several times the tries they worked lor so .spiritedly wore denied them by nothing mure nor hiss than unhappy circunicstam-. . Compared with tlio play of 'their opponents, Maritime wore second-best during the last quarter, and indeed on the day's play they went within m_a»urable distance of losing their reputation for strong fuii-lies. Yet tho mon who toil by the waterside, proved that they are in princess of learning the lines. . of League football. Their hacks were working far more brightly than Usual, their brilliant li.vlf gave them more than fair measure, of the ball, and they handled it in fashion that | shows them to be coming on well. They ihave quite a long way to go yet before they are in position to pit themselves on the back, but they may rest assured that at lea. t they have the material. Doubtless they ate handicapped hy the , lack of a w.o old coaching head such as a bountiful fortune has given to other [clubs here —Ponsonby, Newton, Grafton,

City, Shore have their coaches of wisdom and experience, but .he waterfrontei"- are learning tha fine points of the game, slowly, it is true, without this essential of their training. On tlie day, Marts, put up a better showing than the others, and for this the credit is due to Hing, tlie young live-eighths, far more than to anybody else. As a footballer he 'has _, sad lack of pace, but that is a circumstance beyond his control, and in all other respects he made a valiant showing. In fact, it may be said with safety that bis brilliant olfeiisive and deien-ive work made the game, (llieut, tlie -\larist half, is no laggard eithor, nur arc the two Robinsons, particularly the centre threequarter man. Fry. the full-back, was favoured a little by furtune in his play, but the elusive jade tiki not always come to his assistance, and without it he made good. The two forwards who shone like stars before the pack were Mitchell and Harris, though Velvoi came into the light occasionally, and .St. George did quite well at goal-kicking. If he ltad made the s_me success of some of the easy kicks as he did of <i very difficult one his side would have been" the conquerors. Lang, who began hy hem.' the Maritime half, iinfortunat'-U hurt bis arm midway in tho play, 'liefore that and oci-a.-iotially after it hi. gume wins very sound. lioth llolauoy and Vardlev. at five-eighths, the latter a now player, showed prints of decided promise, 'and Dniid.on should 1,0 congratulated for an improvement iv the tactics of playing. Sutton, centre three-quarter, played a j very lair game, and Grey, a new" wing , lor tiie wnt.-r.sider. . made'some dazzling dashes t!,;, t put ; , neat finishing touch |to several good j_i.-3.ing bouts'.' The forwards Km.- a good, hard-working bunch, with nobody mu.h in .he limelight, but everybody .right into the hard work. Maritime is to be congratulated on haiing n.» loafers in its team now.