QUAGMIRE FOOTBALL

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 100, 21 January 1908, Page 8

QUAGMIRE FOOTBALL

A W AND A LOSS. ? ■ :: tiEW ZEALANDERS AT ROCHDALE'AND BRADFORD. .' A DRIBBLING CONTENT. _ Rochdale.Hornets—Won by", 19 points- to .o—2 goals and,s tries to nil. Played oil. December 7. I (By A. H. Baskerville.)' '• l . • Manchester, December 9. The New Zealand team , to play, jlochdale Hornets travelled down to "Rbchdale';6ri" Friday evening, and as usiial. met wth a/fiue reception aiicl. with rain'.' Thti latter continued to fall all niglit and tho greater',part of Saturday morning. A slight' improvement took place, ~>vKen a mist,"-which prevailed throughout the afternoon, succeeded : tho rain. .We' were : officially by tlie Mayor ,in the Town . Hair in the : .iridrning,. and were .shown through their magnificent public buildings; ■■■. The Idull .weather prevailing undoubtedly 1 affectcd ■ the; attendance, only -fIOOO '• peopleturiiing' oiitl * Tho New Zealand!team was:— i ,:v ' ! ■ ... Tin-till, Messenger, Smith, Rowe, Wrig-, ky, R. Wyiiyard,! Kelly,'. Gilchrist, Mackrell,; Lile, Pcarce, Cross, Johnston. Tho playjiig pitch .was far from being .in a' good condition,though • no.;water was-.vis-ible. The paco .of tho preliminary passing.' bout proveti -that the- " going " was very heavy. ;New Zealand'wbn;the tossj- aiid from the outset had their'"opponents, 1 practically at their, mercy, the -gamo ending: Ne.w Zea-' land 19, Rochdale Hornets;nil.,y Though not quite' |so , bad as. at •Swintoii onf the prior '.•Wednesday, the conditions were not favourable for a good,display of' " passing," foot T ball. . . :.'V ■■ ;•/'/,. In spite of. this, the'AU Blacks gave a'brilliant exhibition.. The gamb was inclined to be open, and abounded with' thrilling, incidents; . Our forwards invariably-secured' the ,ball in. the scrums, and thus, gave their backs, opportunities", of .showing -what - they could do in the way of. passing. : Tho forwards were also very.much superior .in tho open play. . ; •-'. ;• ... , Somo fine ■ dribbling rushes Wero carried out. Johnston; as usual, slione out in, this; department, also Gilchrist and Lile.' . Cross aud Pearco at times stood out prominently. The-latter is, making a great (lame for himself. Ho is the" successful "hooker" in the quartette—Gilchrist, Pearce, Mackrell, and Lilo—who constituted the front row of our pack in the last few'matches. Tho mostproniinent back on the field, was .Wrigley. EQs; father is; a native of Rochdale,- and ho - lias ,numerous - relations there'. This seemed to improve him, so . that lie played a really, magnificent game....".His strong, " healthydashes were outstanding features of the - " match. Kelly also excelled himself; his tricky led to practically all 'the tries ,scored. Rowe has never been seen to' better advantage; the, reatness of his - work was. surprising.. --TuViill, always consistent, gave ono of his best exhibition's; he seldom makes mistakes. Messenger and Smith: also gave their best. _ • .Influenza is still playing' havoc with the 1 members of tho team. The latest victims were Callam, R; Wynyard, and' Dunning., The' injured members' of the team; except Wright, have now almost recovered, and are ready -to play when required.

Bradford—Lost, by .2., points to 7—l, goal to 2 goals and 1 try. Played on December 10. ~ The game at Bradford was played in mud. The team travelled up to Bradford from tlieir new headquarters at' Manchester the morning of-the match', and.were welcomed at the station'by a .large, crowd., -Owing -to the. match'starting earlier than, is usual, the idea of, having a civic wolcomo was abandoned. On arrival there tho weather eonr ditio'ns were found to bo of tlio vilest. The ground was being swept by- violent 1 winds and driving rain, and. this inade matters very, uncomfortable- for those spectators who brayed the elements. Preparations Had been made to. accommodate a crowd of 1 15,000, but there could not have bc-oii more ■ than : 4000 enthusiasts on the field. -The rain came down steadily, causing the spectators ,to huddle togetherin • woebegone fashion., There was no covered stand and accommodation, elso the crowd .w.oiild have been" much greater. , .. ; . [ Tho Bradford , Club havo a now playing arena, and its surface, after;the heavy rain ■ of tho last few days, was a veritable quag-' Mire. It was difficult for to maintain a foothold, or even walk, let alone-run, pass, and kick. Under tho-circumstances, the.game practically developed into a farco. The New Zealand team lined out: , Turtill, Gleeson,, Rowo, Lavery, Wrigley, It. Wynyard, Kelly, Gilchrist, Lile, Pearce, Byrne,. Cross, Johnston. Bradford kicked off and set up an attack, i'hougb'the New Zealand forwards secured from tho scrums, their backs could do nothing with the ball but kick, at it and follow up. It was. little wonder .we were beaten, the final scores b6ing: .Bradford. 7 ; New Zealand, 2. > The- local players thoroughly deserved their win. .They adapted themselves to circumstances, and played tho right game. The. New Zealanders were out of 'their element. Somo wet grounds in the Dominion aro bad enough, but Bradford's has no equal.. • Turtill. did very ..well; his. gelding of tho ball in its state was marvellously sure. It. 'Wynyard also did well; considering-that the ; going .did not suit him at all. Kelly and Lavery made sonie line dribbles, at times. Tho New i'ealand forwards worked hard to a man; they, w'ere clever up to a certain point, and worked.tho ball often to tho line; but a kick too hard spoiled some fine chances'. _■ In addition to the "test" match, arrangbd in London for February 8, another is to be played at Cheltenham,'in the south-west of England, on the 15th of the same month.. 'J-he amateur club's ground, where tho last New Zealand team played, has been sccured for that date. The venuo of the New Zealarid Wales International match 011 January 1 has been' changed from Merthyr-Tydvil to, Aberdare. A fine, ground, lately belonging to tho amateurs there, and capable of accommodating 30,000 people, lias been sccured.