FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 253, 18 July 1908, Page 9

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. (Br Aeistobolus.) v THE BRITISH TEAM. RESULTS OF MATCHES. a . &» - • a '• § Tfl » ° W U ' ; a a Wairarapa Bush ,17 3 1 — — Wollington 13 19 — 1 — Otago ... • ... .:. 6 9 — 1 — Southland ... ... 14 8 1 — • Test Match ... ..'j 5 32 — 1 — S. Canterbury 12 6 1 — — Canterbury ,8:: 13 ,'— 1 '— West Coast and Bullor 22 3 1 — — Nelson and Marlborough 12 0 1. — — Second test >.. -3 -3 .— - 1 Hawke's Bay ... ... 25 3 1—• — Poverty Bay ..a. 26 ■ 0 1 —• — Manawatu and Horo- . whonua ... ... 12, 3 1 —• Wanganui ... ...''9 -6 1 — — •Taranaki ... ... 0. o — 1 — Totals ...'■ ■... 181 113 9 5 1 REMAINING FIXTURES. To-day:—Auckland Union, at : Auckland. Saturday, 'July! 25—Third Test Match, at .Auckland. ' ' ' . ; , ; !i : . • ' Mr. A-. ; B.;' Charters, of Greytown, will referee' in; the Ahglo-Welsh-Aucklaud - match to-doy. .. j, -; . . As a result of last- Saturday's matches, Molroso have'obtained, a break oir the .remainder" of the senior'teams,- a margin of four points now separating-them-from Orientals, who-stand second on the list. - Unless Bomething'.,very unforeseen happens, Melrose must carry off .the championsnip.'" ' - 1 ; Tho .Rugby ; Union 'has. .arranged t'wenty- ; . . eight fixtures for-the Visiting Australianteam, commencing with Devon on September 26, and- embracing matches with England, Ireland,. Wales, tho Universities, various counties, the Army, the Navy, and- leading clubs,; and'concluding with a . match against France on January 1. "The , absence, of wing forwards is an improvement'and. prevents a lot of. unprofitable wrangling, and discussion' of the. -off-side', theory. ' This . team going "Homo, will gain immense favour/in England by playing without them."—-"All Black" Booth in the Sydney "Reforee." '. • Fitzpatrick informed the Otago. selector on the Zealand Match Committee, Mr. H.Harris, .that in the;;event-of' being selected he will be able'to make the trip to Auckland to - play in the third' test match. The following table shows the' positions of the; respective teams engaged •in the First Grade contest at DUnedin:— • . - 43 • Ifl •' (fl • , ' O "bfl • CJ . , i HjJii s "' ' ' ' '• so-" "S -"S '"« ■' .2 o in o. o, j' S ? ij fl s Dunedin ... ... 9 9 0 0 .134 39 13 Alhambra , ... 9 7 2 0 57,... 31' 14 Southern ... ... 9 7 -.2 0 71 :30 14 *Zingari-Richm'd 9 5 3 ,1 ■ 47 43 11 Port Chalmers 9 5 4 0 ,63 57 10 Kaikorai ... 95; 0- 63 36 8 T-aieyi Rovers 9 3 5 1 - 47 61 7 tUnivorsity ; .;. 9 3 6 0 5S 89 6 ' Pirates r ... ... 9' 1,8 0 30 91 2 Union . ... . ... 9 0 9 0 26 149 0 ■ * Won-one'-&atch\by:''d6fault-i r '''- t Lost ono match By; default. Playing for New. South Wales against Toowoomba on June 29, on their return journey '• from Brisbane, Ernie; Booth scored three '. tries. ;■' ~ 1 It is reported (says the .''Otago" Witness") 'hat one of the North Island-, members^ of ho New Zealand -professional- teamwhich 'cenfly/returnca froni' a tour of' the Northm' Counties, cost -his 'side -some £3QO to nooth.-out 'a few of his .little peccadilloes Wle on tho; English football circuit. : John'stOn's; opinion-the two most valu„.f9 backsj-pf .';thii- lat'tv professional team were Messenger'arid Turtill. "It is a. pity j" said Johnston; "that tho former had not been brought up;; in New Zealand football, where he Could have been schooled by such players sis Roberts, Hnnter, and Wallace. As a place-kick he stands ona pedestal of his own.; In an exhibition of goal-kicking during'the interval of one of our matches at Home, oiit of 24 attempts from half-way ho placcd 22 goals:" ' ' Tho large auxiliary stand.: at Alexandra Pajli,: the erection I .'of which- was decided upon in.;view of the enormous crowds, that are expected to attend tlie several Big Rugby matches m Auckland, has been, completed. Tbo stand is about a quarter, of a mile iu length, and will sSat'from 12,000 to 15,000 people. Two of bolts were used in tho structure. The stand is to be at the disposal of the Auckland Rugby Union until .September 15, after which it may be dismantled. Tho opinion ' has been 'expressed ,; that the structure is. the largest auxiliary stand which has ever been erected in the Southern Hemisphere.-.'. ' " '[.. . The proposed amendments to tho .law's of the game," that havo been favoured by the Management Committee' ,of the New Zealand Rugby Union,■' would;- v if r a'dopted, have yery little effcct on. the character of the game. The reason for this coii'servatism on the part' of the New Zealand Union is difficult to. understand, for to all' unbiased spectators it must be admitted - that Rugby' is capable of improvement. • According to 'common report, it is practically certain that next season will see the introduction of the Uni_on ; game, and then; .-if ;it '.is 'as attractive as- its supporters claim it to'be, it'ivill .prove a very formidable rival in public; favour. t-O/.thp old-fa-shioned game.—"Press,"'. Christchuxch:, . .Under the heading, "Colonial Confessions," the "AthleticJ News" quotes the remarks Of several delegates at the annual meeting of tho New Zealand; Rugby Union, on the question "of professionalism. Proceeding, it observes:—"And these, .afo tKo .-sort of selfconfessed wreckers of the-laws-of amateurism the English- Rugby .Union have sent out' a team to honour for Imperial s reasons, Imperial fiddlesticks 1; In Australia, too, professional ; Leagues aro being formed right.-and left; a Maori team will 'visit' Sydney after tho AH .Blacks have:returned home. Wo are to havo an 'Australian amateur and an Australiairjirofdsionarteam v/ith us noxt winter. Which,, after theso New Zealand revelations; will bo .tho sounder sportsmen ? Which .t]i'o organisation, most'deserving of honour?" ;■ * ■ Roferring to tho display given by the New Zealand Universities' team, on its initial appearance in Sydney, "The Refereo". says:— "Tho backs wcro-a;very neat,and-alert lot; being .' dangerous 'in- every, position,' for, ;one ' novor- Imew . when, the hall! would ,be ' slung; out by Dansey or sonieone else to; Lomas, arid tarried away.' Lomas .was .splendid as fiveand quite the star;.,back..of;tho side, on lUe'day. Dariseyjwas -good behind-the soriiiii, ami Nuku and Goodbehere Were very Kb«l, hoth reliable;- the former : difficult to flonr, and tho latter.difficult to catch. The full-back O'Loary was not. _ too sound . in' ground Holding, and the quick-footed opposition' grabbed him a'few times, with disastrous results. The fact of practically all tho rushes by tho local forwards • being" along Riiodes's wing niade that player's defence look bad, and perhaps worse than it really ■ was. The forwards, though. clearly, inferior . on the day, performed'with-'a'- good deal of credit for two-thirds of the game, after which" the condition of several seemed to givo out. Do la Mare, Potter, and. Lang, however, played strongly throughout," making frequent tiursts when the side was doomed. l

The: following resolution was : put forward at the annual meeting of the English Rugby Union in -London on : May 28:—"That' this meeting is not satisfied that veiled professionalism does not exist in the Rugby Union, and views with alarm the attitude of the Rugby Union Committee towards the whole question." On a show of hands being taken, 38 voted for tho resolution, and 48 against, ■but on a poll tho numbers "wore For, 38; against, <17. The motion was, therefore, lost, but it is only fair to state that the Committee probably, saved themselves by their own votes.—"Sportsman." , Commenting on tho subject, the "Athletic News" romarks: —It is.not our intention today to go deeply into the discussion which took.place, but wo.rejoice over what was nothing moro or loss than a vote of censure passod upon tho-sub-committee in regard to their report.. It is true that the motion was defeated on a division by nine rotes, but those were quite sufficient, in our estimation, to prove ; that there are throughout the country many clubs'who .thoroughly''disagree with tho findings of ; the committee, ; and who regard 'their report as an illogical and weak document; which merely glosses' over offences which wore quite apparent, but,which the 'Commission were afraid- to There was a time in the fighting days of Mr. Rowland Hill when no such weak-kneed policy •' would have, been adopted, when with the co-opera-tion of Scotland and Ireland' professionalism was successfully combated.' Nowadays, it would seem from-the debate and from scrutiny of tho report of tho Commission • that some officials" do not care'what abuses of the 'laws take place.' Wo' shall - be surprised if one of these days a startling international development does not ocbur. •». ... SENIOR MATCHES. POKEKE---MELROSE. ' The Poneke-Melrose match .w'as- a 'strenuous,battle in whiifh -mus6le"supplarited skill to a great extent, 1 but .the strict'hand kept over the players,by'the'refereo. prevented too game from degenerating into a; pure "exhibition of "biff, aiul;b'aiig,"....-As) it was; howovoij there was, bf . play, which; unfortunately .< appeals 'to.\ a;',S(3cti'on of . the: spectators much '.moro ' than science and skill. : ' •' ■ "- ; /■ ■ Poneke made a much better showing than it was thought they wero ,'capablo of, and had the best of tiro game except for one portion of the second spell, when'they- had to give way before tho do , or, die. rushes of tho Mcilrose vanguard., Towards tho end of the game Poneke took charge again, ,but Melrose won though somewhat luckily.' ' Geo. Spencer, put in some excellent work at full back, his line kicking in particular being very' good. , Oil a couple of .occasions 'he was'hosed up by smart-following-of the "opposition, but sorious results' were averted in each case. '■ Beavis played a plucky gamo in tho threequarter'line,, and followed up quickly, and Murphy in the centre also shaped well-.. Marshall - tho ,other wing- spoiled l "an otherwise good display' by weak kicking. Church mixed good and bad play about equally, and Greeks was. responsible for some smart work behind tbo_scrum. .. , ; ' There ' was an • exceptional amount of offside play on the part of the Melrose scru'mmers, who ware penalised repeatedly. King, on the wing, was responsible for some, very pretty footwork, and otherwise showed up at the head of the rushes. J. Spencer, De Blois, Adams, and Dewar, were about the best of the pack forwards. Morris, tho diminutive Poneke full back; who'has played some very sound games this soasori, Was found wanting on moro. than one occasion when the Melrose forwards camo along under a full head of steam.,,.Tho. boy is too light for suohj.a.game/as .Melrose' play. The size of, this opposing full-back does not count for much.'when the full is the only back between ■ the forwards and a try which will turn a,gaijie. from a-.loss, t0..,a., .victory... . Of tlie, three-quarters Mitchinson in the centre did some good, some bad, and some iiidifferont work. His .exhibition was : not that of a. champion. Toohill and Flanagan oii'the wings both performed well. ; Tho soundest back on the .side 'was Mageo, who'took on the billk-'of/the .defensive work, and played well in the attack- Without Magee Poneke would have been in a pretty bad position _on several occasions.,- v.ir /v .- Tilyardiplayed ■a soliiid gamoat half; and had to put up with a severe about. The Poneke forwards were' " all out," from the start;-.and every man did'his'besi. ;Rush and Hunter were the best of a vigorous and not over-gentle combination. Montiplay and ,o'Brioti" also showed up woll. . . :' athletic-wellington; Athletic only managed to register a draw with Wellington, but they'should have done better. During, the greater'part' of tho game they had a monopoly of tho attack,' tho .only times -when theyw'ere on tho defence being for short interval's at the beginning and end of tho second spell. " .• Tho Blue and WbiteS were superior'to their opponents in- lo6se;'for'ward l play and; passing, but the latter quality was -to a' certain oxtent "neutralised by the Yellow hookers, who generally managed to secure the ball; from the scrum. In tight work and scrumming the Wellington pack wore all in evidence, and put their weijipt into the work with bettor, effect than their oppononts, but in loose play tho Athletic .men were certainly faster and clovorer. Wilson and'Cunningham wore always to the fore in dribbling rushes, and Orsborn did most work-in 'tho scrum. /The' Wellington pack was led by Wilson and M'Kellar, who wero seconded in looso' work by Symes and Carey. ■ If tho forward teams were evenly matched, there is no doubt'that tho Athletic-backs were, superior. | Richardson, tho diminutive half, shirked no part of. bib work, and enabled tho rest of tho team to keep on tho; attack continuously. Evenson was suffering;, from an injured knee, but this.did riot appear to affect his pla.v. In- finding touch and passing he was well' up to; his usual form. ; Kiveirwa's : a Ll lit'tle slow for a',wing three-quarter,-but was safe, nevertheless. Clark'-played a very steady.'game,''and was always in the place where ho; was wanted. " . . ' .' The full back; Mowat, -is. a third-class player, newly promoted, and scemod to be not quite at home in the senior ranks. When he had time he got in his kick all right, but when the forwards wero on top of him ho was apt to get flurried. ; • Abercrombio was tho pick of tho Wellington, backs, tho rest being about on a par. '"'Sheridan appeared to bo off colour;- and made several mistakes at full back. ■ ' VICTORIA COLLEGE-SOUTHERN: : The victory which Southern secured;-over Victoria College was more the result of chance than ; well-judged play. Tho College-:' wore unfortunate in not having theirjfull'team;.; but,' nevertheless, hadv they availed themselves • of all the opportunities offered they should at. least" have mado the, game a draw. ■The general character of the gamo was rather rough and tumble than scientific. .Little back play was! to be seen, and what there was more on tho part' of individual members than of tho combination. .It was undoubtedly the forward onslaughts of the Southern team that enabled them to notch a victory. In theso charges, Templeton was the most prominent, and ho was well backed by .Campbell. Curtayno played about the best game of the Collego vanguard. The'; Southern backs were not,a brilliant combination, arid gave very few examples of concerted -work: Organ stood head and shoulders above the remainder, and, considering, that he waspractically working on his own for some of the time, gave a brilliant exhibition of tlie gamo as it should be played. Tho chief'feature of tho'Green back play was Bogle's'line-kicking. Again and again that player placed his goal out of danger by a fine kick into touch, j

Hitchings and'Prendovillo showed their usual consistency in'defence, while tho former also found time now and again to attack. W. Tudliope at'fuU-back should have, dono more in tlie way of defending his goal-line. ■ ORIENTAL—PETONE. The Oriental team, without Roborts and Thomson, is a very weak combination,' and last .Saturday, _without these players, tho team was decisively beaten by Potono,-who had the game won. at every stago. The, play on both sides was ragged, but there wore some; fine , individual .efforts. , Green, Pqtone's half-back, comraonced without showing ninch brilliancy in the'first quarter of an hour, but as tho game progressed so did his play improve. ' He was mainly responsible for the first two' tries scored by Potono, and he was conspicuous during the,remainder of the game. _ Jim Ryan played a sound gamo at fiveeighths, his line-kicking being especially, good. Ho does not, however, appear to-play in anything like his - form of two seasons ago. _ M; Ryan, at full-back, took a number of risks, which'' spoiled • his play.- He was -very slow in gettin2;rid ofthe ball on one ortwo occasions.. Instono was a useful wing three-quarter, and got through some nice work for his side. Hardbain was even better than usual ,as a-winger; and tho three tries scored by. Potono in the 'Eecond spell wore all the outcome of bis work. . . C. Sullivan and - Knight wore about ■ tho best of tho other Petone forwards. ' With tho exception of Sturrock, none of tho Oriental backs showed to much 'advantage. Sturrock was- a prominent factor in all the attacking work, and once or twice by really brilliant flashes he turned the dt fciico into "attack. His intercepting of passes rather nonplussed the Petone backs, and his' kicking and passing left little to be desired. M'Leodj at five-eighths, did some -gLod work,' which was; however;' nullified by his failure to,find tho line.. ' . Oriental forwards worked fairly bard,'but were inferior to their opponent's in all departments. Tyi'oll, Heonan, Waroriok, and Daley did good work in the looso. WEDNESDAY REPRESENTATIVE CAME. . A good exhibition of football in tho Wednesday representative game was practically barred by tho wet weather and the consequent sloppy stato of tho ground. Whether the result would, havo been different had the conditions been conducive to fast play is open to-question, hut tho state of thing's prevailing certainly was favourable to the Wellington forwards. ' ; On tho day's play the hacks were evenly 'matched.' On both sides the line-kicking was good, but the passing throughout was patchy. Killeen handled the ball well whenever it preached him, and was generally safe.' Schultz, on the, wiilg, played a-hard and .fast game, • following • up and tackling in great style. ■ , Cording and- Whittaker also played well in their respective positions. ' Digby was fairly safe in defence, but spoilt several passing rushes by losing tho ball. M'Cabe, Killop, and M'Kinrion were tho pick of tho Wairarapa rearguard. In: the for 7ard ; division Wellington combined well, and it was : due to most of their rushes thafc tho tries .were scored. Gosling and Kelly wero . the .most noticeable, but there were no loafers at all in the The Wairarapa vanguard wore not such a good: combination ,as their oppononts, but noiv arid again made .spasmodic attempts got near;tho goal-line. Their rushes were -led chiefly by- E;-. Fairbrothor and Tait, and C. Fairbrother on tbo wing. -, i THE FINAL TEST. ' WHO WILL WIN? ; : " ' Judging by tho selection of tlie New Zealand team for tho last test match, it would appear that the-fame of tho, All ..Clacks, -.who introduced modern Rugby, into . Great Britain in 1905,?i5-even greater-than ever. One cannot help thinking, however;.that there isi a risk in playing some of'the resurrectionists. Glasgow'.has^done- nothing -exceptional for a couple of seasons at least. Probably it is-thought that his'ability as .a front ranker and his general knowledge of the gamo justify his inclusion. It is a question if bis previous serious injury will not'have a detrimental effect upon' his playing powers. Then there-is. Cunningham as the pivot. ,Itis a generally accepted fa'ct_ that Cunningham is possibly tho best lock in tho Dominion, but outsido that special department ho is outclassed by several, other heavy' weight, fast forwards. If "Rariji" Wilson was not worth his place oil the game which ho, played, hi the second test, then ho was never worth''it; It should have been 'easy for . Francis'-or Patterson to .have replaced Cunningham; and theri Wilson--.would have been' able. to'take the position to; which he. was, undoubtedly entitled'. Gillett may justify his inclusion, as a wing-forward by his high punting, and general finessing, but outsido of those departments ho does not by any means fulfil ; one'a expectations. ■ He is a slow forward, and does practically no aggressive work amongst the opposing backs.- Notwithstanding the fact that he has retired and come forward into the. public life of Rugby, for about the fourth" time; this season, his halo-carries apparently. no specks, .-that,, is..' on paper.'- Steal! and' Hunter, who are considered to be""evergreen,",' may not fulfil expectations. Roberts is Roberts, 'and- without his services' Now Zealand would probably be in a : bad way. In any case, Unless Stead and Hunter make a good showing, the New Zealand backs will havo a hard time. Large numbers think that Mynott should have been iy Stead's place, -whilo Dive or' Thompson might have replaced Cameron. ; -' '--J: If one ivero asked to .furnish an opinion on the probable result of tho game, olio'would feel inclined to saiy, that New.' Zealand shouij. win by tho narrowest of margins. ,It be' assumed that honours will bo slightly in favour of the Anglo-Welshmen as regards tho full-backs, although Coleman is a very sound player and a; deadly tackier.' . That qualifica-! tion will,-be worth something in the third test. Tho absenco .of Gibbs will weaken' tho Anglo-Welsh three-quarter lino terribly.'. Vassal has not yet proved that he is as good as "Ponty" Jones, M'Evedy, or Wil-' liams in tho lino, but .he .will probably bo selected. Tho three-quarters will no d'ouhtj shine more in defehco than in attack, but : taken all round they should be the equal of 1 the -New Zealanders.' Tho Anglo-Welshmeii, are lamentably',wea,k in their halves, .and , if in addition they allow Roberts to havo his own way thoy will bo,well in for a second Waterloo. The question is,'can Roberts get the ball? If• his forwards do not obtain possession' his '-aggressiveness will be'neutralised in : a-great measure, and judging from the results of former games it seems almost certain that the Aiiglo-W6lsh : forwards' will hold their own in this department. Between the two sets of forwards there will not be much difference. Now Zealand .will possibly be more "nippy". and smarter; and also better; on the lino-out, but they s have not too many real dashers, and all round it will take them all tlieir timo to hold' thoir own. To sum up, everything depends '<,n tho scrum. ■ If tho Now Zealanders cm 'o-ct possession four times out of six they will ivin, whilo if tho record is against thorn to that extent, and the visitors' halves can reap tho advantage, Now Zealand will probably, be boaten. ASSOCIATION .NOTES, (By Centre-Half.) Last Saturday was a perfect day in-, it-self for "soccer," but tho heavy rains experienced up to Friday mado'tho playing heavy.- At Miramar the Ramblers v. Wanderers match was played on a ground that in places held miniature reservoirs. In the Ramblers v. Wanderers'fixture at times brilliant passing took plnco; in; tbo, forward division. Reid and Ash played great ! ganies for-Wanderers in the forward division. Tho former player, after a short spell through injury, has resumed ■ playing with • his oldtime "brilliancy. . Irvine and Oldnall in goal for both toams played good games, and were often called upon to~Bave,

Ritchie and Davidson, of Wanderers' right division, were conspicuous at times, but did not receive sufficient attention from tho half backs. Y.M.C.A. had a very narrow win over Pot--0110 by two goals to one. Although tho gamo was fast and willing, from tho point of view of tho spectators, it was uot interesting. •' Forbes and Timperley were always prominent for Y.M.C.A., and tho ' Betholl brothers, Renai, and M'Kinnon woro tho best of tho Petono team. Diamonds met and defeated Thistle by four goals to nil at Miramar. The Diamonds had things very much their own way, and should havo scored more goals. ITathaway's shooting was decidedly off, and ho let many chances go. Ho was not tho only ono to miss easy shots, for practically all tho forwards had shots without even a fair percentage of scores. Rowan, in goal for Thistles, was kept very busy, and somo marvellous saves were made by him. Thistle at times pressed Diamonds, but Roberts (Diamonds' goalkeeper.), with the able assistance of his brother Peter, was able to clear tho goal and- prevent Thistlo from scoring. A member •of a local team, who on. ono or : two occasions-has bwn . told about his quick temper, again- on Saturday drew attention to himself by attempting to strike a player. ■ It so happened in this,iustanco it was one of'his own side., A reminder from the captain held tho player hi abeyance to. the . rules; but " Centre-Half" thinks it a question if .a. team is not' better without the services of such players. • The Swifts v. Rovers match was " played under adverso conditions. The ground for the most part was ■ under.' water, and decent play was impossible. Swifts got the first score,'and resorted to the old-time trick of wasting time, without avail, however, for Rovers, after many futilo attempts, .'effected a" score; The match though drawn was all in "favour of Rovers. Tho-Brown Shield competitions will take place at Dunedin on September 9' and 12. Teams from Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago are ontering for the tournament, and iV is probable that Auckland and Taranaki will also,be represented. Tho , Wellington' Football '-Association, is endeavouring to arrange for a tournament to take place on the return of the representative teams from Otago, somo' timo in September. '■ Auckland is anxious to arrange for a display, of "soccer" during Fleet wosk, and wants; Wellington to send a team to tho northern city. — .This'will probably eventuate if. Auckland, can (arrange for a suitable guarantee. The Wellington Association has been invited to send a Senior second division team to Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay. It is probable that' the Selection Committeo will arrange for sending such a team to the Wairarapa' on the Thursday of some week, going ion'to Hawko's Bay on tlio Saturday following. /This, it is considered, would givo a ; decided stimulus to tho game. ■ Tlio Council of the New Zealand Football Association will meet somo time next week. The ■'New • South Wales Association has been invited ■' to send a representative team' to New Zealand next season. It is uncertain whon the tour will be', undertaken, as"the',New' South WalesvAssociation state's that, a representative team from West Australia is expected during the season. - It is probable that the .West"Australians-will-be invited ;to extend their tour to New Zealand; ■ Tho lat'o Mr. C. H. Staples, whose death was recently reported, was an old . "soccer" player,, and tool: part in senior games for. years.' ;On his retirement from active "sport he took, a keen interest in the Schools' Football Association, and was- instrumental' in placing that body on its present satisfactory footing..- ~ ,i There .are now 49 "soccer", teams in .Welsenior first division teams, 13 sccorid division, and tho remainder are juuior players.. .It is interesting to note that no lower'.thanolß. of tho junior teams belong to the third division, in which class are boys under 15 years of age. During the senior second division match Ramblers v. Mental Hospital, • played-at Porirua last Saturday, a free-kick, was given against M'Lean-for running over .two .steps with the ball. The referee,marked tho spot five ya-rds from goal, and an interesting point was raised by several Ramblers, who were evidently not conversant with tho law, which is: "Tho defending side must b'o six yards from the ball."' They claimed 4o stand two yards'. But the law goes on to say that in cases such as this, the defending side must stand as far away as possible, i.e., on.their goal-line. Another point in connection with this free-kick is that the defenders must not advance till the. ball is. actually played; not when the whistlo blows. Tlio Ramblers erred in'this, -and rushed the ball on the sound of the whistle; but tjie ball was, of course,, brought back to allow the Hospital player to take the kick; ' The Hospital team talies strong exception' to the reports of tlieir match with Ramblers, ' which say that it was a bnlising contest from beginning to end. This statement is decidedly . untrue, and the Hospital object to their reputation for fair, honest i>lay being traduced. The Hospital is the heaviest team in the Second Division,- and does not attempt to uso its weight • unfairly, ; fortunately; for .the: comparatively, light' teams 1 in their division. -Tho simple fact that the ganie was stopped onco only, for an injury to Elliot, is sufficient, proof of the nature ,of the play. Several Ramblers told the writer that they had enjoyed the game immensely, and beyond a little honost, wholesome charging, there was nothing to cavil at.' When football descends to a drawing-room game,-it won't be worth playing. 1 AUSTRALIAN GAME. (By Higii-Mark.) Australian footballers haveibeen rather unfortunate this season 'in their experiences with the weather. The' custodian of 'the watery elements'has not Itjoked upon the Basin Reserve with a kindly eye of recent • Saturdays. As a result, players have only been : able to make , use of it twice! during .the last eight Saturdays—a. somewhat unenviable record. The matches -have either had to be postponed or else referred to tho battlefields of Miramar. It is to be h6ped; in the in-' terests of the that players may bo -favoured with somo more genial weather in the. future. .. 1,. . Hutchinson, the crack goal-kicker in Melbourne at present—to whoii passing reference was made in some , previous notes . by this scribe—has established; a 'record which will take a lot of equalling, jln eight seasons .ho has kc*ked no fewer than|4oß goals—or an average of 51 goals per season. Surely these ,are prodigious figures, and.' more especially so whon- one considers that '.in obtaining'4oß goals one would score quite an equal number of behinds also. That is to say, Hutchinsbn must havo, had possession of the ball within scoring iarigo on alj least 800 occas-, 'ions, a remarkable "performance. Even the |great, A.' J./Thurgbod,. p£-Essendon fame, |can scarcely produce figures suclv as these. , I Wellington and City teams meet on . tlio. ißasih Reserve this afternoon. A first-class icontest. is -.expected,, and visitors are cordi;ally invited, to atteiid 'the match. !; Which of tho "eminent'! men of tho timo j will havo the courage to ( take the student ! into his confidence and warn_ him that the lart of architecture ,is now ,in a state of (decadence? Which, of "them will havo .'tho 1 humility to say that to copy modern work lis to' court failure? Yet both' statements jare Journal." ! Tho latest official method in_ America for pulling up motor-car scorchers is to suspend ■a ropo across tlio roadway at such a height .that tho driver must stop in order to ,pre'vent; being thugged an(l_ strangled. Tho 'motoring world all over; is ripening up for jlegislatiou of a drastic kind, unless those who [compriso it in the mass promptly mend their ,'manncrs, or suppress those who cannot or :will.not do so. —"Mortoring Illustrated." •Anglo-India at present stands self-con-demned bccauso it is out of touch with tho people; becauso its rule is too unsympathetic,' ' too mechanical; What a descent from tho days of our forefathers, who lived among tho people and wero oontent to dio among Pioneer, - Allahabad.