FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 532, 12 June 1909, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

RUOBY. (BY AK18T0BB1U8.) From en old rop.:' "Yes, you arc right. « isn't what it was. Bomembor tho old tack-offs? No ten yards' limit then. Jnst a tap of the boot, a whirlwind of in-and-out passing, and then straight through their posts. No in-and-out passing now—too inuch trouble to .practise. Then tho freejncks. It nsed to tako a lonely man months by himself in a'paddock practising for those free-facke. Tho ball had to riso-100 feet, and drop just 40 ahead of the forwards. It needed practice. Then tho defending backs know all about it—woe, doom, annihilation. . None- of those terrible things now. 'A modern free-kick is an infantile punt into tho hands of tho opposition. And do you fcemember 'split scrums' ? That would make -them laugh now. It used to bo like *he rod that divided the Red Sea-a try for Iho,half-back suro. But not another word. 'We might bring tho Natives down upon us if wo waved too many distress signals. BeSidoe, nobody ought to complain. Cheap school-books, cheap "railway fares, cheap i must''conform to the rulos | lot the day , —as someone sings in 'In [Town/ And so, cheap football." "Ballad of tho Parti-coloured Bull-Doge" itronld make a passable beginning for a gprinc poot who wiehed to launch out on tho Poneko-Athletic match. Tho Blue bull-dog tod the Brindle fought, and, for' a long timo. BOOT Bundle had to Sg his hind feet harti onto tie own. Goal-Uno to keep him from being thrown over tho edge of things. Thoy Bit a lot en passant, as society writers have £ S*^? 11 fan 8 bit Bhl «> the Kivell fang bit Bnndlo, the Organ fang bit Brindlo" again, and then both dogs locked till both were tired. Brindle was ieastrtirod after »ho long grapple, and fetched his jowl clear, ffhen the.Mrtchinson fang bit, and bit, and Jut. And, .after it was all over, Blue's tnio*t was something like Napoloon's army brter Mospo-w—"not fine to look upon." Garoiner, fair player, and popular captain, pnght to have been proud of his poor, torn, Saetonoue Brindle. , .

r Some of the Poneke players Btate that they gave never-seen Mitchinson play-.such , a fine dub game as on Saturday. His defence : ; Imppped up Bine in the first spell. . His attack, in the second, • furnishes one of'those .bases: of which: Euolid. justly 'remarks—"it • Irequrrea no-.;further, demonstration." "■- ■ /TPoor J'or , must 'have been only, ■ b forward and :*o eay against.;.petting:/"Poprf.Fbr'afd": (wishes artillexv of .'ii (iras once a main industry^and-now:only -a' Side-lßsue.jtDoea ,it;not occur to him-that it as :npt so /much the; present potting which :jrequu«e. abolishment, as the present pot- ; Her?. And,;.as.the 'present''potter ■■ is in nb- ■'■»"» different from the .rest' of ..the, players-, Of-the-day, does it not 'further- strike'-, him that the game is going?;/ /. i':///.■:■■/' -.'.£' • ; Mr. Card, referee m tho Poneke-Athletic , Snatejvnaid no attention•':.whatever' te Case , Jbair Xy,.Cap: VI.:. He. also ignored'' 'Special ; Interpretations," Vol; X, 'cap^G;;; p.p., 145-. : 146-147." Section, 117, sub-section 23 (a) of : tho Book of, Conduct for Timid Umpires wae - Weo; thrown overboard. Mr. Card is a : good ■■ttferee^ , "'!- , -..!.-. , '.'!"-. , -" ; '■■■■■.■..'•...'■■. .'■■./, , .- , .. : ./The. fIW. on., the' : ' wffl-haveVno Starches. Tnoir little, dark,' ; 'circumscribed' world nrast- be- the world. And, if anyone taya rfrls not the world; out go their little backleetiE a valiant kick'agauißt the great march of, events.' jjOne'of .tho flies has stated that'"the old-timers must: have' had a bad' ; time.at the- Oriental-Petone match." True ' Thisj fraction of "Aristobulus" has a bad tome at every latter-day match.' But-once., he gets out through the gates into the fresh' air, .he recovers. He refleots. that,-after all/ ne has never ;mißtaken •; a- , pea for the solar system. :So when the.do'wnfall of Oriental: came last'week, he had; no superlatives to call back. remembers saying, however/ as follows: ' 'Any. .team that will engage their forwards, and grasp the sting of their backs, joint^by.:joint,-will beat them.'!'v,lt hap- ■■;_■;;_ ,-\ ;j: : . : v ,.. ; .■" ; ; • ~\ y ,* : ~-. and Blue, and the Vulgusi Iwwchia/Ppneke,-Athletic; and others —let:. us.; ; get:;back.,to >/The'v;Yul-' gus .will;' i have■ ■• startling^ 'nothing over its': head.' So when a latter-day Brmdle Office stuck his teeth clean through the .Blue animal there .ensues a .great dis-: ijoroanoe: of latter-day /ideas. ■.'-' Twice' Ryan Saturday-one or these from near his own. goal line. A groat performance?.;■: Yes. ; But Ryan must learn *° be gentle: with;the flios on the wall..' A' wnall light may dazzle them, but a very bright one will make them savage. One of them has already described Ryan's first maglafioenttry as "just a bit of luck.": ■• r_Poneke did not know what, to do with ex-OUTStchurph-play-erßyan when they got him. Hβ ahaped very'awkwardly? On Saturday' nowev.er,, he burnt white lights: It is too early to Bay Vill ■continue to do Bo;: and, besides, aiavourablo press notice always has, tho effect of conceritratinghordes ef opponents on.a good man.-; But if he runs did. on' Saturday pno is .inclined to think, jrathor fondly, of:; a rep. threeconsisting of Evenson; Matheson. Mitchinson, and.Ryan;;.■; A great centro, and Uree fliers to pick the wings from. .Areola, -in : the -top end of ' Italy, may .not. seemo .to have ■■•"iinnch to *>..m;; football,-',but-.let ■'■■, us --.-".try :it 2 0 i >F'%, space of one paragraph. . "At areola, . said-a;fine international footballer H-- • m 4 "16 ?*■ --Napoleon.- , I did;a certain' wing. There comes a time in every battle ifhen. the bravest troops,-: having made the Ereatost efforts, feel inclined to runi Here,' .when: eyerj move was exhausted, I..pulled out.twenty-five drivers,. gave every - man a truiupet,. and told/hinito' blow.'-The Austrians, were running next instant. They were asftifed as'we."-V ~ ;;:.', \ ■. ■■ ' jThat ;is:Ponoke-Athletic.' ; :.EshaUstion waa Jritten.'over the game as it drew towards its finale.:; Mltchinsph—the gentleman of the twenty-five tr,umpets-T-thehari;ived, and that » why.'he has been singled ;put. Ordinary: lieroee-Tospecially in :: ,the scrums:: which: Were packed lika Prussian grenadiers—wero ithree-a-penhyl , '' For seventy' minutes or'moro all these toiled hard to produce.an effect—-a.'Bort.-.0f.-photographic.'ncgatiyoi ■■ Then..-the ; nght man for the moment arrived—Mitchinpon—and devtilopod it; ,i'.:.,■.- .:■■ . It has been asked.;. Which will win—Poneke .to Oriental? Tho answer',is ! that ;the side, Which is picked to win in the press will lose, for a favoiirablo ;press notice scorns to' bo the deadliest "dope"'that: can: be administered tetany :team. After seeing both Ppn«ke and Oriental.'.play, this portion 'of "Aristo-. bnliis" is, prepared, very confidently, to' say that,Ponekenave forgot more footballthan over Oriental learned. This note, of course, will have a deadly, weakening effect on Red, !And on 'Oriental? : Quite tho other way. "We'll show 'em," says Oriental. But, win or.lose, Porieke 'are the hotter team. ■ Arid, ly a good long way. V Looking•■baok i -through the above '■ portion bf the notes which are intended to deal with Poneke-Athletic match, ono sees that "it is no critiquo at all." Hardly a namo mentioned for good play! : :' : Old Boys' mn over., Orientals; waa ■ due principally: to the skilful manner in which they were led. Skipper.-'Avery undoubtedly, did tho right thing in making the game'a forward one. 'By the way, he was/also responeiblo for the only score during - the? game, which would have been missed had he not been_ a'resourceful player. - Without Roberts arid Matheson, Oriental back division was all at sea. Onlookers who hr,d expected a repetition of the splendid passing indulged in on the previous Saturday must have been sadly disappointed. The factns that they never sewned to make any real effort to got on the move. M'Leod at half made a few good dashes, but he could liot hn,ye.felt at homo;'•'■■:,'•:'.V Vi ", Although he;was- "resting," Matlieson really played as hard, a game for Orientals from the touch-line as any. of the actual players for the team. Up and,down.the touchlino he sped, throughout the match, gesticulating and dispensing advice ad. lib. When ■'-, only a few minutee remained and his side had 'not made'np tho leeway ho waved advice u

thick as a dozen semaphores. In order that no timo should be lost he took tip the role of custodian of tho spare ball. But a little of this fine player on the field is worth' a lot of him on tho line. Vigorous is a polite way of describing tie style of play adopted by Manning. Fast and keen, this_ player is rather a tough proposition for his size. On Saturday, he appeared to havo set himself rather a difficult problem, viz., to sco just how hard ho could tacklo .any, of his opponents who happened to have the ball—and foriiotimo when they had got rid of it—without actually" incapacitating i them. Manning, mon cherl There is a place for everything. Tho Tlugby fiold and the prize ring' each havo their different usefulnesses. But do not mix them. Merchant has one great fault. When he finds himself off-sido—and that is fairly often off-side—ho i> ill not take the trouble to get behind tho ball again. During the first spell ho was reprimanded by his skipper, but it had little _ effect. There was nothing out--' standing in the display given by. Melrose. True, they defeated thoir opponents,' Victoria College, hut they ought to bo thankful. From start to finish their vanguard failed to put any vim into their wort, and the efforts of the rear division gave one the impression that its members had anything in common with ono another. One way and another the "grand old gamo" reminds ono of nothing bo much as a bush poot who tried to "compose" something about the death of his fianceo. After two years he evolved the following:— ' . h , :,'■ . '. ■■'. : ,'..':■

"The Irony ■ '■ The funeral has not yot reached the Gate!"

No; but it is getting close up to it, now. De'la Mare was the mainstay of the Victoria College van. More than that—he was the best forward on the ground. Throughout the game, he..worked' with all, his might and [strength^—just as.if life itself depended bnjthejosult;; But De la Mare tas anything but' a jnfetty mode of progression. , .; In Victoria CoUege have secured a promising felayer. During the second spell, when,his siqo had tho wind at their backs and were: on; the offensive most of the time, his services /were practically wasted at fullback. \ As", it - happened, . owing to another player being slightly injured, he was brought up; to ; -centre-three-quarter, where ho was able to give a small taste of his quality. After, their : previous .'displays it was not surprising'to we followers of the game that Wellington l 'should have to lower their colours to'St; James. :.„ ■'■■■' *.. : .'.■"'. . Through influenza and injuries received at the game, Wellington were weakened,to 'a ■considerable extent, and had .to be content /to'- : contest matters' with a ■ team that. comprised ;fivo emorgencies.-o Included among the absentees were Bridge" and .Symes./ Tho mombe.r', of.-the : back..division— generally manages to' play a good game/ and I consequently was much' missed. Symes, .Wellington' s best hooker, >■ has; been -; on the injured list for quite a long' time now, but ,when'|talking to^'hinT/oiTSiturday"the"writer Joaiint .tihat it would, not bo long now before he would be on th©,, ; fleld again;, - ■ . ■:; Pitted against "sttehvii;; second-rate team as tWellirigtori'was, Str.'Jam'es's ■ win : >. was not The score^-S'points, to 3 —inay: go-is- a fair criterion , of the merits of" the teamson the day, but.had Wellington been playing their full team matters would undoubtedly have'gone'the other way. ■ ■ ;'■;' ;rThe ! -first spoll"Eaw-Wellingtbii .wiUx a lead ibfT points to nil, and for'this period they perhaps Had the better of the game. The second half, however, saw St; James opening out and their opponents tiring. Another weakness noticeable in connection with Wollingtori's play "was the way , their forwards waited for! the ball; when' on the defensive. That, of course, is a sure sign that they wore tiring. ■••V.Sti.-James-enlivened tnings by flashes of back'play'occasionally, but ffoo movements were genorally spoilt through faulty passing. ;-:T.;-Roberts, .at half, was"the most useful back for "Ski James/ : His work behind the ■pack on Saturday was marked by crispness an'd"'gobd judgment. : H. Roberts, on tho wing, also played up well, and his two tries, both scored from line-outs, were the result of -gboi.dodgy.idashes.u-V'.... , -■■■•.:•;■.''■.•'•'■. . The St. James's forwards had not a very, solid pack to oppose them, and perhaps under the. circunurt-anccs .their,display . could have boeh/.much'' bettor. Individually, Reid and tho ..best. '.?"■'. ■..-'.• ■. . '

Sheridan, who; played regularly for Wellington last .year and has played in a few matches -.this season; donned the colours on 'Saturday in'his" oltf'position at full-back, and gave a fair account of himself,

; .Anothef' member of last.. year's Wellington- team-, figured ' in -Saturday's game.- Tliis.was Mills, a forward player, Out 'in ' the country for the past few months, Mills .has not had an opportuni ty ,. ;<»- : have the, necessary practico a footballer should have, but he was fresh, and played up.well to tho rest of tho team's form, and-likewise got tired when the rest of tho .team got,tired. . . ;. 'OftheTollows! backs,' toe only player of Sny outstanding merit was Carr, on the wing. Honhulo two or three good runs, but not being backed-.up to any extcsni his efforts gen■eraUy.:,came to' naught..' His'try was credit ■ able piece.of work.'■■'■•■.'• .''-.■•■.•• ■■nA I r K S ,ar ? nd Cracr <>ft Wilcon were two Wellington forwards who. never reached the tired_ stage. Both men played hard games and deserve praise for their unceasing efforts throughout t3ib game..... ■ . i ■-. /Raids upun the roll of Potone team have been moro, frequent than usual this season, oS« S fi ™y.,! un 'o«' ; havo answered tho calls! inci.hrst;blow came in the Poneke match durrag- which W. Ryan; by a simple twist, hurt ins right knee badly. It was an old wrench,':arid tho fresh injury demands expraption'from all jarring. However, supporters of Potone will be relieved to learn that hQ hopej to strengthen up sufficiently to look after'the three-quarter fine again in a couple of weeks' time. -■'■..■■ i Another.man who was.missed last Saturday was- Conn Sullivan. Since he left with tho'professionals his old team have had two matches,.and his absonco has been keenly felt in both. Prior to the Oriental defeat it was not possible to educate the remaining members up to tiro now. requiremente, and thoro is little doubt that W. Ryan's absence, on top of Sullivan's departure, practically crippled tho team. ■ The troublo in W. Ryan's knee righted itself during the week, and this fine forward was again ablo to don the jersey in the Southern.- match... Hardhani was missing, .howeverJ'-hiiving' sustained a severe kick during tho Oriental tussle. His place at wing was'filled by Arrowsmitli, who played to somo purposo, as did M'Farlane. . another juniorTforward,; promoted for this mateh. M'Farlano was. included because of. an accident to Nankiville. This tall young man had a finger brokon on practice night. Tameness was spread Over every inch of the field last Saturday. Neither was thero the least tinge of dahng on anybody's part, nor,a.spark of brilliance, par the cause of a moment's ■smile; "Football can be very dull —when tho'science of tho game is forgotten, and a tentn, simply because its opponents have beon tested' and found weak, chooses to cefc victory by "mero shoving. -And such a-degenerate match as this may bo improved by even a slight mishap. A slip may bring a jersey off in orio",piece, and causo tho men to chucklo and'■ thcriadiee to set about reading a Bormoii on tlio dangers of football. The suburban game, although no, loss interesting than many others, was intolerably dull, and the Borough' Council profited littlo at tho turnstilos. '

One of' tlio few "events" was a ■ penalty kick by'"Los." Campbell, early in tho afternoon. But was this --achievement any excuse for a later attempt by the same player from ■beyond half-way "'and against a stiff breeze? ■ Novel -combination work on the part of a trio'of Blues occupied tho only other minute that was not depressing. Al'Farlano and Price- and W. ttyan, with the ball wedged between them. Bet out on a sally to tho Southern- goal. Tho Reck attacked in numbers, clutched wildly, and fell away on every side- in all the .confusion of a comet's tail. After a brief; journey, '.which intruded as far as tbo twenty-five yards' area, a more diligent defence was brought to bear, and the probability of a scoro was converted into the reality or a force-down. .:■•■'■