ATHLETIC SPORTS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 800, 25 April 1910, Page 5

ATHLETIC SPORTS.

RUGBY MATCHES. 9ETOHE DECISIVELY BEATEN. . SOBTHERN DO WELL. . 8t James. 14 v. Petono nil. Athletlo 16 v. Hutt nil. , . Melrose 6 v. Wellington 3. Vtotoria Collega 8 v.,01d Boys 3. Oriental 0 v. Southern 0. Hje results of the second series of ■ senior Rugby Cup matches, whioh took plaoo on Saturday, will cause most • followers of the game to reconsider/ their views as to the chances of the - various clubs for the championship. A majority of the "knowing ones" have naturally- favoured the prospects of ■ those teams which were well up on the list last season, but there has been a striking divergence of opinion as to which is most likely to: carry off top ' honours. Poneke, St. James, Petone, and Oriental, all did fairly , well on the opening: day, but Petone and Oriental stocks have come down considerably in consequence of .'the latest, showings by 1 their teams. Upon * present form it will take a good side to beat St. James. His Petone badly failed to,do . on Saturday.- Will' 1 Poneke..fare- any better when they meet St. James a few . weeks hence? Last 'year's champions say "Yes; our . team, will be stronger this season," but whether that -view -be'.'correct or otherwise, it is . certain" that Saturday's events have' "mixed tilings" in a very interesting "way. .. . Despite ,the cold "southerly," oloso tai 3000 people were: attracted to; the Athletic Park on Saturday. Most of the' interest centred around the principal contest, St. James v. Petone, which proved to be the best game seen here so far this-season. :l ! ;or most rt the first spell St. James (who sboiud - distinctly improved form in . comparison with their efforts on the opening day) attacked . valiantly—-and successfully. .: Their forwards worked well, especially in'the loose j whilst .their backs kicked end - handled the ball • with precision and dash. On the other hand, ' the Petone pack did not show their usual . vim- and combination,- (this;' being, .no • doubt dne to .'the'" absence'of their general, Hardham),' while the attack oi their - backs left a lot to be desired. Towards.the end of the-spell, however, : Petone : should; have/scored more than once,- and if they had, perhaps the ultimate result of the match' might havo worked i out . very differuntly for the confidence arid dash of the St.' . James men -visibly increased as. the struggle wore on. • By half time,. St. James were' 9 points ;'to . ' the ' good. "Why don't you" give our side-a bit, of advice?" said some Petone supporters to Hardham'in the ,interval. "You will see they won't rietd any in this half," was his reply,'but for once the. Petone tactician was ■ * quite mistaken. In the second half Petone worked hard at 1 times, but St. '" James, to - the' great 1 delight -of their ■supporters,-; held, them well in - hand. Mofiatt was very prominent in tho forward division. - Bradley - was: a \ tower of strength among the. backs,, and, eveni ' tually, St-. James gained another try, which was converted, and thus won by 14 points to nil. -. t ;: -The result.of ,the match at. MiramaT, where- Southern, effected' a '.'draw"with Oriental, came as a surprise. With ' plenty of practico there is. no reason why..the young ,;club'< should } even" better "as the season progresses. : - Victoria: College is to be congratulated upon its victory at Karori over Old Boys, and {the result should' make future matches in which either of these ;teams is engaged more interesting. Perhaps '..the least attractive of all the matches - was that at. the park, between'Melrose ! and Wellington.. Both sides lacked comibination, and their showing-was very - poor. . .

ST. JAMES, 14j PETONE 0. Aa, soon as 1 the "star" fixture. St. James v. Petone,: commenced, it was evident that St. James were out to win. Within a couple of minutes Petone were compelled to force down. They then attempted a loose rush or two, but it was_ not long before St.. James were again on tHeir line. From a scrum E.: Roberts passed 'to H. Roberta, who, feinting prettily, completely hoodwinked the defence, and, going-straight ahead, drew first blood. • 3—o: Petone had barely ,recovered from this opening stroke of war when St.' James returned to; the attack, and again i resorted to passing. of the sharp,;crisp order. After Dne of the assaults,.however, the attackers were caught napping, with the result that Petone carried play, right down to. full-back Thomas, who saved brilliantly: Once again,. St. James's: light got under, way, and; on at least two occasions,, they had bad 1 fortune in not scoring. Still, the general; vigour of their assaults was' too heavy to be altogether - resisted, and, presently, from a scrum close to the Pe.'tone: line, - .Wright , got across. &—O. --(To the great delight of' their supporters -St. James made another; addition - to > theirtotal, almost immediately afterwards, MotFatt registering a try. from a loose rush, but. for the third time, Thomas failed ' with the kick., 9—o. Petone now rallied considerably, and owing to a mistake by Thomas they'looked really dangerous..- but Bradley came to" his colleague's aid and saved nicely. ])<iring the remaining quarter of tne' spell Petone had the-best of . play. ; Twice' in succcssion their backs broke a.wa;: splendidly; oh each occasion, however, the rushes ended at M. Ryan, who was not' decisive enough in . his movements. A good, attempt at potting. was mado by "Joe" Ryan, but ,no further score : iook place before; half time. ' :''

; When the game resumed the Petone supporters were not by any means downhearted. Petone, they held, almost alwa.ys"vvon-in the second half and a, 9 r point lead would easily • be overhauled..' But on this occasion Petone v ere reckoning without their host'. It is due to 'them, however, to say that there was a distinct improvement in their efforts, but St. James gamely responded with even more determination. Soon. Petone were sorely pressed, and but for capital "saves" by Miller and James Ryan, two scores would, almost certainly, have been put on. Besides working well together the ! St. James pack the best that has been- seen on the- park _ so far tfois season—received great assistance from their backs, notably H. Roberts and' Bradley, who used theline admirably. Half way through the spiell Miller earned hearty applause forthe- way in which lie went down' to the most formidable' rush of the day. For a brief spell Petone rallied their forces', carrying play back to neutral territory, where a passing rush in which all' the' backs handled, was made. But down went one' Petone back after -another, : and .then several St. James men swept tho'ball , back down the field. Thomas, Who led the onrush, glaringly'obstructed one of the opposing 'Backs and, in due course, -gathered in '-the ball, but his pass' closo .to the Petone line was smothorcd. A moment or two later, however, M'Grath got possession well within .Petone . 25. and scored a' good try, whiyn was converted by. Bradley. 14—0. St. James had so difficulty in remaining in the ascehdfor the. balance of the game... Mr. Bjxsncer was the referee. .

ATHLETIC, 1G; HUTT, 0.

On the Hutt Kecreation Ground,' despite tho fact that a bitter "southerly" was blowing, a good many spectators watched the match, Athletic v. Hutt. Although the score was 16 to nil,, arid Athletic, the victors, the game was by no ineans won easily. Athlctic kicked off against the wind, and tho Hutt team, encouraged by. their supporters, to everyone's surprise at once took the aggressive. But!-the cool passing, of the' Blues, their strategy in the scrums, and tho. good form .they, were in, gradually forced Hutt to defend. The latter must be complimented oil the way they did it, and it must not be forgotten that they are as yet practically a. junior team, that this was their second appearance in public, and that their training facilities are not extensive. In. the forwards,. Tannahll and Judd worked very hard, following up splendidly. M'Gurlc (wing) and Logan (half) were .also conspicuous at times. The best, back was lioutlev, who' repeatedly saved his . side, and seldom missed a chance. Occasionally, the forwards attempted a dribbling rush, and made things look lively for Athletic, but their rushes -never came to anything, for always a blue jersey would go down,: the Athletic .stopping being good. It Was 20 minutes, after the game had begun.-when Athletic. scored -their .first five points. Wilson (Athletic) got the ball, and with, his brother, and Evenson following,' raced for the line, passed to his/brother, who gave it to Evenson, who scored. Wilson converted. s—o: A few minutes afterwards much the same,thing occurred, making: Athletic, 10; Hutt, .0. , In the' second spell the local team played up even, better, but, of course, they had not the chances that their opponents had. Osborne scored a try for Athletic, which- was not converted, ■ nor was the, last try/by Wilson... Towards the end of the game, Neilson, a local man, had the misfortune to get hurt in-.the back to such an extent' that ho had to be removed, to his-home. Thus the game ended: Athletic, 16; Hutt, 0. Mr. W. J. Meredith was refereo. \ .

MELROSE, 8; WELLINCTON, 3. Play was; anything but exciting in the other match on the Park, . Melrose v. Wellington. Melrose opened with alengthy attack,, in. which their pack showed .slight superiority over the Wellington vanguard. Scrum followed scrum and line-out succeeded line-out, but the quality of the play was much below par. Orico Melrose got right over the Wellington line, and in the resultant scramble the .ball was forced down, and, sometimes, when Melrose were pressing the . Wellington . backs make very mediocre attempts;to handle the ball. ;As the spell.progressed Wellington Jiad one or two turns at attacking, but they, were unable/to! get :home. Later on, Melrose again had . them in difficulties, but the danger passed.'. Owing to.- an infringement by a Wellington player, Fralser had a shot at goal, but failed. The next concerted rush made by Melrose, however,' culminated, in success; From a scrum near the Wellington line, Trevor broke away and fell on the ball over the Wellington line. B—o. ■ ' The second spell again saw, Melroso for the most part in the ascendancy. 'After about 20 niiiiulcis' further play, however, Wellington rallied their forces successfully,, and for a time Melrose were kept-.busy. on tho defence. They had; just succeeded, in clearing-..their line, .when M'Kellar gathered ,up. the . ball, and, .as the result of.'a. characteristic, run, got ovefi - 3—3., Melrose, now did all in- their power to .regain their former position, but for a time it' looked if-the game would result, in a draw. Eventually, however,, they got a,mark, "and Ferguson . safely piloted the ball over the bar. 6 —3. Just upon the call of time a mistake by Fraser, .the Melrose ■ fuU-back,j gave- 'gooid chance to score; but it was not'a-Vs'iled cf. ' Thefgame-thus' ended: Melrose; :6 points; ' Wellington,r"3 points.' Mr. Mo ran - was the referee." .

COLLEGE, 8; OLD BOYS, 3.' The Karon Recreation Ground was used .for-the first time on Saturday for a senior ' match. ; The ground has been laid off satisfactorily, and, despite the fact that, fit slopes a trifle, it would appear that the Rugby Union, is justified in its determination to play senior matches there. The : match.Old Boys v. Victoria College resulted, unexpectedly, in a win for College, .The pace was. warm from the whistle, and in. the early stages' the Green* forwards attacked. . Old - Boys returned the ball ■ up-field. several times —Avery and Mar.cnant being the .> chief operators—and, at the close of one of these onslaughts, when Collego had be;n penned up in the corner; Phillips ''■sustained! a hard knock, and was compelled to leavo tho field for a while. Duncan,, the fast three-quarter, who had few opportunities in.':-the ;Poneke match; worked his wing well, and on one' occasion ' was pushed into touch when t score seemed' certain. Following up theii- advantage, College pressed hard, and ought to have ;scored'before they, actually did, but eventually Young got over, and J. Ryan kicked a neat goal. s—o. Old' Boys were agaii threatened. before tho .in.terval,'but on changing round they had the wind behind them; and they set out'to retrieve their position. It was a, difficult task thej found, for Curtayne, the College captain, had his men working at their best. , The Green forwards, playing above themselves, took the ball right up the field,' and Wilson was enabled'to touch down. 8-rO. This apparently roused Old Boys, and towardsthe, close' of the game Dawson was given the ball, just' in time to allow of his scrambling over. B—3. Old Boys continued to make - a strenuous game of it, but they were unable to make any furtlier impression on their opponents' defence. Mr. Nimmo was referee

ORIENTAL, 0i SOUTHERN, 0. Southern played a surprisingly, energetic game against Oriental at. Miramar. A southerly gale blew across the ground, giving Oriental a slight advantage in the first half. Under these circumstances-Southern's only hope was to play close on the ball; and their forwards adopted that plan. There are two or three.solid men in this pack—"Les" Campbell, on tho wing, Burns, lock, and Houlihan—and these from the outset gave Oriental to. understand that is would be no walk-over. The maroons at once attacked',' showing fair combin-, ation, and in the first five minutes Cunningham received the ball from a scrum at half-way,-and was dangerously near to scoring before he was effectually collared. . Shortly afterwards M'Leod, Oriental captain, received a sovere kick and was compelled to leave tho fiveeighth line and drop back, to full-back. The game evened up, and Southern, still lighting every inch of the ground, were driven back, and were compelled to force. Mathieson now attempted an absurdly long penalty kick —considering the gale—and in the loose play which followed, just , as the Black and Whites were crowding in on Southern's line, j Flanagan took a saving mark. Tho ball, however, was quickly hurtled back to tho Southern twenty-five, and Perry almost scored. . This was tho closest call that Southern had in ; tho spell. Having changed ends, Southern took up the attack, while Oriental uiado play with their backs, whoso efforts, however, were invariably brought to naught. Mathieson, sprinting nicoly, carried the ball across the field, but was then compelled to kick. The ball, however, came to "Les" Campbell, and there tho sally ended. Aftpr more forward work and a good deal of back-and-forth play, Johnston, Southern fivoeightli, took the leather through tho Oriental ranks, but lost it just as lie reached the line, and it was kicked out' of hounds. This was tho only occa-

sion on which the Oriental goal-lino was crossed. Tlio ball was then takon up the field again ( and Oriental came near scoring, Harris, the Maroon full-back,-being found decidedly "off colour. Tlion Sturrock almost scrambled 'over, and, flustered bv the imminence of danger, half of tlio Maroons'got . off-side, and Kinvig just missed goal with the penalty kick. Galligher, Southern half, who had been playing a valuable game, made a run from half-way, but was brought -.up a few yards off the Oriental goal for.an-infringement. Play then remained in mid-lield until. tho call of time, neither side scoring. Mr. C. Bell was the referee.

JUNIOR GRADE

The match between Wellington and Athletic at Miramar resulted in a win for the former by three points to nil, W. J. Paul scoring a. try . for tho winning team. Sheridan exercised good judgment in his attempts at goal; but, owing to the strong wind, ho was not successful. The Wellington 1 forwards showed splendid form, and the game was practically played out amongst them. There was some very rough play on the part of Athletic, and on one occasion Wilson had to 'be cautioned by the referee. With judicious training the Wellington junior team' ought to have little difficulty in securing top place in; the championship. . •

The match, Petone v.- Selwyn, was an evenly contested game, and resulted in a draw, each side scoring 11 points. Strickland and Nunn each scored a try for Petone, Aston converting' on and kicking a penalty goal. For Selwyn King scored twice and Williamson once. A penalty was'kicked by M 1 Donald.

The match, Poneke v. Str John's, was played at Miramar Park.' St. John's made the game' fast and open throughout the first spell, and kept the Red and Blacks busy defending their line for some time. The Poneke forwards livened up, however, and the ball was sent out, to Sinclair, who scored a 'clever try near the corner flag. In the second half the Poneke forwards- made the game willing, and forced their opponents several times. From-a 6crum near St. John's line B. Calcinai, the Poneke wing forward, secured the leather and scored. Give-and-take play, ensued, and Calcinai again scored another try, the match resulting: Poneke, 9 j St. John's, nil.

Melrose defeated Hutt on. the latter's ground by 5 | points to nil. It was an even game, Swensson, Fawcett,. and Yeates playing well for Hutt, while M'Lewis and itoyle did good work for the winners. Mr. A. Corinell was referee.''

THIRD CLASS. 1 Huttj who are withdrawing from the competition, defaulted to Petone. Wellington College, 29 points, - defeated. Selwyn, nil. ' Southern,' IX points, defeated Ex-change,-nil. St. John's, 3 points, defeated Melrose, nil. • Poneke, 8 points, defeated Oriental, 6. For Poneke, S. Edwards .scored. a try; A. Morris converted and kicked a penalty goal.. For Oriental, Murphy and Robertson each scored a to. • FOURTH GLASS.) ■ Petone, 15 points, defeated, Selwjdi, 3. For Peione, Miller scored two tries and! Nunn. arid Wilson one each. Corson and Valantine each converted . a try.' • . The match' Athletic v. Melrose was drawn,' each team.scoring' 3 points. .. . , Poneke, 14 points, defeated Victoria College, nil.. FIFTH CLASS. > Wellington College A defeated Athletic by" ; 2s points to 14. . Wellington College B defeated Southern by,,17 points t0.3. ,• ■ In the match Selwyn v. Hutt neither team scored. ' ■ Petone, 6 points, defeated St. Patrick's College A, 5. M'llvride, for Petone, scored a try and kicked a penalty, and for St. Patrick's, Buckley scored a .try,. which Malone converted. St. Patrick's College B, 5 points, defeated Melrose, nil.-

IN OTHER CENTRES. MANAWATU' MATCHES BEGIN. (By Telegraph.—Special Corren>onden*.l Palmerston, April 24.

The football season was opened yesterday afternoon with a' club match between. Feilding, and Palmerston, the former winning by. 20' points 'to 14. After a'beautiful morning, a heavy oold southerly ' gale sprang up about 3 o'clock, /and made things very uncomfortable for everybody, but gave a great advantage to the side playing with the wind. Feilding won: the toss,' and' naturally played with the wind, and they quickly ran up a good score. On changing ends, Palmerston also made tilings merry, -but the Feilding defenoe prevented 'them' passing their own score. Though it was the first game of 'the season, 'several of the players'showed good. form, but the majority were on the "green" side.

CANTERBURY: THE OPENING;DAY. (By TsleErttDh—Press Association.) ' Christchurch, April 24.

lie opening of the Canterbury. Rugby, Union's competitions, which took- place yesterday, was favourable in every respect, the weather and grounds' being all in favour of players. In. the senior games the play was distinctjy good for an opening day, the chief interest centring in the meeting between Merivale and Christchnxch, the former outplaying their opponents and winning by "16 points to •6. Albion defeated Linwood by 12 points to nil. The latter had the upper hand during the first half, but the superior combination enabled the Blacks to win. Sydenham and Old Boys played a draw,'whilst Canterbury College defeated the, Manet Brothers' team by 16 points to nil.