FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 11110, 6 May 1911, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

v RUUBY. Oil AHIBTOBUMJO.I ,' .Tie Snare that Caught Southern. 1 The siiare which caught Southern could ' be easily stated in the form of a sermon, ibut players get so much unskilful "sermon" thrown at thorn every week that the thing is more, pleasantly indicated in a little phantasy-a dialogue between the Ancient and the Enthusiast (who were really on the bapk) and the mopoke which was only there in make-believe :— The Enthusiast: Line, Southern! Use your boots! Line! Line! The Ancient: What's the good of the line to a team five points to the bad? The Enthusiast: Played, "Hoolie"!' The line every time! The Ancient: Why, you stupid, don't you know that "the line" is only playing defence, and that's no good to a team that's behind. ' The Mopoko: Hoo-hoo! Hoo-hoo! The Ancient: If they aro going to bo beaten surely it does not matter whether it is by 5 points or 5000, but "line" won't catch up any backwash. The Enthusiast only glared at the Ancient and commanded Southern to Jinu touch once more. Then ho added: "That's it! Give them something original! You can't beat a young team for being original!" (The Ancient: On the contrary, youth is the most dull and unoriginal time in life. It is the period of blind, headlong imitation— • The Mopoke-Hoo! The Ancient: And you never saw a young man do anything yot, but what was a copy of someone elso older than himself. Southern will seep "finding the line" because leveryono elso has . done it for twenty years, and never asked the reason why—least of all young teams. But Poneke will Win out handsome in the finish. She Enthusiast rose with something Tory like blows in his eye. Then he sat 1 down again, and, waving his band at . ■ the blue, impacable sky which domed •the Park, he said: "'Spose you was there, mister, what.yould YOU do?' Then the fine light of Splendid Memories dawned on the ancient, and he said: "Do! Well there's such a thing as running to the blind side, and centreing with a low kick to the open— The Mspoke: Hoo, hoo, hoo, hqo— ■The Ancient: And there's the "cross" be- '• tween the five-eighths and centre ■• * where you'd get Poneke setting sail 'on one tuck, and slipping them up by going about on the other. There's the "little kick through," where the five-eighths v;ould tap it gently past the line of Poneke backs, and all hands would be on to it with bootI 'work.liko Eed Indians. There's one thousand other tricks, too, if we could cut clear, from the ordinary * Saturday night talk, and tho ordinary newspaper comment, and if wo had men— ,The Mopoke (excitedly): "Who? Who? ! Wh0?".... 'And the Ancient had to admit that the .'. bird had had the best of the argunient. He reflected sadly that it was 1911, and not 1895. Poneke-Southern Jottings. ' Coming to the bald prose of the match, it can only be said that it was fast, .•which'Showed that the training for legs '' "and 'wind had reached a "high pinnacle of excellence," and that pinnacle has been such a lonely and deserted place of late that it is pleasing to see it occupied once more. But neither team of forwards is very strong, and a pack of juniors, after a month's real training, would go through both like shot through paper. Bradley (Southern. centre) figured large . at the point which turned the result, viz., when E. Ryan (Poneke) got away with tho ball at his toe, and the scores were, squared. Notwithstanding tho-usual fatuous remarks about, being "too fond of cutting in, etc.," those who have ,hart real 1 experience of the position know that '•:. it: is an exceedingly difficult thing for a centre to decide when to run and when to kick, and also when to cut in, and when to keep out. As it happened, it ■ wis Bradley' 3 business (iu • this instance) to "keep out," and-feed the two men who were backing him up. Bait it is easy to l)e wise from the touch-line, ond Brnil- ' ley's cut-in may therefore be excused. • What was disastrous was way in which the Southern man carried out the move' Dash is the best point in ' football, and it is laughable to see a man sailing down on an enemy with battle in one hand and an apologv in the other. The gem man of tho match was Walshc. . That run right through Southern at tho start of the match was splendid. How is it that one man often gets through ' where dozen= of others aro blocked and thrown down? Well, it would bo a lon» story to explain, but the look, m vne 'eye of tho nuiii with tho ball has a lot to do with it. , A Barren Game. Tho match between Athletic and Old Boys was bo nearly devoid of .bright incident that it may bo termed, a barren game, from tho point of view of tho contributor to a budget of Rugby comment. Some who had been thinking" hard reckoned out (after a careful course of multi- , plication, substraction. division, and addition) that Athletic were about to win' by 35 to nil. Others, who had also given the subject due consideration, had decided in favour of a close game—the best match of the week end. There was no cricket score, there was no closeness in the totals, but tho gimo was fairly even. And Yet tho Play Was Hard. It is' probable—though one can only guess this—that the play was of a higher class than any' in tho .city last Saturday. Yet it was unattractive. Many would not go across a street to sse another such exhibition. Athletic play has few attractions,, and Old Boys were not quite strong enough to force them into any stvlo of play other than'their own. The delight of the spectators, passing by the backs, was a rarity, and the onlv lively play . of that natm;e was performed bv Old Hoys, and by tlicm only once. Where both teams did credit to themselves was in hard, fast work, When the ball was on the ground. There was little loafing, and no one said "Excuse me." No Ancients in the Forwards. One of the reasons for tho vim. which was infused into the play—the vim which gave it its quality—was the dearth of "centenarians" in the teams. "Centenarians" are not uncommon in some Wellington teams, but these patriarchal persons rarely shine as brightly on the field as they do at the annual smoker. The dash of j-outh once lost is seldom regained; a footballer without dash is seldom retained. The New Zealand Piugby gamo isn't kept going for tho display of spor- , tive ancients. > The good fight put up by Old Boys was a. surprise to many. At half time thero hart be»n no score, and it was popularly held that Old Boys had had the bettor of the game. Yet it was evident by then that Athletic would win. And, at . tho last lap,' Athletic were attacking dangerously, and scoring occasionally. The clever points which the Blues scored, and which constituted the margin of their win, were obtained near the conclusion. Both teams possess some good forwards. 4. Wilson (Athletic) played with good judgment, but did not accomplish much. Grace took a lion's share of tho work which fell to Old Boys, and showed, by the way he did it, that he was in great form. Dawson was up to his usual form, bur got' few chances. Why Wellington Lost. The racing powers of Pctone were too uucb for Wellington, who straggled about i.n a very disorderly manner. In every .'npartment of the game the suburban •.i-iim out-shone their opponents, and iu ' : i.« second spell ■' the Wellington fifteen ■iri-sentcil a pathetic sight. The spectators \,ero treated to some- very, fine passing

rushes on the part of Petone, but tho rushes of tho forwards were tho rnosi. thrilling. Time after time would the hefty Blues swoop clown on their weaker opponents and scatter them like chaff. Of courso the reason for all this is want of training on tho part of tho Yellows. Petone are no 4 heavier and not gifted, in the natural way, with any moro "head," and they do not know any startling "tricks" of the game. So tho only thing left is training. Ono could see, with half an eye, that Wellington are not keen about this department, and a pretty shrewd guess would father the supposition that most of their team up till last Satnrday had not seen tho .outside (much less the inside) of a gymnasium. . Ono of tho most stringent unwritten laws in' Petone is that if a player is anxious to keep his place—no matter in what grade—he has to put in tw.o nights a week at the gymnasium, and what is the result? Ever since Petone has been competing in the championship they have been a team to be reckoned with. Even the schoolboy has his evening at the gymnasium. . ■ „. . t i Bridge, Lambert, Hill, and Christopher were good on occasions for Wellington, but the forwards as a body were decidedly weak, Their following up was extremely poor, and their tackling very faulty Petone's best men were Ramsden, M'Kenzie, E. Ryan, Dent, Price, and Aston. ■ Melrose Fighting Uphill. Melrose passed through the fires of tribulation at Petone on Saturday, and spent a not unprofitable time. In St. James they met superior men, and it is to their credit that they (were not utterly overwhelmed. In the opening .spell they had their hands rather more than full, lne St. James forwards pressed relentlessly, and, save when, they had the ball in their own immediate care, usually managed to transfer it to their backs. The St. James rearguard, however, did not make the best use of their opportunities. A number of passing rushes collapsed, and clumsiness was as much responsible for this as the dogged tackling of the Melrose defenders. In the second spell, both sides improved in their play. There was more devil m the St. James attack, but it was counterbalanced by tho steady play of Melrose, who showed some grasp of combination and sturdily kept their foes out. St. James scored twice, once at the beginning and once towards the end of the spell.. Both movements were executed at railroad speed. There wore few, if any, Molrose players who rendered their team exceptional service. Pooley, playing behind the scrum, did some useful saving work, but he iS apt to wear the considering cap a little too loug at times. Tho that can be c aid for the team is that it tries to work together. Unfortunately, however, it has no Robertses, or "Morry Woods, or Wallace in its backs, ami no Ellisons, Pojands, Panlings, or "Off-side Macs" among its forwards. . St. James forward pack created a lot of havoc. ATright, the winger, was conspicuous in a series of dribbling rushes that took a lot of stopping. The backs, despite some failures, also showed quality. E. Robert?, behind the scrum, his brother, 11. Roberts. Young, and W. Crcwes, wero amongst those who acquitted themselves particularly well. High Scoring this Season. An outstanding feature of senior competitions so far is the .high scoring put up by the winning teams. The scores recorded by the winning combinations last Saturday, would make a respectable cricket score) viz., 101, when totalled up, whilst the five losing teams compiled only 6 points amongst them. To dato only two rounds of matches have been played, but the winning teams have compiled 183 points, whilst tho losers have only registered 12 points. This:would 'rppoar to be evidence of the lopsidedness of tho senior competition. Oriental, who put on 35 against Victoria College last Saturday, have scored 59 points in two matches, and none have been scored against them. Poneko have a record of 39 for and 3 against, and the Petone figures are SG for and 6 against. Victoria College have had ■18 points scored against them in tho two opening games. ; The detailed positions of the various

teams are:— . -a d Jj g .. •2 t> o £ +• 2? "° ■ • • fc ? ri R f< <; ri Oriental 2 2 0 0 51) 0 4 Poneke 2 2 0. 0 39 3 i Petono 2 2 0. 0 36 6 4 St. James 2 2 0 0 25 3 4 SoutliorU ...... 2 1 1 0 .10 It 2 Athletic 2 V 1 0 14 11 2 Old Hots 2 0 2 0 « 35 0 AVnlling'ton ... 2 0 2 0 6 34 0 Melroso J 0 2 0 0 i\ 0 Yiclorio College 2 0 2 0 0 48 0