FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1192, 29 July 1911, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

RUUBY. [Br Aristodulus.l Oriental Rather Disappointing. ■Wellington gave Oriental a very much bolter run at Jliraiuar than anyone expected. In that respect the. encounter wns rather pleasing, for Oriental are near the top of (lid championship ladder ami Wellington near the bottom. The disappointment of Ihn gamp was thai the Oriental backs were not seen in any spectacular display. With Iheir lino rear division (lie Black and Whiles have given some delightful entertainments when opposed to teams not strong enough to prevent them having their fling. It was such an entertainment that was looked for on Saturday. The excuse which immediately comes from the average Wellingtania'n is , that the "Ories." are not the real "Orics." without Roberts behind Hie scrum. The excuse does not clear up everything.

Lambert's Good Football. Wellington saved themselves a lot of trouble by playing close and hard on their opponents - . Little, who played half for Oriental, frequently evaded tho Wellington forwards, but made small use of his chances, and his delay in sending the leather on to Iho rest of the backs, assisted Wellington to paralyse Oriental's movements. Another thing which helped Wellington tremendously was tho excellent line-kicking of Lambert'. Lambert is one oT Wellington's most promising players, and, though he has , usually been teen in the three-quarter line, he shaped splendidly at full-back on Saturday. But while Wellington ployed what was (for them) a credit-able game, they still need to perform a little more iko a football team to convince anyone • that they are playing Rugby. It is greatly believed that, for whatever improvement there is in tho team, most of the credit is due to the trainer. The trainer has a good deal to do yet before ho can hand the contract over as finished and lake the cup as payment for the job. Probably, before ho reaches that stage, he will need some new material. A few new players—about fifteenwould do. Why not advertise? Wasted Energy.

F. Roberts appeared as full-back for Oriental. His unconventionality was rather a breach of etiquette. Uβ did not do the things which full-backs usually do, and, whilo his tactics were usually effective, they were also amusing for the ease with which ho tackled the Wcllingtonjans. However, he was not as much at home as .he. would have been if in the thick of the work. No man worked harder from kick-off to no-side than il'jjcan. The head bound up in ear-guards was to be seen in the van all the time. The two tries which he scored were not the result of waitin." for chances, but of being in the lead all cue atternoon., An Oriental back who left a lot • of energy on the field and did not fake away many laurels in its stead was Little, who played half. , Little danced and performed and dodged and evaded llroiignout ■ the- game, and, when he left the field had not a single result to show for it all. li LHWe has so much energy to expend he ought to devote a small portion of it towards doing something in his team s interests, and not waste it all in aimless trickery.

At Petone-Dark, and No Searchlight. Tho -dispute which arose in darkness and, rain at Petone on Saturday followed as an almost direct result upon "the breakdown of an old wheezy ; engine, which Miould bo retired on superannuation if it cannot hang out reliably for a nine-mile journey. Disputes are as undesirable upon the football field as anywhere, and it follows that it would be an excellent thing if somebody could bo induced to supply suburban trains with , good engines. As to the dispute between Melrose and Poneko there is little to Iμ said except that probably very littlo harm has been .done. To the uninstructod outsider it seemed a foolish thing to continue, play under the conditions that ruled in the closing phase of the Poneke--Uelroso match. An onlooker could scarcely hold an opinion as to the point in dispute—whether or not a Poneke man was driven over the line—unless ho had been on or about tho spot with a searchlight when the alleged run-out occurred. As no one had the forethought to make this preparation, the parties concerned must be left to settle the matter among themselves. Probably, as the result of tho match is not in question, it would be wisest to drop tho whole thing and forget it.

Melrose Good and Poneke Better. Before darkness descended the contest was ono worth watching. Both teams worked hard. Poneke were obviously the cleverer combination, but Melrose made up a good deal of leeway by untiring vigour and vigilanoe. Their tackling was splendid, and got them out of many scrapes. ,In massed foot-work the forwards performed wonders, but, in open play, Molroso were manifestly outclassed. Tilyard. working behind the scrum, pot his back 9 away time aiid again. H. Marshall (working just about as well in the capacity of half for Melrose), was feediiig a much less able rearguard. Molro<=o have any amount to learn about open play. As a matter of fact, tho team tends to gather in a cluster on slight provocation, or none at all, and it does not always pay. In the concerted Melrose forward attacks, which were the crowning feature of the opening spell. A. Gilchrist played a prominent part. In all respects he was tho best forward on the field—good in open work as well as in tight crushes. TTis fielding was excellent, and ono or two marks, .neatly taken, gave his team welcome relief at critical moments.

Poneke played with a certain lack of combination in the opening spell, though individual dashes—mostly frustrated by (rood Melrose tackling—were numerous. In the second spell the team stiffened up perceptibly, anil settled down to business in a workmanlike way, that told inevitably on tho plucky but never brilliant losers. Southern Extend St. James. Tho outstanding features of tho St. James-Southern match last Saturday were the excellent all-round work of the Southern men and tho vigour which characterised I'ho second spell. At the beginning of the season when commenting on the various teams which could well bo classed as superior juniors, Southern came within the ban, but by their strict attention to training thus club has detached itself from the ruck, and although dill not in the first flight, showed, by Saturday's play, that this season, at nnyrate, Southern is ii' force to be reckoned with. Outside of Bradley and Los Campbell there aro no stars in the Southern ranks, but , tho team is a young, vigorous combination buoyed up by a-great fund of enthusiasm. Bradley played a really fine game in view of the close watch kept on him by his opponents. One of the piettiest things ho did was Wie breaking up of a St'. James passing rush. Out' of four men who handled tho ball in the rush in 'question Bradley tackled threeone after another in quick succession— and ho was practically instrumental in forcing the fourth into touch. It was a really magnificent effort. Campbell played a rattling game on tho wing, but received several knocks in his forceful charges which had the. effect of steadying him immediately. Mis pocular style of collaring a man he was charging was particularly effective. A strong arm would sweep on I like a scythe as tho Southerner dashed along and the opponent's legs that fouled that arm left Mother Earth, and the opponent invariably fell. Another Southern man who gave promise of good things if ho had half a chiinco was Parker.

The bright and particular stars in the St. James rearguard wero tho Roberts Bros. 11. Roberts showed up in some really dashing attacking work and liis defence was also very sound. .10. Roberts, at half, was a power in defence and had a knack of alway.s being in the right place at the. right time.

The 1>0.4 forward on tho field was undoubtedly iUolHtl. who nt, times burst through (he Southern men like an engine and at all t.imes was in the thick of the fray. His line-out, was a. treat. On present from there is probably not. a better forward in Wellington Mian the big St. .lames man. l)u iilois appeared to be carrying a couple of stone over-weight, but nevertheless lumbered effectively through the opposition on niauy occasions. The frequency of. these lumberings in

tho second half demonstrated that the big man is in bettor form than he looks. Wright and Hills also showed up prDjniuentlv iu the St. James van.

Low-Standard Football. It is not an elevating spectacle on the football field to see a bic heavy forward pick up tho lightest back on the other tide—a. third-class substitute by the way— and dump him down mercilcVsly on (lie back of his neck. Yet this was t'he. proud achievement of a particularly burly Athletic player on Saturday, :\nd it scorned more by good luck than anything else that tho little Victorian Collegian's neck was not broken. It was not football, end it was not characteristic of Alliletic's usually clean play.

College are now regularly relegated to (he back-blocks—Mirnmnr and Kiirori. 'Tis sad, but fitting. They make no effort apparently to gain their lost laurels. Do Collegians never dream of a great and glorious match with mighty outburst «f plaudits from . thousands of throats, and tho green jerseys aflashing down the field for College's last sensational try? Collego have no imagination, and ■Uα ambition. They've got the. men, but not the grit to get to business.

After fifteen minutes' battle on Saturday their countenances were salmon-pink, and their breaths as gusty as the puffs of a fleet of motor launches in a race. Now and again they rallied, but want of knowledge of the finer points of tho game and staying power, never made them really biting. .

Curtayne and Brosnan in tho forwards, and Fair, Poananp (a great liattler), and O'Shea—a promising, straight-running substitute in tho backs—were about the pick.

Athletic were not extended, though nineteen points stood to their credit. On the day's.play "Ranji" Wilson shono out above everything else on the field. His dash is superb. He shoots out now and then for a goal like the tongue of a chameleon for a fly. Athletic could have put up twenty more points had they had their full team, and tried hard. 'Their back p!ay, by the way, has no sting in iteach three-quarter is so obviously obvious in his passing methods, when an attack is on, that spectators might just as well be watching set army manoeuvres. Captain "Ranji" should go full-back for a time, watch them, and suggest things.