THE CHAMPIONSHIP.

Evening Post, Volume XLI, Issue 139, 15 June 1891, Page 2

THE CHAMPIONSHIP.

Two championship matched wore playod at Newtown ott Saturday afternoon. Tho weather was fino, fttid although n. chargo was mado for admission, tho attendance was lar(<«v botweon 2GQO and 3000 persons being present. Details ot each contest will bo found below. WKLLINGT6# V.- ttSOVE: This match resulted in <h» docisivo defeat of tho Potono mon, much' to ibd surprise ofi everyone, oa tho general imprcwsion wasthat the Wellingtons would only wfo by <a. few jftftnk' Petone kioked off, and* *ftsir some even flap, tho Wellingtons invaded their opponents' Sefritorv. Petono re spondod with a fast rtttfv, and- the ball was carried up to Wellington* 25 line, where Barnett passod to Owen, by wlbm it was transferred to Collins, who finished « grand run by tenoning down noar tho cornor «l the» Potono goal lino. Ho took the kick himfl<!W, and sont tho ball over tho cross bar. About ton minutes after this Spood obtained a pass from Owen, and nearly sucooedod in scoring, being thrown into touch when within a fow yards of tho Potent line. A moment afterwards Collins again obtained possession, and was within an aco of obtaining another fry, Jackson, tho Petone fullback, just grassing bun in tho corner. Some loose play inside tho Potono quarters followed, and from » penalty kick Owen placed a goal. Tho noxt featuro of tho play was a fino dodgy ran by Pfinjjlo, of tho "Potone , team, who relieved bis side by oarrying the ' leather well into'tho field. A rneh, in which Wynyard n<i4 Woods were conspicuous, took i tho ball up to Wellington's 25's, but it was soon down to tho other ond, and Collins ' nearly succooded in rtmnin^r in with it. Speod, however, soored, running right over nea» tbo corner and placing th<* ball betwecs the p6"«t*/ Tho kiok was entrusted to Owen, who surprise* everyone by his inability to oonvert. The stMiil ended soon after. Wellington* 6 points; Pofotto, love. The play in tho second spell was much fnstor than in tho first torni, «n& tho Wellingtons inorcased their ecoro by fivo pointsSoon after the ball had been sot ih motion, O'CohntAly of the Petone team, sotmrsd a> mark, ana JMksou made an inofffletaal attempt to kidlt * goal from it. Tho Potonos mado things lively f«* a. timo, but tho Wolhngtou defenco was to& good, and they woro unablo to score. On the lfne out, *at tho Potono 25's, Forsyth tooktlteb»ll, and dosb'ing over tlio goal line placed another try to tho orcdit of tho Wellingtons. Coekrofb was unablo to oonvort. Not long after this* Speed received possession near tho middle of tho field, and mado a good run, Jackson . bringing him down close to tho Potono goal ' lino. A fast rush by the Potoncs resulted in tho Wellingtons being forced down. Some protty passing between Gordon Elliott, W. Pownall, and Speed took plaoo booh afterwards, and tho lftet-named meuibor of tho Wellington team snooeedod in grounding tho leather behind-Petono's goal fine. The. angle was not all oasy ono, and Collins' attempt was unsuocesofnl/ Just before tho termination of the spell, Owen got over tlie liiw, and tho try waa converted by F. Pownall/ The Potones wore unablo to ecoro, and the match was won by' the Wellingtons by 11 points to lsvo. About the middle of tho second term Jacikfion, of tho Petonosr, was knocked out, and obliged to retire. The Wellingtons played much bettor than in any previous match this season. Owoa wan, without doubt, the moat valuable mun. in the team, his passing and tunning being superb. Collins was novor in bettor fprm> and did splendid work from start to finish. Spoed- showed up .well,' and thoroughly doserved trie place in tho team. Dnvor alio> rendered effective service. Erskino mado a. reliable full back. The best mon in tho forward division wore JPorsytfyCoffeyjCockoroft, and F. Powuall. HUlns did not show up so well as on tho previous Saturday. Those who did tho bost work 'for tbo losors wore, Par"rant(who playod a fine gamc),Daldloisb, Wynyafd; and A. Rob's (backs), and. Hugger, Woods, and Pringlo (forwards), tho first mentioned doing really good service. Tho fast rushes of Vm Petones wero excel-/ lont, but in anything «V<re the lattor wero not equal to the victorious tsiwn. Mr A. D. Thompson offioiffted as roforee, and tho duties of lino umpire* wore discharged by Messrs. K. Duncan And T. M. Wilford. ATHLETIC Y. PONBEE. Thh'« match wu won by tho Athletics, who* hod tho best of the game throughout. After tho kiok-off the Athletic* entered tho Ponoko territory, and ia less than ten minutes tho Ponokos wore forced down. After furthor play,' which was in favour of tho Athletics, Campbell rodeived a pots from Hyland and scored a try, which Eraser (captoiu) was unablo to convert. Malcolm, of tho Atbl«ticß< soourod a mack, near tho Ponoko 25 line, and the ball was placed for i Campboll, who.foiled to plaqo it ovar tlia ' crossbar. Not long after this Loo ciirriod tho leather into tho Athletic territory, and. pa»«fid to Dixon, who was run. into touch when in dangerous proximity to tho Athletic goal lino. Xfroo'kiok' for off-sido tho play was allowed tbo. PonokOß, and Ellison mado an unsuccessful effort to kick a goal. Within, a few moments of tho ond of tho spell Kelly was prevented from touching down, Sep. Tripe, the Athletic full back, (topping him in tho nick of time:' ' In the sooond spell tho Athletics increased their scare by a point, but were noarly over the line on several occasions. Fraaer ran the ball up t» tho Poncke line soon after the kiok off, but dropped it when in the act of grounding it/ AfW momenta after this tho Ponekes got & rush on, and tbo ball boing kioked rather Laid it ran np thei bank. Tho Athletics wero fotcod down, again soon after, as the result of a long kick. AbouJ. tho middle of the term tho Athletics, made their way into their opponents* quarters, and Severne was about to touch down when he lost possession of tho ball. Bymonß, however, picked it up and soorod aS', which Hyland wm not able to convert, c play in the last fire minutes was exciting. Tho Ponskes made deiperato effort* to Bcoro, and the Athletics had more than one narrow escape. Leo was nearly over their line twice, and a pot which ho took at the goal was almost a success. For some moments before' the match ended tbo play was in favour of the Athletics, who won by two points to love. i The Athletics excelled in all departments of the game, and it was only on one or two occasions that the Ponokee showed anything liko their old form. The most conspicuous, of tho .victorious, forwards wexe Johnston. Sovorno, Mftloohn. Highland, Campbell, and. M'Keo; those who did best in tho back, division being Doolan, SmithJFrasoff Baker, and Tripe,, tho last Darned playing bettor than in any previous match this season. SUiarVMoffat, Beck, and Do Lonn woro tho pick of tlK>'Poneke forwards; Caradors, Dixon, Ellison, and Sim, doing tho best work among.the backs. The referee wa»Mr. C. Richardson, Messrs. E. Davy and J. J. Reich acting as touch-line umpires, • juniob cup. Th« Orientals wero defeated «t Island Bay »» Saturday by tho first.fiftoOT of St. Patrick's 1 College by 5 points to 1. Harming, Fay, and Jones, touched down for tho victors, and ono of the triea was convortod. Bolt touched down for the Orientals. Thosff who played beßt for the victors were Jones, Fay, fanning, and Ward (backs), Henley, Harper, Coonoy, and Ptbndcrgast (forwards). Hood, Rood, Gormloy.and Drfecoll (backs), Bolt, Palmer, Page, and Eawsoa (forwards), were the piok of the Orientals. Tho Athletic second suffered anotkec.defeat at Island Bay on Saturday, the Melioso Beoond defeating them by eight points to> three. Tries for the winners were eocured by Condor, Lingard, Biddle, and Twomey, and two wero converted by Laughton. T. Cooper touched down for the Athletics, and converted the try himself. Lingard, Grant, Twttffmy, and Boon (backs), Biddle, Higgins, Laughtoft,'and-Kirk Wood (forwards) wore , the most serriosabla men on the victorious side. Cooper, B*»ger, Smith, and Porter I (backs), Moore, LlDgley, Ellin, and Beck (forwards) doing best amongst the loiern. The Pioneer first' were defeated at the Hutt on Saturday afternoon by the Petone second by three points to two. . M'Nale (2) and Gould touched down for tha , tho victors. Duncan and Bernasconi touched ! down for the Pioneei«. A protest is to be I entered by the Pioneers, to tbo ground that ono of the Petone tries tra» obtained after titn»< M'Nab, Walsh, Keenan, and Jackson (bmke), Goulds Sherry, King, and Edwards (ftttwards) played well for the .winners. White* Jones, Bornuewni, and Duncan (backs), Murray. Bourke, Page and Martin (forwards) weretbeboston tho other side. THIRD-CLARS OHAKFIOKSHIP. Wellington College defeated tho Pioneers by 8 points to I.'- Bee touched down for tho victors and potted ft goal. Mackay (2) and Duthio secured tries,- and one was converted by Dnncan. VftlUttf tonched down for the. Pioneers. The Selwyns were d*(**ted by tho Melroso on Saturday by C potn*» to love. Cox and A. Church each scored * try, and both wore'converted by Warner. Petones won by default from .-he Wellingtons, and the Ponekes from tho Kiwes. , EVANS*. BALL. The Thorndon-Carlton match was postponed, a ball not being available. The College team did not put in an appearance, and the Albions won by default., FONEKX BALL. Newtown School defeated Te Aro School by 4 points to 3. Swiney, for the viotors, touched down, and Blow also potted a goal. M'Kenzie potted a goal for tho losers. MISCELLANEOUS. Mount Cook School wero defeated by tLo Wellington College juniors on Saturday by 4 points.to love. Gray and Morrah touched down for the winners, and one of the tries was oonVerted by the former. Neither side scored in the match Diamond v. Rival. The 'Diamond second defeated the Rival second by 4 points to 2. The winners touched down twice, and one of tha tries was converted by L. Holdsworth.- Two tries on the other side were obtained by White. The trial game under Association rule* on the Melrose paddook on Saturday rosulted in a draw, each side securing ono goal. The scorers were —For tho A team, Valentine ; and the B team, Leslie. The following team was selected immediately after the game to play against Canterbury next Saturday on Newtown Parkt —Goal, L. Brown; full-backs, Day and Johnßton; half-backs, Izard, Shields, and Henderson; forwards, Valentine, Stewart, Leslie, Cuthbert,andFergnsson. The team, which is a strong one, will meet to-night, forthe purpose of electing a captain. Although the Union decided a few days ago to insist on all championship matches being started punctually, it was nearly half past 3 before the contests at Newtown on Saturday were begun. The consequence of such a late Btart was that for the last ten or fifteen minutes the men were playing in a very unoertain light. The system of touch-lino umpires was tried in both the championship matches on.