Football. RUGBY NOTES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 144, 19 June 1909, Page 14

Football. RUGBY NOTES.

ijt? By "DTopkick." Old 'Boys wer# in poor form last Saturday, and when the gaiao was half over they seemed likely- to succumb to Southern; but they shaped better in the (second spell, and eventually won out by a good margin. Probably they were a bit weary in the first 6pell as a result of the strain imposed upon them on the previous Eatnrday, when they defeated Oriental by means of superior forward play. 'By the way, I notioed last Saturday that "Harry Stopperless" pattbd himself on the back for having prophesied the result when he said that "any team would defeat Oriental that engaged their forwards, and gripped their backs joint by joint, and in that manner drew their stwg " He goes on, eententiously, , "That is what Old Boys did; and we all know the result." As a matter of fact, (.he joints were gripped and the stings withdrawn when the Oriental executive decided to give Fred Roberts and .Mathefioij <v spell on the occasion of that match, and the joyoos ululations of Harry over what he calls the vindication of his theory are ludicrously out of place and altogether unjastifiea With these two players excluded from the Oriental back line, that olub's fifteen was as ineffective as the "Aristobulns" column would oe if only "'Harry Stopperless" went out Lo represent it. The Oriental defeat only proves that Old 'Boys' forwards are a n&sful lot, and Harryfs attempt to distort' the achievement into a vindication of his rhapsodical imagining are grotesquely illogical. It is time for him f o begin to give us some facts about the ball, and not fiction about "brindle," with commoiusense comment about good play instead of recondite allnsions to what Nppoleon said at the lakes of Killarney (or somewhere eke) when he told the trumpeters to blow. In those days the blowing was confined to trnmpeterß-, who blew for their commanders ; but to-day there aro trumpeters whose blowing is all for themselves. Southern's showing in last Saturday's game was of a quality to give promise that they will put up some excellent games, before the season ends. Their forwards are becoming experts in packed work, and there arc one or two of them who are really "ni-ny" in the open. An interesting sidelight on the general matters of open and close was thrown from the side line where "Dropkick" stood. "Too much packed work with your fellows, Hogan," remarked a by-ctancler lo the Southern team's coach ; "its this packed work that kills interest in football." "Football is played For the good of players' health, not to entertain the look«rs-oni" was Mick's reply. • •Leahy, Houlihan, and the -three Campbell* were all doing good work in SouMiarn'e pack, the hooking of the first-named pair being almost uniformly | succes«ful, Taylor, a promoted fourth-class nlayer, made his debut as a senior at half-back for Southern, and shaped in a nice style. i Galloway i* showing improved form in | the ( three-quHrter line, and it was notice-. I able' that Rkhard«on, the full-back, mani aged to "find the line" twice with his kicks. He snould aim at reaching a j point doeer to him when kicking, and in that caae his forward* would be less likely to ba ran «ff their legs fchmi they are at present. The Old Boyi' baoks had a regrettable capacity for failing to teke passes. , Thompton played most consistently, but I in tke matter of brilliancy Poole was out- ; standing. Hi« ran from end to- end of the field was a pleasing spectacle. Picot wa* prominent at times, notably on the occasion when he gave Poole the pass j which enabled him to 6core his brillrant I | try. Drake and Avery were Old Boys' ' ! most prominent forwards. / | The match was controlled by Mr. W. i Mahony, who was making his first ap- j pearanco as a senior referee. He did | very well, though ho made a couple of i pardonable mistakes. When he was ' some distance away he failed to see a pass forward which Avery secured when J he scored a try, and later on when Southern took a free kick at goal,- within easy range, he omitted to order "no charge " after . Old Boys had charged ' the kick before \ the place kicker had moved. On the other hand, he showed a capacity for quick and accurate decision on several occasions, and there is ' good prospect of his doing very good I service as a 'senior referee in the future. The game— Athletic v. St. James — at Lower Hutt did not come up to expectations. Everything was in favour of a fast, open game : the teams had the reputation of possessing a lot of pace, 'the ground was in excellent order, while the sim and wind, too, were enjoying ! a haK-holiday. Yet, with all the favouring conditions, the game as it was played i vtas close and hard enough, v but never' pretty. All day \ the forwards predominated, and practically all day the backs got little chance to break up the game. Behind the vanguard the St. James backs took preference over their similarly situated rivals. Crewes plaj-ed with hardly so much dash as usual, and Thomas was not the Thomas one has seen in cool and safe manoeuvres. His I play lacked vigour and vivacity on Saturclay, and more than once he, failed to fully appi-eciate the situation. Usually such a fine line kick, the St. James fullback screwed -the ball too much, gaining' but small advantage thereby. Teddy and Harry Roberts took all the risks, and played dashing football. Well through the, second spell the first-named : picked up well back from half-way, and' threaded a crowd of clawing tacklers successfully before he transferred to his brother, who presented the ball to M',Grath to do what he could with it. j At this stage a bunch of Blues sat down on M'Grath and the ball determinedly, and the brave endeavour petered out. M'Grath, a wing three-quarter, played\ above himself in a convincing 'manner. ' In the second spell, when the Reds wero fighting for life in their own twenty-five ' for so long, M'Grath, with his clean handling and dash, turned tho besiegers back time and again. Baumgart assisted industriously. In the St. James pack Bruce, V^right, ! and Tyler worked heroically. Up against ' a strong pack of weighty forwards these ' three quite outshone their comrades, and j the first-named — until he bumped his j right eye against a hard head, with disastroi.l6 results to the eye — was easily the first on the field. His weight in the i pack and his dash in the loose made him a " head-liner." Tyler put up one of his I best gamea^ while Wright was seldom off | the ball. On the day's play, Athletic perhaps deserved honours by a narrow margin. The pack never coased trying, and in the second spell literally pushed tho red vangsard back by sheer battling. Ready, whose condition belies his looks, mark- , edly demonstrated bis weight and general i knowledge of what is required of a forward. '"Ranji" Wilson, though well | marked, did a lot of successful work a^t the thro\vin, and generally performed up to his reputation. In a Red rush (headed by Teddy Roberts) towards the ■end he came out of a crush with -x hurt ankle, and for the remaining few minutes watched the play, so far as the descended dusk would permit. Another forward, Osborne, received a severe kick, and had to retire aiter half-time, n tubstifetite going -»nt. Mowafet, on the wing, was not safe, added to wiich hfe was slow. Organ was not the least successful, while M'Kenzie and Richardson grafted earnestly. Rapson, too, was always prominent" in attack. Sim Wilson, thoagh he did not have over much to do,

especially after the interval, did not tak the oyo. A minuto or two beforo tin bell, in a broken rush in St. Jame twenty-five, he was within an ace o distinguishing himself, but younj Roberts, arriving at tho psychologica moment/ dumped him out almost on th< corner. • It was a near tiling. The place kicking of both sides wai but poor, and numerous, infringement; occurred within moderately easy anc clcse shooting distances, but no one fotm< the bar. Thomas, Qrewes. -(St. James) | and the two Wilsons- (Athletic) all mull ed reasonable chances. There many scrums, all fairly even as regard; ,the ogre6s of the ball. In the crush ii the loose there appeared to be too mucr wild kicking and rooting, to the iinmin ent danger of any ill-advised and vi* thinking combatant who went down either ironi compulsion (or propulsion^ or in a dive for the balL Spectators at the Athletic Park wen lucky in having two good matches te watch last Saturday. Perhaps "lucky' 1 is hardly the word — as nothing is hardei than to keep one's eyes on two games at once. It is a sort of ernbarrassinenl of riches, and is apt to cause a headache. Still, the games were reapectabie — it was a choice of two good things not two evils. There was, however-, more interest in the Melrose-Oriental, principally because Oriental had jus( suffered a defeat by a team then at th« bottom of the ladder, but now coming up nicely with an extra match to play. Melrose put up about the best faghl they have done this season. t Their forwards were something like the Old Brigade, and their backs in the attack were quite up to any previous Melroae rearguard. Beavisi Greeks, Pooley, Marshall, and Twomey were distinctly ao improvement— on Melrose records bahind the scrum. The full back is still! however, a very weak spot Ryder waa not good, and Myers, the new man, wm little better. Oh, for old George Spencer, with his mighty lacks, one can imagine the weary ?«6lrosa forwards saying. Spencer used to save them a deal of haid, hard graft by his long linofinders. There was uot so much ohasing up and down the field then. There 1s no kick like S-pencer/s to be seen in Wellington football to-day. Vercoe eoifies, nearest. Oriental had the worst of the first spell. It was not until the Melrose forwards had lost ' a little of their ardour by the exertions of the first half that "the machine" began to work with its usual precision. The starting try was particularly good. Play was over by fche touch line within Melroae quarter. A scrum wa* formed about ten yards away from the line. Ma.tb.eson was waiting here on the 'blind side, a good six yards from the scrum. Oriental got the ball ; it came ont cleanly — Roberts slurtg it out to Matheson — a long . pass, but just the bhdng. The wing throe-quarter "wa« away at once, and passed two or three opponents, when he was compelled to give up possession. Tyrrell was bamdy, took the ball, xind scored. It was v«ry , pretty, and, withal, a clever piece of football tactics. If Oriental are-' in form, they should win next Saturday. Petone played an improved j^me with the altered team they put 'oil the field against Wellington. Macfarlane is a decided acquisition. So also is Millar. The subnrban team were not taxed to their utmost powers, but still the game was by no means a wholly one-sided affair. Two more evenly-matched packs of forwards it would be hai-d to discover. The ball went in cleanly and was cleanly hooked by one side or the other. The forward work was a distinct feature of the match, and ono would not like to hazard an opinion as to which was the best pack. i Another point about the game was thu play of Green, who really excelled hhnI self in seizing opportunities. An argument in favour of potting coidd be. drawn also from the fine angle-dropped goal, which came from Bridge's toe. Harold Elliott, who was one of Athletics "hookers" until a few weeks ago, is playing with Ponsonby Club, Auckland, as front rank man. He receives special mention in the reports of last week's match on account of a good run he made, and also for his clever front rank work. Dear old Ann, dispenser of football wisdom, has been at it again. She has delivered herself of a long tirade against latter-day football and latter-day critics, to the accompaniment of selections from Napoleon and other football writers. Hence these tears ! Oh, Aunty Ann, Who, in the sanotum of your boudoir, Your notes indite The livelong night. Whatever makea you so intrude war ? Oh, Ann, How can A gentle spinster be so chronic A devotee of force, Nay, have you no r&morse For all those bits Napoleonic? Fie, Aunty Ann, Those games of football in your nonage That you have been — They must have boen Some crusty relics of the stone age. Oh, Ann. How can You on your nightly lucubration Forget that leathern ball, That mufet ba after all The subject of consideration? The amended rules as to passing from the ground and throwing in at least five yards, passed by the Auckland Rugby Union, and tried in recent matches hove, it is reported, bren well received. There is nothing like the same chorus of approval over referoes' putting tho ball m the scrum every time. W. H. H. Thompson, a Scotch international forward, who played against the South Africans in 1906, has become a member of the City Club at Auckland. Says the Athletic News of 9th April, 19CW: — "The rumour is prevalent in English Union circles that Neafch and Ponlypridd would next season play under the profession code in Sonth Wales. Possibly such egorts of ■: a lively imagination — for the reports, as we suggested, were fake — are designied to afford encouragement to English clubs, but so far as Wales is concerned lhe Northern Union committee cannot i pv>ssibly find any encouragement in the ! p.vospects. Threherbert, Mid-Rhondda, j AA>erdare, and Barry have proved ignomdViious failures in the playing and iiftnneial senses, " and the latter strolse alone appealed to Che founders. The four are more likely to finish, with the season than to continue thereafter, and dhey will have existed only to have served as an object lesson to uwiividuals who vainly imagined there was l\eaps of money in running a football vcllub. Merthyr and Ebbw Vale remain vtVo play weekly throughout the settson f<Vi; the Welsh championship^ or to be encumbrances to the English clubs. Merthyr have also the opposition of a strong \Sy>ccer club, in possession of the best anU' most accessible ground in the town, lit there be any consolation or erwoura^pment to be extracted from these unyiarnished facts, then bur professional fiends are welcome to them," A Levim correspondent writes :—During the championship match last Saturday between"} Levin and Hui Mai (Manakau), which was won by the latter club after a fast and strenuous game — 26 to 19 — a feat Mjvas performed by Walter Wmiata (L&vjn) which, I think, constitutes a record. From fchree consecutive penalty M\dis he landed three goals, and a fourth penalty just failed to rea;ch the bar. Two ivf the goals were kicked from difficult angles, one especially so, being a few yari^s from half-way, right on tho touch-litae. In the same game Jasper Auder3oni'(Hu' Mai) poUed two most difficult, goal's fxom ,the field.

c ASSOCIATION. 0 — ~ s (By "Vanguard.") f Another turn of the battle for cham5 pionship honours has placed Diamonds, 1 £.M.C.A., and Swifts on an equality s for first place. All of these teams have shown a tolerable mastery of' the arts s and practice of the game, the two firsts named in a highly creditable degree. 1 The writer was one of a crowd of sev1 eral hundred who watched with the i keenest interest last Saturday's struggle - between V.M.C.A. and Diamonds at 3 the Basin Reserve, and he inclines to s the -view that the scoring is not an ac1 curate measure of the relative strength * of the teams. To V.M.C.A. may be ' conceded a superiority in taking ad- " vanfcago o f every opportunity, in initi- » atdng bold forward movements, in splen- ) did, original, and clever play generally. Diamonds, in tho first half, more than * m the "cone?, when a "staling pro- ) cess war at times noticeable in tho V.M O.A. ranbi, seemed to have lost : mnch of their usual dash and fire. The 1 sting was out of their shooting, and it ' was not till the latter part of the game, after Reddy had saved them from im1 pending disaster, that they re-asserted 1 Miemselveß. Some brilliant play on the ' part of their forwards ensued, but fche ; defence of t)he Young Men was too ' sound. The issue of tho championship * contests is a "far-off even*" yet, and it > seems idle,' in view of tho present records of the leaders, to speculate. Di&- ' monds — the bright, dashing, brilliant combination, when seep at their best — have shown themselves to be superior 1 to many a foe, but they were by no | means superior to V.M.C.A. 'on last " I Saturday's play. Between these two, in 1 my judgmept, the ultimate issuo lies. ', It was a ding-dong go from the start ' to the finish and a draw was a fitting 1 result. . Fitzgerald, the Diamond's keep- ' er, had quite a busy time, especially during the 'first spell. The Y.M. forwards giving him many anxious moi ments. Ho acquitted himself weii, say- j L ing many tieklkh shots. He had no j chance whatever with Timperley's shot, which travelled at lightning speed out of hi* reach. He waa vr«U protected by J ' his backs, especially Roberts, who played his usual strong eaie game. Everend was rash at times, and often during fche ' t first epell he- waa left by Phillippa and • Norman. He was much better m th« ' second half, but th«n the opposition had lost a good deal of its "go." The halrea '. were good, but not brilliant, with Tay- , i lor slightly ahead, 'lhe centie-hal'f pufca I in a pow«r ot work both with feet and I head. ' He had a tough player to tackle , in Gibson, who led him a pretty dance. The left-half had an easy , journey during the eeoood spell, but he waa un- . able to hold Norman at first. The right half put in as strenuous an afternoon's work as he has don« for a long time. I The left wing of the Y.M. gave him no , rest, but he came through the ordeal • well, lhe forwards were rather a mix- , • ture. Reddy at ouieide-left was good. He pat in some neat combination with his .partner and the centre, especially during the eecend half. One could not heip but admire the head work of theae three. Time and again they had the Y.M. defence in difeculty. Ihey wero lespor-sible for the equalising goal. Ths i rig&t wing wai not strengthened by ! the inclusion of Thorley, on the outside. His idea of forward play wa* crude. He seems t» be unable t© overcome his nabit of getting-at-the-man leaving the ball. That i» not a forward gamo. His , partner suffered through Tkoiley's game. i _ The Y.M. forward*, daring the openj ing bont, wore really good. They waeted j no time en "fifleaae," but by concerted j play rep*at»dljr had toe Diamonds in j dirhaulties. Gibson, in. centre, and TimI perley, at inside-left, were in a class by themselves. The understanding bebween these two was perfect, as witness the unselfish pass of Gibaon to his inside left, which resulted in a fine goal j Trmperley took it on the run and flashed it past f itzgerald. It waa an excellent piece of work. Kingwell plays a hard, fo-ahead game, and he receives every elp from his partner. The outside man got a heavy cherge in the first spell, and c evidently felt its effect afterwards, as quits often Timparley put the ball , out to where Kingwell should have bean, but fourd he waa not there. The right wing, after starting well, fell awiy in the second half. Phillips seamed to lose ( his nerve ,a little Norman was put out of ioint owing to his partner's breakdown. The haly«« wero all good, with Gibson slightly ahead. He put in a power of work in his own quiet way Irvine, until rendered hors-de-combat through a severe knock, was always m the thick of it. Wilby aeemed a little .nervous at Iho bsginnmg, but warmed up to his work afterwards. A little practice on tho part of the halves in the art of placing would be of good service to them. P«ttit, at left-back, was. safe and ewe. He kicke strongly and tackles wall. He is alway* on the alert. Dyke, at righfc, was a little uncertain, and often bo rushed in either too 'ate or too soon. He, however, puts his whole heart into the game, and that, a-fter all, is the principal' point. There was a loud appeal ior a penalty against him towards the close of the game, but the referee rightly turned a deaf ear to it. It must be understood that it ia only the intentional breach of the law that is punished. Dykes, in goal, played well, ins height standing him in good stead. The goal that was registered against him waa rushed through; he had no chance to 6ave it. Mr. Salmon controlled the gamfe very well. He had occasion to warn a Diamond playw for an ungentleraanly and uncalled-for remark. The match St. John'i against Thistle, at Newtown Park, was very fast throughout, and towards the end of the game, when Thistle wo.ro -trying fca equalise, there were some very exciting moments. St. John's wero playing without tho aid of Ferguson, their inside left, and their combination evidently i suffered through this. Phillips, who * j £ h * vaeancr » played with plenty of dash ; but spoiled some good chances by over-kicking. Moore, on left wing, was decidedly disappointing, his play being half-hearted, and his centreing erratic. He has gone off considerably in. the last few© marches. Schofield was a little off colour, but headed come useful dashes to the Thistle goal; A. Johnstone and Trevethiek combined well on the right wing, the former getting in some really pretby work, and ftie latter playing good foofebadl from start to finish. There was Kttl« to choose between Shaw and Johnetone in the half-line. Shaw was slightly incapacitated by rather a severe collision with one of his own side in the early stages of the game, but looked weil after rather a speedy "winger," and stopped some dan- i geroua attacks of the opposing vanguard. , Johnatone played bis best game I this season, and was espe«ially good oa : defence. He worked weil in the second ' half, and cleared on« or towo high cornera. The team is fortunate in naving such a sterling pair of backs as Cross ■ and Lindley. These players are a toWer ■ of strength on defence, and are well i seconded in goal by Martin, who plays I cleverly and kicks with decision. j ' St. John's met Mavist Old Boys on 1 Miramar No. 1, and a very fast,, open \ game resulted in a draw—one goal each, j St. John' 8, playing only nine men, drew first blood, a- fine shot by Downes giv- ] ing tho goalkeeper no chance. Later on i another player turned up, bat St. John'a i were still without the services of War- I ncr, the inside right. In the second 5 spell Eglay badly miskicked at a roll- ' ing ball, and from the ensuing scramble ] Dwyer equalised for the Marist Brothers, i From this out both teams made strenu- j ou3 efforts to score, St. John's having,- , agyihiug, the better, of tbA play, but] ]

the shooting was very erratic, some good chances being lost. The Marist team -played a much better game than they j have been doing lately, but St. John' 6 one-back game upset their for- | wards' calculations considerably. The goalkeeper played a fine defensive game, and the outside left put in some fine runs, and should be "fed" more. St. John's forwards "were somewhat off their game, Downes being the beat. Dick was inclined to get back into the half-line, and should lay farther downfield. Yuill played a sound game at full-back, and in the half-line Diamond Stratton worked hard. Bowden was' rather inclined to wander into the centre, but otherwise was safe. Both teams should show up bettor in the Challenge Clip matches. Stratton ha 6 been transferred to Nelson, and St. John's will find his place hard to fill. St. John's have not played the same team for two Saturdays this . season, and have a different combination again to-day. Small wonder, then, if they lack combination. The wonder is that they~Kave done so well. That the general public is taking a keeneT interest in the Association game was evidenced by the record attendance at the Basin Reserve last Saturday. Several hundreds of spectators lined the field on three sides, and followed the play with the liveliest appreciation. This must be considered most gratifying, and it augurs well 'for representative matches in the near future. Popularity with the general public is coming slowly to the fame, bat surely, and it will not be long efore fche spirit that "soccer" inspires in English crowds will enter among our own football enthusiasts. The exposition of tho gamo was well worthy the attention of last Saturday's crowd. From the interest shown by the boys in their matches, a gnnat future is in store for the gamo. The writer witnessed the South Wellington and .Boys' Institute game at Newtown Park, and it was quite refreshing to nee tbn r|p a n kicking of the backs m lioi.li sides. A very light boy on the Institute side has already learnt the art of dribbling; in fche second half he was played at fullback, and met the ball like an experienced player. Both teams had their j coaches on the ground, and deserve every credit for the enthusiasm they aro working up amongst the youngsters. An experienced player would advise the boys to use either foot, for a one-footed soccer player is never I any good. ' The selectors have got together a very fair team for the Palmerston ' North trip. On papoi it looks a stronger combination than that which beat Canter- j bury. Thistle is represented by Phil- | lips, centre-forward, who generally gets ' a goal, and Cummings and Birss, who ' have been playing consistently in the ! middle lino. Diamonds hare four in- ! elusions. Overend has been playing just I about as well as his club partner, Peter ' while Barnett will make up a good half- I r£" J \, Reddy and A - Lowe ' on the left, will want a good Manawatu half to tackle them. Ramblers have M'Lean to uphold their honour in-goal, and he played a great game last Saturday. Saunders, of Swifts, is a capital forward who will have a second division Mental Hospital player in Elliott as a mate, and great things are expected to come from this wing. Jardine, of the Wanderers,. is the other full-back, with plenty of height and plenty of strength in his racking. The team, as composed, ought to provia« somo good fare for visitors to the peat agricultural show, and the visit in bringing tho game before tho public ' m this important island town should I go a long way towards popularising our ! cods id this district.