FOOTBALL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 72, 28 March 1910, Page 2

FOOTBALL.

EASTER GAMES. - Easter usually affords a sort of prelude to the football season in a variety of inter -club matches. Town teams take the opportunity of visiting the country and country teams came to town. There were a number of such matches played on Saturday. At the Athletic Park St. James's met a visiting team, ihe Pirates, from Napier. The wind made play difficult and unsatisfactory. St. James won by 14 points to 6. St. James also sent a team to New Ply-mouth-to meet Stars. The visitors suffered defeat by 17 points to nil. Selwyn were represented in a match with Old Boys, of Palmerston North, and succeeded in winning by 15 points to 6. Pjjneke met Albion at Lancaster Park, Christchurch, in their annual match, and were defeated by 23 points, a goal from a try and six tries, to nil, after an uninteresting game. A team representing the Stars, of Greymouth, is touring during the week the North Island .as far as Palmerston North. They play at Otaki to-day and at Palmerston on Wednesday. On Saturday they are to meet Melrose here, if arrangements can be made with the Union Company to delay the Arahura. The touring team is as follows :—Fullback, F. M'Carthy; three-quarters. Newlands, Wilson, M'Girrj five eighths, Hall and Nelson; half, M'Pherson ; wing, Sotheran: forwards, Smith, Kettlety, Beban, Steele, Pring, Parfitt, and M'lntosh. Sotheran, the captain of the team, was a South Island representative in the North v. South match. REFEREES ENTERTAINED. The visitmg delegates to the annual conference of the New Zealand Referees' Association were entertained at dinner at the New Zealander Hotel on Saturday night by the local branch of the association. Toasts of "The Visitors," "New Zealand Rugby Union," "New Zealand Referees' Association," a . nd ,, "Wellington Referees' Association" were honoured. Musical items were contributed by Messrs. D. Twohill, Hobday, Wilson, Hendrv, and Sievers. PONEKE DEFEATED BY ALBION. (CHRISTCHURCH). [BI TELEGRAPH — PBES3 ASSOCIATION.] CHRISTCHURCH, 27th March. The annual match between Albion and Poneke (Wellington) was_-played at Lancaster Park this afternoon. The weather was fine, but the nor'-wester which was blowing made it much too warm for such a vigorous pastime as football, and as most of the players were not properly trained the heat told on them as theafternoon wore on. The ground was also very hard, and totally unfit to play on, and the> display of football was not first-class. Albion won by 23 points (a goal from a try and six tries) to nothing.