FOOTBALL BEGINS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 95, 22 April 1912, Page 3

FOOTBALL BEGINS.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES. SUBSTANTIAL SCORING. Petonc (8) v. Poneke (3). M druse (14) v. Southern (nil). St. James (29) v. Old Boys (nil). Oriental (121 v. Victoria College (3). Athletic (22) v. Wellington (0). The outlook for . the opening of the Rugby seabou proper was not promising at midday on Satuiday. but a north-west breeze blow away the rain at 3 o'clock. The matches at, the Athletic Park drew but a fair attendance, and the f>pectatoro did not get «.• great deal tor their money. The rain had had little effect on the sun-hardened turf, and both games were played on top of the ground. Considerable interest was evinced in tho Petone-Poneke- fixture on No. 1, but it was dull and dreary football up to within fifteen minuted of the final bell, when Poneke, becoming reckless and desperate, set out in earnest to overtake Petone, who had a lead of eight points. A notable feature of the game was the number of minor casualties, and the astonishing lack of form shown by seventy per cent, of the Poneke players. Tho Blues (Petone) deserved to win by a bigger margin. They had some combination, whilst the losers had none. Melrose delighted their best friends by 'putting it all over Southern, and the tri-colpurs have made a, very promising beginning. Their forwards were superior, and their backe in good nick. St. James overwhelmed Old Boys, at Miramar. King catching three successive tries, and adding another later. Old Boys made no fiorfc of fight. _ College,_ with a preponderance of juniors, did quite excellently against the redoubtable Oriental, the defence of the losers staving off the attack time and time again. As anticipated, Athletic easily accounted for Wellington. , PETONE (8) v. PONEKE (3). Petone mightily pleased their supporters by their comparatively easy victory over- Poneke. • The suburbanites should have won by a larger margin. The general body of the game calls foxlittle description, ( and' it was not until the last fifteen minutes that there was anything to enthuse- about. At this time Poneke were fighting "all out," and they succeeded in achieving three Eoints.'.por Dingle's boot, after a mark y Elliott. M'Farlane scored for Petone and converted the try, and the same clever goalist landed a good goal from a- mark of Nunn'ti. Tho winners excelled both forward and back, and thoroughly deserved their victory. Mr. R. Fordyce controlled the game. MELROSE '(I4) v. SOUTHERN (0). The game between Melrose and Southern, on No. 2, Athletic Park K wa s not very interesting. Melrose had the best of matters throughout, and won comfortably by 14 points to nil. In the first spell H. Murphy and' J. Marshall each potted a goal, and Rivers scored a try. Southern played up a biti after the resumption, of play, but the Melrose men soon, asserted themselves, and B. Sullivan got over. The combination of Melrose and the individual' efforts' of Campbell and Bradley (Southern) were the features of the game. Mr. W. G.i Meredith was referee. ST. JAMES (29) v. OLD BOYS (0). The Old Boys-St. James fixture, played at "Miramar, was an unhappy game, and the final score, 29 to nil, just about represents tho merit of the teams. The St. James men started attacking from the kick-off, and finished when the whistle blew for no-side. King began with three consecutive tries and another later on. In the first spell the reds methodically piled up the points, and very seldom did tho Old Boys get. out of their own half. In the first spell tho latter team had the wind against them, and better things were looked forward to after half-time. These expectations, however, were not realised. The St. James vanguard pressed relentlessly, and the score mounted to 29 points to nil before no-side sounded. In the latter half the- backs of the victorious team did good worlc against the wind. For the winners, Young, King, Poananga, and Israel played well, and Grace, for Old Boys, proved exceedingly effective. Fordbam and. Drake also did good work. Mr. Simpson refereed. ATHLETIC (22) v. WELLINGTON (6). But ,very few spectators were attracted to the Athletic-Wellington fixture at Petone. The clouds were very threatening though little rain fell. Although the Athletic was the superior combination; the scores do not accurately represent the powers of the teams on the field. But for poor following up, bad passing and inexperience, the Wellingtou> score would have been much greater. The winning team gave more examples of pretty play and kept the game better in hand. Wellington drew iirst blood, Lambert's kick" at goal fairly near the poets producing threo points. This was equalised by Roberts, who found the goal fUteeu yards away following off-eid© play. Evenson ' scored twice for Athletic, Roberts converting once, making the score 11 — 3. Then Miller (Wellington) added three ppiuts to Wellington's total. Roberts scored a try, R. Wilson a. try, _R. Wilson a goal from a mark, ! and finally Cunningham scored between I tho posts, Roberts increasing the total to i 22. . Mr. A.- Neileoii had charge- of the I game. ORIENTAL (12) v. VICTORIA COLLEGE (3). _At Karori* Victoria College held their oWn fairly well against the strong Oriental fifteen. On the defensive the Col* legian»> were quite a« good as their opponents, but they lacked combination when attacking. , Their chief weakness lay in scrum work, Oriental having a big advantage in- this department. In the first spell Oriental, aided by the wind notched 9 points. ■ Manning and Murphy scored tries, and Carmichael kicked a penalty goal.- Each team scored a. try in the second half. Manning' crobsing for Oriental and Faire for Victoria College. College wae attacking when the bell rang. Mr. R. .Evenson was referee. FIFTH~CLASS. j St. Patrick's College scored 38 points against Oriental's nil. Scorers l'nr College wore Redmond, O'Sullivan, Mcehan, Brownlee. Gu^rin, and Bergin. Southern- beat Wellington College by 8 points to 6. T. Smith scored a try, and J. T. Foley converted, and kicked a penalty goal for the winners. At Hutt, Waiwetu and Hutt played a drawn game, each team scoring three points. Bui-t scored for Waiwetu, and Reay for Hutt. MATCHES IN CHRISTCHURCH. fj)Y TELBGRAPH — PRESS ASSOCIATION.} CIIRISTCIIURCH, 20th April. The Rugby Union competitions opened to-day, the results of the First Grade Matches being as follow :—: — Merivale (15) v. Christchurch (0), Sydenham (11) v. Albion (3), Linwood (15) v. Marists (5). Old Boys (9) v. Canterbury College (0).