ASSOCIATION NOTES.

Evening Star, Issue 12868, 18 July 1906, Page 3

ASSOCIATION NOTES.

{Br LnnsMAx.]

The following table shows the positions np to date of the senior teams competing for the premiership i

The foregoing list shows about as interesting a state of the premiership cont&st as any Krson with a reasonable capacity for specuLion could desire. And next Saturday Wakari make the journey to Kaitangata to see who has made most progress since the charity match at Carisbrook last year. No dorjbt the memory of that strenuous contest, with its surprising reversal of -form, will add a certain amount of keennes to the game next Saturday. It will be remembered that m the final for tho cup on Culling Park the Kaitangata men gave Wakari no chance for tiie premiership. But the following week, at Carisbrook, Wakari complete.lv turned the tables on their more favored opponents by depriving them of an admittedly strong grip of.the charity banner. Somehow or other I have gathered the impression that the. honor of "having their names emblazoned on the banner is a consummation not less devoutlv wished by the country team than the credit of being hailed as the premier team for the season. If charity (which suffereth much and is kind), in their every dealing with football and footbailers were sufficient qualification for the possession of the silken trophy in question, then to Kaitangata there are "owing several square yards of banner from every club in Dunedin.

The secretary of the O.P.A. informs me that, in consequence of permission being given to Wakari to travel to Kaitangata next Saturday, the match, originally fixed for Mornington, will be played at Culling Park at 3.30. The match between Roslyn and Southern will begin at two o'clock on the same ground. »

Somewhere in the beginning of things it was decreed that the maximum width of CTOss-bar and uprights should be five inches. This limit has its advantages. For one thing, it offers a. less inviting surface on which the enterprising small boy with the pocket knife may be tempted to carvo his way to the veracious height achieved by George Washington. But goalkeeper Jack, of Mornington, may possibly hold a different view. _ On Saturday, during his extended periods of neglect by the opposing forwards, he vainly sought to obtain shelter from the biting Antarctic gale behind the slim upright which marked his post of duty. The warm sympathy felt by tlie spectators, huddled under the" friendly shelter of the trees didn't raise his temperature any. Since their last meeting with Mornington something would appear to have gone wrong with Green Island. Their display on that occasion called for a good deal of congratulation, and Mornington were fortunate to 6ecure victory by a narrow margin. But this was far from being the case on Saturday. Morland, who made several brilliant. dashes in his best style for Battalion on the same day, would have strengthened his old team. Marshall shows up prominently, and his play comes up to expectations expressed in the besrinning of the. season. Grant and Irvine, of the backs, work as untiringly as ever, but the team as a whole are disappointing. In Airey, Mornington have secured a forward of_more than average local ability. They have now three insides whose work should produce good results against Northern. But whether the wing play of the team will compare favorably with the superior Northern article is another story. Next Saturday will show.

| la connection with the Mornington I juniors' chance of winning the cup, someone has blundered, i A short team, playing against Battalion, gained only one point for a draw. Maori Hill now have a lead of 3 points, which they seem to be in a fair way to maintain. The same club have also gained the lead in the third grade competition.

The winners of football cups, as of other things, are never known till the numbers go up. And few teams have a greater capacity for springing surprises than the Southern. They are far from being oat of the uunt yet. A glance at the premiership thble shows that their scoring powers are considerable. Add to a dangerous attacking line a sound defensive force and a goalkeeper of Brady's calibre, and it will be recognised that the Southern are a. team to hasty calculations.

<£ 3 bo .! I 0 2n ; 0 3 1 '. s £ o A S ' 3 J) (S ■ uJ Q o o c Wakari.~ — ... 10 8 2 0 35 17 ] L6 Momrngton... .„ 12 8 4 0 31 23 : 16 Kaitangata ... ... 10 7 2 1 25 15 : 15 Northern .„ _ 10 7 2 1 50 14 : 15 Southern ... 11 6 3 2 37 .18 : L4 Roslyn ... ... ... 10 3 7 0 14 34 6 Green Island ... 11 1 10 0 25 40 2 Battalion ... 10 0 10 0 7 60 0