FOOTBALL.

Evening Star, Issue 12872, 23 July 1906, Page 7

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. —Results of Mafccbe*— TTmVerefty 23 v. Kaikorai 5. Alhambra 9 v. Dunedin 6. Southern 20 v. Port Chalmers Z. Pirates 15 v. Union nil. The following is a description of Saturday's games;—. —University v. Kaikorai.— This remarkable game—ooa of the fastest «ver played on the Caledonian Ground—opened with fifteen minutes of give and take. 'Varsity pre and Kaikorai took. With the wind behind them and a mi»abapen defence in front, the Light Blues opened with the quiet fervor of toe strong. Hard preaoed by the "centring" of the "Varsity backs and the assault of the 'Varsity forwards, some Kaikorai man panted wildly, and gave "Varsity their "first chance. It fell to Gilray—a simple opening. There waß nothing to do except to etoas the Kensington goal-line on tie grand stand side—a straighj; run. Gilray turned in towards the posts, and, floandering irresolutely, was received by the opposition with open arms. The attack went on. A warm argument near the Kaikorai goal was closed by the referee's whistle, and Wi Repa walked back with the ball under his arm. As he lay down to place it it seemed a good thing, but the kick of the 'Varsity stopper passed outside the posts. Bating on unimproved values would have touched 'Varsity very severely at this stage, for Kaikorai had twice escaped through no merit of their own. A third chance at the gaping goal-line was also thrown overboard by Gikay, who did nothing but lose points for his side all day. But the Light Blues were burrowing in everywhere, and when the battle rolled over to Macphereon's wing things weTe managed better. Hero a warm scramble left u Mao" and Adams in charge, and the latter, diving hard for the chalk-mark, got over. s—o. In the dramatic minute which followed Booth's drop-out, 'Varsity made a ganeral attack, and a great cheer went up as it became evident that the way to the line was open, and nothing except Gilray could stop Gilray. It stopped him—4ie turned in as usual on the Una of greatest resistance—and the cheer was on the point of dying out when Adams took up the parable, and, held fast by a Kaikorai man on. the goalline, stretched himself out and put the ball across. 6 —o. As the apell neared its close and the usual arguments- were floating round the ring, some thought the Light Blues had made sufficient use of the wind; some thought otherwise. So when Mcmmel, standing on the halfway line, called " Mark!" and tossed the ball over to his captain, nobody was expecting anything wonderful. In that swift, pretty way of theirs, the Blues drew back lehind the kicker —for with them a free kick is not altogether a funeral —and, next instant, the ball, soaring high, fell just over the bar. It took a second or two to realise that the shot had been a drop-kick, and that Adams had potted the goal of the year. 9—o. What followed is almost past description. Kaikorai had the wind, and the question was whether 9 points could be wiped out by two goals. It depended on u condition." Few suspected that Kaikorai had hardly done a stroke of training all the week, and that they would presently see enough stars to make up an astronomical marvel. For about five minutes they battled to loosen up the game, and while they were striving Withers banded the leather to Wi Repa on the halfway mark. "Come on, Tutere!" called the "Varsity supporters, as the player in question jumped over somebody who tried to get him low and drew out from the ruck. Abreast of the Press box Lomas took charge, and passed out to Macpherson, who ran strongly, and went m near the corner. 12—0. Play had not been restarted long before Wi Repa again emerged from the pack at halfway, and, passing everybxly, threw the bail on to Gilray. The latter, with 30yds to go and a clear course, raced for the posts. Armit was on his heels, gaining about an ineh in every yard. Approaching the line the speedy Kaikorai three-quarter put out his hands and staggered the man with the ball. Gilray fell, regained his feet, and struggled over For some reason or other, the try was disallowed. A scrum was formed, and, after passing, Adams fell over, with Adamsvm's arms thrown round man and ball. It was one of those doubtful cases where the defender? should have £ot the benefit, but the iekstee awarded a score. The conversion of the try raised 'Varsity's score to 17 points for the match and 100 for the season. Kaikorai now showed their teeth for the fust and last time. Booth, who had sro far done nearly all the defence for his side, put his head down and burrowed through a scramble. Coulter took the ball from him as he was arrested by the defence and touched down. It was a try, but Mr Williams, whore decisions were more notable for error than for anything else, thought otherwise. Next instant, however, Morrison battled over, and taking the kick, hrought up the major points. 17—5. This was Kaikorai's last gasp, for after Coulter had been pushed into touch-in-goaL they subsided altogetlver, and, in fact, fell to pieces. Dashes in which Lomas and Wi Eepa were generally prominent followed in bewildering succession. After one of these Macpherson got across and scored an unmistakeable try. It was disallowed. Passing between Wi Repa, Adams, Lomas, and Macpherson let the lait-named player m at the Pressrpax corner. The referee whistled for a try, and, according to all the laws of the game, the ball was dead. Macpherson, however, continued his run, and got round behind tic posts. The referee was now u anyhow," however, and conscious that he led made a mistake in whistling, weakly allowed the 'Varsity wing to continue tlie movement as he pleased. Harrison's kick missed fire. 20—5. In the last five minutes Varsity approached the subject once more, and passing between A. Thomson. O'Oahagban, Macpherson, and Stewart let the latter in. 23W>. So closed a brilliant game. 'Varsity, at the last, had so strong an ascendency that they might practically have scored whenever they pleased. —Alhambra v. Dunedin. —■

Until well on in the second spell there •was a chance that the Alhambra would go down to the team that opposed them on the Carisbrook Ground on Saturday. Alter that, the Red-and-Blacks had charge of the game, and it was only a question of recording their superiority in points. Shortly after the first formalities had been exchanged, the Dunedin forwards made a determined sortie, which ended in a melee near the Alhambra line. Clark got the ball quickly from his forwards' feet .and edged in past them ior the line. The attack was promptly smothered, and a penalty kick enabled Given to clear. The Blues reinstated themselves in good attacking position, and attempted with small immediate success to turn the enemy's position with their light division. Success came unexpectedly at, last. Clark made a " lone hand " sprint for the Jine right in front of goal; this caused the defence to bunch. He dropped the ball, which shot out quickly to Eyan, and by the time Teesdale received it it was only a question of pace. He went over without opposition. Dunedin thus drew first blood. 3—o. For a time the Dunedin forwards continued to beat Alhambra, but presently, after several wjinn encounters., pretty, concerted work between Given, Bennet, Slattery, and M'Kewen promised developments. For a time Teesdale, Clark, and others kept the line intact. Bat close on time M'Leod effected a pretty dribble, and Slattery, following the leather over the line, anticipated the defence, by a second. 3 all. The Alhambra backs were working with the ,P*watdpn of a machine, and the Dunedin were tested at every point and found wanting in many. Knowks got his backs on the last rush of the spelL Wlfm* opponent sough* to another the geveiaent by anticipating his pass to Bennet, and as a consequence was left an< *?*ifv -ft was n o*( necessary for the five-eighth to beat another man. He f»ve Bennet a not too good pass, and the rilliant little centre, gathering it in splendidly, swerved away from the direction of touch and tumbled comfortably over the enemy's trench. Alhambra 6—3. Dunedin supporters took heart when, at tfee beginning of the second spell, Eyan kw&sd oser the Bna, and after a race with Skttexjr' :dow-cu

Paton's kick was unsuccessful, leaving! the tally equaL 6 all. The interest of i the game rested now largely on the quick-1 ness and adroitness of the Alhambra' back 3, who occasionally -made things exciting. Bonnet shone: always, and King more than once. Not once nor twice Slattary was downed when the line was within Jin next stride. The score that won the game came in other fashion. I Knowles and M*Ken2ie led a drihhling' rash that commenced inside the twentyhve and Knowles, picking up cleanly,' touched down even as he was tackled, liamdge did not_jmprpve matters. Al-9-6. The remainder of the spell furnished not a great deal of food tor comment. The scores were unchanged at call ot time. I

During the first spell Mr Duncan (who he d the whistle) ordered Johnston off the held for alleged tackling a man (Paton) when he had not the ball. P ato n called out when he was thrown, as if hurt Johnston told the 'Star' reporter that if Paton dropped the ball it was just prior t S >?H e - The - matter »ffl no cfouot UniS 7 consid^red bv Bagby

-Southern v. Port Chalmers.— ' wW tcb T, pky<?d «* Port Chalmers, i 7 muddy. Port kicked off with the wind, and, led by W.~ JW?£ y u nd J^ on ' at oncc attacked, but Eckhold and Shirley did good work in stopping rushes, and a useful line kick by Fullerton encouraged Southern to assume kfwfe™ a lon S dribble - A *** by Shirley was charged down by Ferguson, hut Port were playing wildly, and a pass started by M Casey to Chambers and Chambers to Stanley found the latter in ffk u. t S r , after fikteen minntes' play. Eckhold s kick seemed sure, but a puff of TvJ?*Q b $° ball in ifH Ate**. Southern j, Port ml. Port.forwards made the game last, and Southern being penalised for lifting a foot in the scrum, Crammond kicked a goal six mmutes after the Southern score. Ibreo all The play now became fast and open, and there appeared to be very little difference m ihe merit of the teams as they raced up and down the field. A noticeable incident at this stage was gallant arrest of a dangeroug Southern dribble. The play had gone on nearly half ani hour when Port's scrum-half played the ball whilst on the ground, and the free kick found Eckhold putting 3 more to fcoutnern s credit Port now redoubled their endeavors, attacking as a whole team with the greatest dash and for a few momenta penning Southern in their twenty-five. One smart attempt to get in with a pass would most likely have been successful but for MCasey collaring Crammond from behind. A minute later Currie marked and Crammond had a shot at goal, only just missing. A dodgy run by Ferguson was another promising effort for Port. At last Southern got reliaf by a freo kick fox offside, and play was in the centre at half-time, the ecore being: Southern 6, Port 3. Throughout most of the first epelL CJaik, one of tie Port forwards, had been lame as the result of a kick almost at the start, and in the interval he retired, his place being taken by White. The first applause in the second spell was earned by Kindley for stopping a Port rush, and another feature was Shirley's run and his being collared by W. Dougherty. Connor marked for Port, and the exchange kicks gained Southern a lot of ground, but Gray and Crammond cleverly dribbled past the halfway mark, where for several minutes fierce, open play took place. Then Southern made a fine combined rush, and, getting a free kick for the lifting of a foot in the scrum, Eckhold put the ball over the bar, this making the score: Southern 9, Port 3, after twelve minutes' play. A series of long kicks resulted in Port gaining ''ground, and then the onlookers got a laugh at the players' expense, for half of each team broke away in a loose scramble and travelled halfway down the field before they became aware that the flag was up at the other end for a lineout. Port pressed courageously, but Stanley relieved by a mark, and a moment later—twenty-eight minntes having elapsed —a general follow up of Eckhold's kick ended in Sheeban making a dash for a try. He lost the ball at the critical moment, but Edwards was handy, and he scored. Eckhold missed with the kick. Southern 12, Port 3. A minute later Edwards and M. Casey led a forward rush, and Smith cut in for another try. Eckhold's kick again failed. Southern 15, Port 5. A couple of marks by G. Dougherty gave Port a show, but Colthorpe missed his chance, and nothing happened till a minute before the call of time, when Sheehan scored, took the kick himself, and converted, the game ending: Southern 20, Port 3. Mr Miller did good work as referee. —Pirates v. Union.— The men in the black jerseys suddenly found their logs on Saturday, and sent a, rather astonished and dejected Union team home with a 15 to nil victory recorded against them. Everything happened in the second spelL In the first the game was as even as possible. Union derived some advantage from the wind, but it was by no means blowing directly down the ground. Play was fairly interesting, and both teams adopted very much the same style. .The forwards did most of the attacking, and as they seemed evenly matched there were some good rallies, during which play see-sawed up and down the centre of the field—no doubt very much more interesting to the players themselves, as well as the spectators, than the monotonous kicking-into-touch business which teams accustomed to playing a defensive game Saturday after Saturday drop into the habit of adopting under all circumstances. Play was open to a certain extent. There was no wearisome succession -of lines-out and scrums five yards from the line. However, when either team tried to institute back play from the scrum nothing eventuated worth recording. The value of a half-back who can get the ball away cleanly and quickly from the scrum without attempting much j else was strikingly illustrated. Whether i or not the half-backs on either side were ! devoting themselves to this, certain it is that they failed. They were pounced on from either side by the rival half and wing forward, and either downed with the ball or the pass out was wild. In general, Union fought their way into Pirates' ground by short successive stages. In Pirates' twenty-five they would make individual dashes for the line, afwavs running straight, but always being tackled. Then the pass would come. It was strenuous but not scientific—the individual rather than the combined effort. They got very close to the line with it more than once. Pirates generally gained whole long stretches of ground when they had extracted the sting from these attacks. Sometimes it was by long kicking and sometimes by one or two forwards breaking away ball at toe/ Once Wilkinson had a pretty clear opening to score for- Pirates. He took the ball from his twenty-five and swept down on Union's full-back. An exciting moment or two resulted in the ball going out at the corner. Just before half-time, when Pirates were pressing Union hard, Cramond snapped a clever mark close in at a slight angle. His kick merely went near, and the spell ended with no score. After the interval Pirates took charge of the game. Cramond drew first blood with a penalty goal. In about twenty minutes more Pfrates scored another 12 points, all from unconverted tries. Their backs did themselves proud, Clark (the half-back) in particular. Ho got the ball from the scrum, beat several men, and after a good run passed to Hayes, who scored. Clark followed this up bv scoring two more tries himself, and Cramond, who at fiveeighth was a very serviceable back indeed throughout the game, just fell over the line after a short run, in which he heat several men. Union played up bravely after this inundation, but were unable to ' do more than prevent further scoring. Owing to a very late start, the first spell last&Tqnly thrrty-five. minutes. Mr W. Ross made an admirable referee. The attendance was almost nil. —Second Grade.— i

defeated Kaikqrai by 32 points to 4

Dunedin defeated Southern by 10 points to 3.

KJngari-Richmond and Pirates played a drawn game each side scoring a. try. Taieri Rovers defeated West Taieri by 14 points to 3. ' —Third Grade.— ZrngariJtichmond claim a win against Port Chalmers by .default. Alhambra defeated High School by 21 points to nil. KaikoTai claim a win against University by default —fourth Grade.— Kafkorai beat Dunedin B by 3 points to nil. Alhambra defeated High School by 85 points to nil. Dunedin A defeated Zmgari-Richmond by 3 points to nil. NEW SOUTH WALES v. QUEENSLAND. The match Queensland v. New South Wales, played at Sydney, was an evencontest during, the first half, and each team had scored 5 points at half-time. ' In the second half New South Wales had the beet of the play, eventually winning by 14 points THE OTAGO TEAM. [By Rbfbbm.] Mr H. Harris selected the following team on Saturday night to represent Otago against Taranaki next Saturday:— Pull-back, Booth (Kaikorai). Three-quarters Gilray (University), Adams (captain, University), Macpherson (University). Five-eighths—Dougherty (Port Chalmers), Eckhold (Southern); Scram half, Dansey (University). Forwards—Casey (Southern)," Spiers (Zingari-Richmond), Paton (Dunedin), M'Donald (Kaikorai), M'Kenzie (Alhambra), Johnston (Alhambra), Fitzpatrick (Dunedin), Porteous (Kaikorai). Trial matches have long since been regarded by many as unnecessary, and the innovation this year of doing away with them was a step in the right direction in more ways than one. Mr Harris, in consequence, was called on to pick his team on the form shown by the players during the season, and with'the exception that ho could have improved the attacking capabilities of the backs by the inclusion of Bennet he has got together a very good team. Whether his five-eighth line will prove a success remains to be seen. That they are sound on defence must be admitted, but it is doubtful if they will rise to the occasion in the most important department of all—attack. Mr Harris, in picking two such strong defensive players and forsaking for one of them so clever an attacking and heady player as Bonnet, has evidently been afraid of the aggressive powers of the famous HunterMynott combination. In this he has erred. He has, it would seem, paid too much attention to the attacking qualities of his opponents, and no|, sufficient to that of his own side; or. in other words, he has done what he considers the best to stop Taranaki from winning, and forgotten that it is his own side that should go on the field to play a winning game—not a defensive one. By playing Adams fiveeighth and Bennet centre three-quarter,'or I vice versa, the selector would certainly have improved the attacking work of the. ; backs. At the same time, Eckhold and Dougherty are both sterling players, and all I hope is that their attack will prove as brilliant as their defence. The team on the whole are a strong combination, and may be relied on to prove a match for their doughty opponents. Very little ; fault can be found with the forwards. ! They are weighty, and should distinguish* I themselves both in scrum and loose work. I Paton's inclusion caused surprise to sorne I of the critics, but according to. the DunI edin men they could not wish for a better lock than the player in their team, and the scrum work of the Dunedin this year has been a feature of their play. Paton, however, does not play with the heart that one would expect from such a big man. Dougherty, Daaisey, Paton, and M'Kenzie all win their rep. caps for the first time. The team have two splendid place-kicks in Adams and Paton, both of whose long and judicious drop-kicking should also be of great value to their side.