SPORT IN BRITAIN

Evening Star, Issue 19771, 23 January 1928, Page 13

SPORT IN BRITAIN

[Phom Our English Correspondent.] LONDON, December 7. RUGBY. The fine sportsmanship of the crowd watching the Rugby match between Cardiff °and New South Wales last Saturday was well illustrated by an incident which happened ' during the second half. J Ford, the most brilliant forward among the visiting side, disputed a decision of the referee, and the hatter promptly ordered the Australian off the field. Of course, every footballer knows that what the referee says goes, and in the interest of the pa mo decisions must be accepted, even if they do not always appear correct. The Cardiff captain interceded on behalf of Ford, but the referee refused to listen, and Ford walked off. As he left the field the crowd cheered him heartily, eo showing their sportsmanship, and that they felt sympathy for him. It was a great struggle, and the Cardiff men made the New South Wales players go all out. When the visitors held a lead of 9 points to 3 early in the game it looked as though they might win comfortably, Cardiff made big improvement, however, and managed to equalise the score before half-time. That was the state of affairs when Ford was sent off, and it roused the Australians to renewed effort, which led to a try. Following this the Cardiff forwards were much in the picture, and it was only a wonderful defence which saved the Australians. Then came a breakaway by the visitors, and a remarkable bout of passing .led to the ball being taken the whole length of the field, the try being converted. This settled the issue, New South Wales winning a great struggle by 15 points to 9. —County Championship Matches.— Form is decidedly mixed in this season’s county championship games. Gloucestershire and Somerset had a keen struggle on Saturday, neither being ablfi to gain any advantage, the score at the end being 3 points each. A different struggle was provided by the Durham and Cumberland game, the latter winning by 17 points to 0. In club games Harlequins gained a narrow win over Leicester by 3 points to 0, and Blackheath just beat Moseley by 15 points to 14. The usual wild excitement marked the struggle between Glasgow and Edinburgh sides, the match showing the latter to advantage, with a win by 11 points to 3. Another big fixture in Scotland was that between Glasgow Academy and Heriotfs,. the former playing splendidly to win by a margin of 16 points to 3. SOCCER. It was a case of mark time, so far as the two leading clubs in the first division of the League are concerned, on Saturday. Everton had a visit from Sheffield United, and with neither team scoring the leaders only added a point to the total. Meanwhile tho Newcastle United players could do no better than share the honors when at home to Liverpool, each scoring once. Thus the relative position remains the same, JSverton holding a 2 points lead over Newcastle. It is probable that Cardiff City will have something to do with tho League championship. The Welsh Club gained a worthy success when at home to Aston Villa on Saturday, the latter going under by 2 goals to 1. Two other notable wins were by Tottenham and Middlesborough, the former scoring five tries, without response, when receiving Burnley, whilst Middlesborough defeated their Portsmouth visitors by 5 goals to 1. Mention may also be made of the excellent preforma nee of Leicester when visiting Birmingham, and winning by 2 goals to 0, which has enabled the winners to take a prominent place in the table. , Chelsea remains the outstanding team in the second division, the marksmen of the club being in great form on Saturday. At borne to South Shields, Chelsea gained an easy triumph, 6 goals to 0, and the win might have been more pronounced had not the players eased up. As Bristol City beat their Manchester City visitors 2 goals to 0, Chelsea drew further away ; and now leads Manchester by 6 points. Scottish League champion' shin honors may yet go to Motherwell if Saturday’s results arc a true guule. The Motherwell foam had to visit Celtic, and to tho surprise of their rivals tho honors wont to the visitors by the odd goal in three, which has altered the table. Glasgow Rangers had a partial success when visiting Hamilton, each scoring a goal. As a result Rangers and Motherwell are love! on points (28), but the former have a match in hand. ATHLETICS. The Cambridge athletes again showed superiority over tho O.xlord cracks when tho annual relay races claimed attention at Oxford on Saturday. A cold, dreary December day does not represent ideal conditions for track athletics, and considering all things, the performances were excellent, Cambridge held the whip band in the short-distance events—that is where no relay was over half a mile. On the other hand, Ox-ford had an easy thing in the four-miles relay, in which each man had to run one mile. Boih D. G. White and 1. Thomas ran their stage in close to 4min 3l)sec. Tho former is the athlete who performed so well against the Yale and Harvard milers at Stamford Bridge last July. It was a good performance on rhe part of the Cambridge quartet to win the 4Uoyds relay in 38 4-ssec, an average ot 9 7-10 secs—good going, even allowing for the moving start. The Cantabs, also finished first in the half-mile relay, but owing to infringing the rules about passing the baton, the race was awarded to Oxford. The Light Bines had an easy triumph in the 4Soyds high hurdles, G, 11. Whiteman Smith, of South Africa, playing a prominent part in this. It came ns a surprise when Oxford won the half-mile low hurdles, H. Moore, from Colorado, being a member of the winning team. Another overseas man in W, G. Kalanger, of New Zealand, ran for Oxford in the high hurdles. The United Stales and the dominions also furnished other good men, the Oxford team for the half-mile fiat including H. V. Warren, of British Columbia, and S. F. Gates, from Princeton University. Oxford also called on H. Gonin from Stellenbosch, South Africa, W. R. Harrison from Queensland, and 11. L. Cook of Middlesburgh, United States of America, for the fourmiles relay. The Cantabs team for this race also contained an overseas man in E. D. Blundell, of New Zealand. As C. A. Pollock, who ran for Oxford in the two miles is a Canadian it will be gathered that the teams were very representative of the British Empire, with a sprinkling of United States men. BOXING. Ted Baldock did not please' his admirers when he met Willie Smith, of South Africa, who clearly outpointed him. The Poplar boxer has been away on a holiday, hoping to regain his best dash and vim, but he again failed to reach his best form when boxing Len Fowler, of Birmingham, at Forest Gate, London, this week. Fowler held his own at times, and it was not until the eighth round that Baldock got in one of his best blows to end matters. Baldock is paying for the demands he has made on his vitality by , taking part in over 100 contests, although be is not yet twenty-one years of age. He is just'“burnt up,” to use an American phrase. A long rest might enable him to regain vim and dash, but be will not do so if be remains in training. His best plan would be to se-

cure work on a farm or in a lumber camp- and put in twelve months’ hard work out of doors. That would toughen his frame and generally do him good. Most British boxers spend too much time in towns and cities, and that docs not make for aggressive and tough fighters. BILLIARDS. Tom Newman made breaks of 807 and 816 during his match against Inman, to whom he conceded 4,000 points in 16,000, and beat easily by nearly 1.000 points. A notable thing about the break of 807 was that it was made from a double baulk, showing that safety tactics does not always pay. Newman is now trying to give J. Davis 2.000 points in 16,000 up, and he has not gained many as. a result of the first two days’ play. Davis was seen to advantage on the second day of the match, when he completed breaks of 464 and 467.

A. T. W. Good, who has won the amateur championship four times, is going strong in the London section of the competition. In the first _ round he made a break of 142, whilst he managed to beat L. Jacobs, of Bristol, this week. Tho latter had two fine breaks of 134 and 197 to bis credit, the latter being the highest of the competition so far. Good was very steady, however, winning by 145 in 1,000 up.