FOOTBALL

Grey River Argus, 25 August 1917, Page 4

FOOTBALL

LAST SATURDAY'S GAME,

FOOB EXHIBITION.

(By "Off-Side.")

The match' played last Saturday be- j tween Marist and United seniors w-ia c expected to be one. of the best games j this ye.-ir, but unfortunately the ex-, hibition given by both sides, was .far.lt from the standard of previous games. c No doubt the- fact of the United team f not having their best fifteen to reprc- , seiit them was the cause •of the dis- \ being of such a ragged nature. £ The Blues seem to be unable to get a , full muster each playing Saturday, j which is a great pity when a Club is \ endeavouring to keep the ganto in full { swing. It is to be hoped that the 1 piayers and. followers of this Club will ( do more in supplying the necessary re- , quireiuents and not leave all to be done by a few energetic members. In the match to be played to-day I hope to see the Blues with a. full representative team taking the field. 1 find it necessary to remind, some players that this column is written for the purpose of producing bright and clean football, and although I predict, certain positions for certain players it is done to help the game and the mnn, but it was never intended that a play or should stand out of a team, simply because the position predicted . was ; not available. The match last Saturday reminded me of a school match rather than sen- , ior football, because of the enormous amount of chattering that continued , till the final whistle blew ; this is a , serious offence if a high standard of [ Rugby is desired, and from a speetat- ■. or's view there is nothing more annoyP ing than the nuisance just mentiooned. I The game was not free from unclean tactics, but the referee quickly , detected the offenders on each occasion. It is a great drawback to Rugby to suffer from the actions of a minort ity in this respect, and although the j offenders are usually sorry for their acts "afterwards" it should not dej. termine the referee's decision in deal-, r ing harshly with this type of player, and I am sure he will have the support of the general public in his aca lion. If the game is worth playing at r all, it is worth playing fairly and lion- . ourably. Rugby is one of the finest g sports imaginable when played cleanly, j but it can be made an extremely dani gerous game if a few players so lack . the true sporting spirit that they al- "'__ low their bad feelings to get the upper hand. Let every player remember that both lie and his opponents are oh the. ground to play football and not I to show tactics that are a disgrace to those using them. It should also be borne in" mind that unsportsmanlike -. actions give a whole team a bad name, which is properly resented by the „ clean player. 1 hope that our referees j ** will keep a very firm grip of the rules, and will rigidly inflict penalties upon players who do not play the game, even though it may mean putting them off the ground. 1 am not saying that a a man should not be brought down when he has the ball, but there are ' fair and safe and unfair and danger- -. ous ways of handling an opponent. 1 hope that offenders will from this out a mend their ways. I. Of the players taking part I cannot ,j comment other than credit a few with displaying good football , The first spell favoured the Greens, '. and they secured ten points, but their display was in.no way worthy of the lead they established. In the second half. United held the , advantage and were decidedly unlucky ' in not securing more points, considere ing the attacks set up by them. Both the senior and, .junior competi*f tions have now reached an interesting stage, the unexpected defeat of Eun- '" anga last Saturday being responsible c lor all the junior teams having a ie chance of securing first place by the r * end of the second round. Therefore it is safe to say that some keen football will result, and I hope the teams , engaged will introduce bright displays tlius regaining the confidence of the spectators, whom I am certain will appreciate their efforts and attend in re- ■ cord numbers. The three senior teams have a ' chance in the next round of securing l ," the' Watso n's No 10 Cup, and as most of the players are putting in daylight training there is bound to be good " combination shown by all the clubs engaged. . The following is an extract from a c , totter received from Mr. R. C. Kinvig 0 by the Wellington Rugby Union : — ." * ' Amongst the items in the estate • of *j our late son Gordon is a freehold sec; tion of land, in a good, sunny position ' in Karori — part of the Standen Estate ° —and after consultation with my family we decided that we whould pre- j sent it to the funds of your Union to : c be disposed of, if possible, by art un- j " ion, and the proceeds to go towards relieving the finances of Athletic Park, " and helping to keep the ground- for those boys who may return from the front. In deciding on this course, we c feel that in a small way to keep our son's name green in the memory of c the old players with whom he was so a much, associated, and we also feel that ■} by so doing Gordon is still helping to l " score another goal for his old Union. c I have personally interviewed the Hon. -' the Minister of Internal Affairs; and v ho tells me that a permit cannot be c given to hold a raffle or art union, but c " that if your union will apply at once, j c he will bring the matter" before Cabie net and likely have a caluse added to c the War Regulations that will help your Union and other Unions through- '" out the Dominion, to raise funds for L ' their separate causes, and thereby get a over the difficulty of finance that most ■' of them are in owing. to this cruel l " war." The Union accepted the gen--1 erous offer, and fine tributes were paid n to the memory of the late Gordon a Kinvig, a Christchurch and Wellington c Rugby player, who was described by L " all as one of the "whitest sportsmen" ® who ever played the game.