FOOTBALL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LII, Issue 9188, 7 September 1906, Page 5

FOOTBALL.

WELLINGTON v. TARANAKI. A BRDLLIANT GAME. 'laxanaki and Wellington met on the New Plymouth Recreation Ground on Thursday, in the presence of a good' number of spectators. £140 was taken «£ the gates. Wellington started slightly favorite, but the amber and blacks were expected to put up a hard fight. THE TEAMS. The teams took the field as follows: — Wellington.— Full-back, J. Ryan; threequarters, Wallace (captain), Ramsden, Thomson; five-eigbte, Mitchinson, W,alshe; half, Roberts; pack, Oallum, W ( atkinß, Cross, Wright, Gilchrifit, Manning, Byrne; wing forward, Hardham. Taranaki — Full-back, Hardgrave; threequartens, Cameron, Hunter (captain), Dive; five-eighths, Mynott, Ward; half, Colman; pack, Whittington, Osborne, J. Young, Crowley, Q?SuHivan, Bourke, ißyan; wing-foxward 1 , T. Sheahan. THE PLAY. The game was one of the fihesfc of fiaa exnibitfons of fast "Rugby. /At the outset 0 Tairanaki rn^de things very' lively fo» the visitors 'by carrying a loose push np to' the Welljngtion - line. The ball got among the' Tairah^ki .backfe, and after some skhiurt "pacing .Wefliigton ' was forced. Taranaki were' repulsed, on resuming, »nd Wallace 1 juab £aile^ in an *ttemjp£ to opes up an .attack.' ' The Taran^i forwards opened .the,', eyes of the spectsfoape by .sweeping Wellington before them and re> smning .a . determined attack. 'Some clever kicks., by Ward> and usefol passing j'% the backs gen&r^^"Mßffited Jkjkeepjmg' ' '^eljuhgton^hjknf on 'the' 'tiefence. ;Wel^ngton b«t> .Wajrd inteiicept^ -a.^ pass from v; .''tae , faaK. Mynott took the, father 'fromifaiij and after a' short ru^' 'returned it, the pali gaining conm^^*able f ground. put in a fine alo^the line, 1 uod the* fche. scene w^s^c|a^lgeJ lifee ''h Jt fla«i, «■* Robert^' was makipg, for the Twwiijlci line. The All-black' 'had' roll efceam vp r 'a)p«l a practically clear track ahead,^, bet was I overhauled by Colman, X 'jrito ' BMpsed him from behind. , Colman was -agiain promi;nent by stopping a rush' pludiily.ja-nd. thea getcong his kick in. . .For some time Taranaki had a .very trying time . OS the attacks of the, .visitors. , Time and again it seemed , that W,e|lingfcoa 'wouW score, but breaches. of She ryl^s .stopped them on. er^ry occasion. The .Tamnakf forwards\.agautt'^|Bxove . away the enemy who, however, returned as aggresson. The. tourist backs were being, given every chance by Wallace, and Boberte, and eventually .. after a very, pretty poeeing [rpsin .^tchinson cut in and scozed in » good position. Wallace* convened. Wellington ... ... ... 5 ■ , Taranaki ... ... 0 tOn resuming, the Taranaki . forwards grafted -till they gained an advantage, : and when in the Wellington 25 let the ball ! out' to the baoks. The oval fIW from the half througjh' the Hands of oA the rear division to Dive. 'Dive 'was jammed on the touch line and his chance appeared ' hopeless, but he got away somehow, and made a strong run for the centre. The ball got on to the ground in front of the .Wellington goal and hard battling. ensued. 'Pjrtce more the'sall was going, out' to the 'Taranaki backs, hut' it" hit W«rd on the 'head and Thomeon playing close snapped it. ' ' He broke through and kicked, Hardgrave returning. '"'Some eiipwb^ Kick 'play followed. The ball went out tS : Cameron, ,w.no ; , centred and a Wellington back punted across to 'the oi«ier wing,' where Dive gathered it up and went within an ace of scor'ing'after a brilliant run. He was bwnigh* J back for an, infringement. Hunter followed "iMs 'up' by, a gieat indivi'duil Effort to score. He!appeared tobeou th&point of 'idiving for .the line when be wroped and .fell short. ' The TatanaJd, backs -wen 'coritiAuiifg^the ,, v pireflsuTe,, but" fealty \pteemg^by Ward nullified iriany effopnts. ' .Welhngton were awarded a ! free kick^ but Dire tiook 'the' "ball and after feinting neatly pwtAiri the beet fine kick of the day,l'sending Hhe ball out in a handy (jOßition. Taranaki maintained this advantage and rfrom a forward"' rush Sheahan got over, bub Mitohinson ' also had part possenioß of' the ball and no try was awarded. The •pace was tremendous and the scene of 'play was changed with bewildering rapidity. One moment Hardgtrave made m beautiful drop at goal, and' t£e next Mitchinson w-as streaking for the Twr&naka line. The latter must have L scored if he haa not slipped right in front of the ?posts. A Short spell of close' work followed, bat so fart> had the play been that it seemed. an age. Hardgrave had a try to place a goal from the' half-way line from a mark obtained by Sheahan. fbut f failed to enore. Wellington ' Rushtod^'the ball up to the Taranafci 25, end •H^ndgrove made a beautiful save, getting j» fi^e kick in. with three opponents bostl- ; ing. ham. O&merdn also was ttWponfedble in bringing Taranaki relief . He kicked for, the line and, ' Wallace mulling',- the 1 haR .jurent; :«at '.past ', the-, half-way. Sheahan this advantage by some eplen- , did. footwork. Sheahanvtook theßaH op the touch-line «nd tßen centred; md the |yaok. carrying the ball cutong nicely, GrowJjSy., darted, over, but.'agadn no adore was Roberts brooght reli6f to Wel:ljujgton by a clever ki^cirom behind » sopum. Hardgrave made «> splendid *ttpnpt to convert; • .penalty, but !; d»d" not score. Half time was then sounded, the jfpoie stall -s&mding,— * "WeMington . ... 5 Taranaki , 9 SECOND~~SPELL. The second spell was not opened so Wlliantly as the . first. The T«r*naJri guards seemed atunewhat fagged, and W«lhngtan took fuU .edvantage- of this Thexr backs got right off the .mark, and" a great run by Thomson nearfy.let BMnsden in, Dive just getting the: latter in iame. The amber and ..black forwards reheved the pressure splendidly, and from a ljneout O'SulKvan was very conspicaons in a lot of heady' play! Another rapid change occurred, Wellington scoring by passing from near half-way. Most of the backs handled the ball-and handled it cleverly— and Wallace wound up the ran by dashing over on the corner. He failed in a good attempt to'add the major points. Wellington * . g Taranaki 0 Tasanaki played up weii and'aet up a dogged attack, which culminated in Hardgrave kicking a fin© penalty goal. , Wellington 8 , Taranaki 3 Thomson made a very fine run on rewraing. Be passed ev«rything, Imfr Div«

caught him up and just managed to grab him by the jersey and pull him over. The Taranaki backs turned a defence into an attack, and treated the onlookers to aome pretty passing and cutting in. Sheahan got away with the ball from loos© play, and after making a good opening passed to O'Sullivan, who was within a few yards of the line, and 'had a good chance of scoring had not Roberts fouled him from behind. O'Sullivan was practically disabled for the rest of the game. Then Wellington attacked for some time, and at last from a scramble in front of the Taranaki ..goal Gilchrist scored. Wallace failed to*convert an easy kick. Wellington 11, Taranalri 3 An interchange of fino kicka between the full-backs followed the resumption of play. Cameron gave Hunter a pass, and the latter centred, well, with the result that a hot attack was pressed on the Wellington line, and eventually Bourke , got over near the corner. Haardgrave failed to add the major points. ' Wallace •hurt his arm rather badly in this^ scramble. p. Wellington 11 Taranaki ... 6 It was 'now obvious that the Taranaki forwards were lagging — the terrific pace had taken the dash out of them. Hunter got right away from the line-out, but was called back. Mynot* made a useful run from the Taranaki 25 to half-way. Then Hunter made a, clever opening and raced • up the field, but .none supported him. With three Wellington men 'waiting for him he decided to kick, and sent the leather right across the field. There "was no one to accept it, and a splendid chance wac lost. Wellington again attacked, Roberts picking the ball up cleverly and setting the backs in motion. Ifoe next move was a little footwork by Mynott and O'Sullivan. which Ryan (Wellington full-back) stopped effectively. Then the Wellington forwards shook themselves together and swept down upon the Taranaki defence. Watkins might ihave got -, over had he not passed, but the ball got t over to Ward, who relieved by a good line kick. Just before the conclusion Wallace had a couple of place-kicks at goal, and put the last one over the bar, from nearly half-way. . Wellington : ••• 14 ' | Taranaki ... ... ••• 6•< , The Taranaki forwards played surprisingly well and beat the visiting forwards, but the combination and speed of the Wellington backs was superior to TaraEaki. The condition of the Wellington men was too good for Taranaki in such a fast game, and several of the amber and black forwards seemed "weary and ill at ease" before the finish. Roberts maintained his All-Black reputation, and Wallace showed great head work. Mitchinson was perhaps the hest of the visiting backs. The Wellington pack played' well r Manning being especially good on the line-out. , ThVTaranaki backs all played very well. O'Sullivan was the pick of -the" pack. Shea- . han played a fine game on the " wing, and I easily beat Hardfiaim. 1 Mr H. TillyofWpin- j ganui) refereefl. '"He was 1 exceedingly | strict and his decisions did not mcc() I >vKtlh public approval. ' On many occasioasf he j vras hooted and jeerefd-at by certain' 1 Sections on the terraces. ■ • :! " ; J . ..._ • ' i