FOOTBALL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11885, 8 May 1899, Page 6

FOOTBALL.

LOCAL MATCHES. The weather on Saturday Avas splendid and the grounds Avere in capital order, but a strong breeze assisted those teams Avhich Avere playing on the larger grounds, at Lancaster Park, and were kicking , towards the south goal. In front of the' new stand, Merivale beat Kaiapoi by fifteen to seven; Sydenham were defeated by Linwpod by twenty-four points to four, and on * the hew : , ground Albion created a surprise by making a drawn game Avith, Christchurch, . each ’■ side scoring; six points. The lady supporters of the’ Sydenham Clhib provided afternoon tea, and the takings at the gate amounted to £22 18s. j

■ "ifAXArorv. MERITAI.E. The country team, with a, strong wind to assist them, soqn after-the, start of the game took play to the Merivale line, and Revell almost got over at the corner. The .Merivale forwards, Who had a slight advantage in the scrum, found their work riiputvalised by the excellent kicking of Raich', and M’Gregor, and play Avas at the twenty-five flag for a long time. Balch mads several dashes at the line, but found the tackling of M’Cree and! Burrell too safe. lastnained cleverly ran through the Kaiapoi forwards and kicked into touch AVell up the field. Marriner and King got away from the scrummage and dribbled the ball to the Kaiapoi twenty-five. Green and Balch, by passing, returned the attack to the Merivale goal-line, and the latter had several shots at goal from penalties and marks without result. Duncan made a dodgy run. Renaldi obtained a mark, from which Balch . kicked a goal, and immediately aftenvards he kicked a goal from a penalty. A long run along the touch-line by Loav was noticed, and, Avith play at the centre, Forbes got away. He passed to King, >vho outpaced the Kaiapoi backs and scored at the comer flag.* Burrell made a good attempt. AAita the kick. M’Gregor, by a good kick, had the ‘play af the Merivale goal-line again, but Drake and Cook headed a Menvalle forward rush to mid-field, and, after some passing by Dansey, Low and M’Cree, Burrell had "a shot from a penalty, and Kaiapoi AVere forced. After Balch had . made another dodgy run and was Avell tackled by Burrell, dhe spell ended with the play in the Menvale end. With the Avind in their favour, it was thought that Merivale vvould soon wipe off the score against them, but me breeze dropped in the second half. Burrell, however, Avhose accurate kicking aves muchapplauded', placed Kaiapoi on the defence immediately on resuming, and the ball! coming out of the scrummage, Loav took a flying kick, left foot, and .the ball went over the bar, thus securing a lucky four points for Merivale. A lot of passing by the Merivale backs proved unsuccessful, and, reverting to their forward play again, Farquhar dribbled the hall over the line and scored betAVeen the posts, Burrell missing the easy kick. Erom-well outside the twenty-five Burrell had a drop at goal, the hall just going outside the posts, and Kaiapoi were forced. , The Blues were now having all the best of the. game, and passing by Dansey, M’Cree and Forbes let the last-named ov ei, and Drake kicked a fine goal. Duncan put in a. serviceable tun, and Green dodged through the Merivale forwards, being pushed out at the dorner flag. ' The Merivale forwards, however, soon rushed the play to the other end, where Balch cut off a pass intended for Forbes, and made a splendid run right rip 'the ground, hut once more Burrell! safely tackled. ‘After some interesting passing by the Merivale backs the bell rang with the play at the centre. Spells of forty minutes were played, and Mr J. Nixon was. referee. The final score was; —Merivale fifteen points, Kaiapoi seven points. '

CHRISTCHURCH V. ALBION. - These teams met at Lancaster Park on Saturday, when, to the'surprise of everyone the game resulted in, a draw. Christchurch lacked off against the wmd, and Albion gradually worked play into then opponents’ twenty-five, but a free kick to the Reds relieved. A good passing run started by .Lawrence 1 placed Albion on the defensive, . hut the Black forwards eanic away with a determined rush, which, followed lip hy a well judged-kick by Machin, transferred play to the Christchurch end. Cardale was here disabled, and retired for the rest of the spell. Pascoe relieved the pressure only to see his work neutralised by, a smart dash hy Machin. The Reds now E ot on a determined rush, in which Pascoe, Ollivier and Walters were conspicuous, the last-named scoring- Raphael failed with the place, and shortly after the kick-out Butler, Archibald and Machin put in some good passing, which eventuated in Archibald’s scoring a try. No. goal resulted, and the scores were equal. Give and take play followed, of which the younger club had none the worst, and eventually the Blacks were awarded a free kick at the Christchurch twentv-five, from which Johnston placed a goal. For the rest of the spell the play was fast, Christchurch severely testing the Albion defence, though nothing more than a force down resulted. Soon after resumption the Reds attacked, and from a penalty kick Raphael succeeded in making the scores level. From this out the game was exciting, and though Christchurch did most of the attaching they were unable to increase their score, while at times they had all their work cut out to prevent the Blacks getting across their lino. Raphael missed several fairly easy chances at goal frjMU free kicks and marks, one being from , right in front of the posts. No further- score was registered, and the game ended with each team having scored six points. Mr W. Irvine was referee.

LINWOOD V. SYDENHAM. Linwood met Sydenham on the western ground. Sydenham kicked off with a strong breeze and glaring sun against them, but for a few minutes they kept the ball in the Linwood half. J. O’Brien punted across the field, Orchard followed up, secured the ball, and was thrown out near the comer flag. Some scrummaging followed, the Greens heeled out, and in the open Ormandy got fae ball and wriggled over the line. E. O’Brien failed with the kick. The Sydenham pack, aided by Gerard, now shifted play to the centre, 'but the. relief was only temporary. From a scrum near the Sydenham line P. Byme secured the ball and smartly touched down. E. O’Brien converted. After the •kick-off Sydenham rallied for a while, and good 'kicking by the Reeses put the Greens on the defensive, but J. O’Brien relieved with a long kick. Phillips marked the return, and E. ’O’Brien placed a neat goal. The ’Sydenham forwards now played with more dash, and Thomas headed a fine rush, which shifted play to the Linwood twentyfive. Some good passing among Gerard and the Reeses nearly ended in a score, but good tackling by the Byrnes and Phillips saved the Greensr The Linwood pack heeled out to P- Byme, and a good passing rush resulted. Cowper finally secured the ball and dodged over the line. E. O’Brien missed the kick. For the few Remaining minutes of the spell play hung about the centre, and consisted chiefly of uninteresting line-out work. Just before the bell rang J. O’Brien received, an. injury and had to retire. On resuming Sydenham at once assumed the aggressive, and D. Reese-and Robson put in some good work. Linwood were forced several times from fruitless kicks at goal, but at last the forwards headed by Pegg cleared the line, and'Sydenham were hard pressed. Fast open play followed, and in the general scramble r. Byrne picked up and passed to his brother, who scored a neat try. E. O’Brien again failed with the kick. The Cardinals roused themselves and attacked strongly, and only bad passing prevented a score. After an exciting five minutes Phillips and Orchard relieved. Phillips received a pass from Ormandy, and ended a good run by scoring near the comer. Ormandy failed to convert. Sydenham returned to the attak, and the game again became fast and exciting. D. Reese had several shots at goal from marks and penalties within fair range, and at last succeeded in dropping the bull over the bain A strong forward rush ' brought the ball within fifteen'; yards of the .Sydenham line. From a -'scrum the'Greens heeled out to P. Byme, who sent the ball to bis brother, and ■another try was scored. E. O’Brien failed

with the kick. Linwood still continued the attack, and Orchard made several dashing runs, but Love’s good tackling saved his side. .Just on call of time the Cardinals came away with a rush to the Linwood half, but the ball Avent out of touch, and the game ended with Limvood twenty-four points, Sydenham four. Mr F. T. Evans Avas referee.

JUNIOR FLAG. Albion defeated Richmond at Richmond by fifteen points to nil. For the winners, M’Donald, D. Baxter, and Gray each scored a try; Weston placed a goal from one of the tries, and Gray potted a goal. Mr C. Taylor avus referee. _ Lyttelton and Christchurch met on the latter’s ground, the home team Avinning by eight points to nil. Ayers scored a try, from Avhich he kicked a goal, and Smith also scored a try. Mr A. LaAvrenco was referee. • .

The. Merivale Second Fifteen defeated the Sydenham Junior Flag team by fifteen points to nil. For the winners, Matheson and D. Fraser eaclr scored a. try ; the former player also converted one of the tries, and lacked a goal from a mark; Avhile Fraser placed a penalty goal. Mr H. E. Hiddlestone was referee. The Linwood-Kaiapoi Junior Flag match was played at Kaiapoi, the visiting team suffering defeat by five points to nil. For Kaiapoi, J. Puddle scored a, try, Avhich W. Blackwell converted. Mr W. E. Sxmes Avas referee.

PRESIDENT’S CUPAlbion A defeated Limvood by nineteen points to nil. Mason scored two tries, and Beatty, Haramon, and Wilson one try each ; Gray and Watters each converting a try. Mr C. W. Garrard Avas referee. Sydenham B had a very easy Avin by thirty points to nil oa t ct Merivale B. Birch scored tAvo tries, and Forbes, Light, Mahoney, Hutchens, Campbell, and Bound one try -each. Bishop, Light, and Birch each kicked a goal from a try. Mr U. Simpson Avas referee. The President's Cup match between Christchurch and : Sydeuham A resulted, after a stubborn contest, in a,win for Christchurch by six points to three. Brewer scoredff tries for the winners, and Anderson placeu a penalty-goal for Sydenham. .Mr R. Barry was referee. ■ - Albion C had all the 'best of their game with Albion ,B, whom they defeated by ten points to nil. Oavou scored two trios, and Manks ported a goal for the G team. Mr T. Pike was referee. ' OTHER MATCHES. A match was played at Wbolston on Saturday betiveen the Riversdale and Rival Clubs, the former team winning by eight points to nil Tries Avere scored for the Avinners by A. Dyer and H. Parry, R. M’Connell beingsuccessful Avith, one kick at goal. [Per Press Association.] WELLINGTON, May 7. In the senior football matches, yesterday, Athletic,beat Oriental by eighteen points'to nil, and Wellington defeated Poneke by eight to nil. ’Melrose, last year’s champions, were beaten by Petone by nine points to nil. . , DUNEDIN, May 6.

In the Senior Flag matches, Kaikorai beat Zingari-Richmond by sixteen points to ,nil, University beat Pirates by fiA r e points to nil, and Alhambra beat Dunedin by nine points (three tries) to five points (a goal from a try). The match Union/ v. Southern was drawn, neither side scoring.