POLO TOURNAMENT.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXV, Issue 1883, 31 March 1913, Page 6

POLO TOURNAMENT.

HANDICAP CUP GAMES. Rain set in during the early hours of Saturday morning and caused considerable speculation amongst polo enthusiasts as to whether Saturday's fixtures would be played. From an early hour the officials were kept busy answering telephone calls and after a consultation it was decided that it was necessary to play in order not to prolong the tournament. The attendance naturally was not large although the gatnering included several enthusiastic ladies. Play was of a dull order throughout, t*»e ground cutting up badly. The games were mostly played in heavy rain. Hamilton were giveu 14 goals in the handicap match against Hawke's Bay A and judging by the performance of the latter team in securing 12 goals they would certainly have won had the day been fine. , „ " At frequent intervals the ball was buried in holes made by the ponies, resulting in numerous unsuccessful attempts at hitting. The public also did not seem to take the same interest in the game.

Mauawatu (15) goals v. Fern Flats (17) goals.

The teams were Manawatu —Goring Johnston, W. B. Giesen, D. H. A. Riddiford, R. L. Levin. . Fern Flats—J. Smith, A. Smith, H. A. Cameron and A. Cameron. Owing to the rain the game started considerably behind schedule time. Manawatu went straight down the ground from the jump and Levien scored a goal. The going was heavy and the ground commenced to .cut up considerably. Manawatu did most of the leading and Levien scored again off a ball brought up by Riddiford. The speli was monotonous for the amount of misses, the ponies being unable to hold their footing on the soft ground. The spell ended with Manawatu making a cross shot in front of the goal which went wide. Giesen took the ball up in the second round, and made a good attempt to score, but the ball went wide. From the hit out Johnston took advantage of an opening and scored a neat goal. Manawatu were still in the attack at the end •f the spell. Manawatu continued to press Fern Flats in the third stage and Levin put in a fine long shot which found the posts, making goal No. 4 for Manawatu. Fern Flats then put in their best rush of the day, but the shot went wide. The spell terminating with the ball being shot oat in Fern Flat's territory. Spell four commenced with a run through for Manawatu and a score for Giesen. Fern Flats put 1 in two good but unsuccessful runs during the spell. In the early stages of the fifth spell Manawatu again scored, and continued to press their claim without further addition during the round. The sixth spell had only just commenced when Johnston from a rush placed the ball between the posts. Changing over A. Cameron, for Fern Flat, after some Deat play registered the first goal for his team. Just as the bell rang Smith secur-. Ed another goal for Fern Flats, making the total Manawatu 22, Fern Flats 19. The final round was more willing and even, but the play was still slow with pouring rain and the ground cutting up considerably. As the bell rang Smith scored for Fern Flats, mating the final score Manawatu 22, Fern Flats 20. HA WEE'S BAY A (Scratch) v. HAMILTON (14 Goals.) Hawke's Bay: J. D. Ormond, F. McKenzie, H. A. Russell, W. C. A. McEenzie. Hamilton: F. W. Hunter, W. H. Hume, Innis-Taylor, R. J. Dodd. With the condition of the ground, Hamilton went out favourites. Hawke's Bay did all the leading in the spell and ended up with twe goals to credit. The second spell saw Hawke's Bay •ontinually on the attack, but no score resulted. Hamilton still kept up the defence in round three, but Hawke's Bay found an opening and with keen following up Nairn eventually secured another goal. Play went to the other end of the field and Ormond shot a goal for Hawke's Bay. A further goal speedily followed. • In the fourth round three more goals went the Hawke's Bay way, bringing their total to 8. The fifth spell was played in pouring rain, no score being recorded.. Hawke's Bay tried hard in the sixth round to increase the score and evenutally added one before the call •f time. With five to get to win, Hawke's Bay set out on a hopeless task, and after playing gamely soon secured a goal. A Hamilton player, InnisTaylor, then received a bad hit on the head, and was unable to resume. Play continued with Hamilton one "man short, Hawke's Kay secured another goal, bringing tbeir Total to 12, which left Hamilton the victors through their handicap of 14. SAYILLE CUP. TS AWAMUTU v. HAWARDEN A Teams—Te Awainutu: W. G. Kay, A. Taylor, J. Kay, F. Taylor. Hawarden A: G. L. Stead, P. A. Elworthy, G. L. Rutherford, C. O. T. Rutherford. Taylor was substitute in Te Awamutu team for Kay, who was unable to play, owing tq being injured during the second day's play. To Awamutu went out favourites and would have put up a faster game had tlu- .;onditions beeu favourable. From the start Hawarden took the lead ar.d Elworthy scoied. Te Awamutu assumed their previous iL v's dash in the second spell nuJ. taking the ball from one end of the field 'L the other evened the score to o'u- all. Taking the ball away uuu: 1o hall \v«y line they \ i. ui* t■ i< i mainuer of the «•>. 11 they gave Liu warden a merry and Jiot time. Commencing the third spell, Te

Saturday's Play.

Awamutu were again out for scoring and quickly worked their way to the goal. Changing over Stead for Hawarden scored. The change again resulted in another score. Stead taking the ball down and Elworthv making the shot, bringing the total to three all. Hawarden were getting in some clever long shots, but allowed Te Awamutu to break away, which cost them another goal, tb" - ' ' -"'rig outside the post. The : . .. spell saw Te Awamutu pressing hard and after some close play in Canterbury territory the shot went wide. J. Kay received a hit in the face and play had to be stopped for a few miuutes. The spell ended without alteration to the score. In the early stages of the fifth spell Kay secured a very cheap goal for Te Awamutu, and play had hardly resumed when Elwortbv, for Canterbury, scored, making the totals even. Te Awamutu broke through the defence again but missed. Canterbury then transferred play to the other end but Te Awamutu proved equal to the occasion and the spell ended four all. The sixth stage of the game commenced with a run through for Te Awamutu, Canterbury being forced. Te Awamutu gave few chances and continued to make the pace, which eventually resulted in another goal. The same team were making for the other goal when the bell nounded and the shot went just outside the post. The final spell proved the most interesting and was famous for pace, the Te Awamutu team securing two goals within the first three minutes. They continued to lead to the end and won by 7 to 4.