FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6515, 4 October 1882, Page 5

FOOTBALL.

J THE INTERCOLONIAL MATCH. THE RETURN GAME. In return match between the Auckland and New South Wales representative footballers took place at the Domain yesterday afternoon. The day Vras not proclaimed a holiday, but a number of places of business closed in the afternoon. Daring the former portion of the day the sky had been cloudy and overcast, and as the day wore on it became evident that a wet afternoon might be expected. Shortly before three o'clock tho wind freshened, and at that hour it began to rain, and continued at intervals during the whole of tho play. The spectators began to assemble ou the ground before two o'clock, and when the match commenced there were on the field

between two and three thousand persons,

I Betting was indulged in freely on the ground, and had hitherto been slightly in favour of Auckland, but whe* the rain came on it was cuu?idered that Sydney would do better mulct* the circumstances, and accordingly the li ttlng became level. The Auckland team u'uru not so sanguine of success when the change in the weather took place; while, on the other hand, the Sydney men were also afraid of £he soft ground, --*.t the Newmarket end there was aa lisjal a great crush on the goal line, and dariii;,' the play this was the means of causing the home team to lose a try through the lull having touched a spectator before it [ u-n3 touched down. After this the police did tlr.'ir utmost to keep the crowd back, and were successful. During the first fortyfive minutes of the game there was little or no wind, but as the second spell went on the wind freshened, and it was thought that the Sydney men would, under the circumstances,. do well, but subsequent events made it manifest that even with the advantage of the wind they were much overmatched, as the Auckland men showed in their splendid play to greater advantage, scoring rapidly time after time, and theball being keptwell in the Sydney twentyfive. The best of humour existed in both teams throughout the game, for during the interval the contestants were seen to talk together and exchange little compliments in the shape of refreshments. Next to a good winner is a good loser, and the Sydney team took their defeat in very good part, and frankly acknowledged the superiority of the Auckland men. The spectators, too, appeared to be pretty impartial, and loudly applauded each side when good play was shown, or a score made. Had the weather proved favourable both teams would certainly have played better, and a much more interesting game would have been witnessed, but, as it was, the greatest excitement prevailed, and sOme excellent play on both sides was exhibited. That the success of the Auckland men is, to a great extent, due to the superior ability of their captain is without doubt, for, in the first place, he has been most indefatigable in instituting a thorough preliminary training, and, in the second, his management in the field was most praiseworthy, and could not fail to attract notice. The duties of umpire for the visiting team were performed by Mr. W. Sibbin, while Mr. A. Cotter acted for Auckland, Mr. W. Robinson being referee. The names and positions of the Sydney team wero : — Back, Walker; half-backs, Flynn, Bayliss, and Graham; quarter-back, Fligg; forwards, Riper, Richmond, Barry, Mann, McClatchie, Addison, Hawkins, Howard, Hill, and Tiiallon. Auckland team :—Back, Webster ; three-quarter-back, Xtyan and Wood; half-backs, Whiteside, Sims, and Warbrick; forwards, Arneil, Carter, Clayton, Croxton, Bindon, Henderson, Biggs, Macky, and O'Connor. i

THE PLAY, A slight delay was occasioned by the wish of the Sydney team to play two spells of 45 minutes instead of four half-hours as has been usual here, although according to Rugby Union proper there is only one break in the game. Ram was falling as the blue and white stripes of two Auckland team emerged from the pavilion. They were greeted by cheers, as also were the Sydney team, who in sombre navy blue uniform, seemed quite in keeping with the weather. Henderson won the toss from Raper, and decided to kick with the wind, which was blowing very strongly. Our visitors placed their men differently this time, playing more forwards, which was a great improvement, making it a far better game to look at. Raper kicked off, and dribbling was the order of the day. The Sydney forwards, playing beautifully together, seamed to be getting the best of it, our men not packing as well as usual, but Henderson, calling on his men, got them in hand, and by a fine rush the ball was taken into the New South Wales quarters, where Carter got a mark, and placed for Ryan, who tried at goal without success. Bayliss, by a good run and drop, relieved his side for the time, but tho fine forward play of the blue and white soon forced SydHcy down. Tho ball was kickcd out, and out of a loose scrimmage, Whiteside got hold of the leather, and by clever dodging ran through four of the Sydney backs and touched down. The try was entrusted to Ryan, who, notwithstanding the greasy ball and cross wind, it placed an unmistakeable goal to Auckland. The ball was again kicked off, and Whiteside again shone brilliantly, while Wood's punting cameinseveral times advantageously. The game now became very fast, and our forwards following up well, got on the ball across the goal line, but the Sydney captain I claimed a dead ball, as it had touched a spectator, so tho try was not allowed. War-" brick was playing very hard half-back, doing a lot of tackling, while Raper, Flynn, Fligp, and Bayliss showed well for Sydney. Sydney now playing well together drove the ball into the Auckland quarters, but Ryan, by a good nuut into touch, saved Sydney from scoring. The ball was driven through a scrimmage to Wood, who made a fine run, passed to Arneil, who passed to Sims. The ball was then kickcd too hard, and Walker, the New South Wales back, by a clever run, saved a further score by our men. The ball was

then kicked towards Raper, who made a fine run, knocking several of our men over, but was well collared by Bindon, but the ball was neatly passed to Bayliss, who passed to "Jumbo," but the Sydney heavy weight was well collared by Darby Ryan, and saved what looked like a try. Loose dribbling again wis the feature, Arneil, Clayton, (Jroxton, Macky, and Biggs particularly shining. The former by a ▼ery clevgr piece of dribbling, took the ball half-way up the field, whero Whiteside by a smart run secured a try, but Ryan failed to place a goal. Time was now called, and after a refresher and a spell of two minutes O'Connor kicked off for Auckland. The Sydney men, with a freshening wind in th«ir favour, began to make use of their drop-kicking prowess, and the ball got unpleasantly near our goal. Henderson and Clayton at this time shone frequently in the scrimmages, as did Bindon and Carter. Bayliss, Walker, Fligg, Flynn, Howard, Hawkins were all doing yeoman's servic* for their side. Webster saved Sydney scoring, by good fending and finishing with • good drop, but Sydney would not be denied, and by a rush got the leather into our 25; but Warbrick, By a good kick, sent it well down the touch line—a series of loose scrimmages, a good ran by O'Connor, another T>y Sims, the ball was kicked out of a scrimmage, and Wood kicked it over the

bar; rather a lucky goal for Auckland, but a well-judged kick by Jimmy. Raper kicked off, and soon after Warbrick made a very clever run, finishing with a good drop, but Sydney dropping well with the wind, and Flynn, Howard, and Fligg doing good runs, soon brought it into the Auckland 25, where Wood getting the ball, instead of punting as he usually does, tried to run, but was collared, and the ball being kicked out of the scrimmage, Flynn took a pot shot, and placed the leather neatly over the bar. Sydney now played up, but the. blue and white were equal to the emergency, and their forwards splendidly worked the ball down, and Bindon following up, scored anther try, which Ryan converted into goal. Sydney seemed to go rather to pieces after this, and O'Connor got another try, but Ryan missed. The play after this was principally an open dribbling game, and nothing noteworthy occurred except that the ball was keptpret'ty close to the Sydney goal. Time was called, and cheers and counter cheers were given.

_ With reference to the general play, our visitors played a far belter forward game, partly because there were more of them; but the ground was too slippery for their backs to dodge, and the ball too wet for passing. Raper handled his men well, and played a fine game, as did all tho Sydney team. Bayliss, Walker, Flynn, and Hawkins particularly so. As for our men, we cannot say enough for them—they certainly never played better, and the Selection Committee have every reason to be satisfied. The forwards bear off the palm, and individually, we think Whiteside deserves the most credit in the first half. It was a very bad day for back play, and the backs must be congratulated that all day they only made one mistake, which proved fatal. Wood, Warbrick, Arneil, and Carter shone in the second spell; and Webster was all there when wanted.

The result of the game was three goals and two trys by Auckland, against one goal by Sydney—viz.: 18 to 4.

When time was called it was raining heavily, and both teams were at once conveyed to town in tho drags provided, the Sydney team proceeding to the Royal Mail Hotel, Victoria-street. In tho evening they were taken out to Remuera, where a social reunion was given in the hall in their honour, at which His Worship the Mayor and Mrs. Clark, together with other leading residents of that suburb, were present.