ATHLETIC SPORTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue XXI, 7 June 1884, Page 6

ATHLETIC SPORTS.

. FIXTURES.' >. ' FOOTBALL. Jobs 7 :Anckland v. Ponsonby; North Shore vAlbert; Grafton v. Gordon. Jnc» 14 : Auckland v. Gordon; Ponsonby v. Grafton; North Shore v. Newton. Jane 21: Auckland v. Grafton; Ponsonby v. Newton; Gordon ▼. Albert. Jose 28: Grafton v. North Shore; Ponsonby v.. Albert; Gordon v. Newton. JulyS: New Zealand v. World. ; - July- l£ : Auckland v. Albert; Newton V. Grafton North Shore r. Ponsonby. July 19 : Auckland v. Newton ; Albert v. .Grafton; - North Shore v. Gordon. July 26: Auckland v. North Shore; Newton v. .Albert; Ponsonby v. Gordon. > August 2 : Auckland v. Ponsonby; North Shore ' Albert; Graftonr. Gordon. August 9: Auckland ▼. Gordon ; Ponsonby v. Grafton ; North Shore v. Newton. August 16 : Auckland v. Grafton; Ponsonby v. New-' '' ton ;-Gordon v. Albert. - ■ August 23 : Grafton v. North Shore; Ponsenby v.' Albert-; Gordon v. Newton. September 6 : Club ties. NEW ZEALAND TEAM IN NEW SOUTH WALES. June 7.—New South Wales, Sydney. June 11.—"Western Districts, Bsthorst. June 14.—New South Wales, Sydney. AQUATICS. Hanlan v. Beach, for championship of tha world, on Parramatta Elver. AUSTRALIANS IN ENGLAND. June 9.—At Bradford, against Yorkshire. June 12.—At Nottingham, against Nottingham. Jane 16.—At Cambridge, against University. - Jane 19.—At Ifanchester, against North of England. June 23. —At Clifton, against Gloucestershire. June 26.—At the Oval, against Gentlemen of England. June SO.—At Sheffield, against Players of England. [Secretaries of clubs and others are requested to send information referring to matters dealt with in this column to Hebald office.]

FOOTBALL.

What, was, perhaps, the best club match ever played in Auckland was witnessed by • over 1200: spectators on Saturday last, when the fifteens of Ponsonby and Gordon tried conclusions. The result,was a surprise, and it was hardly expected by. the' most sanguine that the blue and blacks would be' vanquished. There is no doubt that the Gordon Club is the heaviest team playing in Auckland, and they have half-a-dozen splendid forwards. One of them, Crowe, who is said to be 15 stone, made his first appearance, and acquitted himself well. At the start of the contest it looked as if Ponßonby would Bcore from the kick off, but the reds cleared their goal and were not satisfied until they had driven- the ball over their opponents line where Tawhai, who played a good game all through the match', touched down. That Gordon should score bo quickly must have astonished the hitherto crack team, and the game proceeded without further alteration in the record until the second spell, when a piece of unlucky play by Whiteside, gave Wood a chanoe which he made the most of by a grand run, and enabled Barton to convert it into a goal. Although Ponsonby were playing eleven forwards to Gordon's nine, the latter held their own in thei scrummages, and several of them came through time after time in grand style. There was an absence of good passing in the whole of the match, and what there was several times almost ended disastrously for Ponsonby, owing to the reckless way in which the oval'was thrown back without a player being there to take it. This may be 'said to have lost the blue-and-blacks the game. Whiteside made several good runs, but the Gordon baoks kept their'eyes on him too well to allow him to get through on many an occasion. Anderson played a good game. He tackledl well and made several runs, one of which would have been a try if he had not to wend his way in amongst a lot of spectators, who had encroached on to the ground. His weak point seemed to be in picking up. If he had been smarter at this there is no - doubt - he -would have'-' done better. Turabull, one of the Ponsonby forwards, is a fine athletio fellow,with any amount of strength, but has a habit of using his arms unnecessarily. Cosson is a first-rate full-back, and kioks splendidly, but he and Arneil were not near enough to do the work they had to do. The Elace kicks at the bar of Arneil were such ioks as the one he had at Christchurcb, but both attempts failed. For the victors, Potts played about the best game among the forwards. . He was always on the ball, came through cn many occasions, and'was about the best dribbler in his team.'" Barton and the captain (F. Clayton) did good work; Smyth is also a hard-working forward, - and the same may be said of Williams. Amongst the backs, Wood shone the most, and was in grand form. Poland also ran well. The return matoh between these teams should be a good contest/ Auckland crossed the water with the weakest team they have yet put in the field this season, and were defeated by eight points to nothing. They had not the services of Carroll,, who promised so well for them as a back. Dr. Bond.played a good game for them, and he was ably backed up by his captain and Moginie. The blues have a good man in young Moantford, who played for the first time for this club. Webster played the good' honest-game he alwayß plays, and J. Sibbin potted a neat goal off a mistake by George, the Auckland full-back. Newton defeated Albert by a couple of points, although the red and blacks should have won if they had had a better placekick. This is a branch, of the game which might be well practised by many, as the reliable men in Auckland are very few. Webb was the other forward who played in the Cumberland match. Warbrick returned the kiok off in the Cumberland match, and did not again touch the ball during the whole of the the first spell, in the second term he changed with Ryan and almost crossed the line after a grand run. The- s.B. Hauroto steamed into Sydney with the footballers, with a ball hanging under the flag from the maiEsasst .. 1 The New Zealand ttiam have won their J first"'matoh against a ~pioked team of New South Wales with comparative ease,' by two' goals and a try to nil. The Auckland men keep up their repntation for drop kicking, and they have secured all the pot shots'as yet. To-day is fixed for the second .match with N.S.W., and there is not much doubt now but that the visitors will again prove their supremacy. When the mail left Sydney last week, both Braddon and W arbrick had bad knees, and it was doubtful if they would be able to play on the following Saturday. However Warbrick was able to kick a goal on the day. ; Norwood sent a team from Adelaide to Melbourne on the 24th ultimo, and drew with Carlton, each side scoring three goals and a number of behinds. Wales beat Ireland at Rugby on Aprill2, by a goal and two tries to nil. Three thousand is considered a large' attendance to witness an intercolonial match in Sydney/ Why, in little Auckland, we would turn out in larger numbers to see such a contest. • . Mr. W. L. Rees made quite a scene in a match at- Gisborne recently. A try was obtained by the. side opposed to him, and Mr. Rees then began to abuse the umpire and others in no measured terms, using strong language, and most of the players then left the field, amongst them Davy. The affair ended by the disturber getting up another matoh, mostly composed of Maoris. The Zingari Club, from Dunedin, played Christchurch last week and the game ended in a draw. Christchurch scored two tries and Zingari a goal. Umpires using whistles are now becoming 1 general in Christchurch. Messrs. Crawley and Fripp have been 1 elected members of the Auckland. . A match was played .yesterday between 1 Newton East School and Beresford-street, 1 when the former won by a goal and tw tries , to two tries. 1 Permission. to play on the Metropolitan 1 Ground seems to have been granted. The Home Bay and Roseberry play there to-day. i The New Zealand team are being well L treated in Sydney, and letters received , speak of' the treatment received in the highest terms,. . The by-laws as to playing-for one club and new members joining a club were passed at a meeting of the Union last week.The Athlete has been doubled in size, and now consols of ight pages. ! The Rangiora Club has been presented with ' a banner.. Surely some of the many ladies . who as«emble on the Domain every Saturday 1 might well follow suit. • . The Gordon and Grafton matoh shonld.be 1 a. good one to-day. The former are the • -favourites. .'.. .. > • ~ 1 It is expeoted that Bathurst will make the - best show against the New Zealanders. ' 'i Grab - and Fligg, who visited New Zsa- ! land with he Sydney team, were excluded trom the N.S. W. fifteen last Saturday, and muoh dissatisfaction was expressed. 1 | F, Cheeseman,'a native of Auckland, was requested to play, full-baok for New South i Wales,' be the declined. ' The New Zealand torn have sow scored i 86 their opponents' five 1

, Sir,—Now' that' football enthusUim is aS a pitch, owing to the aruccesa of the sons of Maoriland in Australia,. do you not think some steps should be taken by our aasoda. tion to nave the team play a match here on their way home? Hoping the idea will he taken up.—l »m, 4:e., New Zkalahdee. [I think this a suggestion which should be taken up if tha New Zealand'team mm through Auokland'on their return.—Aigns°] .CRICKET. The Australians have been defeated bvtfea Gentlemen, and the latter have thus wioS out the decisive win of the colonials in ft! 1882 tour. This is the fourth time thus teams have met, The Englishmen won th» first by an innings and one run, the second they also won by four wickets, in whichtta Australians played such a fine up-hill and Murdoch carried out his hat for 153 while G. F. Grace made 152 for the Gentle* men. The third match was won a* everybody " will remember, . by ths '-nit, torn by an innings and one too and this time , the home team have carried the daj. by four wiokets. The were unfortunate in not having the service* of Spofforth, and thus only batting ten men a-ride; but I think that many will now admit fiat this team is not such a strone eleven is the last one, and it is hardly to tw expects! that the. colonials will be afcln to cope with England on this occasion, although if they should have the good fortune to bat ' in fine weather, and England have to con. tend with the visitors may again brin? " those ashes" once more back to the coloT nies. But a victory* of that sort would be nothing to " blow" about. . W. G. Grace seems to be in solendid form this season England, and his" iOl in fl, # M.G.C. match was got without a chance and was then dismissed lbw ; he also came out well with the ball. . . Whiut has become of Murdoch this trip» He appears to have gone quite off in biij batting. I think his admirers across the . water will not be making comparisons with - the great W. G. this time. For Gloucester W. G. Grace opened tha season by making 111 runs. The resolution to have the bat half an inch narrower was withdrawn at the mcctin et of the M.O.C. sw John Wiaden, once a celebrated Sussex cricketer, died on April 2. His principU performance was when he bowled the whole wicket in North v. South, at Lords, in 1850. A Junior Cricket Association has been formed in Sydney. MISCELLANEOUS. Hanlan, although accorded a hearty re* ception by oarsmen in Melbourne, had a miserable attendance at the exhibition, the prices of admission being far too high. It is expected that, were he to row on the Albert Park Lake, thousands would turn out to see him. . The dingy race between Sullivan and Bailey last Saturday was an easy win for the former, and surely yonng Bailey is now satisfied that Sullivan is the better boy of the two. The Hanlan-Laycock match was not a monetary success, and many seam to think that the half length win of the champion wa." all that he could win by. Harry Keljey, 'She veteran ex-champion has left Putney for Berlin, to train thf Berlin Rowing Club during the summer. The fifty miles bicycle protesaional championship of 'England was won by J. Bit tensby, Newcastle, on April 12, in 3hrs, 3mins. 23 3-ssecs. R. Howell, Coventry, won the ten miles in 35mins. 24 3-si«cs. A match between Hanlah and Clifford will very likely be arranged, and the stake will be £500 a-side.. That Hanlan should persist in making' £1000 a-side as the stake in a match with Beach is bringing on him anything but favourable comment by- the Australian Press. It is considered bad taste that he should be willing to row other men for £500 a-side, but that nothing short of the larger, sum should be sufficient to row - Beach for/ Hanlan . should not be allowed to leave Australia without rowing Beach. Jem Ward, a celebrated pugilist, who died: recently in England, took part in 22 contests and was only beaten twioe, by Josh Hudsonand Peter Crawley. Athletio sports are to be held at Starki Gardens, Devonport, on 27ih tost., under the management of Mr. Dwyer, an old Australian athlete. Mr. Dwyer has hadl&rge experience in undertakings of this kind, and there is no doubt he will on this occasion carry the programme out to a satisfactory issue. 150 . yards handicap (£25), 1 mile, and 1 mile walk are the chief items. Mitchell, the English boxer, had a match the other day in New York with J. Denning, an ex-champion, in which the latter got a frightful drubbing. The Englishman gave him doses which he was in no way able to return. -• Abous.