ATHLETIC SPORTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8306, 12 July 1890, Page 6

ATHLETIC SPORTS.

FIXTURES. FOOTBALL. Julv 12— Ponsonby t. Auckland Gordon v. Selwyn Poosooby It. v. Graf ton IL University v. Athletics j Gordon 11. v. Wanderers Orient v. Native Rose J FOOTBALL. I The match last week between Ponsonby and ; Gordon attracted a large amount of interest. I The recent defeat of Ponsonby by 10 points ] by Grafton, which had the preceding week i cone down before Gordon, made the latter ; strong favourites, and their victory was I looked upon as almost a certainty. Pon- • sonby proved, however, that their weak display on the previous week was " their day off" by having a good say in the game all through, and winning eventually by six points to two. j The game was a fast and exciting one, and I was pretty even. Gordon's forwards were I about equal to the blue and blacks in the ! scrum* and line out, but seemed cleverer in j dribbling rushes, their two halfbacks assist- | ing them much in this species of play. The j superiority in this respect was, however, j quite counteracted by the better all-round J work of the Pousonby backs, who, as usual, went iu for passing and running. That this class of work is superior as_ a scoring agency to the wing dribbling of the Gordon's halves was proved by the result of the game. A marked feature of the second spell was the miserable kicking out of the Ponsonby team, who for nearly twenty minutes were unable to free their 25 because the ball was hardly sent clear of the qunrter fiat:. This sort of thine can be easily remedied, and should be looked to. The place-kicking en both sides was unsuccessful. Jervis made several good shots. but Laird's attempts lacked precision and strength. I suppose when the "good time' comes in 2000 A.1)., as predicted by Bellamy, we shall see an approach to consistent and good place kicking. And it is only for want of a little practice. The game was on the whole played in a friendly spirit, though a couple of incident* occurred to mar the enjovmeut. The first was an accident which A. Braund sustained, necessitating his retirement. I am glad to state, however, that he is not injured in a very serious manner as was at first feared. Another contrtttmjt*, which I venture to say would only very recently have caused a verv heated discussion at least, wa« a piece of flagrantly unfair play on the part of Cantley, a Gordon forward, who deliberately held Caradus twice when the latter was racing for the bill on Gordons goal line. Though I was not in a ]*«ition to .=<->- whether Cara4'is h.t'l any certainty of scoring, at any rat* hie chance was ?-. fairly good one, and it -*•« altogether lost by Cant ley's action. T'm referee apparently did not s<?e the breach, for he took no notice of the appeals His/i*. The third incident referred to was the c:•;<:;■ i::. - on the field of Otway for some breach ' : : the rules, which in his report to the Union, I am given to understand, the reiert* dilined in but a vagae manner. The Uγ l. with their usual draconic rigour, &u.sj»-.-'j the player for four weeks. This i>nii\iLwwi is held by all who know anything '>:' tin circumstances to be too severe, as the rtfer** admits that his reason for ordering th» ait.ii '>:: was to prevent a very probable and Sμ;runt breach of the rules. If the offence *ra* not actually committed, four weeks'die.JHb.Htieation seems a long sentence. Concerning individual play, Jervia was ia fine form for Gordon, running and kicVJcg with dash and judgment. Herrold was bertier than lie has been this season and passed cat unselfishly, while A. Rces was very prominent. E. P.ees is a young player, but s-eerng t-o improve the wrong way. His faults are more lack of experience than anything el«-e. but the times he has been playing he should now know the _•;•.!!!!_•. Hugh Poland whs the shining light of the forwards, doing excellent work in ti.e scrum and out of it. Maynard, Murray, F. Gordon were also very serviceable, but laglis and .Siins made several mistakes. For Ponsonby. A. Bra unci was in fine fettle, though carefully shepherded. His passing was excellent, and his potted goal a fine piece of play. Caradus and Con way also worked hard and constantly, both making good runs. Ma&eh'eld and T.mtield were fair, the former making a splendid run in the second .spell, but both should watch their halves more closely. Breen was on the alert and did a lot of good work, particularly on the defence. Of the forwards, Mills was good in all departments. Caulton proved that his Wellington reputation as a rirsr-elass all-round mail was correct, while HelFernan and Cole both worked with dash throughout. Hobson shone prominently in nearly all the rushes, and exhibited marked improvement on previous displays. He will always pick no too much, howe\er. Beamish, as usual, was a handy, useful man. Owing to the poor team which Selwyn put into the field Graf ton had little difficulty in disposing of them. The action of several of j the Schvyu backs_ in deserting their team when they had a big match on has been very adversely commented upon, and should certainly not have passed unnoticed by the executive of the club. .Speaking of the Wellington Union having definitely decided not to send a team this year, because short of funds, an exchange says :—" However, the Union will soon be in a good position, as the City Council are assisting them greatly, by allowing them to charge admission a certain number of Saturdays during the season." At a recent meeting the Wellington Union very generously allowed the Poneke Club to withdraw or reconsider their decision re not competing in any future matches, but so far i as 1 can learn their offer has not been taken advantage of yet. Deploring the absence of G iff en from the present Australian team, the London Sporting and Dramatic Journal says:—"lf there is one cricketer in Australia* who stands a head and shoulders above any other, it is famous George Giffen—the best bat, and almost the best bowler in the country, and certainly the best allround cricketer in the world." Mr. Psotta, the American amateur sculler, writes a London correspondent, means to have another cut in for tiie Diamond Sculls against Mr. Guy Nickalls, our champion amateur. Mr. Psotta is now on his way to England, and brings George Leo, the "professional oarsman, as his couch. Jason.