FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8629, 27 July 1891, Page 6

FOOTBALL.

PARNELL V. NEWTON. ! The match between these two district cluba ! has been eagerly looked forward to as likely to produce a keen interest, as each had not been beaten. The result, however, did not justify expectation, as Parnell were a good deal superior to their opponents, and won easily by 13 points to 1. In the first spell Newton played up hard and kept the game fairly even, though their forwards did not show much superiority to the Parnell vanguard, and/ the spell resultedParnell, 2; Newton, 0. In the second term the Parnell backs, Madigau, Elliott, and Jarvis, played up well, and made many dashing runs, Madison especially being in good form. The Newton backs were slow, and allowed the speedy Parnell threequarters to score, the game ending as above. Smith, Lecky, and Why to showed eood play for the victors, while Murray, Heffernan, and Walker were the best of Newton's vanguard,' , ■ SUBURBS V. CITY. This game attracted the most attention, and was closely contested from start to finish, though, on the whole the Suburban team had an advantage. In the first spell, after being stopped in several good rashes by steady play of the City men, Hales marked for Suburbs at the 25 line, and Peace made a good shot at goal, which, however, fell short. Some fast and exciting work in which both teams did some good dribbling then ensued, till offside play by City forwards gave Suburbs a penalty kick opposite the goal. Peace made a nice place-kick and landed a score. Suburbs, 2; City, 0. : Though City by good •'passing took play to their opponents quarters, they were driven back and pressed hard. Otway made a dahgerous pot snot, and City forced, and good dribbling by Herrold, and strong runs by Rhodes, kept City on the defensive for a good while. They cleared their lines, however, and the spell ended with the score as above. In the second spell both sides worked very hard. By combined passing play of Braund, Mackie, Blewden, and steady forward work City menaced their opponents two or three times, but the collaring was very sure and the chances of scoring often missed by poor taking. Suburbs retaliated by good rushes, and Herrold, after some smart play, ran in and scored a try, no goal being kicked : Suburbs, 3; City, 0. Play in neutral ground followed till J. Poland and Rhodes by strong play took it to City's 25. In a rush J. Braund made a miss-kick, and from a line-up near the goal-line Rhodes burst through and scored. Peace failed at goal: Suburbs, 4 ; City, 0. Good work by both sides followed, but the speed anil weight of the Suburbs told, and again they pressed their antagonists despite plucky and" clever work by City's backs. Prom a forward rush a scrum resulted near City's goal posts, and Williams scrambled over and secured a third try. The attempt at goal was again futile, and the match ended in a victory for Suburbs by 5 points to 0. PONSONBY V. GRAFTON. The match between these two clubs was a spirited contest, and both sides worked hard. 'J. he Grafton players collared well, and stopped the runs of Mftsefield, O'Connor, and others repeatedly. The former, however, near the finish of the first spell made a grand run and got right behincf. In the second term the Ponsonby men played up better", and pressed their opponents frequently. Masetield again scored and Roberts also distinguished himself, Ponsonby finally winning by several points. Grafton 11. ran over Praisonby 11., winning by 13 points to 1. Parnell 11. defeated Newton 11. by 6 points. S"burl>s 11. A. beat City 11. after a good match. Grafton 111. A. beat Newton 111. A, but Newton 111. B. defeated Parnell 111., while City 111. A. won against Ponsonby 111.

[by telegraph.—own correspondent.] Thames, Saturday.— the iunior football contests to-dajr .Rovers beat Wanderers 11. by 4 points to nil; Rovers 11. beat Waitemata by 1 point to nil; and Nationals and Nelson 11. scored 1 point each. [by tki.ugraph.press association.] Wellington, Saturday.—The senior football mutch between the Poneke and Wellington Clubs to-day resulted in a draw, neither side scoring. It is now almost certain that the Athletic Club will win the championship. OiiRiSTHURCii, Saturday. — The football match to-day between " rep " teams of Canterbury and South Canterbury Rugby Unions was played at Lancaster Park, and ended in a win for the former by 5 goals 2 tries to 2 tries. In the first part of the first spell Balchc potted a gaol and Humphrey and Gordon scored tries for Canterbury. Iu the latter half South Canterbury played the better game, and made some fine passing and dribbling rushes. From some passing Gillespie scored a try, and a little later on Stokes dribbled the ball over and touched down. The score at the end of the spell was sto 2. The second spell was principally in favour of Canterbury. Balclie and Cresswell each potted a gaol, whilst Balche and Garrard scored a try each, Wilson converting one and Cresswell the other. The play at times was tedious, being confined too much to the forwards. The ground was very heavy. There were about 2000 persons present. Dunedin, Saturday.—The Alhambra Club continued its victorious career to-day. winning, a close and exciting match with the Union club by 7 points to 4 points. Union were within an ace of scoring by fine rushes on several occasions. About 500 persons were present. The last few minutes of the game were played in blinding showers. Taieri boat Dunedin by 6 points to 1; Pirates defeated Zingari by 4to nil. The Alhambra club is now certain to be the premier for the year. They have received an invitation to visit Wellington, and play the premier club there, and also to play at Masterton. The invitation will most likely be accepted, and if the club can raise the required money they will not be averse to visiting Auckland. Having already defeated the Star club of Invercargill and the Merivale of Christehurch, they are anxious to test their combination against the j leading clubs elsewhere.