FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13193, 2 June 1906, Page 5 (Supplement)

FOOTBALL.

TO-DAY'S CUP MATCHES.

THE. fourth matches in the .first round of tfa.o Auckland Rugby Union cup competitions will l>o played this afternoon, the senior fixtures being Newton v. City, Grafton v. I'onsonby, and North Shore v. Parnell. City and Newton play on the No. 1 ground at Alexander Park, and although the wearers of the red and white uniforms may be expected to offer a stubborn resistance City should win. Ponsonby meet Grafton on No. 2 ground at Epsom, and the latter will have to play better football than that of last Saturday to hold their own with Ponsonby. North Shore and Parnell will try conclusions on the Devonport ground, and if the home team reproduces last week's form they should win rather easily. The' grounds and referees for to-day's matches are as under: — FIRST FIFTEEN'S. No. 1 ground : Newton v. City ; l-efeiee, Mr. C. Oram. . No. 2 ground: Grafton v. I'onsonby; referee, Mr. A. Freeman. At North Shore: North Shore v. Parnell; referee, Mr. J. Sutherland. SECOND FIFTEENS. No. 5 ground: New toll v. City; referee, Mr. R. Oliphiwit. No. 4 ground: Grafton v. I'on-scnby; referee, Mr. W. Knox. At: North Shore: North Shore v. Parnell; referee. Mr. G. Kattern?. THIRD FIFTEENS. No. 5 ground: Newton v. Parnell; referee, Mr. McLean. No. 6 ground: I'onsonby v. Grafton; referee, Mr. Craigie. At North Shore: North Shore v. City; referee, "Mr. McPhail. FOCRTII FIFTEENS. No. 7 ground: Newton v.'City; referee, Mr. H. Froit. No. 8 ground: Grafton v. I'onsonby; referee, Mr. C. Mirtin. No. 9 ground: North Shore v. I'aincll; referee, Mr. Deaiui.

LAST SATURDAY'S CONTESTS.

The son by-New ton match, won by Fon-s-onbv by 18 points to 12, was undoubtedly the brightest, best, and most evenly, contested game seen this season in cup football. Both teams were in capital fettle, and lasted out a fast and open, game, played without unnecessary roughness, in lint style. On the Ponsonbv side the feature was the dashing play of the forwards, whose sweeping rushes wore irresistible. In the open they outclassed the Newton vanguard, and their fine work in this department won the ■blue and blacks the game; in scrumming and close work there was little between the opposing forwards. Newton's strength was in the back division, the members of the rearguard getting in some capital passing rushes, the attacking- movements being cleanly and smartly executed. On one occasion tho ball passed through half-a-dozen pairs of hands, and the work leading up to the well-merited try scored was nothing short cf brilliant. On both sides there was room for improvement in the line-kicking, ttie forwards being frequently given a lot of unnecessary running about because ol the failure of tho backs to make- use of the touchline, while there was a tendency on the part of the forwards of both teams to kick too hard when dribbling. A few more games like that between Ponsonbv and Newton, and we may expect to find increased attendances at the cup fixtures. The overwhelming defeat of Grafton by North Shore on Saturlay last, to the tune of 41 points to nil, has form?d a topic for discussion during the week. Those who witnessed the match formed the opinion that Grafton got their deserts. Tho form displayed by them was of the most disappointing description, and marked by the lack of initiative displayed by the players, bad collaring, and wretched handling of the ball. Some of this, however, may have been due. to the vigorous onslaughts of the North Shore men, who played splendidly together, but even so, it must be said that if Grafton do not show improvement upon last Saturday's display they can look for similar deieats. It is to be hoped for the sake of their past reputation and the feelings of their supporters that Grafton will go in for more training, without which they can never have the combination and the other points in the game by which only success can be obtained. Tho display given by the North Shore team was undoubtedly a fine one, and spoke well for matches ahead.

It was not surprising to followers of the Rugby game that City defeated Parnell by 23 points to nil. The general impression prevailing amongst the Parnell supporters prior to the match was that City -were about 20 points better than the Parnell team. As far as the seorw was concerned, in the firstspell honours were practically even ; but City nevertheless had the bettor of the opening half. They were continually attacking, and ■ y that, they only scored three points may be :• attributed to the solid defence of the Parnell 4 backs, and the fact that th» red and blacks were not all out." The second spell saw a complete change, and the irresistible City K>: .. forwards, supported by fast and dashing backs ran all over their opponents. In a fiuart-or-of-an-hour they put on no less than <;• 17 points. Both in the open and the scrums the Oity forwards had matters pretty well their own way when they settled down to business, and of course the advantage in $••' weight over the Parnell vanguard told its tale. The maroons seldom got. the ball from the scrums, and on the line-out were generally beaten for the ball. With the weighty City 'forwards going at top the Parl>. ' Nell defence, which had stood the team in ft- good stead in the first half, was broken down in the second spell, and it was also noticeable that the tacklers frequently went too high for their men, attempting to take them about the shoulders and neck instead of below the waist. The appended table shows the positions of the teams competing for the senior championship:— Point*!. ' , Waved. Won Lost. Drawn, For. A gat. - City 3 3 0 . 0 64 11 I'oivKiiibv ... 3 2 1 0 37 40 Nori.li Shore 3 2 1 0 05 14 4 Newton ... 3 1 2 0 21 27 <; ration ... 3 1 2 0 fi 00 Parnell ... 3 0 3 0 6 46 AUCKLAND WEDNESDAY UNION. The extremely wet weather rendered Wednesday's football a matter of difficulty, but by no means caused the games to become uninteresting. The Butchers v. Post, Telegraph, and Railways match was a really cloie contest, whilst the Grocers and Milkmen, 011 No. 2 ground, only defeated the Drapers by the narrow margin of one try after a strenuous battle. Once again the 'Butchers triumphed; they left the field winners by nine points to nil, after giving a very good exhibition of football. Tho forwards tackled a stiff problem in the Civil servants' vanguard players, who fully equalled their doughty rivals in the scrum and on the line-out, but the Butchers vere cleverer in hooking the ball and also put- more dash into the open work. McMillan, who made his first appearancc in Wednesday football, was a tower of strength, whilst Griffiths and Cooper showed up as ; usual. Behind the pack Cox mado his debut and performed creditably. King, who had a turn at five-eighths, made no mistakes, ■ and scored a good try. Laing was tried as >: centro-threequartcr, and did very good work, but Piirdv, in his old position of wing-three-quarter, was the pick of the lot, and had a .>■ day out. Ashton, at fullback, got through r "~- his work in good style. * t \ • With but few exceptions the. Civil Servant 1 backs showed a pronounced disinclination to get down fo the forward rushes, and all endeavoured to handle the ball rather much. >}• Coghlan, i'l tlx three-quarter line, defended S& finely, and was perhaps the best, but Edwards, though not so good in defence, showed flashes of brilliancy. Forster, as wingfti forward, plavcd a hard game. The pack 'd ' worked well and played with more combination than in their first essay, but failed to keep up the pace. Trnno and Parser were most conspicuous, but all stuck to their ®~ ■v'ork pluclkily. j. Quite the surprise of the day was the fine • showing of the Drapers in their match with y<' the Grocers anil Milkmen, limit tram was an improvement on anything they have so far put in the field.- Batkin was m his old %£ place as centre-threequnrter, whilst the paftk was greatly strengthened by the inclusion oi S/ . Thomas in the front row and Fearniv on j - the wing. Unfortunately, Hick s , their scrum half, was unable to play, and Bide had likeii| wise to stand down, owing to an injured s'irvj ■ »liee, but 'the team nevertheless put up a jljß good fight. Batkin played right up to his mi || last year's form, kicking and tackling 111 1 fine style. Isaacs was the only other back & - f-lt s up ,0 competition form, and gave a good ex|i " ■ hibition. Tomlinson, who played fullback in 1, *he second snell. was the best of the others. jg f < . The pack worked hard, but lacked.combina|gr ;i 'ion. Thomas, in the frou' row, played £pleudidi\ until h» twisted his knee. Ellis, |

Rose, and Brown also worked well., and Foarnly, on ho * wing, was conspicuous throughout for good una consistent work. The Grocers and Milkmen's forwards were strengthened by the inclusion of Riddel!', but they had their work cut out. to dispose of their lighter rivals. Harrison and' Riddell were the best, but Powell and Mayall also worked hard. Roscoo and Baton were seen to advantage on the wings. All the backs played well, Henderson, at centre-three-quarter, being perhaps the most conspicuous. His handling of the ball was clean and neat. Pock was moved out to five-fight, Burton taking his place at halfback, and both fell into their positions almost at once. Hunt played his usual clever game at wing-three-quarter, and Purcell, on the other wing, exhibited plenty of dash. The matches set. down for decision on Wednesday next will probably be postponed until Wednesday week on account of the change in the weekly half-holiday. The Butchers and the Bakers are now the only teams that have not been defeated, and already speculation is rife as to the result of their meeting. From present indications the match should furnish a really excellent contest, and a record' gate is confidently anticipated. here and THERE. The Auckland Rugby 'Union committee have suggested August 11 .to the Taranaki Union as a suitable date for the AucklandTaranaki representative match, to be played here.

G. Baler, the Ponsonby five-eighths, has been appointed secretary 'of the club in place of H. C. Jones (resigned). July 14 and 21 have bee en suggested to the Thames and Goldlields Union respectively as suitable dates for the annual matches against the Auckland team. Both matches arc to be played in Auckland. Taken all round the goal-kicking in last Saturday's cup matches was poor. Those entrusted with the kicking might well devote a little more attention to practice, as a reliable goal-kicker is worth his weight in gold to a team. Mr. 0. H. Poole, M.H.R., has consented to give a limelight lecture in the Ponsonby. Hall on Wednesday evening next in aid of the Ponsonby Football Club's training halt fund.

Sydney writers are still discussing the prospect of a visit from the Auckland City Club's team. It. is hardly likely, howover, that the Auckland club will bo granted permission to make the trip this season, as the team includes in its ranks several prominent players who will have to don the jersey for the province in interprovincial fixtures. THE ASSOCIATION* GAME. The Association championship competitions will be continued at the different grounds this afternoon. At the Ivingsland Cricket Ground the principal' match will be Thistle v. Corinthians. Thistle made such a good stand against Tabernacle last week that it is hard to see how they can be beaten. However, the Corinthians team has had some alterations made to it. and may put up a good fight. An interesting contest should be witnessed at Devonport, where Ponsonbv and North Shore teams will try conclusions. Both sides have been giving "capital exhibitions of " socker'.' this season, and to-day's game should be very close. At Devonport last Saturday North Shore defeated Corinthians by six goals to one. The home team did not have matters all their own way during. the first half of the game, although they were doing all the scoring. On changing ends, however, North Shore took charge and it. was seldom that the Corinthians looked dangerous. Had the Shore- men been able? to shoot with accuracy their opponents would have had a much larger score registered against them. The match at Kingsland between Tabernacle and Thistle was very evenly contested from beginning to end, as the scores, one goal each, would suggest. Both teams played hard, and at times some exciting football was witnessed. On their play in this match Thistle should make matters vet'y interesting foi the first-grade championship of 1906. E. Sale, who it was thought had given the. game up, has again donned the jersey, and figured in the Corinthian team against North Shore last Saturday. With condition he will be as dangerous a scoring man as ever. Followers of the game will be glad to see Sale back iii the field, as players of his calibre are few and far between.

W. Cowan, another player whose retirement was announced, is playing again. Perhaps the defeats Corinthians are suffering are bringing these old players out again. To-day's matches will bring to a conclusion the first round of the first-grade competition. ' ' Oilier, who was a member of the Corinthian first-grade team last year, figured in the match Swifts •v. Northern Wanderers, played in Wellington last'" Saturday. , North Shore showed improved form in shooting in the match against Corinthians last Saturday, but there is still room for further improvement. Bayly, in goal for North Shore, played a good game against Corinthians. Harvey and Sutherland scored three goals each for Shore against Corinthians, and both were at the top. of their form, giving their be«t exhibitions to date so far.

The fine combination shown by the Galbraith brothers and May was in no small measure responsible for the defeat of Olympic by the North Shore first juniors last week.

f Complaints are being made concerning the amount of talking indulged in by the players during the progress of some of the matches. The referees should deal firmly with offenders, and let it bo clearly understood that they have charge of the games. Last year the Tabernacle first-grade team had not tasted the sweets of victory at the close of the first round. This season the position is reversed, the team being so far unbeaten. THE AUSTRALIAN GAME. The Australs were beaten on Saturday last by Eden, and although I do not wish to detract- from the merit of the play shown by the winners, it is safe-to say that but for the regrettable incident which occurred in the first quarter of the game the result of the match would have been different. The Austral skipper noticed something amiss with. the placing of his team in the field, and had the men lined up, and found they wore playing two too many. This of course lost the team all the points scored (35). The. handicap was too much, and the Eden -men, playing excellent foo.tbnll, finished up winners by 12 points. For L'den the best players were Cary, Hobday (2), Buttle, Welch, O'Connor, Sehofield, ami Cairns, whilst the most conspicuous for Austral were: Monteith (captain), Stewart, Moss. Inman, and Wadswortli.

An interesting letter was received in Auckland this week from Mr. li. L. MeKeon, the secretary of the league, ' and those interested will bo glad to learn that the authorities in the different centres down South are quite agreeable to the formation of an executive body governing the game in New Zealand. It, is also likely that Auckland will be made the headquarters. The following have been appointed for Saturday's match:—Field umpire, Mr. R. Cary; goal umpires, Messrs. Brown and Stevenson.

Players are requested by the league to appear in proper costume each Saturday, as a little attention to dress adds materially to the game from a spectator's point of view.