FOOTBALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13235, 21 July 1906, Page 8

FOOTBALL

-,': AUCKLAND V. GOLDFIELDS UNION. :;feS«!";.r". ; n- ; -'ri; - -:-: '-.*-■ : ?,-•■ . ■■: : \, <■ -,;.- :.:■■>■ ■■■;■■■■'-'- '':■■■'. The annual match between the Auckland ; Rugby Union representatives and the Goldfields .Unicfti- team will ; be played at, Alex-, ;"■' ■ andra Park, Epsom,, this afternoon," and will -' : no doubt be well patronised, as this will be the first opportunity local enthusiasts will have of seeing the A team chosen by Mr. .;'; '"-. Gallaher play. - With the exception .:that Smith (throequarter, Parnell Club) and ' Hooper (forward) replace McKenzie / and Mackrell, who are unable to , play, the 1 personnel of the Auckland team has undergone no change since the match against the • Thames last Saturday. The weather conditions at tho Thames were so unfavourable that U'■'-■' -a good exhibition of Rugby was out of the question, but the reports point to their having handled tho ball very well under the ■ circumstances, and gave the impression that if the ground proves in good order and tne ■■ "ball dry this afternoon they will give a .satisfactory account of themselves as an attacking division. Of the Goldficlds team :,'. . the only*members who played against Auckland last season, when the Aucklanders won by 12 points to five, are Foster and Morgan ■; (backs), and Capill (forward), but a Paeroa enthusiast informs me that' the side is rerded as quite as strong, if not stronger, than the 1005 combination, so that we may look .forward to an interesting'match. The ;.;:■ game, which commences at three p.m. sharp, . ■ will bo preceded by the practice match beivreon the junior A and B teams. The teams are as follows: — * , > Auckland: Fullback, Renwick; threequarters, Smith,: Rowe, Wilson; five,v . ' eighths, R. Wynyard and W. Wynyard; '■--'''■' halfback,, Kiernan; wing-forward, Barclay; ...MacCormick, Eaton, Maguire (Grafton), Hooper, Dunning, Trevarthcn, . • Francis. ■ "■;' :,,:;■ Goldfiolds: Fullback Dufty; threequarfors, Dillamoro, Flynn, quid Foster; five-eighths, Morgan; halfback,! Darby; wing-forwards, Siloock and Gillette forwards,' Arns, Cdrbett, Lyall, Cunningham, % McDuff, Capill. and Graham. Emergencies: Snowling ; (back), Rukutai (forward). ;'Referee: Mr. Angus Campbell. THE CITY TEAM'S TOUR. ■ - The City football team completed the pro-■; gramme arranged by the Metropolitan Rugby/Union on- Wednesday last, and left by- steamer tbe same evening for Auckland. ;; . They played four matches in Sydney, win : , ning three and losing one, and scored 36 points against ' 27, while their trios numbered eight against six. The results must be /considered satisfactory, as the Glebe team, . now leading "for the, u Metropolitan Union ; premiership, figures among the sides .beaten; .-"■'■ ' by the Aucklanders; but it can hardly be ■said that ; they , have equalled the expectations of tbe more sanguine support-' ers of the City District Club, who quite ex-; pected to see their representatives return homo with an unbeaten record and , a wide ;':'...- ' .-margin .of points in their . favour. If the reports to hand convey -a fair , idea of Iho subsequent games it is clear that the Aiicklander:i met foemen worthy of their steel in Sydney.. and that club football in the New South Wales capital is well up to .; tho standard on this side of the sea, at feast r •, ** far as Auckland it concorued, as the City Club had much less difficulty in whipping Other teams here during the cup fixtures '•,,'-■ than in beating the teams playing under - the auspices-of the Metropolitan Union ■of New South Wales. / Their victories on the ''■;.-' ~ other, side, were due largely '.to the_ fine play ;■.'•'; of their forwards, and Sydney critics, like '■'/ •'' ourselves, were quick to recognise that with ! the exception of Smith; who appears to have < fully/maintained ; his «reputation;; the- City backs'failed to rise above mediocrity. - Be- ,; low I give the results of the matches played- . in. Sydney:— . . / / /, Against Newtown: Won; 11 points (a *- goal-and two tries) to 5 (a* goal). " "/ :•..'""■"': Against University: Lost; 8 points (a goal and a try) to 6 (two tries).: ;/- ' , . Against Glebe Won; 11 points (a goal, a - / try,'and a penalty; goal). to 8- fa goal and a penalty goal). . . Against South Sydney: Won; 8 points (a • goal and a penalty goal) to 6 (two tries). . In commenting on the first match of the tour, that against Newtown, the Sydney . Referee says:—The City team performed ~'. with .considerable credit against Newtown 1 sib the Sports Ground. There is no doubt that several of the. men were off-colour in ' ' tin?, matter of condition through the: illeffects, of the sea trip. . . . The victory of the Aucklanders v/as due to superiority in the forwards, who-were better organised ' ' ' fc- J quicker a3 a body than those of New-t-owu. ~ There was more systematised effort '; in all they did. The scrummaging of the - ■ , teams -was -not; widely; different ,m point of merit,'..excepting that the visitors heeled ,'-V ■ , with a quickness rarely if ever, seen in Syd- , ney since the , abolition of the seven pack, '-, whereas Newtown got the ball out quite *;■■"•, slowly. .. . In -the-matter of' screwing the scrummage .the- visitors were more proficient, ; ''. ' ' ' though practically no benefit accrued to them therefrom. - The Newtown 'forwards ■ ' ranged from fair to good in the loose, yet compared with Auckland did not play on to '/.- the ball with consistent dash. . . . The footwork of the visitors was excellent. In tackling there was little between the two j- sets of forwards, Newtown if anything being / the sounder. On .the- line-out, the Auckland forwards were best, and certainly more sys- ; . tematic. They played .to the backs from ; j.,- / the line-out with more.; evident purpose than , ,' . the ' Newtown men, who, while sharp in I / frustrating these opening-up efforts; were • .'."■; themselves slow in originating attack. . . •■■ .Seeling's work on ,the line-out was a treat, and in all his play he performed as a cham- , ;; pion, his quick.movements in the loose with ■>''•' the ball on the ground being very-discon- ■ certing to the opposing backs. The Auckland City backs were not so sound as the forwards, but we rtnist bo prepared for improvement.,,". ... In attack they combined better than Newtown, though they crossed the line once only, the other two tries hav- ' ing been got purely by the forwards. The , . Return halfback (Et Young) is a midget, but a. very good one. G. \V. Smith was very -sick- at centre-threcquarter, and the* twO j i/;:' 1 , wings were also' smart. The fullback, too, j v nfy&pctl well. But; on the whole, the visiting hacks were not very dangerous, and if the i ', ' result of the opening match had depended j .* - on their proving superior to the men against ] j: them Newtown would probably have won. : '~ -The Sydney Daily Telegraph says:— than ordinary interest centred round the ■ : appearance of the Aucklanders, since they 1 are, and have, been, -premiers in* their own city.; and from the fact that the province of which they form part now holds the Ran- "_ - - ftljrly shield, which carries with it the blue ribbon of New Zealand football. ' One, of ;-/.' ' course, has,', at the 1 outset, to make all due ; . allowance for the long sea voyage and rough,! weather experienced by the visitors; and the fact that they arrived here only a few hours before the match; but, at the same time, to say that they, even -with these obvious diss'.; advantages, .reached .'expectations,, would be a rather hasty observation. The fact is, the ! ■' team for its ; success relies entirely on its forwards, who, by the way, are a splendid :i/. lot. The way they rolled along together, ',-. not in ones or : twos, but in lumps, was a distinct feature of their game. Their back / / division is bound up too much in its deV" , pendence upon the speedy Smith, a fine player, who, however, was not at any time well supported in. Saturday's game. . . . -v It is in the vanguard that the strength of -" the side assuredly lies. ; A 'strong, well-set, - ■ "'' excellently-conditioned lot, they are able to get the ball more frequently than an opposV,v ing side—that was the experience on Satur- " \ day—because of the . cleverness of their 1 ""'■'• ]'< rakers; and in the line-out several of them «".'.!' showed ■to advantage. Tyler and' % Seeling :?< wore the pick .in this respect, whilst Mo-' ~ — i who was frequently off-side, was ,'! useful in the open. Of the game, there is 'i , little that calls for more than passing reference. The early tries that went to, New Zealand were two of the softest things seen %, on a football field, and the play was quite ', : i;r worthy the' defenders. Little's try, on the other hand, was a pretty piece of work. •. ; • It was initiated by Young, and W, Tyler may be said to have done the rest, as, after Little had taken his pass, he only had to run in. However, the local men were lucky at another stage, when Smith intercepted, and, homing thing, ran hind. , Unfortun- , ' nt>ly for his side" the Aucklander. ran into |, touch in endeavouring to dodge one, of the • > 1 lipft-nders, but it was a close call for New- >,- * town. . . . Taken in all, one looks for a rapid improvement in the, play of the Aucklanders before their next engagement; other- «]'«- it. is just on .the cards they will bo beateir '■- both University and Glebe; and, in my caae. if they still have to rely on -, . their forwards, the last-named team should i .' have * share of the Rugby spoil. ¥«> .? .')

; The second match of the visit of the Auckland City Club watt played yesterday (July 11), says the Sydney Morning Herald, at the University Oval, the opposing ,team, being University.. The weather", was very .pleasant, though unseasonably warm. The attendance was about 5000. The result of the -contest;■ was i a' win for the homo team by .0 points to 0. In view of the fact that Auckland, when but fa, few' hours ofT the water, -after/a heavy trip, had beaten Newtown _by 11 points to 5, it was anticipated that the rest would prove so beneficial that the visitors would s score a:i win over University. The opening 10 ': minutes, however, were so full of brilliant passing ; rushes by the students that the New, Zealanders, before they were aware of what was happening, found themselves -on their goal . line ; £ a £™? * kick at goal from a. try. And before they could themselves together they were treated to a second dose of this unpalatable medicine, the effort at goal ; *h* tupe meeting with success, and ; making i score Bto nil. 'From?. this point onward the visitors realised their position, and, gathering all their : forces, together, they more than held their own, though they could not wipe off the points < registered' against them in theearly stages; of the game. Shortly before half-time they obtained a try, and in the second half another was credited -to J both of which being unconverted left .victory, with the home team. 7 Th &i palm for the better concerted play is to. be awarded to University, because of then ■■* remarkably clever- arid collected series of passes on seve- | ral Occasions during the first half-hour, but after that the pace of the, visiting forwards quite upset the home combination, and the visitors had the greater share of attacking, the scene during the second half being laid for the most part in the home 25. At the last moment, a forward pass, a knock-on, or some other infringement of the rules would happen which would bring the whistle. At these times the battle between the two sides was most strenuously fought, and the excitement of the crowd reached fever heat. The one side- was struggling for the Teart, the other defending for- all it was worth. There wasverv little .tochoose ; between the sides; The Visiting forwards played the better game of the two" packs, but their backs did not handle the ball with the certainty nor the levelheadedness of the home, team. It was an interesting game from start to finish. ; There was a pleasing and a plentiful lack of the referee's whistle; notwithstanding the fact that the game was fast and hard all through. ' WEDNESDAY TRADES' UNION. :. Unquestionably the' finest football shown so far this season-by the Wednesday players was the display of the Butchers and.Pos, Telegraph, and Railway teams, in. their match of last Wednesday. : Unfortunately, the closing, stages of the ; game were marked by rather unnecessary ; vigour, which developed ■) at times : into rough play. lms was most regrettable, as at no previous time has anything of the nature of roughness entered into the ..matches of the Wednesday : competitions, and it -behoves the unioni to take drastic measures to prevent a repetition; of: a few of the incidents that' marked the course of the game. v;:;. . ■ The Butchers entered the field with a somewhat weak team. Griffiths being absent | from. the pack, and Cox .and ; l*imr out of; position in > the backs, while. McMillan was also away from wing-forward:; Lnder j the circumstances, it would have been hard luck to lose the match, ;. but nevertheless, the Post, Telegraph, and Railway players de'serve credit for their excellent fight. _ Prac-1 tically throughout the y Civil servants attacked—the Butchers; being, continually on the defence-andhad they kept the ball m the pack a little more, they -.might liaye shown to greater advantage,; although, in sending the leather out to their backs they made play more interesting from a spectator's point of view. ~, , , cIU . Though*severely tested the defence of the Butchers' backs never failed, their tackling and rush-stopping being of a very high order.- King, inihis, old place of scrumhalf, got. through; an immense amount ot work, and Laing, at five-eighths, also defended well. : Cox, at centre-threequarter, was' the mainstay of his side, and Baker, ■- on the wing, did his work better than expected. . Purdie had little to do, but performed .his work in his accustomed style. The - forwards were not able' to. cope with their opponents, and ; were , outclassed generallv. Cooper had to do as much work as two men, and figured throughout in every rush. Allen and Knight also worked hard, and Bridges, on the wing, missed few opportunities. -■'•'". ,-.. >, „ ; ;As anticipated,; the heavy Civil Service pack; proved more than a; match for. the Butchers' 'vanguard, and they excelled anticipations by the undoubted merit ot their work. From the start they overran ' their 'opponents", arid on the- line-out broke away j 1 almost every time. Armstrong, ; Parker, ] and Connell were in the van of every rush, j and stood out prominently. Foster, on the wing, was the.best forward on the ground, and exhibited form' far beyond anything he. has i previously shown. , The" backs bad plenty of opportunities-, but met with stubborn defence. s Champion, at centre-three-quarter, was the hero of his-side, scoring the one try and converting. Edward-" gave a taking display on the wing, and, trench, at fullback, played excellently. . ' : After making so.good a fight with the Bakers, it was felt that the Drapers wouldi register a win against the Grocers• and Milkmen; but anticipations proved all sit sea, . the wearers of the red jersey^ being outclassed from the start. • The Grocers and.; Milkmen quickly hoisted,;-a good score, registering 14 points in less than -; : m; many £S Tney played ■ really, well, and - should make a stern fight with the Butchers next week. Their backs had plenty of op-! portunities to throw the ball about, and did so to good purpose, h ■ ,Littlejohn; played finely,: as did Purcell and Hunt, on the wing, and iPeck also showed up conspicuously r * The forwards had little ; to, do, and Eaton, on the wing, played his usual hard

* The' Drapers' backs had.a day off, the two cracks, Todd and Batk l?> both playing below their usual form. Issaics, or. the contrary, rose to .the occasion,; and got through a heavy afternoon work really well Tho forwards worked hard, and in the second spell made things fairly interesting at times : Baker, Ellis, .and Hose were the best. ,'•■•. '■'■"■'■; , . . .1 I 'I: Interest 'is now being centred in the representative fixtures,' the chief of which will be the match with the Auckland. B team. From present indications the Wednesday representatives should be 'as strong again as last ; year, and, judging from tho material available for 'selection,' Mr. McGregor, the selector; will have a' stiff problem in,coming to a final decision. In the backs there are numerous candidates. V" For . fallback, Jssaics, French, and Lincoln have claims, whilst, of : course;. Batkin, who filled the position last year, is also eligible. In the, ■ thre'equarter-lme, Purdie, Toad, and yAwards should' have first claims, but Littleiohn, -Champion, Greenwood, and Perkins) have ~-\ to* bo reckoned J. with. .;' '~: The fiveeighths ' position has aspirants '-'in'"' Stewart and Edwards, but if Cox is played in the position ho will strengthen the team more so than if behind the. scrum. This would leave the halfback to come from. Wilson, King, : and Burton. The forwards have as 1 many claimants as the backs, but . all last year s selected ? should' stand ; first-clas3 chances.

Matches to be played' are as follows: — July 25: Butchers v. Grocers and Milkmen, Bakers, v. Post, Telegraph, and Railway, Drapers, a , bye. August 1: Butoliers v. Baker.?,, Drapers v. Post, Telegraph, and Railway,. Grocers v, and r : Milkmen, a bye. August 8:; A and B match. August 15: V. Northern Wairoa. August 18:, Probable date of match with Auckland B team, j August 22: V. Whangarei. - ' HERE AND THERE. The Auckland City football team arrive from Australia to-morrow. The return match between the Thames and Auckland teams will bo played at Alexandra Park next Saturday afternoon. -s Geo. v Gillott, of "All ; Black" fame, will play wing-forward for the Goldfields Union team against Auckland this afternoon. 'His play in, this position, will bo watched with interest, as it is just possible that -he will be played as wing-forward in the Auckland representative team. • Ryburn, who played fullback for Waikato against Auckland last Saturday, gave a fair exhibition, but is not up"., to representative form. - He is too slow in getting the ball away, arid does not make sufficient ' use of the touchline when kicking. v :Miller, -at - fullback for the Auckland B team, shaped very well in the match with Waikato. He was frequently called upon to get his side out of difficulties, and made no serious mistakes, handling the greasy ball in good style. '; : J..T\yinamo was responsible for a great amount of defensive work against Waikato on Saturday last, :'■: and taken • all round was tho best threequartor-back on the ground. Page (threequartcr-back) was the pick of the visiting backs, and of the others Macky (fiveeighths) ; showed to most advantage. The . oaikato team lost two or three splendid chances;' of : scoring in tho; first spell against Auckland last Saturday owing to the hard kicking of tho forwards when close to • the opposing ' side's goal-line. ? ; •. A Thames writer says that'S.-: Baker (Thames) was the " daddy" of the wing-for-wards in the match Auckland V. Thames last Saturday, and gives him a chance of selection in the Auckland representative team.

Renwick (fullback), Wilson (tbreeqtiarter), i and R. arid -W. Wynyard (five-eighthsp show-1 ed good form for Auckland against Thames lost Saturday/ and Francis, . Trevarthen, Mackrell, t arid MacCormick were most conspicuous of the Auckland forwards. - , > The visit vof ? the Auckland City ,4 Rugby team is creating a - vast amount iof interest in Sydney (savs the Sydney Town and Country Journal)." It should impress upon the Metropolitan -Rugby Union officials the* advantage of adopting , the suggestion made some time ago, that ; the premier team should bo given, a chance each year of playing the premiers :of other towns. .Take Auckland, = for instance. A return visit should be paid by the team holding the Sydney premiership. The arrangements could be made oh the same lines as those existing in connection with the Otago-Sydney University contest. Last season Otago came to Sidney, and this year the Sydney representatives are to visit Dunedin..The proceeds from the matches : in Sydney; were pooled in order to defray expenses; of. the return trip, as the gate receipts in Now Zealand are not so large as those obtained in Sydney. ; F. Newton is not showing the form that the English tour credited him with .(says a Canterbury scribe). Ho uses his weight occasionally, nowadays,' but as often as not his interest in the game is quite- passive. Sinless he can prove himself to be in form the Canterbury selectors will -find', it difficult to place him in their team.;;,'; ; Some time ago it was stated that Vivyan, the English .international; player, was ,in Wellington, but as no prominent footballers happened to drop across the stranger, the story was subsequently discredited. It turns out, however, that the English player is in New Zealand. He has been sojourning with friends in Wairarapa, where be played a few games. Vivyan arrived in Wellington recently from Napier, and already all the clubs claim to have a lien on his services, but be himself has not yet given an inkling of his 'fancy. ' , , • THE AUSTRALIAN GAME. The Management , Committee of the Australian Football Association decided on Monday night last. that the A and B practice match should bo abandoned and the cup fix tares gone on with. Consequently the" Imperials will '. to-day;.' meet the; Australs, and should fine weather prevail a fine game can be looked forward to, as both teams are very strong and in tip-top condition. : : Webb, the Imperial's great ruekman, and Cumberland, the Victorian champion, are expected to play for the Imperial team today, and should they do so the result of the match should not bo in doubt; in fact, the premiership looks a good thing for the Imperials. -.-'.:.■ ■■'■ 1 • ' It is fully anticipated that the forthcoming match against Waihi on the 28th will provide a keen struggle. The local team will be a vastly different one to that which met the Waihi "reps.'Mast month, and as the ground is much larger than that which the Aucklanders played on at Waihi. it will have the effect of making the play more open. This should suit the locals much better than -the visitors. As the match is to be played on the Domain a good attendance is expected. No charge is being made for admission, and a large number of invitations are being issued-to prominent citizens and representatives of kindred sports. , ..',.-: ', It is expected that the Waihi juniors will accompany the seniors. Should they do so the junior "reps." match will begin at. about half-past one p.m. the same day. From all accounts the boys from the goldfields are a fine lot, and I fully expect to see them win. ; . ...

Members of. the Auckland representative team are requested to attend, training on Tuesday and Thursday of next week. Any player neglecting to do so runs the , risk of forfeiting his position in the team. In last Saturday's match Australs v. Eden the latter were somewhat easily defeated, which was only to l>e" expected, as several prominent players absented themselves owing to the weather conditions. They shoukl certainly have put in an appearance, and if the committee of the Eden Club, were to drop a few of the fine weather players for a, match or two, no matter how good they may bo.it. would have a beneficial effect..' Surely they recognise that football is not a midsummer game, to be put off on account of rain. ■

The league have been fortunate in securing the services of Mr. W. Tidemann as umpire for future senior matches. Mr. Tidemann umpired for many years in first-class football in Australia, and is a recognised authority on the game. - ■

. THE ASSOCIATION GAME. , Owing to tho heavy rain last Saturday the championship matches, had once more to be postponed until to-day. Both the first-grade fixtures will be played ,on tho Kingsland Cricket Ground. Most interest will be centred in the Ponsonby-North Shore match, which should, if one may judge on past form, be won by the Shore team. The other match, Thistle v. Corinthians, , should bo won by the latter., _ ; : • The ;:■;" gate" at the Irish Cup final in DubliE on April 28 amounted to £425. This is an Irish"record. '-.;■'■' ".;>'.;

The Auckland representative team will, if time permits; play a match against an Auckland eleven- before their ' departure for tho South. ■■";:;-■:'.; -

The Birmingham Charity Cup has been the means of providing £10,000 for the charities of Birmingham and district. The - Brown Shield competition is to be. held in the shape of a tournament at Taranakl this year. The teams competing will bo Wellington, Taranaki, Auckland, and Wairarapa. . ' ■ The senior league competition in Wellington was concluded last Saturday. By defeating Swifts by five goals to one Diamonds secured the honours with an unbeaten certificate. This makes the third year in succession that Diamonds have been premiers. Booth, fullback for W.Y.M.I. A. has left the city, and is now residing in Hamilton. His place in tho team has been filled by Clark, a promising third-grade player. The balance-sheet presented at the recent annual meeting of the London Football Association was the most satisfactory in the history of the association. Continental football teams seem to ! have an '.', unenviable reputation for rough play. The ; Southampton Club ; recently touring abroad had to send home , four damaged players and cable .for four to replace them. .At the Southern Suburban League smoke concert in London Mr. F. J. Wall stated that there were 10,000 clubs directly or indirectly affiliated to the F.A., with some 250,000 players, of whom only about 5000 were'professionals. '

The entries for the Football Association cup for next season have reached the record total of 305. The list includes the, names of 81 clubs that did not enter the previous season, and s Cornwall is represented (by Torpojut) in, the entries for the first time. Last year there wore 278 entries. The Southern Charily Cup contributed about £1200 to charity.: