FOOTBALL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1424, 15 June 1899, Page 40

FOOTBALL.

SENIOR, CHAMPIONSHIP. PETONE v., WELLINGTON. Tho contest between tliese two teams, played at Petone oil Saturday last, u**s a particularly interesting one, the ketone men.gaining a victory in the last iesv minutes. Considering the condition ot the ground, it was an exceedingly fast game, especially in the last quarter of an hour. The Petone team won by two ti its to one, and the* owe their victory, to a great extent, to the judgment of one 01 two of their back flayers, notably Burns, who made a judicious use of the touchline.' '. ” ' . - There was some excellent forward piay on both sides, the Petone men showing to -more advantage in the loose play, and following up, especially in the first spell, but honours were easy in the second term, the Yellows playing up surprisingly well. The Petone backs kicked better and seemed surer than then' opponents, but on- the whole there was very jittio to choose between the two teams. L rnm 'the point of individual effort, tnc honours were with the Wellingtons, and ii Lunar s magnihcent effort in the second tau been rewarded,.,as it should have boon, .that is, if brilliant and clever play is to have any reward, the match would at least have resulted in a draw. The game was played in a capital spirit all through. The second meeting of these two teams ..next Saturday should prove a big aftvaction. . . i A. few minutes after starting tho VeJ- ’ lingtons lost an easy chance of scoring a * try* through the usually sure Meredith making a bad pass to Bonaiv A little later a ouick and good shot at goai by Braid forced the town team down. The Yellows then attacked again, and Meredith, by hard following up, just missed scoring, the lengthy McKenzie_ having time to sit down on the ball in time, and that’s all. From this out the Blues had the advantage till the end or the spell, and a Petone player actually did get over, but was called back. Then McKenzie, the full-back, created a mild sensation by following up one of his own kicks and getting possession of the ball again, but lie was collared when he began to look 'dangerous. He, however, passed to 10-'.lock -'.lock who would certanly have.scored out -for the fine tackling of Williamson. In the "’early part of the spoil Petone played with only fourteen men. 1 Soon after the second spell had opened, a loose, scrambling rush ended in "‘Judd scoring for Petone, but Burns ianetl in the kick at goal. About a quarter ot 1 an hour before time, Gillon, who nau played a capital game all through, smartly intercepted a pass, and was through Lis opponents in a twinkling. When stopped he threw the ball forward, but Inis was unnoticed, and Kcmber getting possession of it, passed it at the right moment to Gallagher, who ran in easily, and toucnec. down near the posts. Meredith failed m the kick at goal, and the scores ucie .even. Immediately after, the most sensational piece of play in the match took 'place. Bonar, the Wellington wing three-quarter, by clever dribbling, took the ball from his own twenty-five clean through his opponents and over the line, but this great effort had taken too much out of him, and as he was falling on the ball, Hardham. just managed to kno-k it away from him, and saved the score. Applause of the heartiest character from players and spectators on both sides followed this fine piece of play. This was the Wellington’s last chance. Tho Blues woke up to the extreme gravity of tlie Vsituation, and by good combined work • amongst the forwards, aided by the good ' kicking of Hawke, Burns and Pollock, - carried the play into the Yellows’ territory once more, and McGuirk, picking up the ball in a loose rush, dashed over. Burns again failed to increase the score, ’ and the game ended—Petone, o, V\ elclingtoii, 3.

r ;, Amongst the winners’ forwards, Cham- ; hers, Hardham, McGill and Barlow did real good work. Burns, Hawke and Pol'!lock wei’e the best of a safe lot ol hacks. ' The members of the Selection Committee f should keep their critical eye on Burns. " By the way, none of them were present ' at the match, which proved ore of the ■' most important played so far. The re- ' mark with regard to Burns app’ies to Bonar.' Of the Wellington forwards, Kcmber, - Manson and Gallagher olayed well, and .'Gillon, Williamson, Bonar and Bruce 7 were the best of the hacks. ' Mr G. N. Goldie was the referee. MELROSE v. ATHLETIC. Melrose defeated the Athletic team by 11 points to 8. Tries were scored for { Melrose by Clai'idge and W. Spencer . (converted by T. Spencer). T. Spencer i also kicked a penalty goal in the first - spell. For the Athletics Hales kicked i a penalty goal and Eagle scored a try, ; Hales converting. V-. ORIENTAL v. PuNEKE. A The Orierital-Poneke match resulted in . a draw, -.six points being scored on-each j side. in the first spell Dixon scored for the Orientals and Hooker and Slattery for Poneke. Bush in the second spell scored a for the Orientals, f , JUNIOR CHAMPION SHIP. ’ t Melrose defeated St. Patrick’s College } by 7 to 0. A Old Boys defeated Wellington by 29 -to 0. n;.../ ‘ Poneke defeated Kia Ora (who played F three men! short) by 24 to 3. i.. Athletic beat Petone by 9to 3.

THIRD CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP. t Poneke defeated Kia Ora by 3 to 0. Wellington defeated Oriental by 16 to 5. FOURTH CLASS CHAMPIONSHIP. Poneke and Athletics played a draw. Melrose- beat Wellington by 24 to 3. Oriental beat Poneke B by 35 to 0. The Old Boys-Wellington College heat for the Junior Cup is to be played next Saturday. ASSOCIATION MATCHES. SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP. ROVERS v. DIAMONDS.

The Rovers played the Diamonds at Newtown Park on Saturday, and after a good hard game succeeded in beating last year’s junior champions by' three goals'to one. Newtown Park was very slushy, and its heavy going told severely on the Rovers, who had not played for three weeks. The Diamonds were in good condition, and made things very lively in the second spell. They attacked in style and were only kept out by the spendid defence of the Rovers’ backs. Hawthorne worked like a Trojan. Tho first score was obtained by the Rovers, Abbott, in the left wing, sending in a fine shot, which came to Fernie, who made no mistake, and got a hard shot past Burns. The Rovers’ forwards attacked very strongly, but Taylor (centre half) and Burns (goal) defended well, and stalled off the attack. Fraser (outside right) scored the second goal for the Rovers, sending in a beautiful shot from the wing, which struck the far post and cannoned through tlie goal. Masters scored the third goal, kicking the ball on to a Diamond back, from whom it went through the goal. When half-time was called the Rovers had three goals to nil. The Diamonds played hard in the second spell, and the Rovers conceding several corners, the play was in the vicinity of their goal for some time. Half-way through the spell, a Diamond forward, being unmarked, with a, good shot beat the goalkeeper and scored the first and only goal for the Diamonds. Abbott and Fraser were the pick of the Rovers’ forwards, and Hawthorne of the backs. Masters, Kerr and Godber played up well, but the latter was handicapped by a severe kick on the ankle. For the Diamonds, Wells, Coil inland Hathaway played well together in the front line, Taylor at centre half and Burns in goal defending splendidly. Mr Roberts was the referee, and gave satisfaction to all. SWIFTS v. PETONE.

The Swifts met and defeated Petone by three goals to one in a championship match on Saturday. The ground was too heavy for good play, and, with the exception of occasional bursts by the torwards on either side, the game was ratner slow. The scoring was all done in the first half, Macdonald and Kinniburgh being responsible for two of the Swifts’ goals; the third was put through off ontof the Petone backs. The losers’ score was obtained in an unusual way. Davie, tho Swifts’ keep, caught the hall from a shot by a Petone forward, and in attempting to throw it out, passed it accidentally through his own goal. Each side had a penalty kick, and failed to improve on it. Berntsen, Horne and Renai were most conspicuous for Petone, while the Rev Russell, at full-back, frequently saved his side. For the Swifts, Plimmer, Scott and Macdonald showed good form, and the defence was very sound. Mr Wolfe was the referee. JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP. The Red Cross defeated the Rovers by two goals to nil. The goals were scored by Johns and McLeod. For Red Cross, Roberts, McLeod and Johns played well, especially the latter, and McLeod, M ilson and Beck played excellently for the Rovers. THIRD-CLASS. The Queen’s Park and Swifts B met at Miramar on Saturday, and a good game resulted in a win for the Swifts by one goal to nil. For the winners, all the backs, and Isaacs, Williams and Lowe amongst the forwards played well, while Walker, Penlington, Masters and Naugh • ton played well for tho Queen’s Park. Mr Hamilton was referee. At Petone on Saturday the Tetone team succeeded in defeating the Pearls by five goals to two. For the Petoues, who all played well, Hawkins, Renai and Armstrong deserve special mention. Fox the losers, Roberts, at full, played splendidly, saving time after time, as cud Duffy and Blacklock at half. Amongst the forwards, Crewes, Hathaway, Richards and Cloke played pluckily. Mr Fordham had charge of the whistle. Red Cross hacl an easy win over the Boys’ Institute at Karori by six goals to nil. The scorers were Mulhana t‘2). Gamble, McMillan, Stone and Twomll (1 each). INTERCOLONIAL MATCHES. NEW SOUTH WALES v. QUEENSLAND. SYDNEY, Sunday. The first of a series of intercolonial football matches was played yesterday, when New South Wales defeated Queensland by 9 points to 3.

CANTERBURY MATCHES. CHRISTCHURCH, Sunday. The weather was fine for the football matches yesterday. In the senior matches Mcrivale (4 points) beat Christchurch (3 points); Sydenham (7 points) beat the Albion; Linwood (4 points) beat Ka-iapoi (3 points). Christchurch and Mcrivale are now, a tie - for the championship with 5 points each. The next teams are Sydenhim (41 points) and Linwood (4 points). OTAGO~MATCHES. DUNEDIN, Sunday. In the senior football matches played yesterday the University beat the Union iiv 5 points to nil; Kaikorai beat Dunedin by IT points to 3; Alhambra beat Zingari by 8 points to nil; a southern team beat the Pirates by 6 points (penalty goal and try) to 4 (potted goal). NORTHERN CUP MATCHES. AUCKLAND, Saturday. In the Senior Rugby Cup matches today the City beat Ponsonby by 7 points to nil. The North Shore beat the Suburbs by 9 points to nil; ami Newtown beat Grafton by 7 to 3 points. Newtown and North Shore oontinue to lead for the cup with 4 wins and a drawn game each. WANGANUI v. NELSON. NELSON, Saturday. The representative match- Wanganui v. Nelson was played this afternoon, and resulted in a decisive win for Wanganui by 16 points to 3. The weather was fine, though dull. About 700 were present. The visitors’ superior weight told towards the finish of the game, and 11 points were scored in the second spell. From strong passing rushes tries for the winners were scored _by Kiernan, Burr, Stedman and Siglcy. Two were converted, one by Lebron and the other by McLean. Mules kicked afine penally goal for Nelson. The game was fast, and was played in a very friendly spirit. THE ENGLISH TEAM. ARRIVAL IN AUSTRALIA. ALBANY, June 8. The English team of footballers have arrived here. The team will begin its Australian tour at Sydney on Saturday week with a match against New South Wales. A BIG OFFER FROM AUCKLAND. The Auckland Union has decided to offer £275 for a match with the Englishmen if played on Saturday, and £175 if played on Wednesday. Tlie Northern union declines to offer any guarantee for a match played outside of Auckland. WELLINGTON OFFERS £225 FOR 1 MATCH. At a meeting of flic management committee of the Wellington Rugby Union a circular was received from the New Zealand Union as to wlia': terms would I e offered In. <* a mate!? played in Wellington, (b; a match played outside Wellington? It was decided to offer £225 for a match to be played on either a Wednesday or a Saturday in Wellington, and £25 for a match to be played in any other centre in the colony. A WEDNESDAY RUGBY COMPETITION. In response to a circular issued by the Wellington Rugby Union, a .public meeting was held at the Trocadero last night to consider the question of instituting a Wednesday Half-holiday Flag Competition. Mr N. Galbraith presided. The general opinion of the Wednesday Half-lioliday representatives was that such a competition should be confined to Wednesday players, with the exception of the two college teams. It was pointed out that the'rales of the union prevented players engaged in Saturday matches taking part- in any other competition. Finally it was agreed, on the motion of Mr W. McGuire, seconded by Mr \\. Coffey, that a Wednesday Competition lie instituted, and that entries close with the union on Wednesday next. It was stated that it was possible four or five teams would compete. Mr Goldie, on behalf of the Referees’ Association, said every endeavour would be made to provide referees for the matches. Subsequently the matter came before the management committee, and tlie arrangements in connection with the competition were left over until the entries had been received. It was also decided to ask the Petone Club to hand over the Duthio Cup, which was presented for competition amongst tlie Wednesday clubs, and was won by the. Suburban Club in 1896, to the union. It was also decided that rule 17. of rales for club contests, which provides that Saturday players shall not- take part m any other competition, should come up for re-consideration at a special meeting to be held on Wednesday next.