From Goal to Goal.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7865, 29 July 1911, Page 14

From Goal to Goal.

j ’ Review of Matches Past. St. James win from Southern. Big Score by Petone. By “WICKLOW.”

nrHE draw of the matches for la»t wee I promised only ono content of “5 interest —that between St. and Southern. Had those t«o team been billed to meet six weeks 08° match would scarcely v , n ! any but tho most partian spectatois, but the maroons have shown such ™Prm«l form of recent weeks tuat theio - those who thought they might; succeed against St. James last Satin day.- As things turned out tho foictust w-as not a very bad one, for the redalthough thev did not give tlni St. James Ws a ‘beating, gave them a busy time. ♦ ♦ ♦ How it all happened nearly everybody interested already knows. very often had tho best lone spells, but they had no finish in their attack to enable them to BC °r e tho tries for which they fought so hard. They were also at something of a disadvantage in that they played a reasonably fair game, while their opponents, or some of them, played an unscrupulously unfair game. Ihe Soutlii.in team aro Yount? players, a strong and usedui lot certainly, but they have not learned, nor do they attempt to practice mnnv rf the methods ™d b >‘ fo ‘3? players who nowadays are tiequontl the most in favour. Obstruction and unfair tackling wore indulged m by one or two St. James players m a most flagrant way, and there wore examples of oven more discreditable rough play. St. James won by two tries to ml, but one of them was allowed palpably l>> mistake. Tho other was nnnuwtionably fairly scored- As- against that Bradley was obstructed when he must inevitably have scored had he not been interfered with. The circumstances were such as might very well have justified the referee in allowing a try, but he took no notice whatever of the incident. Probably St. James had the better ot tho game, bnt if they had been compelled to observe all tho rules about rough play a little more rigorously things might have been otherwise. -an this does not moaii that _ the game was exceptionally rough, but it was a match in which tho evils o£ rough play were shown in a high light. For only ono of the ’ teams was playng the rougn gome. When both l sides' are equally at fault tho evils are not always so apparent.

i The most remarkable features of, tlio rame were the fast following up and safe hard tackling of Southern., On their side they had scarcely a single strong running back* wh.ilo St. Janies liau several, and yet the rede continued to keep tho balance even.

• The best player of their sde, and the best in the match was Bradley. Nominally he played at five-eighth, but gone-r----ally ho was in fact anything that could be most useful. How he continued to do it was little short of marvellous, but he was ont amongst the three-quarters, or racing ahead of the forwards every time his help oonld make anything for his side. Hus tackling was deadly, his kicking good, and he seemed able to run a hit faster than anybody else on the ground. No chances were given to him; he made them for himself. On his present form he seems to he the only player to rival Mitchinson as a fiveeighths in AVellington. Of the other backs the best were the two Cappci , and they were strongest in tackling. It was a splendid tackle by 17. Capper ■which brought Cook down when he was racing for the line.

Of the Southern forwards far and away fhe best was Campbell, and ho was at least as good as any of his opponents. He played a hard but very fair game, following np fast, tackling surely, and dribbling very well.

The only one of the St. James hacks to show any very good form was H. Huberts who for once in a way eclipsed his brother. His particular strength is always in making a useful opening now and then, and he did this a little more frequently than usual last week. B. Eoberts wag as strong as usual at half, but he was too well marked down to be able to distinguish himself. Hekitaand Cbok both put in some good runs, the latter showing some of his loveliest dashes. ’

Moffitt, as usual, was the life of the Bt. James pack, hut he marred his play by rough tactics. He is a fine forward, and he does not need to make use. of any questionable methods in order to succeed. Hills, He Blois, and Donaldson also played useful games.

A decisive defeat was suffered by Wellington at the hands of Oriented last Saturday. The game .was a very' poor one, but Wellington played somewhat bettor than it is their custom to do. If Oriental had had to face a superior team the chances are that they would have been beaten. The vanguard lacked vim. the only men in it who did any ■work at all being Gillespie, Perry, and Mbßoan. The backs were almost wholly inconspicuous. At times they indulged in passing, hut it was passing of a most wild description. Eoberts, at full-back, played a good game by his trickiness outwitting many an opponent, Klnrig did not play up to his usual standard, but he was still for from _ bod. If Oriental desire to annex this _ season's championship honors they certainly wi'l have to show up to much better advantage than they did on Saturday, notwithstanding that they won the game by 20 points to nil.

■Wellington, indeed, appear to bo a hopeless lot. Saturday after Saturday they keep their name up by suffering defeat —they have moro defeats to their discredit than anything else. This team’s record and that of Victoria Collego provide ample justification for almost any classification scheme that might be propounded. Out of fourteen games played this season Wellington have lost eleven, drawn two, and won one. Not much of a record. Their juniors, on the other hand, have achieved distinction this year and footballers are far more interested In their doings than they aro in those of tho first fifteen. For tho good of tho club something in tho way of a changeno matter hew drastic—ought to be effected next year. Hast Saturday Wellington did play a little above their usual best, still they made a bad showing. Tho Jorus brothers and Lambert were without dobut tho most serviceable to the side. Practically of no account at all were tho rest of the team. It is certainly bad business for any player of ability to fritter away his time and

chancce playing in tho ranks of the present Wellington seniors. The Potone team, which a string of consecutive defeats has placed rather low down on the championship ladder, awoke on Saturday to some of their old-time dash, and surprised a rather confident Old Boys pack by thrashing them os severely as any Wellington senior team has boon thrashed this season. Few persons found time to waste watching tho match—there wore better Brings stirring in the adjoining ground —and those who did were most inadequately rewarded for their pains. For the greater part of the time, and especially in tho second spell, tho contest was a most dreary and one-sided affair, devoid alike of pretty play and exciting incident. The main impression left on the mind is of a mediocre blue pack rushing continually down field, with a yerv tired and badlv beaten white combination falling before it, running in wid disorder and pitiful impotence round, its flanks, and seeming to wish ve* > ? ardently for tho end. Petone, though they exhibited some of their old-time dash, did not revive .that brilliant back work which was formerly the chief trouble of opposing teams, and, takenall through, could not be said to have played a good game. Yet thev beat Old Boys in every point and artifice of tho game, scored with ridiculous ease when-* over they scorned so inclined, and rnci-* dentally managed to get a pretty good idea of the progress of the game in the other ground. If the first twenty minutes of play is disregarded, it may be safely asserted that Old Boys have never before given such a poor exhibition as they did on. Saturday. . Combination was almost entirely lacking, the attack was weak and spiritless, and tho defence such that a junior team of standing might have crossed the lino with as little difficulty as it would encounter when opposed to one of the weaklings of its own grade* In tho initial stages of the' game tho whites were the t Old' Boys” who drew with and virtually boat Poneko in tho first round., They played strongly, their forwards worked hard, and the backs ably seconded their efforts. Petone played quietly and cautiously, took every chance that offered and gave more in return. Then Old Boys commenced to pull away; Potone threw discretion to the winds, and what had promised .to be an interesting and even exciting match, resolved itself into a one-sided argument in which Petone did all tho talking. There were many who expected that Old Boys would inn, and the opening exchanges strongly supported this view* Petone were slow to start, and for soma time had considerably the worst, of thol argument. Old Boys applied their cus4 tomary forceful forward tactics with a good deal of effect, and had the front lino possessed even fair combination, or had the rear rank supported it as- it should tho whites must have scored two or three times. Tho team, however! relied more on the weight and pace of indifferently organised rushes than on cool, combined work, and when the players, exhausted by their ill-directed assaults, lost their freshness and dash, the cautious blues took possession, The) white backs, though they defended well at times, were most uncertain with the ball and passes, usually given carelessly and hastily, terminated in the ball either rolling uselessly along the ground or being snapped up by a # Petone player much more capable of taking car© of it. . Whether or not Petone would have played a better game against more) skilled opponents is a matter for specula-) tlon- They did not play well on Saturday, probably because there was nq occasion for them to unduly exert them-: solves. It is very doubtful if, in the face of the weak opposition offered any team could have played a brilliant game* It was merely a case of scoring tries* and Petone scored them by the quickest method and with, the expenditure of ad little energy as possible. The blue forwards were little better on tho whole, than tho whites, bnt the backs, given plenty of good opportunities, played much better than they have done during the past few weeks. Their work was by no' means faultless —they made d lot of mistakes and frequently dropped easy passes—but on a largo number oij occasions they opened out and gave i hibitions which, though good, were buf? a shadow of the work they did when they first played St. James. These passing rushes, however, played havoc with Old Boys and resulted in scores so often that one grow weary of counting.

Jim Eyan made a reappearance in tha Petono ranks in the second spell, and it was mainly through his agency that Petono scored a number of their tries. Ho infused a lot of vim into his maun I his presence had a marked effect on the play of tho Petono team generally. Martin and Daly did useful work, and) Corson (whoso place Eyan took at halftime) made fewer mistakes than usualP. Eyan did a lot of hard work, andhis example was followed by Dent and Aston.

Grace was in a class by himself in the white ranks. He played a much better' game than on the previous Saturday' and did some really good defensive) work. His lino kicking was good and brought Old Boys out of a tight comer on a number of occasions, when a mistake would have given a -score to the other side. Drake took all the work that come his way. while Dodd and Fordham battled weU.

A Channel flying memorial recording tho successful flights of Blcriot, do Lessops, Prior, hells, Moisant, and Grace, together with tho dates of deaths of tho three last named, is being erected at Calais. Pick (looking at pioture-book): I wondor what tho Noahs did with themselves all day long in tho Ark?—Mabel: Pished _ I should think.—Bobbie; They didn’t fish for long.—Dick and Mabel: Why not?—Bobbie: Well, you see, there were ouly two worms! Dr Hay-Ileynolds has had sent to him from a farm in tho district a m&st curious snake, which was handed round tho barristers’ table in the Circuit Court tho other day for inspection, says tho X'otcliefstroom ''Chronicle." It has a bifurcated tail—i.e., tho end of its body is divided into two distinct tails, each about an inch and a half long. Tb“ snake itself is about a foot in length, and is of a light grey colour. It possesses four rudimentary logs like a lizard. but those aro not a quarter of an inch in length. It is a true snake and certainly not a lizard. As a freak of nature it is interesting and unique.