FOOTBALL NOTES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8178, 20 July 1912, Page 14

FOOTBALL NOTES

Strenuousness tv as tho characteristic of the W'ellington-Petono .struggle las* Saturday. The .suburbanites ware victorious hy 12 points to nil, bur, Maciariano contributed all the scores—one try unit tliice goals from the held. I'etono disserved tlicir win, for all tlic members of the team played splendidly, hue had .Macrarlnues kicking been nelow liw usual standard it is doubtful whether tii<‘ blues would have won. Jfis try was gained through hit. being smarter than two Wellington men who each were tryins; to pick up the ball together. Kainsdeu gave a brilliant exhibition. He was partnered with Jim JSyan, and the two made, tilings hot whenever the leather was in their possession. A sterling game was tilayod by A unu, tho iVtone naif. Not once was he slow in getting tho ball away to his supporters. - .Arrowsmith played as wing-ionvard in place of tho disqualified Ashton, and he did not acquit himself badly by any means. Several things accounted for Wellington’s defeat, not as tar as the majority of the points against, them were concerned, lor a man cannoi. he very easily prevented from kicking goals, but mainly in tho direction of faulty play, i'ho forwards evidenced an altogether unwarranted hesitancy in their attacks. Probably tho cause of this may be in tbo fact that the majority of tuo players ait* comparatively young. It the pack would only realise' wnat it is callable of doing its standard of play would go up by leaps and bounds. Confidence is really the only essential that is lacking. Tbo backs are on the whole a lino set. Drake, if his play of last Saturday is any criterion, is certainly not fitted lor tnc position, of half. He tumbled the ball on numerous occasions, ami nearly all were at critical moments. Wellington, if anything, bad the lion’s share of the scrums, bn* Urakc spoilt tho chances of good result by mishandling tho ball. Grace was unfortunate in not having, more opportunities of getting on the run. ihe ball went to his keening but seldom. At one time shortly after the commencement of the match a decidedly good opening occurred. Grace passed to irin l ,- bort, but tho latter could not take tho ball. Before the first spell had concluded Grace was guilty of an enor rd judgment by attempting to cut in instead of sending the leather cut - o .Lambert. Even if he had none so U is doubtful whether Lambert would ta«o clone any good, for ho played r.nvthiiig but brilliantly. Lambert is awkward. Bridge, at full-back, saved tho yellows skins frequently. Had it not been tor Bridge there is no knowing where the Be tone scaring would have ended. Despite weaknesses, Wellington played a good Kamo, aud if they hold together they wilt next year be a factor to bo considered with respect. So Ashton, the disqualified Petoneite, has gone over to tho Northern League, This was not altogether unexpected and few Rugby players will regret his secession from the Union game. It does not seem good policy for tho League, to take disqualified Rugby players. At any rate Rugby opinion is that tho practice is not sportsmanlike. St. James defeated Victoria College, but they did not deserve their victory. Not that tho College play was j good, but tho St. James play was so bad that it is no credit to senior football in Wellington that a team giving such an exhibition of the national game should be awarded a win. Neither side appeared to care very much how the game wont, and players were almost all lackadaisical. Of course there were exceptions. Regan played a very-sound game for College, and shone particularly when there was defending to be done. On the St. James side Young, Cook, and Heketa played strenuously, but dui no‘t avail themselves sufficiently of the aid of the rest of tho team. Cook especially displayed a tendency to dart off with the ball on his own account, ignoring the fact that there were men behind him waiting to assist. Sometimes, however, the assistants were very far behind, and did far more waiting than following up. A large amount of what is commonly termed “ginger” would improve tho play of both the College and St. James teams. Poneke's good fight against Oriental on Saturday came as a surprise and proved that Wellington is not the only team which is commencing to pull itself together thus late in the season. Poneke's display was ono of tho best they have given this season and Oriental were conrvelled to put on all steam to win by the narrow margin they did. Poneko’s work, mostly forward, wa;> forceful, vigorous, and very effective throughout, and the consistent manner in which they broke away when Oriental appeared to have them properly ensnared justified the warm plaudits ot their barruckers, who had assembled in force and roared “Poneke” to the exclusion of all other sounds. Oriental's strength lay in tho rear division, and their victory was almost entirely due to their back play. Had the Poneke backs been as serviceable to their side the result would probably have been different. The Oriental forwards did not acquit themselves at all badly, and thev gave their backs a largo enough share of the ball to permit them to win tho match. Tho ground was not at all favourable to back play and had it presented a better surface Oriental might not have found the match so hard, but even under the unfavourable circumstances they threw the leather about in good fashion. Poneke's tackling was always good and some excellent saves were effected during the afternoon. They watched tho passing rushes of Oriental with a closo and jealous eye and were up and doing at tho first indication of a forward movo among the black and white rearguard.