AUCKLAND FOOTBALL.

NZ Truth, Issue 64, 8 September 1906, Page 3

AUCKLAND FOOTBALL.

All roads led to- Alexandra- Park on< Saturday. Never was such a- crowd at an 1 interprovincial match. -All the morning, colors were flying, Tjlue and white, of course, predominated, but here and there black and. yellow m relief. On that memorable afternoon when the great fight of the year, m; Auckland football at all events, took! place, the northern city was ■deserted. Everybody went to the match ; the man, his sisters, his cousins, and his aunts were there.,

What took the particular biscuit -was the fact that every , vehicle capable of maintaining its equilibrium ( ior : four rail.es : guaranteed, was bespoke for the i blessed business. And • any cart, chaise, anything that look-' ,ed capable at all was crammed chock-a-block before it had hardly come to a . standstill m Queen-street. *

The man who was wide awake enough to sport black and yellow could open a book rieht away at ,his own odds, practically. He only had to negotiate as to the number of points the Aucklanders were prophesied to win by and then things were easy. Offers of level money, giving Wellington 10 points start, were plentiful.

When the clock stood at 2 o'clock Auckland looked as deserted as the Sahara. Epsom it was, as much as it is Epsom m .the Old Dart, on Derby Day. Even the drapery shops oosted notices to the effect .that business would end, for the day at l2.3(H*and ; :the notices were, m each case, . beaded-. "Football.'?, A .great compliment jtp the' Wellingtoriians, all this, surely. - , :,

When,' the-. first annpuncement. came; through that Auckland led, at 3.46; tv 3 points to nil. the unfortunates, detained by common business and such-Kke, said \'l told you so,", and launched out into 'praise of Duftv the Great (who v had kicked a penalty goal^ A few minutes after came another score, again Auckland m the ascendant—B points to nil this time—

and half-time- The wiseacres began to smirk, r t ad had a m'tvine smile for auv misguided wretch wearing the yellow a.nrl black rosette.

Still the crowd stood m Queenstreet and waited. At last came another bulletin— at 4.4s— Auckland 8, Wellington 5. Wellington 5 ! How dare they, practically said the expectant beings on the pavement. But five it was. and the excitement increased. Another five minutes and. —Auckland 11 (hurrah !), Wellington still 5. That settled it. There was but ten minutes to »ro and the final posting showed the state of affairs m Alexandra Park as before. The crowd who had stolen from their various places of business for a few •minutes melted away and awaited the report of those more fortunate sports who had witnessed the great same. .

Dufty won the match ?! Good luck to ihim; It was but fitting, after his great display this season, that his two penalty goals should form the winning balance. , Wallace and Roberts were, as behoves famous footballers, well marked, but they gave occasional, flashes of. brilliancy. Roberts, at half-back, made some good openings, and his (Wide dashes spelt danger time after time, but his passes went begging again and again. ; ;

The better . team won, "but had the match - been played- at ; -\yeilirigtori the verdict might* easily ; have tieeh- reversed. There's a dbvti> of a iot'in playing before your own crowd and on your own lump of mud.

Referee Mackie performed well, and the booing of a few hobbledehoys who wanted every decision m favor of blue and whites detracted nothing from the general satisfaction he gaye 1 . The Wellington forwards played a dashing game and for the' first quarter of an hour nonplussed their opponents. Afterwards Auckland always held them safe and their' rushes rarefy looked dangerous... • ■<!.

As a goal-kicker Dufty ds\ of course, out by 'himself at the present time ; but for sound play, safe fielding and defensive work generally Spencer is the better man of the two. More experience, of course.

Wellington three-quarter line came with a big reputation, but never played up, to ft. Thomson gave one or two exhibitions of , lightning sprinting, and 1 his ; try was' the result of one p! these!' But -the others were never above the ordinary.

The crowd, numbering upwards of 15;O0O, was the record attendance at &n interpfovinciar match. AtexaM.ta. ;Park looked a sea of faces. By / .12 to'clock,' whan the gates were, timed to r fbe opened , many hundreds of patient 'enthusiasts were waiting. From' that iame onwards the cars to \Epsbtn added their quota, ; ,cabs , motor-cars , express carts; all came cram jammed full of passengers eager : 'itq i . see the ma'teh of the season. ,

"If it hadn't been:; for that d-Dufty;", said one 'despondent Wellingtonian afterwards, ."we'd, h-avp won.',' And, mayhap, the stuttering b,ver the champion goal-kicker's name was pardonable under A tiie' circum•stances. ' ' ' ■ , ' ' . '