Senior Championships Competitions.

NZ Truth, Issue 158, 27 June 1908, Page 3

Senior Championships Competitions.

' MELROSE 13. ORIENTAL 3. x- About 2500 ~ Spectators saw the struggle between the above teams at, the Par kMuch interest- was- caused m the match mainly from ;the fact that both combinations were level tor first place m the competitions, six wins and & draw standing each to their credit. , ■ . ff he 'weather overhead was dull, and a drizzle which 'fell halfway through the first Spell did not tend to improve the ground, which was heavy from the effects of ■, the week's rainfall. Spectators' also found the atmosphere somewhat .chilling. % '•' came off victorious, a sensational burst m the last ten minutes givja£ them a substantial margin to spare. The Red and Blues made it a forward Rame'"from the jump, and nipned most, of the attempts on Roberts' part to op- > ta< up "-the p^ayv They were right at tfciir'. top m the ruck and the loose. Hieir footwork as regards the control of ike .ball was finely executed, and ineverv. pkase. of forward play they buried the Bl^ck and Whiter scrummaging brigade. ■They shaped as they have never done before this season, playing with tact. »fciU, ajad adroitness, and combining to Mtoirt the: most profitable results. Puttin* plenty of push and weight into their Work they fairly swamped the Ories' vanguard. Melrose frohtrankers invartahly- got possession, but the forwards k*pV th» ball to -themselves, and with strenuous dashes made play into their sfc»onents' -quarters. Solid, sound, and fwt, the Red ..and Blue packmen did everything their supporters wanted of lawn, . and a bit/,more: The screwing of flit scrums was go<yl m its results. The' Oriental forwards were;out-general-lotf and over-mastered. The packing did a«t make for solidness m tight work, and Melrose early discovered the weak&*ss which was never remedied. While Melrose worked like one man to keep the hall among themselves, the Ories. preferred the policy of individualism, and m dozens of instances . put heavy and unnecessary .pressure on those behind them. After the break, the Melrose scrummag•ts played; so cohesively and dashingly' that the Orie. backs could not get going even when Roberts got the ball their way; Oh-' the other hand, the slow tdovements of the Orie. forwards on the breakaway gave the opposition backs ohances ,to recover lost ground. There was no organised system of attack m the Ories' forward ranks. nor were they concentrated effectively lot checking the mighty onslaughts of the Red and Blue battalion. The back row appeared to be a negligible duality for either purpose right through. The backs on either side were not particularly prominent, as ' Melrose adnered , to its traditional policy to, confine the struggle to the vanguard, and played so keenly on to Roberts that the All Black „ crack had comparatively few chances of bringing his forces into action. . j^feltosp back division shaped with cert»mty and precision. They defended so'Uily, all through, their fielding, markinr, lacking, stopping and tacKling were well ■fcoseuted. The men also kept their pok ijitions better than m other matches I' flayed by them this season and appeared . :to anticipate correctly the movements of ' R thiif , yis-a-vis. , The old tendency to Lkeep too close up m defence was, hbw..aver, noticeable on occasions. ; .The Orie backs, pn the whole, plavpd r,'JßFcil', on defence, but did not pet many to show their ability m the '^attacking line. . A change m the placing j. might ' make them a stronger combina-' ■^tiQU. ' The bTeak m the Orie. defence not I ;Infrequehtlv occurred at the position tak'^Lwiupby <?ibbons. The Black and White 'rearguard Jacked the serviceable backine- : up shown by the rival division, and the Tricking was neither so forceful nor so forceful nor so accurate as the other srtde. .. Roberts knows as much as most plavwrsin this hemisphere, hut even this jjuick-brained half allowed himself to be had by the Bffelroge' wingers, particularly Kin?, on more than one occasion. When Fr.eddv found friend Kine so partial with Jm,s attentions and shaping off-side so frw/.iiently, he should have put his boot

m between the back-rankers and kept the ball from coming' out. King must have been "had," and naturally the free kick would follow promptly— that is, if the referee had his lamps well trimmed. The bustling Melrose winger would probably have been pulled up time after time. Personally. I think Roberts made a mistake when he scooped, that pass to Gibbons m the hope of the latter finding the line, and so raising a hard-press-ed seige. With persistent attackers of" the Melrose forward type, it would have paid Roberts to have resorted to less dangerous experimental tactics. An old bird like Jack Spencer is always on the oui vive for a mistake by an opponent m the latter's quarters and turning it to good account. And again, I think Roberts would have gained more advantage for his side at times by a quick punt rather than darting oft with the ball, making an opening, and transferring' it to a comrade, who was being closely shepherded by a Red and Blue man. It came off once, but on every other occasion failed, . for tlie reason that the company was not of the Smith-McGrcgor-Wailace-Mitchin-son type. The ground was too heavy, and the backs supporting Roberts neither slick nor clever enough to ; corner the opposition crowd. There were probably few spectators who, m the face of the ground conditions expected a fine, free game. It was strenuously fought and the forwards had a ding-dong go, but the proceedings 7 were not brilliantly exhilarating from the spectacular viewpoint. Mona Thomson made no race of it when he got the leather from Sturrock and went over the Melrose chalk-mark with the speed of an Elevation. Roberts un- j gineered a beautiful. sweeping! passing rush from near midfield. and the leather wenf through the hands of t McLeod, (Gibbons, and Sturrock before speedy trygetter Thomson made his effort. Church just missed (grabbing Sturroek by inches before the latter made his transfer, Oriental backs had three real coqd chances to score but.* inaccurate passing, and faulty handling messed up things. Sturrock. at centre, should have come into the play more and been . actively on the move for openings what time Roberts was working play on the right side of midfield. McLeod and Gibbons were not an harmonious pair, their positions m;, defence being open to very serious question. Thomson's kicking would not win for him a first-class certificate m the matter of judgment, force, or accuracy. Centreing is effective when the other side are "mullers," and you have racy and alert backs and forwards, to assist you. otherwise the line pays the best di#. The Oriental three-quarter line was not the soundest m defence against the Melrose forward rushes, which Roberts scon discovered. In the latter stages, the scrummagers had to come round to save the situation for the time being. What the Ortes. were thinking of to leave, a clinking line-out man like Jack Spencer unmarked is an unfathomable mystery. Jack was over that chalkmark before his opponents could say j "Jack Robinson," Play was of an unusually robust nat- j ure during the tussle, half-a-dozen' men-i getting woodenedi'out at intervals for a space. In the end, Hamilton and Cam-r eron were sent of! the field for doing something that had escaped the eyes of the referee on previous occasions. It ; was not a grievious sin that the pair had committed, but somebody had to be sacrificed and their bad luck was to be; caught. ' The Melrose forwards wasted no time m sweeping round on to Roberts, Who got a bigger gruelling than m the match against Hardine's men at the Park a few weeks aeo. Time after time Gibbons and MoLeod failed to get clear of the ruck after receiving the ball from Roberts, the result being their quick, swamping at the hands of Dewar, Spencer, Dii Blois, and Co. Had either of the pair exhibited greater headiness and^ dexterity, the three-quarter line would have been moving aggressively on the open fide of the field. George Spencer pus m some yery solid work at full. His line-kicking was good and his fielding, with one^notapJe exception, and taking, left no room for criticism. The three-quarter line. Marshall, Beavis and C. Murphy, was not overburdened with work, but each man performed his share creditably. Church and Greeks made a gpod combination. Their stopping and tackling was sound and sure. Of the forwards, Jack Spencer was brilliant m the loose, but others, notably Dv Blois. Hamilton, Cameron, and Bill Adams, did 50 per cent, more honest toil. Dewar and Murphy were prominent m the open. King was a great back-sp6iler. as Roberts found to his' cost) He headed many a great Red anil Blue rush and tackled unerringly sure. His display, however, was marred by offside play. His confrere, J. Murphy, gave aim good assistance. Varcoe, the Oriental full-back, got through his afternoon's work very creditably, i He did some solid, sound work, but appeared to get flustered when the enemy got to close quarters. Thomson was the liveliest m the tiiree- ' quarter lin- Sturroch and Mathiespn were not sharp enough m supporting the forwards m the open. Their handling, of the leather was not the personification of soundness. I would recommend the pair ■ to display more dexterity and enterprise m their movements. More unison be- 1 tween the pair, and .sandwiched with! nippiness would have paid Oriental ..well. ' McLeod hune back too 'much when Roberts was scampering off with the ball. Chances came his way, but his forte was defence. Gibbon* was erratic. He wants taking m hand and taught therudiments of a five-eighth's <*ame. He , i burked a few ugly Melrose forward rushes. ' I Roberts was brilliant as regards de- .] '■ fensive w.ork, which he had heaps to; perform. He was not so kappv m the execution of attacking movements. His nippiness did not atone for the mistakes. of those behind him. Lambert was no match for King oa the fringe of the scrum, i The most noticeable of the Orie. vanguard were Anderson. McColl. Heenan ; and Hamilton. Its frontrankers were outclassed by the Melrose pair.