FOOTBALL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8862, 21 July 1890, Page 4

FOOTBALL.

THE PREMIERSHIP. Tbe following shows the premiership list up to date for 1890 :— MATCHBS. POIBTS. CLUBS. Won. (Urn. Lost. For. Afj'ist. Alhambra ... 9 - 2 ■ 67 23 Kaikorai ... 7 2 1 '60 23 Union.,. ... 5 1 1 40 10 Pirates... ... B 1 4 30 29 Taieri ... ... 2 3 4 34 32 IJunedin ... 3 - 7 36 SO University ... 1 1 7 13 69 Zingari-Kichmond - 2 6 5 48 Kaikobai t. Alhambra. A considerable amount of interest attached to the return match, played on tbe Caledonian ground on Saturday, between the Kaikorai and the Alhambra Club 3. The former, it will bu remembared, defeated the Alhambra at the beginning of the season by 8 points to 7, and have since led for the premiership, with the Alhambra a very good second. The supporters of the latter club, however, were very sanguino of their ability to turn the table 3 upon the K«korai in the return match, and on all hands it was expected that an exciting struggle would bo presented. The ground was in fairly geed con-' dition, but the ball quickly became greasy, and, in addition, had the appearance towards the cud of the game of being somewhat flaccid. Tho game, which was controlled by Mc3srs A. 11.I1. Dawes and A. Millar (umpires) and Mr W. Wyinks (referee), was started about 3.15, when Orawfurd set the ball in motion on bahaif of the Alhambra, who played for the first spell from the harbour end. The Alhambra (Reds) carried it on for a short distance, but Kite sent it bock into touch far bayond the centre. The Reds'forwards by superiority in Ecrummaging invrdtd the Ka'korai (Blues') quarters several times; bat the good play of Keogh, Ri3, and Laurenson was more than equal to the tisk of relieving their line 3. Rsstieaux, Baker, and Crawford threatened the Blue:*' Hoe with a strong, posing run ; but a free kick given to the Kaikorai a;>d taken by Claffey enabled them to put the R^ds on the defensive, and then a well-meant but badly-dircct:d kick by W. Thomson prcduced a force down to the Bluc3. Upon play being resumed the Reds were granted a free kick on account of Kc:>gh illegally interfering with Baker; but the Bluc3 got a free kick immediately afterwards, which regained them all the ground the former one had lest for them. Kcogb. and Rae made dashes for the R.Ja' line, but the latter's forwards, assisted by runs by Re3tic?.ux and Downes, removed the play to safe quarters, and then the enthusiasm of the crowd, which mu«t have numbered fully 5030 people, was evoked by a flue exhibition of running and passing by Johnston, M'Clcary, and Baker, the latter being within a few yards of the Ka'korai line when he chucked tj Crawford, who grabt: J vainly for the ball, and the opportunity was lost, as Duncan dribbled cleverly br.ck'o neulril tmitory. A miskick by Crawfurd put the Rcfs o;i the defensive, but their forwards were oga'u equal to the emergency oE clearing their liac3. A goad piece of dribbling by M'Clcvry and Baker put the bill in the bands of Claffey, -who puntcd'-jplendidly down the field into tjuch, aft r which Rae was chiefly instrument"!! in orry'ng the play once more into tho Reds' twenty-Eva. It did net remain there long, however, rs Downcs, by some fine following up, prevent; i Claffey from getting his kick, and Oawfurd, Restieaux,andjTement were the participant} in a passing run, which was only stopi'd when a score £; omed inevitable. A favourable chaice of running in w£3 offered by a pa:s ti Noel, who muffed the b..U, and Liurenson transferred tbe play to the other end of tbe field by smartly kicking down ta RcC3. The Alhambra fullback returned the ball to Rae, upon whom, ts he failed to take it, the RoJs' forwards cime like a shot. They secured possession, and after a short passing run, in which two or thr 3 handled the ball, M'Kenaie scorid a try, whitb, however, Restieaux failed to convert. . The Alhambra, flushed with succcc", returned to the charge af tar the kick out, and the ball had hardly been started before they ag;ain rushed it over the Blues' lino, where Claffey smartly dropp: i on it and prevented a seo:e. The kick out brought no relief to the Kaikorai; as Rcsticaux started a passicg run, in which Downei and Marshall had a hend, the la'iljr nea:iy getting in, and Downer, seeing a show, potted at goal with his left foot, but the only result was a force down. Ncol returned the drop-out nicely, and the Blues were treated to another term of noxious defence. A timely kick by D. Thompson, and some diibbling by Baiu and Don, helped them out of their difficulties, Dnd an exchange of kicks between the baoks resulted to the disadvantage of the Reds, who were, in turn, kept busy defending their goal. Sonntsg and Kcogh both made strong attempts to 6core, but found the collaring too gc:. j, and then M'lutyre, slipping away from a s.erum, actually got across tho line, but was tackled by four or five of the Reds, who prevented him from grounding the ball and hustled him back into play. The Blues made determined efforts to equalise matters, but tho Alhambra forwards gradually worked the ball out of their twenty-five, and hnlf-time was then called, with the score—Alhambra, 1 point; Kaikorai, nil. Torrance skirted the second spell, in which the play soon celled down in tho Blues' quarters. Marshall made a good but ineffectual shot at goal, producing a force down, and then the Blue 3 pulled tliem£elve3 together for ,a strong onslaught on the Alhambra lines. Bain led the way with a goa3 display of drlbbiiog, and then Armit made a useful dribble well inside the twenty-five. After some scrums Keogh got the ball and potted at goal, a force down b;.ing recorded. The play next centred in mid-field, until Re3tieaux got away and pa?"td to Downos. The latter carried the ball close to the Blues' line?, wheu lie transferred to Nol, who missed a good show by not accepting the pz'is, Noel shortly afterwards missed auother chance, but, after some good play by Rcstienux, Ktogh, and M'Cleary, the ball went in the direction of Downes, who, quick as thought, dropped at goal, and had the satisfaction of seeing the ball go fair between the post?. The resumption of play saw M'Kenzie and M'Cleary cany the play right down to the Blues' line. Johnston obtained a mark near the twenty-five fl'g, and the ball was pls-.ced for Restieaux, whose kick was a low and short one, the 0.,1y result being n force down. The Blues were still kept on tba defensive until good runs by Keogh and Rae, followed by a loose rush, with Duncan in tho van, carried the play into the Albambra twenty-five, Ro3s being unable to get his kick. An infringement of the rules gave the Kaikorai a free kick directly in front of the goal, but some distance out, and Claffoy, who took a drop, was unable to makeanythiugof it. Armit backed the kick up in splendid style, aud the Blues swept over tho line, but were unable to score. From this point the Kaikorai began to go to piecjs, and the play was for the rest of the game principally in their quarter. M'Learj and Robertson made god runs for the ReJs, and the latter passed to Noel, who wa^ tackled near the line. From a scrum Robertson got the ball and passed to Marshall, who dropped aoross with the ball. It slipped from under him, however, and Crawfurd then touched it down. The kick, which was a difficult one, v?as safely negotiated by Rcstieauxby a fine effort. The play had hardly been resumed before Baker broke away from a line out near the centre, and eluding the grasp of the Kaikorai bicks, scored near the line. Restieaux, by another splendid kick, registered his second peal and raised his tide's score to 10 points. The next incident of note was that Noel, after a good passing run by Robertson and M'Cleary, was put into touch near the Blues' Hue, and the Kaikorai were forced down from a free kick. Rae and W. Thomson made sharp dashes into tbe Reds' quarters after ths kick out, but their efforts were of 110 avail, and when "no tide" was called with the ball in neutral territory, tbe victory rested with the Alhambra by 10 points to nil. The winners were loudly oheered, and their captain (M'Cleary) was carried shoulder high of£ the field. ZINGARI-RICHMOND V. UNION. Thi3 match was played at Montecillo, and ended in a win for tho Union by 4 points to 1. Henderson losiDg the toss, Zingari (colours) decided to play with the wind at their back. The

Union by Borne combined play soon put tho colours on tho defence, but through the Belfisli play of M'Lennau, io potting iuatcadof passing, several good opportunities were thrown away. From a scrum tho Union forwards broke away, and M'Farlano, by good followiug up, scored between the posts, M'Lennan converting. After tho kick-off tho ball was rushed down, and Gordon, by a pretty pieco of dribbling, scored, no goal resulting. The Zlngari started the second spell, kept the Maroona for a considerable tima on the defence, and were rewarded by Fordyce scoring. This seemed to liven the Union, who had much the best of the game till the finish. PIBATES V. USIVEBSITy. The return match between the Firates and University waa played on Carisbrook, aud resulted in a win for the former by 5 points to 1. Tho ground wa3 in fair order considering the recent rains, and the game was fairly fast on the whole. The University kicked off, taking the field with only 14 men, Montgomery, who was late in putting in an appearance, making up the full team. Macdooald was the first to ecore for the Pirates. From a fine pass by Atkinson he ran right through the University and grounded the ball behind the posts. The place kick, which he took himself, was a failure, but he made up for this mistake by potting a goal a few minutes afterwards, the spell ending with the Pirates leading by 4 points. In the second spell each sido scored a try—Bell, by good following up and kicking hard, scored for the 'Varsity, and M'Laren for the Pirates,—tho game ending as above. Messrs Fisher and Tennant were the umpires, and Mr F. Home acted as referea in a very fair and impartial manner. Dunbdin y. Taiebi. The return match batweon tho Dnnedin and Taieri teams was played at Mo3giel and resulted in a victory for the latter by three goals and one try (10 points to nil). The game was not an uneven one, but the Taieri men used their chances batt3r than their opponents. For tho Taieri Allan, H. Anderson, Mann, Smeaton, Elder, Scott, and Stenhenson played well, and for the Duncliu Taiaroa, T. Martin, Elder, Haggitfc, Hunter, Isaacs, M'Robie, Turton, and Beck did good service. Mr James Allan was referee aud gave every satisfaction. The Zingari-Richmond Second after agreeing to play the Pacific First, wet or dry, for some unexplained reason did not turn up. The Caveroham Fir.it met a rather weak tpam of the Union Second and defeated them by 4 points to nil. Tries wera obtained by Cunningham, Andrews, Palmer, and Emerson, none of which were improved upon. Robertson, King, and Haig played well for the Union,