FOOTBALL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15749, 28 April 1913, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

FIRST GRADE. Southern - v, Kaikorai.

. That Rugby has not lost its hold on the publio was demonstrated in a marked manner on Saturday, when over 4000 spectators were present on the Caledonian Ground to witness the opening match of the season between Southern and Kaikorai. The ground was in splendid order, but a strong breezo from the harbour end was disconcerting, and it was dec ded by the rival captains to play four spelts—iwo of 25 minutes and two of 20 minutes each. Both teams were represented by strong packs of forwards and tolerably useful backs. The-game was not essentially spectaoular, back play being minus quality ami' quantity; but wliat it lacked in this icspecfc was more than compensated for by the resolute work of the forwards. The Southern forwards were moro experienced than those of Kaikorai, while ,the backs proved superior to the rear division of the hill team. ■ Southern deserved their win, for on the run of '■ the play they were the better team, and in the subtleties of the game showed a better sense of requirements.

Kaikorai won the toss, and Graham kicked oft for Southern against tho wind, which was blowing strongly from the Harbour end. A mistake by the Kaikorai backs let Southern away on a rush, headed by Williams and Graham. Scott came to (he rescue and relieved the pressure on the Kaikorai line with a kick to halfway flag. Gradually, by dint of forward rushes, Kaikorai got into the Southern twenty-five, and eventually kicked the ball over the line, Southern forcing. After the drop out M'Lennan was prominent with a good run, putting Southern on the attack. In the subsequent scrums there was a deal of indiscriminate kicking, and this stage of tho play was scrambling. Williams, the Southern forward, broke away from a line out, and was within a few yards of the Kaikorai line when he passed, but M'Donahl, the "All Black," cut off the pass and saved tho situation. Kaikorai attacked in turn, and Richardson had an unsuccessful place kick at goal, which was followed shortly afterwards by another place kick, with no better result. The play up to this stage had not been remarkablo for brilliancy, and tho game had settled down to a hard fight between the opposing forwards. Kaikorai continued to press the attack, and in a rush Ritchie scored. Scott's attempt to convert was frustrated by the wind, which carried tho ball out of its course. When the bell rang for the teams to change over the scores were Kaikorai tiuee points, Southern nil.

With the wind in their favour Southern opened but tie game, and the play became brighter. Cherrie swung a pass out to lickhold, who carried the ball on to his right wing, and a good ruffa ended in Kaikorai's twenty-five, where, after an unsuccessful pot at goal, Southern were awarded a free kick, which Graham placed to good occount by kicking a goal, making tho ecores three points each. Southern kept opening out the play as much as their opponents would permit, and another good passing rush nearly ended in a score. Play swung across to tho Southern left wing, where Irvine raced round the tail end of the Kaikorai defence and was thrown out at the corner flag. lir a scramble in front of Kaikorai's goal Graham was temporarily injured, but ho recovered and made a wonderful kick from a penalty inside the halfway, the ball landing on the cross bar and dropping over. Southern six points; Kaikorai three points. This was the score at half time.

The third spell opened promisingly with Kaikorai attempting to open out the play, but the backs were not equal to the task, and tho game settled down to a loivsj series of ill-assorted and badly packed scrums, from which the ball had no chance to emerge by any sort of heeling. Southern gradually 'drove Kaikorai back,, but the Blue and Blacks replied with a counter rush which threatened to carry everything before it. Southern got down to it in good style, and stopped tho charge just when danger was imminent. The next ten minutes were devoted to tedious play, and tho bell announced the change over for the final and deciding quarter without furtier addition to the scores. Southern opened tho last spell by driving Kaikorai back on defence, and a score was only saved by tho ball being called back. Kaikorai cleared their lino with a forward rush, and play hovered in mid-field, where Graham kicked at goal unsuccessfully. Tho. game 6wung to the right wing, where offside play gave Graham another free kick, which the Kaikorai forwards charged down. After a lot of tedious play Southern opened out, and in a passing rush in which the forwards took part, Carnegie scored pud Graham converted from an acute angle, Southern 11 points; Kaikorai three points. Just on time Southern were pressing Kaikorai back, but tho whistle separated the wains and the game ended— Southern .'. 11 points Kaikorai 3 points Mr M'Farlane was referee. ■ Uxio.v v. Pirates. There was a fair attendance at the match between Union and Pirates, which was played on Carisbrook No. 2 Gound under weather conditions which lent themselves to a good display of tho game. Pirates won tho toss, and elected to play from the southern end. Union made t'no first attack with a forward rush. This was checked by some good passing on tho part of Bezett and Wren, which carried the game into the Union ground. A score seemed inevitable, when Marks, with a fine kick to the line, saved tho situation. A scrum followed, resulting in the Union forwards getting away.

I with tho ball and, after a passing bout, i Armour scored, the kick by Maries failing to convert. Union continued the attack, and play ranged up and down tho .field for some time, but they were eventually driven to their own, territory, where some passing among tho Pirates' backs, in which Black figured to advantago, resulted in -R. M'Kellar scoring near the corner. Lomas, who played a good serviceable game throughout,, converted with a nice kick, and the scores read: Pirates 5 points, Union 3 points. Play returned to midfield, and continued thero in an uninteresting gashion for somo time. The Union forwards pressed hard several times, Lomas, _ the Pirates' full back, saving by two fine kicks. Shortly afterwards a scrum followed at the corner, and Union tried hard to score, but tho ball was carried out of bounds. Kicking by Marks again brought play dangerously near the Pirates' line, but a. force resulted. Union again attacked, and: from a free kick Rohson kicked a good goal. Play continued in tho Pirates' ground for the rest of the first spell, but there was no further ecore.

For somo time after resuming the play was kept to tho centre of tho field. Lomas failed in his attempt to kick a goal from rie-ir halfway from a mark by Bennett. Pirates were now showing somewhat better form, but the forwards hung on to tho ball too closely, and on several occasions prevented their backs from passing. From a scrum near the Union twenty-five the ball was passed out to Wren, who scored a good try. Lomas placed a neat goal, the scores now being: Pirates 10 points, Union 6 points. Union then broke away with a forward rush, and the ball was carried into their opponents' territory, but it was kicked out of bounds. Some neat dribbling by the Union forwards followed, which brought play well into Pirates' ground. Good passing resulted in Marks scoring a fry. which Robson converted. Towards the end of the game play wns carried to the i Union end, and they were compelled to forre. Shortly afterwards Lomas attempted tn kick a goal from a free kick, but failed. The sramp was very a evenly contested one. the Union olayors, perhaps, making the best life of their chances. Mr A. Downcs controlled the game in an admirable manner. Scores:— ' Union U P° ints - Pirates 10 pomts. Dunedin- v. Port Chalmers. • After the recent spell of beautiful dry weather the Mussel Bay ground was in excellent condition for ihc match between Dunedin and Port Chalmers. Tho Sutton mounted ramp caused a good deal of disorganisation in the ranks of_ the Duncdm players. Three vacancies in the senior team had to be filled from the second grade, which had already supplied four of its players for military training. Tho places of Jeffs, Gosage, and O'Kecfc were taken by Kerr, Binnie. and Couper, late of the Tatori Rovers Club. T'an Port Chalmers team played a very sound and vigorous game, and though the opposition was decidedly weak, their opening performance promised well for the coming season. In Woods, M'Taggart, and Skinner among the forwards, and Fortune among the backs, lay the main strength of tho Dunedin team. Dunedin opened the attack, but tho hustling vigorous tactics of the Port forwards, assisted by what wind there was, took play to tho Dunedin line. 'A free kick for offside play relieved the situation for the visitors for a time. Watson secured a mark in fair position, but Macpherson's 'kick was ineffective. A little later Watson made a dashing run and, kicking across the field, gave Woods and Coleman almost a clear run in. An exciting chase followed, resulting in M'Taggart forcing down just in the nick of time. From a scrum on Dunedin's line Thomas snapped up tho ball and, running round smartly on the blind side, scored the first try for Port Chalmers. The kick at goal was a failure. Dunedin were fighting a valiant up-hill game, but wore kept constantly ou the defensive, and were frequently compelled to force. From loose play W. Dougherty followed up, and scored the second try for his side. The kick was again a failure. Powerful kicking by the Port back was keeping their opponents in trouble, but the Dark Blue forwards, assisted by occasional passing movements among their three-quarters, managed to hold play in neutral territory. Kerr, tho Blue's fullback, generally dealt effectively with the frequent and difficult work that came his way. Just before 'naif time a pot at goal by Watson struck the post, and Harrison, \vho had been doing a lot of valuable work, snapped up tho ball on the rebound and scored 'between tho posts. Dougherty's •kick just missed, and the half-time score was: Port Chalmers 9 points, Dunedin nil.

Very soon after play was recommenced Watson found an opportunity near the Dunedin line and scored a smart try. Kelly failed to add the extra points. Not long after ColrWpe secured the ball after a serum at tho opposite corner, and crawled across. The kick fell short. The home team were not having things all their own way, however, and Bond, securing a pars in the Port twenty-five, scored between the [josts. Sullivan converted. The success was short-lived, for t'iic next incident was Wilson scoring at 'the corner for Port Chalmers. Kelly, from a 1 difficult position, added a sixth to his side's failures to convert. Port continued to hold the upper hand, but several loudly-cheered tries proved to bo false alarms. Towards the end of the game the Dunedin team bejran to work better together, with good results, and at the call of time were attacking near the Port line. 'Jho game was firmly and. impartially controlled by Mr W. Ross, the final scores being. Port Chalmers 18 points Dunedin 5 points. Alhaubra v. Zi.ngari-Richmond. This fixture was played at Carisbrook No. 1 Ground, which was in good order. As was only to be expected from the first match of tho season, there was not a great deal of combination shown on cither side, and the game was chiefly confined to the forwards. What little passing was indulged in came mostly from the Zingari backs, though its method will have to be considerably improved to bo thoroughly effective. Taken all round, toe Zingari backs are a promising lot, the two wing three-quarters—Baird and Bond—especially showing up on Saturday. Whitaker fielded the ball well in tho open, but his passing from tho scram was faulty. The forwards were without tho services of Patterson. The backs on the Alhambra side aro light and young. They were keen on the game on Saturday, their scrum half, Young, standing out from the rest. Some of them, however, have yet to learn the advantage of good tackling. F. Williams has played better games. A noteworthy feature of the match the amount of punting indulged in, both in the open and to the line.

Alhambra played against the wind in the first half, and their forwards at once attacked. The hill men, however, soon worked the play bark, and Whi taker, G'o'lic, Russell, and Bond indulged in a nice passing rush, a bad pass spoiling the effort. As a result chiefly of hard kicking Alhamhra were forced five times in a short period. From a loose serurn in front of the Alhambra goal posts ']'. AYilliams eluded several attempts to bring him down, and threw the ball out to Davidson, who handed it on to Baird the last-named scoring. No goal resulted. Zinprari again attacked, and Ooilio failed to drive homo a'n attack by hanging to the ball. . Then Symonds picked up from a vigorous loose rush in the Alhambra twenty-five, and passed out to Watson, who scored in a gooit position. • Bond kicked a. goal. A good'run by D. Harris put Alhambra in a favourable rosition, but the norld team could not hold their advantage, and halftime went with the Zirjgari forwards attacking. The Alhambra forwards, who were being shown a fine example of dash and pluck !>v P. Williams, started off in the second balf in good style and tried hard to break down the defence of their opponents. Collie stoooing a dangerous rush by snapping a mark. A couple of free kicks to Alhambra Pro*""! r<"<-idfck'«fi. and (hoi f!)w<v<>i> dribbled into the Zin."ari twnntv-five. picked un and i:ns-~-"d to Harris, who, though collared In- .Stanley, man.i'rrd to score. M'Artliur misled nn easv kick. A nice run and pis} hv Ti. Jr/nnsfon helped ' Alhambra, who were trying bard to • ernialise the score- but in the last, nunrtcr of nr» hour the 7,ingn.rl forwards began to ero-inl luck to t.Tio north-end foam's line, r.ntl final'v passing by Collie, flussdl. and Baird saw the last-named complete a 15-yards sprint and force his way over near the- corner.

Davidson did not convert. The whistle t'iien went. Scores:— Zingari-Richmond . ... 11 points. Albambra 3 points. Mr Adainson was referee. SECOND GRADE. Zingari-Richmond defeated Port Chalmers by 6 points to 3. Union defeated, West Taieri, at Outram, by 12 points to 3. For the winners Mills and Wilson scored. Valentine converted one try, and also potted a goal. THIRD GRADE. Zingari-Richmond defeated Pirates by 11 points to nil. Union defeated Alhambra by nine points to six. For tho winners, Wells scored a try, which Gallon converted, and N. Williams potted a goal. MATCHES IN OTHER CENTRES. •d'EK Unitej Press Association.) WELLINGTON, April 27. The senior Rugby championship was continued on Saturday in line but dull weather. At Athletic Park two good games were witnessed, Oriental and Melrose fighting out such a keen contest as is rarely seen more than once or twice in a season. Petone's win over Ponoke was not such a runaway one as the scores might seem to indicate, though they had the game well in hand all through. Oriental beat Melrose by three points to nil, Petone beat Poneko by 27 points to nil, Wellington beat St. James by 15 points to three, and Athletic beat Victoria College by 14 points to nil. CHPJSTCHURCH, April 27 Beautiful weather was experienced for tho continuation of the Rugby Union competitions yesterday, and the grounds were in first-class order. The most interesting of the games played was that between Old Boys and Linwood, at Lancaster Park, which after a good contest ended in a win for Linwood by a potted goal to a try. Linwood (4 points) beat Old Boys (3 points). iSyden'nam (15 points) beat Merivalo (9 points), Albion (16 points) boat Cliristchurch (3 points), Canterbury College (20 points) beat Marist Bros. (3 points). ASSOCIATION. The fortnightly meeting of tho Wednesday Association was held on Friday evening. Mr Milburn was elected to tho vacancy on the Selection Committee. It. was resolved |to postpone the opening of tho season till Wednesday, May 7. Paterson was granted a transfer from Tramways to Southern. Mcsrs Eagle, Wallace, and Forrester were appointed a deputation to wait on the Hairdressers, Tramways, and Waterside Workers, to induce them to enter teams for the competitions.