LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21406, 6 August 1931, Page 4

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

By Forward. The display given by the Pacific team against Christian Brothers on the Caledonian Ground last Saturday was a treat to watch. In every attack there were always two or three men in support. Pacific’s crushing defeat of Christian Brothers was mainly due to the former team’s combination. Harrison started 1 movements which resulted in Pacific secur- I ing two easy tries. It was noticed that MKewen. of the Christian Brothers team, repeatedly ran straight up to get his man, but the Greens’ breakaway and half-back did not follow round, and thus ; a gap was left, through which Harrison > made his fine openings. The Pacific for- i wards pushed all together in the set scrums, while Christian Brothers appeared to push with only half of the scrum. Keen and Mackey were the .weak links, in I the Greens’ back division. The former was too slow off the mark, while Mackey j would give a much better display if he ,i adopted the tackle low policy. Caskie gave a good exhibition as full-back for j Pacific, but he was inclined to hang on i too long. Christian Brothers undoubtedly 1 had an off day. Their handling in the | early stages lacked that certainty which . marked their display- against City on the previous Saturday. Keen played with plenty of dash, but Pearce did not play up to the form he showed in the, early part of the season. The uncertainty of football was most marked in this match. On the previous Saturday, City, the best- ; balanced side in the competition, suffered I defeat at the hands of Christian Brothers, j and Pacific’s win over the Greens has j placed the south-end team in the limelight. It will be interesting to see if Pacific can crown its efforts by defeating City. On a very heavy ground the City team put plenty of vim into its play against Athletic on the Oval last -Saturday. The game was fast from start to finish, and there were numerous brilliant patches. The members of both packs were keen to open out in the loose, and the backs of both sides were never dilatory in throwing the ball about. The leather was very heavy before the second spell was commenced, but in spite of this drawback the back divisions were seen in some fine movements. The City forwards never appeared to better advantage this season. Townsend, Williams, and Crawford all played with dash and method. Nelson again sent out well-directed passes from the scrums, while Lubkie showed up in some fine efforts. Eckhoff played one of his best games, and frequently beat the, opposition with the dummy. M'Cabe and Clydesdale played well, while the two Barbaras were a tower of strength to the City side. Athletic was unfortunate in losing tfie services of M'Donald in the match against City on Saturday. He suffered concus- j sion as the result of a hard tackle in the second spell, and was removed to • the Hospital. M'Donald was discharged from the institution on Monday. .For Athletic. T. Hunt played a sound game in the front row, and gave his backs a fair share of the ball. Te An and D. Gray also played good football. Stead, as break-away, was in everything, and when shifted out to the back line in the second spell in place of Barlow, who gave a poor display, he proved his worth in that position. Stead combined well j in several back movements. Knight, as ! half-back, was too slow in getting the ball away, and his handling was faulty at times, Wetere, a new man from the , JAaiK, played an outstanding game last Saturday, and hie weight filled a long-felt want in the Athletic -pack. Wetere has had experience of the League game in Auckland and Australia. In Saturday’s match he was very unfortunate in not scoring a good try in his first game here. He actually crossed City’s line, but was unable to ground the ball. , During the progress of the game between City and Athletic last Saturday it was noticeable that one or two Athletic players talked too much. One player even tried to argue with tlje referee after he had been cautioned for a glaring breach of the rules by obstructing a City * The decision made by the Marist Club, of Greymouth, to send its senior team to play against Christian Brothers at Duuedin will be welcomed by followers of the code. No visitors came to Dunedin last season, and the change; provided by seeing players " from another; province in action should be' very refreshing. The date of the match has not yet been definitely fixed, ,