FOOTBALL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1762, 29 August 1885, Page 20

FOOTBALL.

KOTES BY FORWARD. The players chosen for the: trial match on Saturday were put to a severe test by the Selection Committee, who kept them at work for a couple of hours. The game was a very hard one, aud it was surprising how well most of the players lasted. The sides were captained by j Murray and Chapman — Murray having command of a trial fifteen, and Chapman of eighteen sturdy colours, who made matters ex- | ceedingly warm for their opponents in the first spell. Three tries were scored in quick succession by Dallas, Menelaus, and Trotter and Dodson who touched the ball down together. It was "'mainly owing to 'their superior numbers and weight that the colours -were able to score so rapidly, and when sides were equalised in the second spell the other side had the best of the game. Morris and Beck were not long in scoring for the Blues, while Trotter agajii came to the front on behalf of the colours. Thompson followed suit with a magnificent run through, his opponents and touched down right between the posts. Treseder's place-kicking up, to this point had been execrable, and there was a. murmur of applause from the onlookers when Bqe wa,s called out to take this? try: Bee., however, was no better than Treseder, for he failed in placing a goal from a remarkably easy tyy. The game was resumed, and the Blues, played up splendidly, the ftlay of the half and quarter; backs being at times of a brilliant order, M'lnjiyre's stubborn play* and Eraser's sharp punting into touch frequently oalled forth the applause of the spectators, while Murray and Ross made some capital runs. The passing, however, was hardly up to the mark.. A_l |§ngtu Ross added another try tq thfi E<?Oi'b "o* **"' Blues by a capital pqu, and it* 1 -' X -r® dqwu tihe housG by hlQjd»s a maS™ ?" gl l

rather of an interesting nature, and some good play was shown on both sides. Of the Trial Fifteen Russell, at full-back, showed some improvement on his form in previous matches, though ouce or twice he fumbled the ball in an unpardonable manner. The three-quarter-backs , did their work without a mistake, but Murray and Ross might kick a little more when opportunity offers. The half-backs played better than ever. There was, however, room for improvement in their passing, which was at times rather slovenly and far too slow. Fraser in particular should learn to pass more in his opponents' twenty-five, and" when he does pass he should not throw the ball high in the air as he did several times on Saturday, thus enabling the opposing forwards time to come down on his backs before they had time to secure the ball and get fairly well away. The half-backs, too, should guide their forwards with respect to the position of the ball in the scrummage, Of the forwards the wing men, Beck and Morris, played exceedingly well. Among the others Martin was most prominent. His following up aud collaring might be copied with advantage by . some of the other men. Butterwor'th, Henderson, and Treseder each worked very hard. There was, however, at times a want of dash about the forward play. The men did not follow up in a body, aud were 100 slow in tackling their . opponents, while many appeared in no great hurry to get the first push in the scrummage, which, must always bo regarded as a decided advantage. Trotter was most conspicuous among the colours. He played with good judgment, and his dribbling was universally admired. Even a spectator could see that he was certain of a place in the team after the first spell. Drabble and Menelaus also , worked iv a manner that quite justified their selection. Among the others, Booth, Thompson, Chapman, Dodson ,Bo\vler, A. Morris', Twiname, and Miller, were most noticeable. , The Match Committee made the following selection after 1 the match : — Full-back, Russell ; three-quarter-backs. Bee, Murray; and Ross ; half-backs, Fraser and M'lntyre ; forwards. Beck, Hutterworth, Drabble, Henderson', Martin, Menelaus, Morris, Trotter, and Treseder; emergencies— Back, Bowler; forward, Booth.- • The selection is, with, the exception of three names, the same as that made' for the match with Wellington, and seems to have given very' general satisfaction. The new men are Drabble, 'Menelaus, and Ti'otter, each of whom unquestionably earned a place in the team by their excellent all-round play in the trial match on Saturday. They take the places of Lindsay, Rattray, and Mills, who, in consequence of their indisposition, have not been able to play of late. A criticism on the play of most of the team has already appeared, and it only remains to make mention of the three new men. Of these Drabble is a thorough exponent of the game, and has played in interprovincial matches before. lie is perhaps a little wanting in pace, but makes up for this deficiency by his thoroughly consistent play, for he does an immense amount of hard work among the forwards, and lasts well in the hardest game. Menelaus is a new man, who has made rapid improvement. Physically he is an excellent man for a forward— veiy strong and wiry, but is hardly quick enough to avail himself of ail advantage. .Occasionally he passes vary fairly from the line out, and after he has playeo*in a few more good matches he should make one of our best forwards. Trotter (Dunedin Club) is principally celebrated for his pretty dribbling. In the first of the trial matches this season he did not Bhow up so well as usual owing to a bad leg, bufr'having benefited by a" rest he is now in his best -form. He does a great deal of hard honest work in the scrummage, and is always among the first to come down on the opposing forwards. He played a splendid game in Saturday's trial match. The team leave for the. North on Thursday. Mr J. H. Chapman (hon. sec. ,of the Otago Rugby Union) will probably umpire for Otago. Our representatives are not' at all sang'uine,of success, though they expect to make a pretty close fight of it. Trotter is unable to play, and his place in the team has been taken by Dallas, of the Montecillo Club. The weights of the Otago team are as under : — st Ib st lb Russell... ... 11 11 Dallas ... 10 0 Murray ... 12 8 Drabble ... 11 0 Bee ... ... 11 11 Henderson ... 11 8 M'lutyre, ... 12 0 Morris ... io 3 Ross ... ' ... 10 12 Martin ... 12 10 Fraser ... ... 10 0 Menelaus ... 12 7 Beck ... ... 11 0 Treseder ... 11 4 Butterworth .'.. 11 0 Average, list alb. F. Fuller, E. B. Million, and B. D'Auvergne have been selected to fill the vacancies in the interprovincial football team. The team will be as follows : — A. T. Chapman, E. Francis, W ' Allardyce, E. Webb, G. H. N. Hehnore, E. J. Fooks, H. S. Beswick.Bean, W.Dow, J. Hoban, W. Sutherland, W. G. Atack, F. Fuller, E. B. Millton, and B. D'Auvergne. The trial match at Christchurch was of a most uninteresting nature. The day was very warm, and as some of the Improbables did not turn up, the trial fifteen had matters pret.ty well all their own way. There was too much picking 'up of the ball, they were very slow in getting to the scrummages, and when there they did not form together in anything like a satisfactory manner. .Weakened by the loss of their quarter-backs and one or two forwards, the Improbables had no show in the second spell, yet at times they made some good rushes, and succeeded in scoring three tries. Tho Probables, (through the agency of Webb, Helmore, and Francis, scored seven tries, from which fmr goals were kicked. The Improbables did not kick any goals from their tries, which were gained by Moir, Atack, and M'Leau. Barnes certainly did kick a goal, but it was from the kick-off. The Times says of the Canterbury selection that there are/four players who were not in the fifteen who met Wellington — viz., Chapman," Webb, Atack, and Millton. The two last' "are wing men, whom the committee have included in deference to the generally-expressed opinion among players., The team is a good one, and the committee have certainly done their work well. With regard to the selection of Chapman as full-back, it maybe mentioned for the benefit of those who are not aware of it, that Fleming is absent and Higgins unable to play. The committee were thus obliged to find a new man. Dunedin High School Second Fifteen v., Waitaki High School. — This match came' off at' Oamai'U, on Saturday, and was won by th,e D unedin boys by five points to nil. Moffett captained the Qunedin team, and R. Driver the Waitaki. About the middle of the 'first spell Bsquildnt' made an exceedingly fine run and secured a try for the visitors. This try was converted into a gaol by H. Taiaroa. Ow}ng to the strenuous efforts of Taylor and the two Drivers on behalf of Waitaki, nq further scone was made, and the visitors thus won a filO' and olasely-.oontes'l;Qd, ma^of} hy fiyg j^J-' nil. for the Ilnnedjp, §eh.061 Tun>»"- -is to best forward. pm.§» ftttd. «*'- .-.n played the played, at half-*-*", ---rams, of the juniors, the *»" * . - ack yei 7 Pluckily. Waitaki has - makings of two fine backs in R. and M. Driver, and also possesses a fine forward team, which excels especially in loose play. Messrs H. Meek and Gifford umpired for Dunedin and Oamaru respectively. The Zingari Second met the Pacific First for' the return match on the Mussleburgh ground.

During the ,first- spell tne Zingari fo/rwards kept the ball pretty well in the centre'pf the field until a few minutes from half time, wh'e'n\tite Pacific men scored' two tries in 'quick' succession, the latter one being' golr under' protest; '* In the second spell the Zirigttris played well 'together and succeeded inVstoppuig the, 'determined attempts which were made'Wget'Wef tHeir lines, until tlie ball being -wblr.passed' back to Archer ; he potted a pretty go'al/leavingthe 1 result of the match eight points to nil. , The Zingari played three substitutes. 'Waters, M'Adam(2), Webb, Jackson, Hayes, and Twiname, were prominent among the 1 forwards. "Of the backs, Strong, Christopher', and Speight 'had a good, deal to do while Christie, at three-quarter, ' collared well. Of the Pacific, Archer, M'Cutcheori, Austin, and Farrell were most, prominept." ' . The' match . Pioneer Second t v.< Grange resulted in' a' win "for the latter by six points to four points. Watt obtained the 'tries for the Grange, and Johnson potted the. goal for the Pioneer. ' ■• - *'-• • •'•• < A good deal, of interest was manifested in the match between the Richmond' and. Alhambra First Fifteens, played, on'the Asylum 1 ground on ,Saturday.' f In* the 'first spell 'the'' Richmond forced their opponents to . toiich down twice in" ' self ~ defence,'; ''and^Brodrick by a' 'fine ' run got . behind' ;the jline, but the baU'was callea back. , In thesecond spel the Alhambra rallied, and' carried ( the, ball well into the Richmond twenty-five, b\li by the exer-' tions of' Brodrickarid Proctor if'was'. brought down the field again/ TurnbullJ for, the Alhambra, made some bold 'attempts^to* get away, but was always collared by Br'odrick.' v ln : the second spell Proctor secured a 'try, and A.'Esquilant placed a good goal. This being' the "only score the Richmond won by five points,tb 'nil'. For the Alhambra IVlaitland and Baker played a hard game, andß. Esquilant, Budge, 'and Proctor did good work ' ' '/'• -A good number of footballer's, met-at Wain's Hotel on 1 Monday evening for the purpose of making a ."presentation, 'afid of bidding Imn voyage to Mr' S.'B.'Sleigh^whb leaves for England on Wednesday.', Mr'J'. P., Maitland, president of the* 0'.11'.F.U., who', made 1 , the presentation, in' the course! ; of : an interesting speech rapidly reviewed the,, 'very, 'important part taken by Mr Sleigh' in organis ( ing J the Otago team of 1877-rthatteafn whose dbihgs through--out New Zealand have since : become i£ household word amongst' Otago 1 foptjballers'; in"',the formation of the 'O:R:F.U.^,in •'.1881, .and the Otago Amateur Athletic- Association "in. 1883 ; in the prganisation ( of the New Zealand I;eam of 1884; and last, but not by any- means leaW, the publication of the New Zealanid Fbotball Annual in the early part of this year." .Mr*Bfaitland's remarks were much applauded) and. ,he, concluded by asking Mr, Sleigh to ,accept a : very.' handsome diamond pin and scarf -ring, bearing the inscription " Poster, 1885," as a/smair.mem'ento of the esteem in which he, waj? held by, Qtago footballers. . In 1 acknowledging, the ' presentation, Mr Sleigh' expressed Tiis great, appreciation of the honour that ha^ been paid" him', 'and urged on all present '^the' desirability of^oing all in their pow.er to preserve the" higfrp'osition the ! game, had attained in' Qtagd,' by 'discouraging on | every occasion anything approaching r^ough, unscientific play. _ After drinking \ ( Mr Sleigh's health with musical honours the'cbmpanv setmrated. . ;)''V" ' , The annual match between tne D,nnedin High School arid Christ's, College (Christchurch) will be played on'the Caledonian Grounds on Saturday. Both schools have very good .fifteens this year, and an exceedingly close match may be '.expected. * This, will be the "third match played 'bctwoen _the two " schools, the two. previous matches having been won by ChristchWh. The visitors will be entertained at a, dinner at the High ' School 'on Saturday, after" the match. About 150, persons will, pit down, "consisting of past and present High! School boys', the masters, and j;he respective teams. The College team were expected to arriye last "night, and a large number of High Schoo.l, boys assembled to give 'them welcome, but 'they were disappointed,' the team ' having prolonged their stay in Timarn.^,. They, are however, expected this evening. ",''<• '- •-*>!. «iiV.'."U

Teams from the city banks and shipping offices played, a football match at Montecillo on, Tnesday.j The Banks won by to 2. Hassall potted a goal ;from the field, and place- ' kicked another from a try gained, by James Morris. Twiname ' scored-, for , .the losers. The game was very evenly contested. o'Donne.U is one of the forwards in the New South .Wales intercolonial team,, who were to commence a tour. in Queensland ion] the 19th inst. The local papers describe <him as the surest place-kick in, the. team, nearly always successful at acute angles,' and a good tackier. The sports recently- held. under, the auspices of the New South Wales Rugby Union resulted in a, profit to the Union of £119. ' , Up to the .present, the Poneke {Wellington) First Fifteen have played ,nino m.ajfcohes, all of which they have won. Their scoring record is also very goocl, having soored -70 points against 2, and only being forced down, 'an .three occasions throughout the season. „ ' ',' ' ' • At a meeting, a f the .South Australian Football Association, J. Fry, of the J*'ort. team, was fined a guinea for rough play!' towards Watling, of the South Adelaide, at the match played on the 18th ult. / ,' J,~ .' ' With the expiry of the .month of August will depart another football campaign^ and the following of fch'e bounding spliere^wilkmake way for. the wielders of the yviUow.^T&e season's play has demonstrated- the. superiority of the University oyer all the clubs .whicji frave played for the, Gardiner Challenge Gup. ;THey are the premiers, not having' sustained a,sirigle reverse during the season, iand.it "is generally conc.ede.d by the followers, of , the, RugbyTgaine that they have, by their, splendid, -all-rouhij tjlay y/ell I, earned the .prijde of place. ', T^e .University forwards were particularly active, and so watchful and fleet were they 'thai, it was' 1 only by tha most . strenuous exertions, on "t{ie part of tha Wallaroo ba,cks that the goa.l lines of the lattey .were not .more frequently .carried... ,O. Tange, the Varsity skipper, has his men in excellent command, and they work together >iihout noise or confusion 6f any krad. For a light team too. they are .fairly str.ong in, the close' ! soruminagfai» work, but It is at the. fast, open work thai they particularly exel, , Unity is evidently th©i> watchword, selfish play beipg qv\ite ( f;Q¥ejgn. fa

Ihe Melbourne qorrespn.c|en.t Avhas the following -<^J hefty that *• ' _ herald talk, of , tatpqa«Qing to* *"* . v u uere is some gwe/Qt faatbAi?-; - ,victorian'*iA.ssociation quaa«* -" . mto , New, Zealand in conse--oi ( the number of aqcidents resulting irom the .playing of Rugby. , Iw .Maying often witnessed both, games, I. would advise those contemplating the in.noyason>at Ito do anything rash. „Of course, there' could be no harm m forming, a club or ,two under jthetfules of the Victorian game, b,ut .the, prompters may dispel ,frotn their minds, the. . idea. of,, immunity from accident m our. game; . W^enjhe flayers are rough $16. game, is much^more 'dangerous than Kugby, as there are far more, 'men In the field Broken legs, arms, and dislocated" shoulders are quite, common. On a recent Saturday three

B^ery^sgriojiß',caseß ,»were. admitted-, to . the vhos- • pitalas a result of the- afternoon's play, and as ,many as half-a-dozen will sometimes have to n retire from the field in one match. Of the „ 'merit of the game itself I am inclined to think < it -is. inferior to Rugby as a display of skill., !.. When a. player gets the ball he can't run away • with it straight,, but- must bounce it on the ground as he proceeds Otherwise, with the .- exception of kicking for « goals, there is far too >'much hand work, the whole • science or the i game being ."small marking" — catching the .üball and by slight tips with the foot passing it from one to another. " Marking " the ball gives' a \ free kick, and as there are so many >„p layer a side — the leather is hardly ever !.' out ofhands. Although "rabbiting" andtrip- • ping are guarded against by the rules, there are i- other, practices just as vicious. For instance, when a- player is standing with arms raised, i.waiting to catch the ball, he is very fortunate if he does, not get ',' laid out " by a blow in the • j ribs or elsewhere from the elbow of an oppo1 • nent. , The matter of the popularity of any ■, kind of football, like fashion in , dress, depends ■•- altogether on custom. The British' Association game, which at Home is witnessed by hundreds .of thousands, hardly draws its 50 here ; in fact : the natives look upon it with contempt, and . still there's danger enough in it too. /. • . The Napier Club beat the Union Club, also . of Napier, and is now the champion club of Hawke's Bay. - ■■ > * ' , - The Mohaka team visited Napier recently, v - and after , getting a licking from ' the local men ■ they were entertained at a smoke _ concert. ■•■• Songs were sung in good style by visitors and - by local amateurs. One of the Natives proved • 'himself such an adept in the art of comic singing ithak he i was encored -twice. The Native S members <of the 'team also' danced a haka, cxci euted with great precision and enthusiasm, and /' received; iwith tremendous^ - applause. "Auld ;>Lang Syne " and .the National Anthem brought hi almost enjoyable evening to a close about halfpast J.li o'clock.. ' ■ ■• \ ,; ".■ - ■■ '. .i ■j.__.__i<i "_•(