FOOTBALL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1852, 20 May 1887, Page 25

FOOTBALL.

NOTES Bt! irOJBWABD /

The rain on Friday nigbt ancT Saturday" morning somewhat damped the ardour- of," footballers, bat nevertheless, when jthe liour arrived* the sturdy footballer donned his , jersey, \threw out his chest defiantly to 'the 'weather; and strode off to the convincing ground.' The result was that a good few matches, were played, notwithstanding, the rain.. \ . .' „ •-. , The' Dunedin Olub iwere .prevented from meeting thoir Montecillo opponents through the Caledonian Society refusing to 1 allow theia the use of the grouhcl. -,■ Nearly , all „the .other grounds, however, were^ocoupied. f ,1, of course,, strolled dowa with the crowd to the- Carisbrook Ground, where the Pirates and High School Clubs were" engaged in friendly, , rivalry. ,• The ground was in good condition, considering the day, and most people expected , to see a; very close game. In this, however, they were disappointed, for the Pirates' forwards soon proved their superiority, and it was evident that the: School would have great difficulty in scoring. In the tight scrummages there was not so much difference between- the forwards, but' the Pirates' men had all the advantage in the open, as they played very fast on the ball and dribbled splendidly, Oantrell was 1 the pick of the crowd, and Arthur Morris was almost as good. ' The two half backs, Fraser and Thomson, did their work splendidly, and it is evident that without these two players it would go hard with the Pirates this season, for their other backs are scarcely up to the mark. .The School forwards played remarkably well, but they spoilt ctheir chance through kicking so hard. There was a marked difference between the play of the two teams in this respect. Hunter (the captain) and Smith are two very good men, who played consistently all through and brilliantly at times. Of the backs, Fulton played a fine 'defensive game, and often gained ground by his judgment in kicking into touch. Were he a little 'faster he would make a capital half back. ' Owen is also a young player who is sure to be heard of in the future. The collaring of the team all round was weak.

The Eaikorai team, as 'l predicted the other day, are not likely to be so successful as was anticipated. They came very near 'getting a beating from one of the junior clubs last Saturday. The University team, too; proves after all to be rather weak, and in their first match they fell an easy prey to the Zingaris. The result of matches so far points to a close contest between the Pirates, Taieri, and Montecillo teams.' ' The Ziugari and Dunedin Clubs are also likely to have a say in the premiership. At ; present no one' club can be singled out as being likely to take the lead. Following are reports of Saturday's matches : — '

The Pirates ' and ' High School teams' met on Saturday afternoon ' on the Carisb'rook Ground for the first time this season. ''' Great interest was taken in the match'j partly on account of the excellent stand the School had made ' on the 'previous Saturday against the 1 D.F.C., and' partly because of the splendid contests between the'opposinj^teams last season. Owing to the heavy rain which fell on Friday night and continued on Saturday morning, the other principal senior matches — D.F.C. v. Montecillo and Union v. Taieri— • were, postponed ; consequently, when it' became known that, despite the unfavourable weather, the High School were ' to meet ' the Pirates on the Carisbrook ground, a large arid "critical audience, composed for the' most part of, active footballers, had assembled by 3 o'clock to watch the play! Hunter captained the School and Drabble the Pirates, in whose team A. Williams took the place of the full back Scott ; and it is worthy of note that no less . than , nine of the latter team learned their football at the High School: Messrs E. B. Morrison (High School) and H. Rose (Pirates) umpired, and Mr A. Y. Smith acted as referee, according to the rules laid down by the English Rugby Union. Hunter won the toss, and elected to kick off, the Pirates playing towards the' pavilion^ end.The School captain kicked off cleverly, the ball going into touch in the Blacks' Wen'ty-five. Owing to the state of the ground forward.play was 'sfie game, and it was .at once apparent that the High School (colours) forwards had been somewhat overrated, for within 10 minutes the ball had been swept close to the' School goal by the Blacks' forwards, and Black— who was playing three-quarter back for his club for the first time— had two ineffectual shots at goal. Encouraged by the cheers of their numerous supporters, the School warmed to their work — Smith and Hunter being ', very conspicuous — and play centred in the Blacks' twenty-five. Poison now had the ball passed out' to him, and sailed away towards the Pirates' line, but Thomson cleverly pushed him into touch, at the twenty-five flag. Then ensued a fine piece of play. Cantrell took the ball through the scrum and being well backed up, swept through the School backs with the ball at his toe, and crossed the line. He failed to touch down, however, bub Fraser was about as usual, and secured the try, from which Drabble placed a goal.. No further score was made in the first spell, though J. Morris crossed the School line, the trj- being ' disallowed for a knock on.

The School played a plucky uphill game in the second spell, but ' were unable to prevent their older and heavier opponents from scoring. They suffered a heavy loss in the retirement of Poison at the beginning- of the spell."' Tries were obtained for the Pirates by .Thomson, Fleming, and A. W. Morris, but no goals were kicked, and the game thus ended in a win for the Pirates' by one goal and three tries (six points) to nil. The forwards' play 'on Taoth sides was excellent, the School forwards, though overmatched in weight and strength, being not a whit; behind in science, and knowledge of the rules. Smith, Hunter, and Fache are a splendid trio of forwards, and were well' supported by Owen and King behind the scrum,' Gillies (fullback) also shaping well. Cantrell was the pick of the Pirates' forwards, who played much better than on the previous Saturday. J. B. Thomson's performance at half-back against the team he captained •so long and so well made the School fully realise what a "tower, of strength " he had been to them.« Fraser played his. usual game at half-back, his dodgy running puzzling the boys a good deal. Esquilant also shaped well at three-quarter-back, and Arnold Williams at full-back played very codlly. '', ' , A, good deal of interest was manifested in the Kaikorai — Alhambra match, which was played . at Opoho. It was nearly 20 minutes past 3 before the ball was kicked off by Restieaux. The play throughout was very fast, the forwards of both teams playing a rattling game. Shortly after starting the Blues by some fine play carried the l>all to the Alhambra twenty-five, where from a pass by Thomson Millar had a pot at goal, which resulted in the Alhambra befog forced, down; Th«.,

ball was again kicked off and returned by Thomson into touch* Some slow scrummaging took, place in the Reds* twenty-five, when Downes by a long drop into touch relieved his side. The Reds* forwards now warmed up to their work and made the game very fast, and by some Bplendid dribbling rushes carried the ball to the Eaikorai's goal line, when Crawford passed to Downes, who made a splendid kick at goal, the ball going over the post. The Blues then kicked off, and A. Grieve dribbled the ball into the Blues' twenty-five, when M'Laren obtained the ball from the line out and obtained the first try for the Reds. The kick at goal was entrusted to Fitzgibbon, but the angle being very difficult, failed to add to the score. The ball being set in motion, was well returned by Downes, and after a series of scrummages play was again in the Blues' twenty-five, when A. Grieve had an ineffectual shot at goal, the ball going underneath the bar. Soon after, half time was called, and the teams changed ends. During the second spell the play was pretty even. Wedderspoon and Eeogh tried hard to get away, but were well stopped by the good collaring of the Reds' backs, and Crawford and Turnbull doing some fine punting into touch for the Reds. The game now became fast and furious, and it was only by some good dribbling by Wilde and M'Laren that carried the ball to neutral territory and prevented their heavier opponents from scoring. Shortly afterwards the Blue forwards carried the ball to the Reds' twenty-five, when A. Millar obtained the ball and crossed the Reds' line. The kick at goal was a failure. Time was now called, and ended rather unexpectedly in a draw, slightly in favour of the junior club. The Alhambra forwards played a grand game against their heavy opponents. Of the backs Downes was far and away the best, and he repeatedly gained ground by his kicking into touch, while Crawford and the other backs played very pluckily. Among the Kaikorai forwards Douglas, Jones, Millar, and Davie played well, and among the backs M'lntyre and Thomson, the passing of the former being very good. The Dunedin Second v. Montecillo Second match was played at Montecillo on Saturday, and as the match between the First Fifteens of these clubs was off, a large number of spectators assembled to see the game. Branigan, for the Blues, won the toss, and elected to play with a slight breeze. Dallas kicked off, and the ball was well returned by M'Rorie. The Colours by a good rush brought the ball back, and Aifcken looked dangerous, but he was well collared by Butterworth. Walls, Hardy, and Christopher took the ball back to neutral territory. Some give-and-take play here ensued and Austin essayed a run, but Walls collared him in rare style. Dallas, Beck, Twiname, and Paton were most prominent for the Colours at this juncture, as were Branigan, Jackman, Driver, Hardy, and Morris for the Blues, Half-time was now called, neither side so far having scored. After the usual interval Branigan kicked off, and the Blue forwards following up well spoilt the return kick. M'Kay, Scott, Monkman, and Martin were especially noticeable for the Blues. The Colours lost a chance by hard kicking, and the Blues were forced down. The latter now warmed to their work, and led by Branigan, Butterworth, M'Kay, and Turnbull, took the ball to then* opponents' 25, and the Colours were forced down. Dallas now came to the fore with a long dribble, but Walls and M'Rorie took it back. Time was then called, the game ending in a draw, neither side scoring. The Blues had slightly the best of the game, and played the better football. The forwards, well led by Branigan, are a fine lot, and with a little more condition will be hard to beat. The back play was also very good, the collaring and picking up being especially fine. The Colours' forwards played hard but most woefully off-side, and a tendency to fall on the bill was noticeable. The perseverance with which Skitch and one or two others play off-side if devoted to some other cause would win them sure renown. The interests of football demand that such play should be stopped. The Colours' backs played fairly well, their kicking and passing being good.

The match Zingari-Richmond v. University was played at Tahuna Park (which, considering the state of the elements, was in very fair condition), and was the University team's maiden effort. The game resulted in an easy win for Zingari-Richmond by 1 goal and 3 tries (6 points) to nil. They won the toss and elected to play with the wind. Immediatelyjprfter the kick off the ball appeared in the University quarters, where it remained for the greater part of the spell. Procter executed a pass to Wintrop, who soon had the leather over the University gqal by a neat pot shot. The score was disputed by the latter's captain on the plea that the referee's whistle had been blown before the goal was kicked. Both umpires allowed the goal, and the point was reserved for the decision of the O.R.F.U. The first spell closed with no change in the score, but during the second the Zingari-Richmond added 3 tries to their total. The play was much faster than in the early parjj of the afternoon, more dribbling rushes of forwards and some well-judged passing runs by the backs being noticeable. Gardner and A. Bsquilant (2) were credited with the tries obtained, but owing to the distance they were not converted into goals. For the victors Marcnbanks, Gardner, Treseder, and Rallingshaw (forwards), and Procter, Wintrop, and A. Bsquilant y>'»y«»d excellently; while Smith, Torrance,- £>i miners (forwards), and Allen, Elliott, and Lovegrove (backs) were mest noticeable for the University.

The match' Caversham First v. White Star First, played at Fitzroy, resulted in a win for the former by 4 points to nil. W. Lang potted a goal, and G. Geddes obtained a try. As well as the abovementioned, Bremner, Gillies, Carter, and Wildey played well for the Caversham; while Bolton, Gawn, Hogg, and Weitzel did good service for the White Star.

The fixtures for to-morrow are :—: — At Caledonian Ground— Dunedin v. Zingari-Rlch-mond At Carisbrook— Monteclllo v. Pirates At Opoho— Taieri v. Alhambra At Kaikorai— University v. Kaikorai At Unjon Ground— High School v. Union At Port Chalmers— Port Chalmers v. Kaikorai Second ■ At Gordon Gr«u?>d-r-Gordon v. Taieri Second At Oval— Zingari-Kichmond Second v. Uunedin Second - At Montecillo — Pirates Second v. Montecillo r*t 3 *

At OaU'donian Ground — " Montecillo Third v. Dunedin Third At Koslyn— United v. White Star At Tahuna Park— Union Second v. University Second

At Fitzroy— Caversham Flrat v. High School Second At Montecillo- Caversham Second v. White Star Second.

WELLINGTON MATCHES.

The Senior Cup match between the Athletic and Union Football Clubs was won by the Unions by 2 tries (2 points) to 1 try (1 point). The Junipr Cup match between the Unions and Athletics was won by the former by 3 tries (3 points) to nil.