FOOTBALL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1855, 10 June 1887, Page 27

FOOTBALL.

NOTES BY FORWARD.

The weather on Saturday was all that could be desired for football, and accordingly a large number of spectators, a considerable portion of whom were , ladies, were attracted to the Carisbrook grounds to witness ' the contest between the Piratesand Union Clubs. Thesides werecaptained by Hunter (maroon) and Drabble (black), Messrs Wyioks and Rose .umpiring, with Mr Treseder as referee. Drabble won the toss, and decided to play with the sun at his back, Hunter kicking off. The Union forwards, following up quickly, penned the Pirates in their twentyfive, where for a few moments, things looked rather dangerous for the Blacks. After a good, deal of loose play among the forwards, the Blacks, headed by A. W. Morris and Cantrell 5,'5 ,' managed to get away with the ball', and by eluding .the half-backs, carried it to neutral territory. The Unions now warmed up, And by. a series of rushes, assisted by the good punting, of the half-backs, again invaded the Pirates' lines. The play now waxed furious, and loud cries of "Reds!" and "Blacks!" from the, spectators urged the players on to greater exertions., Hunter, calling on bis men and heading a rush, now crossed the line, amid tremendous cheering, and drew first blood. The place, at goal was a failure. The Blacks now warmed up to their work; and by some fine dribbling rushes carried the ball well down the field; but Hope coming to the rescue with a' fine punt into touch, the play was back* in the Pirates' twenty-five. Shortly after this Bee had a shot at goal, but the ball went a little to the right. Thomson and Fraserwere now playing in grand style, and their quick punting into touch and dodgy -runs -drew , forth loud applause. The forwards of both teams were playing a splendid game,, and the dribbling, on both sides was a treat to witness. Bee, who was in good form, relieved his side oh several occasions by some fine runs, finishing up with long drop-kicks into touch. Half-time was now called, and the teams changed ends. 'Drabble kicked off, and his men following up well, a scrum was formed in the Reds' twenty-five,' where, after some loose play among the forwards, the ball was driven to toe Union , line. t The Union captain called on his men to pack the scrum, and by so doing managed to clear their lines. Shortly after Thomson,, from a pass-out, got away, and looked like scoring, but was neatly collared by Hunter. A good deal of give-and-take play amongst the backs then ensued, and a rush of the Union forwards, headed by M'Queen, Hyland, and W. M'Farlane,' followed. These crossing the line were on the point of scoring when Montgomery intervened by dropping on the ball. Thomson, after the ball had been kicked out, got away, and travelling at great speed, passed the opposing three-quarters and looked like scoring, but J. M'Farlane brought him down in grand style. This fine piece of play drew forth tremendous' cheering. The remainder of the spell was principally occupied in dribbling rushes; time being shortly after called with the ball in neutral territory, thus leaving the Union winners by 1 try to idL Both teams deserve great credit for the way in which the game was contested, the umpires having very little to do. The play of the Pirates' three-quarters and full back was a great improvement on the previous Saturday's, aud the plucky manner in which, they stopped rushes saved their side on several occasions. The return match, which takes place on June 21 (Jubilee Day), will be looked forward to with great interest! Montecillo First v. High School First. — This match was played at Montecillo in the presence of a large number of spectators, whose weakness for encroaching on the field of play will necessitate the Montecillo Club playing their First Fifteen matches on other grounds if such practice is not discontinued. . The Reds defended the northern goal at' the start, giving the School a head wind and a slight incline to play against, and it was soon apparent that they would have hard work to prevent a heavy score. At the start the Rsds rushed the ball to the School's twenty-five, and placed them at once on the defensive ; Noel, Tattersal, and Isaacs making desperate attempts to get across. Their efforts were well met by Fulton, Owen, and Mackerras. The School now rallied, and worked' the ball to more neutral territory^ only,how ever, to be once more forced back by the Reds, who carried the ball to the School's line, and Thomas getting away, crossed the line and scored. Shepard took the kick, but failed to improve the score. Mackerras then sent the ball out of touch at the centre flag. . From the throw out O'Gorman carried the' leather to the School's twenty-five, and Simpson coming out of a loose scrum in command of the ball, crossed the School line and scored try number two. Shepard was again at fault, and no goal resulted. Shortly aftor Dallas carried the ball across and touched down, but as it had touched a spectator the try was disallowed. With the score at two points to nil half-time was called. Without delay the Reds started the second spell, and following up well spoilt the return kick, the ball going into touch near the School line. From tho scrum formed after the throw out the Reds broke away and crossed the line in a body, the try being saved by a School back in their midst getting the ball. Mackerras sent the ball well down the field to Simpson, who returned well into touch. Owen now showed some good punting powers, the result being that the Reds found' themselves lined out at their twenty-five, They were, however, soon enabled to work the ball into the centre of the field, and from thence to the School's twenty-five. Poison now made some useful runs, but was brought down before too dangerous. The Reds soon had the School on the defensive again, and from a mark Aitken had a good but ineffectual shot at goal, ' the ball falling a few feet short. A School backsent the ball well down the field, and the return being well met by their forwards they looked very dangerous until met by Watson, who was equal to the occasion, and checked their career. The Reds soon worked the ball up the field again, and a pass from Noel enabled Aitken to run round the opposing backs and touch down behind the posts." The kick was a miserable failure. The School set the ball rolling again, Simpson returning -into touch well up the line, and from the throw . out he again got possession, and sent the ball flying over the bar, but the goal was disallowed on the ground that the ball had, touched a Schoo player. No side was called shortly afterwards the Montecillo thus winning by three tries to nil. The School played a very plucky losing game, rallying in grand style time after liime. only to be scattered again by their heavier opponents. The forward play of the Reds was devoid of all combination, being all at sea at times, and on several occasions their scrums were spread out four and five abreast. Isaacs, Thomas, and Tattersall worked well forward for the Reds, and O'Gorman did good work on the lineout ; among the backs Noel played a good game, but might have served his side better had he passed more. Simpson played well at threequarter, taking and kicking particularly well

Leith did his work well at. full back. Fache, Smith, and Morris were the'pick of the 1 School's forwards, and Poison; Mackerras,' and' Owen' of the backs. Fulton did a lot r of useful collaring. Messrs ' Smith,. Moss, and' Bannatyne > acted .as umpires and referee respectively. ,, . -., >, . j rj A , very; much closer struggle ( than was an? ticipafced ensued between .the , Kaikorai ,and Dunedin Clubs, the former. only ( winning bygone point. The.game calls for little. description,, as it was mostly' a .forward one. The Kaikorai forwardo were too' heavy and strong for their opponents, who would have done'well to play a looser game: In the first spell there .was no score, though Millar had a long kick' at goal, which went a few yards wide of the posts.' • In the second spell the Kaikorai men* kicked' the ball iover the Blues' line, and following up wrII scored a try. by a bit of lucky play, not far, from the goal line. .The, place kick was a .failure. With the exception of a long run by Ross, who ended up with a kick down to the Colours' goal, there was not- much brilliant individual play ( during the rest of the spell, and the game ended • as above stated. ' ' The Phrates defeated the Union Second by 6 points to 1 ; and the Dunedin Second; who have as yet an unbeaten record, played their fifth' drawn game for the season against the Kaikorai 'Second. Jackman scored, but bis try was not i allowed. ■, - < „ < . i «. ■ ■■'' i< < . , ,The Port Chalmers team were defeated by the. ; White Star men by 1 point to nothing. >v -..,,. The General Committee of the 0.8 F.U.,met lat Wain's Hotel on June 1. Dr' Cbughtry, pre?, sided, and there were also present : Messrs' Rose ' and Stronach (vice-presidents), Drabble, Fulton,. , Martin, -Morrison, and Treseder, and the hon. , sec; After the confirmation of the minutes the' 'report of the sub-committee appointed to con-- ' sider the advisability of limiting the- number of ' senior clubs in the unioa was read. It was decided to submit the report as amended 'by the committee to a general meeting' of the union. ' In reference to the, dispute between the Univer1 sity and the ZingariTßichmond , Clubs, .which was occasioned by the referee blowing his ; whistle without being appealed to, the committee decided that as the referee had illegally , blown , his whistle' the goal scored was good. ' The committee also the dispute between the Alhambra'and Taieri Clubs. The circumstances were that a player in the Alhambra team had kicked what the Alhambra' umpire considered a goal, which the other umpire was unable to decide on, and which the referee gave as a poster. The committee decided that it was clearly within the power of the referee to decide the matter, and upheld his decision.; It was resolved to obtain further information before coming to a decision in the case of the Gordon v. White Star dispute. I must complimentthe union committee upon their decisions in the above matters. • The following are the fixtures for next Saturday :— At Caledonian Ground— Dunedin v. Pirat£B ■ At Union. Ground — Union v. Zingari-Richmond At Opoho— Port Chalmers v. Alhambra At Tahuna Park— Montecillo v. University At Kaikora'i— High School v. Kaikorai At Montecillo— Pacific v. White Star At Carisbrook — Dunedin Second v. Pirates Second At Oval — Union becond v. Zingari-Richmond Second , , ' At Caledonian Ground— Dunedin Third v. Pirates Third ' ' r Montecillo — Monteoillo Second v. 'University Second , < < < At Mosgiel— Taieri Second v. Caversham . At Hoslyn— Montecillo Third v. United Second At Aflylum — High School Second v. Kaikorai Second.