FOOTBALL IN CHRISTCHURCH.

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

FOOTBALL IN CHRISTCHURCH.

By Punteb. Chr'istchtjbch, June 6. The glorious sunshine during the past week proved to be a great boon •to the' followers of the oval, inasmuch as all the playing grounds were immensely benefited thereby. Hagley Park north was the centre of attraction on Saturday afternoon, and a large concourse of people assembled to witness the senior interclub fixtures in this direction. The Sydenham v. North Canterbury match terminated in an easy victory for the former by 6 points (3 tries 1 goal) to nil, and that the Cardinal and Blue (Sydenham) had the match well in hand was made prominent by the easy style of play adopted by them in the second spell. In fact, had they not .been careless I think the score would have been much larger. The visitors have evidently had the starch taken, out of 'their linen, owing to the numerous defeats that they have been subjected to, and on this occasion they put, forward their weakest combination this season. Four substitutes had to be found at the last moment,* w£en on the point of leaving Rangiora, and when it was known that such men as Helmore and Horrellwere absent, and one man short, the game was robbed of that interest which' had been worked up during the week. The Sydenhamites kicked off, and soon had their opponents in trouble, their forwards working well together, while their backs experienced little or no difficulty La getting through their weaker opponents in the same departments. On the other hand, the Dark Blues, although working hard, marred whatever advantage they gained by over-running the ball, and general appearances led me to think that their forwards especially were striving to break through regardless of the fact that there was a ball to go with them. Through the very effective and clever passing of Donnelly and Allardyce and the prominent unselfishness of the latter, M'Lean quickly grounded the ball over the Northerners' line twice in rapid succession ; and latter on another try was obtained by a Cardinal man. The place kicks at goal were, however, of the poorest de-

scription, and it is in this department of the game ' that thd'Oaraftfaldwill^ve' to.shoyr improvement to' enable thenftb 'go through the' seasen unbeaten.- In the second" spell the only'addition score was a potted' goal 1 from M'Dean-s'toe, which was indeed a lucky kick, and more 'so as the. player had ( two i opponents "clinging ont o him, during the; performance. ..The contest East,, Christchurch v. Merivale was played on the latter's ground alongside of j the former < match, and r here the game was fought, out with [determined, obstinacy on both sides. The Easterns. were placed at a considerable' disadvantage in the first spell through the fortunes of the toss placing them with the wind and sun in their faces, and whea' the 'time had arrived to change over,' 'the former* 'had died away,' while the latter had sunk into' obscurity beyond the horizon. The match was throughout of a f airly ieveh nature, the Blues (Merivale) having slightly the best of -the forward play, which- was, however, neutralised by the effective kipkingof the Yellowbacks. 1 In the first spell the Easterns were as slow, as ever in taking advantage of easy chances of scoring. . Roberts should have got inj but elected to run into touch. instead of trying to dodge, the opposing full back. ' Francis surprised everybody by missing an easy pot in front of his opponents' uprights, the ball being ''impelled along the ground between the' 'posts; Faller 1 secured a ' try, which was disallowed "on the grounds that the ball had been previously knocked forward in the.field of play. . The second spell witnessed harder work, and the ball was made to career :up and down -.the ground iwith great speed. (Evans on the Merivale side was , robbed of a chance of scoring, through Hiddlestone passing forward, while Hobbs was all .but successful in {potting a goal for, the Yellows.-, As, the time, was 'fast closing it was anticipated the. game Would be drawn, but in the last 15 minutes the Yellows warmed up, and through the agency of several of "their forwards, the ball was quickly 'transferred over the Blues' line, where Scott succeeded in 1 securing a try. After a lot of .wrangling the try was unanimously allowed by those at the head of affairs, and from it Francis placed a goal. A fast and exciting game shortly .after terminated ,in favour of the Yellows as Recorded , above.. I understand the Merivale Club contemplate appealing to the union against the try, on the ground that the ball touched a spectator, in the field of play when just on the point of crossing their line. As the umpires, however, were agreed that sueh 1 was not the case, I fail to see how they are going to gain against a decision on the question of fact. - Next Saturday all followers of the game are looking forward to, the issues of a game which '.will go a. long way towards settling the club ■premiership. I refer to the Sydenham ,v. East Christchurch fixture, the teams of which have so far been unbeaten. Public opinion points to a great struggle, and when it is all over I think •I will have to record a drawn game or a victory for the Easterns. Our local union meets this evening to determine, amongst other matters, the question of holding a fancy costume football match on one of the jubilee days towards raising funds to assist in defraying the expenses of our representative team North. , :

The Canterbury College Selected propose visiting your city during the jubilee week to bring off their , annual fixture with your 'Varsity..' ' " it ' The East Ohristchurch Club also contemplate journeying to " Wellington at the 'same time to fulfil their engagements with the Athletic and Poneke Clubs of that capital. The result of our junior matches, so far, place East Christchurch and Sydenham in the lead in Second Fifteen contests, while the Normal Students have far. outstripped their rivals amongst the Third Fifteen division. .

The Students are generally condemned for not entering the lists against sterner opponents, and moreso as all their easy victories point to the fact that they are metal fit for the upper ranks.